My Genealogy Hound

THOMAS B. HARPER, the popular burgess of Jenkintown, and one of its most progressive citizens, is the son of Charles, deceased, and Mary (Buckman) Harper. He was born at Jenkintown, September 9, 1859.

Mr. Harper grew to manhood in that borough, and was educated at Abington Friends’ School, and at the Friends’ Central School in Philadelphia. At an early age he entered his father’s store, at that time the leading establishment of the kind in that vicinity, remaining there until 1885, when he engaged in the business of artesian well digging, in which he is still very extensively interested. January 1, 1898, Mr. Harper organized the Tioga Steel Forge Company, in Philadelphia, and became its president and treasurer, which position he still holds. He served three terms in the town council of Jenkintown. He was the last burgess under the old law, and the first under the new law, and is now serving his fourth term in that capacity. He is a member of Peace and Love Lodge, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Jenkintown.

Mr. Harper was married, at Ivy Land, October 8, 1879, to Margaret M. Carrell, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Their children are: William Carrell, Mary Elizabeth (deceased), Mabel M., Annie Grace and Thomas B.

The Harper family is one of the oldest in English history. At the battle of Hastings, in 1066, a Norman French officer by that name was knighted on the field by William the Conqueror for bravery in that celebrated conflict. This is the first mention of the name. The roll of “Battle Abbey,” containing the names of those who fought in the conquest, gives the Norman aristocracy so that a biographer of Chaucer declared that all names to be found in it ennobled those who bore them later. The want of consistency in the matter of surnames at that time makes it very difficult to complete an English family record as far back as the thirteenth century, as surnames were only beginning to be used by a few of the nobility, changes being constantly made for a long time thereafter, and brothers frequently assuming different surnames.

Comparatively little is known of the Harper family for several centuries after the date which was first mentioned. About 1650 some of the prominent members of the family, through the teachings of George Fox, united with the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers, as they were called at first in derision. The scruples of the Friends against taking oaths or serving in armies, they claiming to be disciples of the Prince of Peace and therefore unable to fight, along with other peculiarities, caused violent persecution, so that in 1662 over four thousand of them were confined in English prisons. There are no Harpers in the battle fields of modern history, probably on this account. In 1681 William Penn obtained from King Charles II a grant of land for the colony which he proposed to lead to the new world. In the next year three brothers Harper sailed for America. One of them settled in New York, and from him descended the Harper Brothers, the noted publishers. The second brother, with his family, essayed to go to Virginia, but was prevented by high water from crossing the Potomac river. He afterwards established a ferry on that river which became known as Harper’s Ferry, a locality that has since become historic ground. Several years later a branch of the family located in Kentucky, and another branch in eastern Ohio. From that stock is descended Professor William R. Harper, the distinguished president of the Chicago University.

The third brother, from whom the Harpers of Montgomery and adjacent counties in Pennsylvania are descended, bought a farm and settled in what was then Lower Dublin township, in the city of Philadelphia. Thomas Roberts, who became closely identified with the Harper family because of the intermarriage of his descendants with them, came to America from Wales on a vessel called the “Campbell,” in company with John Logan and William Penn, on his second voyage to Pennsylvania, and arrived in Philadelphia, December 24, 1699. Thomas Roberts settled at Germantown, where he became a prominent resident. He had a son Thomas, who married, in 1705, Eleanor Potts, whose children were Thomas, John, Mary and Sarah. Thomas (third) married Rachel Livezey, of Lower Dublin, and settled on a six-hundred-acre tract of land at what is now York Road and Fisher’s Lane. Thomas and Rachel Roberts had eight children-Thomas, Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Jonathan, John, James and Daniel. Ann Roberts was twice married. Her first husband was Isaac Shoemaker, by whom she had one son Thomas. They resided near Shoemakertown, now Ogontz. Her second husband was Samuel Harper, who was a manufacturer of gimlets. By the second marriage there were two sons: George and Nathan; and two daughters: Rachel, who married Andrew French; and Sarah, who married John Nice, March 18, 1794. At a reunion of the Nice family in 1883 there were present 266 of the direct descendants of John Nice.

