My Genealogy Hound

HENRY W. HALLOWELL, a representative citizen residing near Bethayres, in Moreland township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was born on the farm which is his home, February 7, 1847, and is a son of Israel and Rebecca (Williams) Hallowell. He is a descendant of John Hallowell, the immigrant, who became the progenitor of a numerous family in that section of the state, and from whom are descended most if not all the Hallowells residing in the Eastern, Middle and Central Western states.

John Hallowell, the immigrant, was twice married, as appears from the records of Abington meeting. His first wife, Sarah, bore him one child, John, born in England, 12 mo. 8, 1672. His second wife was Mary, a daughter of Thomas Sharpe, who came with him from Hucknow, in the parish of Sutton, Nottinghamshire, England, bringing a Friends’ certificate dated 12 mo. 19, 1682. Of this marriage there were nine children; the first three born in England, and the others in America, as follows: Sarah, born 1677; Thomas, 1679; Mary, 1681; John, 1685; Elizabeth, 1687; Hannah, 1689; Samuel, 1692; Benjamin, 1694; Jane, 1696.

John Hallowell, on first coming to the country, settled near Darby. On 6th mo. 15, 1696, he bought from Silas Crispin, executor of the estate of Thomas Holme, a tract of land containing 630 acres in Abington township, adjoining Upper Dublin, and on the line of the Manor of Moreland for upwards of a mile, paying therefor 58 pounds, 16 shillings. Soon after this purchase John Hallowell removed to his new property, living at first in a rude cabin which he constructed partly in the ground, on the sunny side of a hill, making a habitation which in early days was known as a cave, similar to those constructed by some of the early settlers of Philadelphia. This was at or near what has recently been the residence of the well known horseman, Philip R. Theobald (who purchased the property from the estate of John Shaw), about a mile and a half southwest of Willow Grove, in one of the finest neighborhoods in Montgomery county. The Theobald farm formed a portion of the original Hallowell tract. Up to the time of the Theobald purchase from the John Shaw estate, Shaw having purchased from Benjamin Hallowell, son of Isaac and Sarah Hallowell, about 1850, the property had remained in the Hallowell family, and the adjoining one-hundred-acre tract has remained in the family name for considerably more than two centuries. John Hallowell conveyed to his eldest son, Thomas, 8 mo. 1, 1702, 220 acres of his tract with the improvements thereon. The remainder, 408 acres, he divided equally, 4 mo. 11, 1706, between two younger sons, Samuel and Benjamin, as they came of age. Thomas conveyed, 12 mo. 25, 1730, his 220-acre farm derived from his father to his eldest child William who purchased from William Dunn in 1730 one hundred acres in Moreland, which he conveyed to his son Thomas, a weaver, who had previously occupied it. This tract was situated a mile northwest of Willow Grove, and is the farm which was owned by Joseph Hallowell, father of Dr. William Hallowell, of Norristown, now long deceased, and on which he was born more than a century ago, he having been the son of Joseph Hallowell and grandson of Thomas Hallowell. Thomas died in 1788, and his son Joseph in 1843, William, dying fifty years later, so that the three generations of the same family, represented by these three individuals, owned the property for a time somewhat exceeding a century and a half, being a very remarkable instance of longevity in one family.

Thomas, son of John and Mary Hallowell, born 1679, died 1734, married in 1702 at Darby, in what is now Delaware county, Pennsylvania, Rosamond Till, who survived him, dying in 1745. Both were buried in the old section of the burying ground adjoining the Friends’ meeting house at Abington. Their children were: John, born 1703; Mary, 1705; Thomas, 1706; William, 1707; Rosamond, 1709; Elizabeth, 1711; Sarah, 1714; Thomas, 1715; Samuel, 1717; Joseph, 1719.

William, next in the line of descent, (great- great-grandfather), son of Thomas and Rosamond (Till) Hallowell, resided on his farm in Abington until 8 mo. 23. 1794, where he died at the age of eighty-seven years. He was twice married. His first wife was Margaret, born 1708, died 1753, daughter of Matthias (or Matthew) and Mary Tyson. They were the parents of twelve children: Thomas, born 1730; Rosamond, 1731; Matthew, 1733; William, 1734; John, 1736; Ry near, 1739; David, 1740; Mary, 1742; Isaac, 1744; John, 1746; John (3d), 1749; Joshua, 1751. William Hallowell married (second) Agnes, daughter of Peter Shoemaker, and to them were born four children: Daniel, born 1754; Caleb, 1756; Joseph, 1759; Sarah, 1761.

John Hallowell, son of William and Margaret (Tyson) Hallowell, born in 1749, great-grandfather of the subject, Henry W. Hallowell, was a resident of Cheltenham township, Montgomery county. He married, 11 mo. 3, 1774, Martha, born 3 mo. 9, 1753, in Milford, Bucks county, daughter of Thomas, Jr. and Letitia Roberts, her father being the son of Thomas Roberts, the immigrant. John and Martha (Roberts) Hallowell* lived in Abington township after their marriage, and John died there in 1793 during the prevalence of an epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia, he having contracted the disease while engaged in the transaction of business in that city. Their children were: Isaac, married Mary Fletcher; Israel, further mentioned below: Ann, married Joseph Williams; John R., married Ann Jarrett.

