History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
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JOSHUA TOMLINSON

JOSHUA TOMLINSON, honored as the oldest living resident of Langhorne, of which city he is a native, and the only surviving charter member of the Lodge of Odd Fellows in that village, is a representative of ancestry who settled in Pennsylvania in the colonial days, shortly before the Revolution.  The founders of the American branch of the family came from England and settled in Philadelphia and Bucks counties.  They were farmers by occupation, and Friends in religion. 

            Mr. TOMLINSON was born March 24, 1822, in Middletown township, son of Aaron and Jane (HEADLEY) TOMLINSON; grandson of William and Rachel (EVERETT) TOMLINSON; and great-grandson of Richard TOMLINSON.  He was educated at the Friends' school and the Bellview school in Langhorne, that last named being then under the charge of William MANN, one of the most capable teachers of that day.  Young TOMLINSON labored upon the paternal farm until he was seventeen, and at that early age entered upon an apprenticeship to the coach-maker's trade in a shop which his father conducted in connection with his farming labors.  He was so employed for four years, and at the expiration of that time, his father retiring, he succeeded to the management.  He conducted the business with much success until 1849, when he sold it and went to Maryland, where he cultivated a plantation for a couple of years.  In 1851 he returned to Middletown and resumed his coach-making business, in which he successfully continued until 1875, when he retired to a finely improved and highly productive farm which he had previously purchased, and where he made his home for thirteen years.  He then made a final removal to Langhorne, where he has since resided, occupying a beautiful and comfortable home where he enjoys that well merited ease and contentment which should properly crown so active and well spent a life.  He enjoys the esteem and confidence of the community, to whose prosperity and advancement he has materially contributed, and among whom he is held in peculiar regard as the oldest citizen.   He is the oldest surviving member of and the only charter member now living of Orionto Lodge, No. 177, I. O. O. F., organized in May, 1846, and of which he has been an active and contributing member continuously down to the present time, a period of forty-eight years.  He was for five years a justice of the peace, and for many years was a member and secretary of the old Attleboro Fire Company.   In religion he is a Friend, and in politics a staunch Republican, having affiliated with the party when it organized in 1856 for its noble purpose of staying the aggressions of slaveholders and the prostitution of free soil to human slavery,  a crime against humanity and a sin against God.  Mr. TOMLINSON married, July 4, 1847, Miss Lydia Ann NOBLE, of Philadelphia, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (TILLER) NOBLE.  Of This union were born three children, all of whom were educated in the Friends' and public schools of Langhorne.  They were: 1. Edward Hicks, born May 11, 1848, he married Annie REIGAN, and they became the parents of the following children-Florence May, born 1874; Joshua Noble, who married in 1904, Elizabeth GRIFFITH: Estelle, Clarence L., and one who died in infancy.  Florence May was married to Ervin FISHER, of Philadelphia, and they became the parents of two children:  Nevin and Oswald FISHER.  Elizabeth Jane, born September 29, 1850.  Frederick Noble, born June 17, 1855, never married.  Mrs. TOMLINSON, mother of this family, passed away January 28, 1902, leaving to her mourning husband and children the tender memories of a beautiful spirit which shed the light of love upon all who came into companionship with her.   

Test taken from page 342-343 of:

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

Transcribed October 2003 by Joan Lollis of Merrillville, IN. as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published October 2003 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/