History of Bucks
County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
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J WILSON VANDEGRIFT J. WILSON VANDEGRIFT. Among the successful agriculturists of Buckingham is J. Wilson Vandegrift, who was born in that township January 1,1863, being a son of Bernard and Mary Ann (Folker) Vandegrift, and a grandson of Lawrence Vandegrift: of Northampton township, Bucks county, where his father Bernard was born June 30, 1829. The family is of Holland descent, being descendants of Jacob Lendert Van de Grift, who migrated from Holland in 1644, and settled on Long Island, from whence three of his sons (Leonard, Nicholas and John) came to Bucks county in the latter part of the same century and settled in Bensalem, descendants of the last mentioned of whom settling in Northampton township a century later; Bernard Vandegrift was a farmer all his life. In 1877 he purchased the farm now owned and occupied by the subject of this sketch, and resided thereon until his death, in September, 1900. He married, December 27, 1851, Mary Ann Folker, daughter of James and Mary (Herlinger) Folker, of Buckingham, where she was born August 8, 1829. Her parents were both natives of Buckingham, her mother being a daughter of Captain Mathew Herlinger, who married the widow Else, whose husband died at sea on the voyage to America. Bernard and Mary Ann (Folker) Vandegrift were the parents of six children; Harry, of Elizabeth, Colorado; Susanna, wife of William Orem, of Buckingham; Wilmer a wholesale commission. merchant of Philadelphia; Mary, wife of William H. Atkinson, of Forest Grove, Buckingham township;,J. Wilson; and Theodore, of Warwick township, Bucks county. J. Wilson Vandegrift was reared on the farm and acquired a good common school education. In 1885 he purchased the home farm, which he has since successfully conducted. By industry and careful business methods he has acquired a competence. In 1899 he purchased an adjoining farm of 102 acres and in 1903, purchased a farm of 160 acres in Warwick township. He married, in November, 1894, Olive M. Fell, daughter of Wilson D. and Mary Jane (Trumbower) Fell, of Buckingham. She was born on the Fell homestead in Buckingham that had been in the tenure of her ancestors for over a century, January 19, 1863. She is still the owner of the farm, which is a portion of a tract purchased by her great-great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Fell, in 1753. This Benjamin Fell was born in 1703 in Cumberland, England, and came with his parents Joseph and Bridget (Wilson) Fell to America when an infant. His son John, born in 1730, married Elizabeth Hartley, and their son Seneca born 4 mo. 5, 1760, married Grace Holt of Horsham, among whose children was Stacy Fell, the grandfather of Mrs. Vandegrift. He was born in Buckingham in 1790, and died there in 1864. He married 10 mo. 14, 1812, Elizabeth Kinsey, of Buckingham, who was born in 1791 and died in 1863. They were the parents of seven children, the youngest of whom was Wilson D.., father of Mrs. Vandegrift, who was born 12 mo. 2, 1832, and died April 28, 1895. To Mr. and Mrs. Vandegrift have been born five children, Harry E. W., William Orem, Edwin Taylor, Wilson Fell and Gladys. Mrs. Vandegrift is a member of Doylestown Presbyterian church. Wilson D. Fell married Mary Jane Trumbower December 1, 1854. She was the daughter of Philip and Catharine Trumbower of Bridge Point, now Edison, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. She was born April 11, 1833, and died April 15, 1904 Text taken from page 37 of: David, Willian W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III Transcribed 2002 by Debbie Dunkle as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html Published November 2002 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/ |
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Page was last edited:
11/15/2008