My Genealogy Hound

JOSEPH HEACOCK, the well-known florist, and proprietor of extensive greenhouses at Wyncote, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is a native of the vicinity, having been born on the Abington Meeting farm. The Heacock family came from England and settled in what is Delaware county about 1711.

The immigrant ancestors were Jonathan and Ann Heacock, who brought certificates of membership from the Wolverhampton Monthly Meeting of Staffordshire, England, dated the 13th of the 12th mo., 1710, to Chester Monthly Meeting of Chester county, Pennsylvania. Ann Heacock, wife of Jonathan Heacock, was the daughter of John Till, of White Grove, Staffordshire, England. In 1666 John Till with others was committed to prison for absence from national worship, and remained there until 1672, a period of six years, when Charles II issued his letters patent discharging the people called Quakers from prison.

William Heacock, son of Jonathan and Ann Heacock, settled in what is now Rockhill township, Bucks county, in 1740. The house which he erected is still standing and bears the date of 1748. He married Ann Roberts, of Milford, Bucks county, and among their children was a son named Jesse, who married Tacy Thompson, and the following named children were born to them: John, born August 28, 1786; Jonah, born February 18, 1788; William, born January 19, 1790; Ann, born December 27, 1791, married Samuel M. Foulk; Joel, born March 26, 1794, died March 7, 1853; Margaret, born March 27, 1796, married John Good, and (second husband) Jonathan Carr; Jesse, born June 12, 1798, married Elizabeth Reece, died February 25, 1873; Joseph (father), born August 26, 1800, married Esther Hallowell, died March 22, 1883; Enos, born December 20, 1802, married Sarah Foulke; Nathan, born April 27, 1806, married Elizabeth Hallowell, died March 15, 1879; Aaron, born July 27, 1808. Jesse Heacock, father of these children, died September 30, 1841, and his wife Tacy died February 10, 1823.

Joseph Heacock (father) was born August 26, 1800, in Rockhill township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. In early manhood he removed from Rockhill township to Abington. He was a blacksmith by trade, but the latter part of his life was spent in agricultural pursuits. He married Esther Hallowell, who was born May 31, 1804, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Johnson) Hallowell, and the children born of this union are as follows: John, deceased; Eliza, Gayner, William, deceased: Edward, Ellwood, deceased; Annie, Jane, Martha, Joseph, mentioned hereinafter; Henry S. The pioneer ancestors of the Hallowell family were John and Mary (Sharp) Hallowell, who emigrated from Hucknow, parish of Sutton, Nottinghamshire, England, bringing with them a Quaker certificate dated 12th mo. 19, 1682, and settled at Darby, Pennsylvania. They afterwards bought a tract of land in Abington township, between the Susquehanna St. Road and the new Welsh Road. The Willow Grove Park is on this tract, a part of which is owned and occupied by the Hon. Edwin Hallowell, one of his descendants. Thomas Hallowell, son of John and Mary Hallowell, was born 1 mo. 6, 1679, married Rosamond Till, a daughter of John Till, of Staffordshire, England, mentioned above. William Hallowell, son of Thomas and Rosamond Hallowell, was born 6 mo. 1, 1707, married Margaret Tyson. Matthew Hallowell, son of William and Margaret Hallowell, was born 2 mo. 8, 1733, married Mary Cadwalader. John Hallowell, father of Esther Heacock, son of Matthew and Mary Hallowell, was born 6 mo. 11, 1772, married Elizabeth Johnson. Joseph Heacock (father) died March 22, 1883; he survived his wife many years, her death having occurred April 26, 1874.

Joseph Heacock, fifth son of Joseph and Esther Heacock, was educated at Abington Friends’ school and at Friends’ Central School in Philadelphia. His early life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, but for many years he has given his entire time and attention to the occupation of florist, succeeding well in it. The wife and several of the sisters of Mr. Heacock have been successful teachers of Friends’ schools, at Fourth and Green, and Fifteenth and Race streets, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, and later have had a large and very successful school of their own at Chelten Hills. His sisters, Eliza and Jane, were in charge of the Colored Orphans’ Home of Washington, D. C., for twenty-two years, an institution maintained by the United States government. His brother, John Heacock, was collector of school taxes in Cheltenham township for twenty-three years.

Mr. Heacock married Elizabeth E. Walker, who was born May 8, 1843, a daughter of Thomas R. and Mary (Baynes) Walker, of Treddyffrin township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Their children are: Fannie B., died in childhood; James W., Esther, Mary B., died in childhood; Priscilla W., and Edward R. Mr. Heacock and his family are members of the Society of Friends, of which organization their ancestors for many generations have been members. The members of the family are intelligent, refined and cultured people, of the strictest morality and integrity, and they have exercised an influence for good in the communities in which they have lived.