On August 1, 1892, there was a family reunion of the descendants of George Harper, born in 1770, the great-great-grandson of the Harper who settled in Lower Dublin township in 1682. This reunion was held at Lake View Cottage, with its beautiful surroundings of lawn, orchard, lakes and groves, the country residence of Smith Harper, of Abington township. It was the second reunion of this branch of the Harper family. The early part of the day was so stormy that many of the members of the family were unable to be present, but those who were in attendance had a most enjoyable time. Most of those who gathered at this reunion were from the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia. Descendants from this branch of the family are now known to reside in the following states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Nebraska, Louisiana, California and Nevada.

The Harper who settled in Lower Dublin in 1682 was John, descended from a Norman French nobleman, who was knighted by William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings in 1066. Robert, his grandson, died in 1774, his wife being Sarah, and they having twelve children, six sons and six daughters, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, married and reared families, who resided in or near Frankford, in Philadelphia. The oldest son was Samuel, and the youngest Benjamin, who died of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1797.

The children of Samuel and Ann (Roberts) Harper: George, Samuel, Nathan (a bachelor), Sarah, who married John Nice, March 18, 1794.

The children of George and Mary (Collins) Harper were: William, born 2d mo. 5, 1795; Ann (Harper) Holt, born 9th mo. 13, 1796; Maria (Harper) Wilkinson, born 5th mo. 1, 1798; Susanna (Harper) Davis, born 3d mo. 19, 1800; Daniel DeBenneville, born 9th mo. 27, 1801; Elizabeth (Harper) Logan, born 10th mo. 10, 1803 : Samuel, born 7th ma. I I, 1805 ; Martha, born 9th mo. 7, 1807; Nathan and Margaret (Harper) Livezey (twins), born 8th mo. 24, 1810. This record is from Margaret Porter’s Bible. She was born 6th mo. 10, 1722, and died 11th mo. 24, 1815, at the age of ninety-three years, five months and fourteen days. This Bible was presented to burgess Thomas E. Harper by Mrs. Tacie Livezey Smith. It belonged to Mrs. Porter, who was her great-great-grandmother.

The children of George and Mary (Collins) Harper’s children are as follows: William and Esther (Smith) Harper, Adaline (Harper) Humphreys, Reuben, Henry, William, Smith, Charles, Mary (Harper) Steele, Edwin, Catherine (Harper) Buckman, Esther A. (Harper) Shoemaker.

Ann (Harper) Holt-Jesse Holt, Sarah (Holt) Dungan, Mary Ann (Holt) Cornell, George, Samuel and Charles.

Maria (Harper) Wilkinson-Ellen (Wilkinson) Rufe, Charles, Lydia (Wilkinson) Boucher, Mary (Wilkinson) Porchaske.

Susanna (Harper) Davis-Harper, Susan (Davis) Packer, Charles, Mary.

Daniel DeB. and Sarah (Sims) Harper-Martha Ann (Harper) Fries, Sarah S. (Harper) Winall, Mary E. (Harper) Winall, Eliza H., George W., Stephen Sims, Minerva (Harper) Butters, Daniel, Willamina (Harper) Spillard, Emmabella, Charles Asbury.

Elizabeth (Harper) Logan-Harriet (Lo-gan) Coughlan, Ada.

Samuel and Mary (Mowery) Harper-Margaret (Harper) Chase, George, Ann (Harper) Fulkioner, Philip, Nathan, John, Mary (Harper) Fox.

Nathan and Ellen (Bosler) Harper-Hannah B., Mary, Jane (Harper) Snyder, Cornelia, Louise (Harper) Davis, Clara (Harper) Bickey, Lyman, Helen (Harper) Collum, Linnaeus.

Margaret (Harper) Livezey -Thomas, Martha (Livezey) Pate, Rebecca Ann (Livezey) Stout, Tace (Livezey) Smith, Jesse.

The Harper family undoubtedly came from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066, and afterwards intermarried with the English. Later the American branch of the family was established, and the ancestor of the Jenkintown family allied themselves by marriage with other families, among them the descendants of Thomas Roberts, a native of Wales. The mixture of these three hardy races has produced a long lived sturdy race of people. The early alliance of the family with the Society of Friends also probably had much to do with the strong and sturdy character of their descendants. George Fox, the founder of Friends, taught the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men, and urged upon his followers plainness of speech, of dress, and of manners, and a perfect faith in the direction of the spirit of the Omnipotent Father in the management of the minutest affairs of life. Such a belief would naturally conduce to peace of mind and a long and happy life.