Israel, who was the second son of John and Martha (Roberts) Hallowell and grandfather of Henry W. Hallowell, was born in 1778. He was a large property holder, owning valuable farms in Abington and Moreland townships, and was also a miller, owning a grist mill on the Pennypack creek, which his father had operated prior to the Revolutionary war. He married Mary, daughter of William Jarrett, of Horsham, and their children were: Ann L., who married Isaac Mather, for whose children see sketch of Isaac Mather, elsewhere in this work; Martha married Samuel Parry; John J., married Rachel Williams; Tacy, married David Eastburn; William Jarrett, married Lydia Ann Lloyd; Israel, Jr., of whom further below; Mary, married George Ely; Jonas Wyman married Esther L. Fenton.

Israel Hallowell, Jr., son of Israel and Mary (Jarrett) Hallowell, married Rebecca Williams, and their children were: Mary Anna, born February 24, 1843; and Henry W., born February 7, 1847.

Henry Williams Hallowell, only son of the parents last named, was six years old when they removed to the mill near Chestnut Hill, in Philadelphia county, whence he returned with them the following year to the old homestead in Moreland. His occupation is that of a farmer. He has borne an active part in community affairs, having served usefully in various responsible positions, among others that of county treasurer, to which he was elected in 1898, and in which he served for three years, retiring at the close of his term with the confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact during his incumbency of the office. In politics he is a Republican, and takes a prominent and active interest in the councils of his party in Montgomery county. He and his family are members of the Society of Friends, as are the great majority of the descendants of his immigrant ancestor, John Hallowell. Mr. Hallowell married Margaret Thomson, who was born in Cheltenham township, January 6, 1848, a daughter of John and Caroline (Jones) Thomson. She is descended from two prominent families of Friends in lower Montgomery county, those of Thomson and Jones. John Thomson, of Cheltenham township, her great-grandfather, born 12 mo. 22, 1750, died 9 mo. 28, 1838, married in 1773 Abigail Roberts, born 7 mo. 28, 1751, died 7 mo. 15, 1843, daughter of Thomas; Jr., and Letitia Roberts, of Milford township, Bucks county. The couple had three daughters-Hannah, who married Thomas Shoemaker; Sarah, married Samuel Rowland; and Catharine, who died in her thirteenth year. Their second child, born 9 mo. 30, 1775, died 12 mo. 26, 1825, was Thomas, who married Jane Jarrett, and lived in Cheltenham. The children of Thomas and Jane Thomson were: Ann, married Jacob Jarrett; Hannah, married John Roberts, of the Byberry family of Roberts; Catherine, married Richard, son of Richard and Rebecca Roberts; Sarah, married (first) Anthony Williams, (second) Jesse Shoemaker, and (third) Cyrus Betts; John, the father of Mrs. Hallowell; Abigail, married John Wildman, of Langhorne; and Elizabeth.

The children of Henry W. and Margaret (Thomson) Hallowell are: John T., born June 5, 1875, died July 30, same year; Israel, born November 10, 1876, died December 26, same year; Jane T., born October 20, 1878, married Dr. David G. Harvey; and Israel R., born April 12, 1884.

There are few families so much distinguished for longevity, integrity and industry, and so fully possessing the confidence and esteem of the community as the Hallowells. They have intermarried, as has been seen, with many of the leading families of their section of Pennsylvania. Among the more noted members of the family was Benjamin Hallowell, who was an eminent teacher, and an expert mathematician. His academy at Alexandria, Virginia, was one of the most popular boarding schools of its day, and at Sandy Spring, Maryland, where he passed his later years, he maintained a very flourishing school. He was one of the best known preachers of the Society of Friends.

* Martha Roberts Hallowell, who was the great-grandmother of Henry W. Hallowell (the subject of this sketch), was a woman of great ability. She lived with her son, John R. Hallowell, at his home in Abington, her husband having died from yellow fever in 1793. She often walked to the home of her son Israel, who lived on the original homestead, the Pennypack flour mill, a short distance south from the place now known as Bethayres. The story has been told by Joseph W. Hallowell (died in 1904), a grandson, who afterward owned and lived upon this farm, that on one occasion, after one of her visits, he saw Martha Roberts Hallowell pick up a branch of a tree for a cane, and on nearing home thrust it into the ground. It grew into a grand old tree, and yet stands a fitting memorial to the woman, and a constant reminder to the passerby of the kindness of heart and ever helpful spirit of her who planted it. The accompanying illustration shows the tree, a sycamore, as it now stands by the roadside at the entrance to the place which was once owned by Joseph W. Hallowell, and is now the property of Thomas E. Wanamaker.