JOHN A. FELL, M. D.

   JOHN A. FELL, M. D., of Doylestown, was born in Buckingham township, Bucks county, October 21, 1850, a son of Jesse and Priscilla SANDS FELL, and is a descendant in the sixth generation from Joseph FELL, of Longlands, Cumberland, England, and Bridget WILSON, his wife, who came to Bucks county in 1705 and settled in Buckingham two years later.

   Benjamin FELL, born in Cumberland, England, 9 mo. 1, 1703, married 6 mo. 27, 1728, Hannah SCARBOROUGH, daughter of John SCARBOROUGH, of Solebury, and had by her six children, four of whom grew to maturity: John, born 4 mo. 1, 1730; Asa, born 1732, married Elizabeth MITCHELL; Phebe, who married Stephen KIRK; and Benjamin, who married Rebecca CASNER.  Benjamin settled on land in Buckingham conveyed to him by his father in 1726, where Charles CARWITHEN now lives, and later purchased considerable land adjoining.  He was married three times, and has left a large number of descendants.   His wife Hannah was born 8 mo. 31, 1704, and died 2 mo. 21, 1743.  He died 9 mo. 12, 1758.

   John FELL, eldest son of Benjamin and Hannah, born 4 mo. 1, 1730, was also a farmer.  He purchased of his cousin, Isaac FELL, the farm upon which his great-grandson, Preston J. FELL still lives, soon after his marriage, and spent his whole life thereon.  He married, 10 mo. 30, 1753, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (PAXSON) HARTLEY, of Solebury, and had thirteen children, eleven of whom lived to maturity, viz: Mahlon; William; Nathan; Seneca; Miriam, who married David CARR; Jonathan; Hannah; George; Rachel, who married John PAXON; John and Jonas.

   Jonas FELL, youngest son of John and Elizabeth, was born on the old homestead 8 mo. 17, 1777, and died there 1 mo. 8, 1854.  He married 3 mo. 28, 1802, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Mary (COMFORT) CHURCH, and great-granddaughter of Joseph FELL, Sr., and his second wife, Elizabeth doyle, through the marriage of their daughter Sarah to Richard CHURCH, the father of Joseph.   Sarah CHURCH FELL was born 8 mo. 20, 18--, and died 5 mo. 25, 1857.  They had five children, viz.: Hannah, born 1803, married Charles KIRK; Jesse, born 3 mo. 1806; Lydia, born 1811, married Jesse DEAN; Jonas, born 1813, married Mary LOUDERBOROUGH; Sarah, born 1816, married Isaac MATHEWS.

   Jesse FELL, born 3 mo. 8, 1806, was the father of the subject of this sketch.  He Married 2 mo., 1828, Priscilla SANDS, daughter of William and Jane SANDS, of Buckingham, born in 1808, and died 12 mo. 7, 1884.  Jesse FELL died in 1858.  The children of Jesse and Priscilla FELL were ten in number, viz.: Lydia Ann, born 1829, married Samuel FRANKENFIELD, and is still living in Buckingham; Sarah Jane, born 9 mo. 27, 1830, married Joseph Mathias FLACK, died 1902; Preston J., born 2 mo. 1, 1836, a sketch of whom will be found in this work; Rachel S., born 10 mo. 31, 1837, married John M. GRAY, a sketch of whom will also be found in this work; Isabella, born 1840, married John R. RAPP, died 1903; Henry C., born 1842, a soldier in the One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, died 5 mo. 31, 1862, from typhoid fever contracted in the army; Louisa, born 1846, married Amos RANDALL, died 1890; Adaline, born 1848, died 1903; and John A., the subject of this sketch.

   Dr. John A. FELL, the youngest of the ten children of Jesse and Priscilla FELL, received a rudimental education at Church's public school, after which he attended the Doylestown English and Classical Seminary.  He spent two years teaching school in Buckingham, one and a half years of which he was principal of Hughesian Free School.  The next two years were spent at Lafayette College.  He then entered the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in the class of 1874.  In the same year he accepted a position as resident physician at the Bedford Street Mission Hospital, where he remained until January 1, 1875, when he began the practice of his profession at Centreville, Buckingham.  He practiced at Buckingham until April 1, 1888, when he removed to Doylestown and forming a partnership with John B. LIVEZEY, opened a drug store.  At the end of one year the partnership was dissolved, and Dr. FELL went to attend lectures at the Philadelphia Polyclinic and College for Medical Graduates, during the next fourteen months attending the whole thirty-four courses; he passed a successful examination in all of them, and was elected on June 23, 1890, the first Fellow of the College.  In the same year he opened an office on Oakland avenue, Doylestown, where he now resides, and resumed the practice of medicine.  Dr. FELL is considered one of the leading physicians of Bucks county, and has a large practice.   He has devoted especial care to study of the defects and diseases of the eye, and has considerable local fame as an oculist.  He is a member of the County, State and American Medical Associations.  He has been a member of the board of health from its organization; was assistant surgeon of the Sixth Regiment National Guard, from 1884 to 1895, has been a member of the Doylestown school board since 1891, now serving his fifth term.  He is a member of Doylestown Lodge, No. 245, F. and A. M.; of Aquetong Lodge, No. 193. I. O. O. F.; Doylestown Encampment. No. 35; and Sciota Tribe, No. 214, I. O. R. M.  He was married, May 18, 1887, to Clara, daughter of Henry D. and Anna (WAMBOLD) LIVEZEY, and is the father of two daughters,--Anna, born February 17, 1888; and Dorothea, born January 4, 1896.

Text taken from pages 186 and 187 of:

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

Transcribed MARCH 2001 by GRACE T. BURTON of PA as part of the Bucks Co., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published March 2001 on the Bucks county, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/