JOSIAH L. CRESSMAN, of Silverdale, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, was born in Rockhill township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1838, and is a son of Tobias H. and Lydia (Leidy) Cressman. The Cressman family is one of the oldest in Bucks county, and is descended from George Cressman (or Gressman) as the name was originally spelled), who emigrated from Germany in 1729 and settled in Franconia township, now Montgomery county. John Cressman, son of George, was a landholder in Rockhill as early as 1747. Anthony Cressman, the great-great-grandfather of Josiah L., was a farmer in Rockhill township during the Revolutionary war, and was either a son or grandson of George Cressman, the pioneer. He died 1790, leaving widow Magdalena, and four sons–Jacob, Abraham, John and Adam; and three daughters–Elizabeth, wife of Daniel Sliver; Catharine and Sarah. His farm consisting of 139 acres in Rockhill was adjudged to the eldest son of Jacob Cressman.

Jacob Cressman, eldest son of Anthony and Magdalena, was a lifelong resident of Rockhill, and one of the largest land holders in the township, having purchased land there as early as 1782. He died in 1832, at an advanced age. He married Elizabeth ______, and they were the parents of ten children, viz: Daniel; Jacob; Abraham; Henry; Philip; Margaret, who married first Peter Demigh, and (second) Charles Leidy; Magdalena, wife of Henry Carr (or Kerr); Catharine, wife of Peter Roudenbush; Maria, wife of Abel Kerr; Hannah, who never married.

Jacob Cressman, son of Jacob and Elizabeth, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was a blacksmith, and followed that vocation during the active years of his life, in connection with farming. He died in Rockhill in May, 1871. He married Magdalena, daughter of Philip Hartzell, of Rockhill, and they were the parents of ten children: Tobias H., the father of the subject of this sketch; Philip, who married Nancy Gerhart; Jonas, who married Kate Sheip; John, who married Margaret Mann, and lived on the old homestead; Jacob, who died single; Hannah, wife of Simon Scholl; Lydia, wife of Leidy Gerhart; Elizabeth, wife of William K. Shellenberger. Mary, wife of Abner Gerhart; and Sarah, wife of Jacob Shellenberger.

Tobias H. Cressman, eldest son of Jacob and Magdalena (Hartzell) Cressman, was born in Rockhill township in 1814. He learned the trade of a blacksmith with his father, and followed that trade in Rockhill until 1848, when he removed to Hilltown, and about 1853 purchased the farm where his son Josiah now lives, and followed farming and blacksmithing, having been continuously engaged at the latter trade for upward of fifty years. He died on his Hilltown farm March 10, 1901, at the age of eighty-seven years. He married Lydia Leidy, daughter of George Leidy, and a descendant of Jacob Leidy, the founder of the Lutheran church, known as Leidy’s church, near Souderton, where Mr. and Mrs. Cressman were life long members.

Josiah L. Cressman, only son of Tobias H. and Lydia (Leidy) Cressman, was reared to the age of twelve years in Rockhill township, and removed with his parents to Hilltown, where he has since resided. He acquired his education at the public schools, and was reared to the life of a farmer and has never followed any other vocation. At the death of his father he inherited the homestead, and still resides thereon. He is a member of Leidy’s church, and politically is a Democrat. He married, in 1865, Catharine Ann Nace, daughter of Elias Nace, of an old Pennsylvania German family, who have been residents of Rockhill and vicinity for many generations.

Text taken from page 405

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