History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
Names and Page # Index

The family of CRAVEN are of Holland descent, and have been residents of Bucks county since the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Jacobus (James) CRAVEN was one of the trustees of Neshaminy Presbyterian church of Warwick in 1743. He was a large landowner in Warminster township and in Moreland township, Montgomery county. He died about 1760 at an advanced age. His children were: Thomas, Giles, James, Alice, wife of Harman VANSANT; Elinor, wife of Clement DUNGAN; Hannah, wife of William McDOWELL: Esther, wife of William GILBERT: and Mary, wife of Anthony SCOUT. Giles died without issue in 1798, and James removed to Virginia.

Thomas CRAVEN married Lena, daughter of William and Janet (SUYDAM) BENNETT, and settled in Warminster township, where he died August, 1799, leaving sons: William, James, Giles, Isaac and Thomas, and daughters; Christiana, wife of Thomas BEANS: Edith, wife of Charles VANSANT: Ann, Catharine and Helena.

Isaac CRAVEN inherited from his father the "Mansion House" and 103 acres of land in Warminster that had been his grandfather’s, whereon he died in May, 1835, at an advanced age. His children were William, Isaac, Abraham, and Elenah, wife of JOHN FINNEY. Only the tast two survived him and inherited his lands. His son Abraham married Hannah FINNEY and settled on a farm in Moreland, but returned to Warminster some time after his father’s decease. He died in 1882, aged about eighty-five years, leaving seven children, four sons and three daughters.

Joseph CRAVEN, son of Abraham, and father of the subject of this sketch, was born near Hatboro, in Moreland township, in 1823. He married Ann, daughter of Thomas RITCHIE, and Great-granddaughter of James RITCHIE, a Scotch-Irish settler of Warwick township Bucks county. In 1869 he removed to Hatboro, where he conducted a store for four years. In 1873 he purchased a farm in Moreland, upon which he resided until 1883, when he removed to North Wales, Montgomery county, where he lived a retired life.

His children are: Edwin, residing in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Sue, wife of Frank McVEAGH, of Philadelphia; Joanna, wife of Lewis K. HALL of Upper Makefield: William of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania; Linford R.: Robert, of Ashbourne, Pennsylvania; and Mary deceased, who was the wife of Elmer Smith.

Linford R. CRAVEN, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the public schools of Hatboro and Upper Makefield, and at the age of fourteen years began his business career as a clerk in a store at Frankford, Philadelphia. In 1880 he removed to North Wales, where he was employed in making shirts, came to Doylestown three years later and followed the same business for one year, when he began photographing in connection with Samuel F. DUBOIS, a local photographer, and William BOYCE of Philadelphia. In 1885 he opened a portable studio in Doylestown, and a year later purchased the old spoke factory at the junction of Court and State streets and erected his present residence and studio. In politics Mr. CRAVEN is a Democrat. He and his family belong to the Doylestown Presbyterian church. He is a member of Doylestown Lodge, No. 94, I. O. O. F., Doylestown Encampment, No. 35. I. O. O. F., St. Tammany Castle, No. 173. K. G. E., and of Lenape Council No. 1117, Royal Arcanum. He has served three years in Doylestown borough council, and held other local offices. He was married February 14, 1883, to Fannie H., daughter of Gibson JOHNSON.

Test taken from page 247-248 of:

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

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