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THOMAS BUTLER CLAXTON

THOMAS BUTLER CLAXTON, of Lower Buckingham, was born on the farm upon which he still resides, in Buckingham township, June 6, 1852, a son of John Bankson, and Sarah W. (THOMPSON) CLAXTON.  George CLAXTON, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of the West Indies, and was for many years captain of the ship “Providence,” plying between the West Indies and ports of the United States.  The declining years of his life were spent at the home of his son, John Bankson CLAXTON, on the Buckingham farm.  John Bankson CLAXTON was born in Philadelphia.  His younger days were spent in the employ of the publishing house later known as J. B. LIPPINCOTT & Company, in that city, the present members of the firm being fellow employees with him.  At the age of fifteen years, on the advice of the family physician that he seek an outdoor life, he came to Buckingham and found employment on the farm where the remainder of his life was spent, than owned and conducted by Thomas M. THOMPSON, whose daughter he subsequently married.  At the death of his father-in-law he acquired the farm, and spent the remaining years of his life in agricultural pursuits.  He was an active and influential man in the community, and a member of the local school board for a number of years.  In religion he was a staunch Presbyterian, a member of the Thompson Memorial Church of Lower Solebury, which was rebuilt and named in memory of his father-in-law, Thomas M. THOMPSON, who was for thirty-four years an elder of the church and one of its most active supporters and workers.  Mr. Claxton died in 1875, at the age of fifty-two years.  The Buckingham farm had been the property of the maternal ancestors of the subject of this sketch for nearly a century prior to its acquisition by his father, having been purchased by his great-grandfather, John WILSON, Esq., whose home it was for a half century.  He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his father, John WILSON, a native of the north of Ireland, having settled in Lower Buckingham, in 1737, on the farm now comprising the farms owned by Harry F. MOLLOY and Warner C. THOMPSON. *  John WILSON, Jr., was a justice of the peace in Buckingham for twenty-five years, and one of the most prominent justices of his day, doing an immense amount of official business, as his docket, now in possession of the writer of this sketch, will testify.  His home seems to have been a favorite “Gretna Green,” as he married over four hundred couples during his term of office, many of them coming a considerable distance to have the nuptial knot tied.  He died in 1811.  Of his five daughters, three married THOMPSONS, one of them, Elizabeth, being the grandmother of the subject of this sketch.

            The Union school house, located at the north corner of Mr. CLAXTON’S farm, was originally built on land dedicated for that purpose by Thomas M. THOMPSON, and the title still vests in the successors to the trustees then appointed, though it has long been under the control of the Buckingham school board.

            John Bankson and Sarah (THOMPSON) CLAXTON, were the parents of four children, two of whom survive:  Thomas B.; and William Neeley CLAXTON, of Hale county, Texas.

            Thomas B. CLAXTON was born and reared on the home farm, acquiring his education at the public school, at the Escelsior Normal Institute at Carversville, and Doylestown English and Classical Seminary.  On the death of his father he assumed control of the farm, and after his mother’s death acquired the title thereto.  He was married October 12, 1876, to Mary Lester FELL, daughter of David and Margaret (ATKINSON) FELL, who died in 1899.  They were the parents of two children: Lewis FELL, and Frances Elizabeth, wife of Justus W. KIRK, who now conducts the home farm.  Mr. CLAXTON married (second) Martha C. ELY, daughter of Isaac and Mary (MAGILL) ELY of Solebury.

            In politics Mr. CLAXTON is a Republican but has never held other than local offices, having filled the position of township auditor for twelve years, and occupied other local positions.  He is a life member of the board of trustees and directors of the Hughesian Free School, and an assistant secretary and surveyor of the Farmers and Mechanics’ Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Bucks county, to the duties of which latter position much of his time is devoted.  He is a member of Mountain Lodge, No. 31, Shield of Honor.

*Warner C. THOMPSON, who is a great-great-grandson of John WILSON, Sr., has the original deed from John and Richard PENN to John WILSON, dated December 15, 1787.

Text taken from page 555 to 556 of: 

Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed September 2006 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published September 2006 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/