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HENRY
CLAY LARGE
HENRY
CLAY LARGE.
Among the most successful, enterprising and scientific farmers of
Bucks county is Henry Clay Large, of Buckingham township. He
was born in Buckingham on
February
2, 1846
, and is a son of William M. and Anne (Watson) Large. The Large
family is one of the oldest in Bucks county, though the lineal ancestors
of the subject of this sketch were residents of
New Jersey
for three generations. Joseph
Large and Elizabeth his wife came to Bucks county from
Long Island
about 1690, and settled in Falls township, where he died about 1706,
leaving four sons: John, who
settled in
Bristol
;
Joseph, the ancestor of the Larges
of middle Buckingham; Samuel and Ebenezer.
Samuel Large settled in
early life in Kingwood, Hunterdon county,
New
Jersey
,
where he purchased a large tract of land.
He was one of the original members of Kingwood Friends’ Meeting
in 1744, and was an elder until his death, 6 mo. 9, 1765, and travelled
extensively in this and other provinces in the “service of truth.” Jacob
Large was born in Kingwood and
became an extensive farmer there. He
married 8 mo., 1746, Mary Bunting, and raised a family of nine children:
Aaron, Elizabeth; Samuel; Anne, married Isaac Lundy;
Mary, married John Allen;
Ebenezer; Rebecca; William; Sarah. William,
born 7 mo. 14, 1765, married Susanna Palmer.
William M. Large, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Kingwood
township, Hunterdon county,
New
Jersey
,
June 17, 1812
, being a son of William
and Susanna (Palmer) Large.
His father died when he was a babe, and at the age of twelve years
he came to Doylestown and was apprenticed to James Kelly, then editor and proprietor of the “Bucks County
Intelligencer,” to learn the printing trade.
He served his term, and, arriving of age, remained in the office a
few weeks, and then went to Philadelphia in search of a job.
Here he encountered Seneca W. Ely,
a native of Buckingham, just returned from
Rochester
,
New
York
,
where he, too, had learned the printing trade, and the two young printers
formed a partnership, purchased a press, and removed to
Chillicothe
,
Ohio
,
where they started a printing office.
At the end of a year, Mr. Large
having been solicited by his preceptor to return and take an interest in
the business, came back to Doylestown and entered into partnership with
Mr. Kelly. They ran the
“Intelligencer” for two years, 1835-36, when Mr. Large retired from the firm, but one year later bought the entire
interest of Mr. Kelly and
conducted the paper with good success until
March
14, 1841
, when he sold out to Samuel S. Fretz. He then purchased
a farm in Upper Buckingham, and followed farming for the next fifteen
years. In 1857 he became one
of the banking firm of J. Hart & Co., of Doylestown, and retained his
interest therein until about 1864. During
the fifties he purchased the farm whereon the subject of this sketch now
resides, on the Buckingham and Doylestown turnpike, known as Chestnut
Grove Farm, and erected the present handsome and commodious buildings, and
took up his residence there, where he died, May 20, 1893, in his
eighty-first year. William M. Large
was a man of more than ordinary intellectual ability, and a prominent and
successful man in the community. He
was a model farmer and successful business man.
He married, 2 mo. 17, 1841, Anne, daughter of Joseph and Mary (White) Watson, of Buckingham, of one of the oldest families in
Buckingham. She died in 1889,
aged seventy-six years. The
children of William M. and Anne (Watson)
Large were: Mary L.,
deceased, who was the wife of Louis Buckman,
of Doylestown; Henry Clay; and
Watson, deceased. Mr. Large and his family were members of Buckingham Monthly Meeting of
Friends.
The subject of this sketch was reared on the farm and was a student
in the common schools and at the Hughesian Free School, and later attended
a private school at Doylestown. He
has always been a farmer, and takes great pride in the home farm, which he
acquired at this father’s death. In
politics he is a Republican, but has never sought or held public office.
He is a member of Buckingham Friends Meeting.
H. Clay Large was married,
February
12, 1880
, to Lavinia, daughter of Frederick and Rachel (Dubree)
Pearson, of Solebury, Bucks county, who has borne him five children,
all of whom are living at home, viz.:
Mary b., Josephine C., William M., Rachel and Anna W.
Text
taken from pages 484-485 of:
Davis,
William W.H., A.M. History of Bucks
County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company,
1905] Volume III
Transcribed
February 2004 by Thera Schwenk-Hammond; tsh@harborside.com;
http:// www..rootsweb.com/~schwenk
as part of the Bucks Co., Pa.,
Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html
Published
April 2004 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/ |
Page was last edited:
11/15/2008