Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/626

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COLUMBIA AXD MONTOUR COUNTIES

superintendence of the ground in i l ^. it became neglected. The last annual meeting of the Trustees was held in in which year the Ust burial (M rs. Rachel Polk} was made there. Before the reorganisation in the present year, thirty-two years after the last meeting, tt was brought to the attention o f tlte surviving Trustees (liat the ''Community'* and the corporation succeeding it had beeit c o m p o ^ entirely uf the descendants o f Thomas Crispin, one o f (lie parties to the division in I7a.t; while the descend­ ants of the lattcr's sisters (co-heirs with him in the ground), having mostly removed from the ncighborl>ood. had made no effort to join these organisations until recently, when some of them awakened to the kiK)wledge of their interest in the ground whkh con­ tained ih^e remains of their forefathers and desired to participate in the care o f it. The Trustees e x ­ pressed their willingness to associate some o f Ihe representatives of the other branches of the family with themselves in the m ai^em en t of the corpora­ tion and elected Gen. Davis. Mr. Mercur and Mr. Hough, who are all descendants o f Tliomas C ris­ pin's sister Kleanor, w ife o f Jolm H art: Gen. Davts and Mr. Mercur b^ng also descendants o f anotlKr sister. Mary Collet. At the present time the traces o f about one hun­ dred graves can be found, only half o f which have stones, and of these only a doten have legible in* scriptions.

Capt. Thom as Holme’s own grave was marked only by a smooth round stone until i8f>3, when a small monument w as erected over it by the trustees of the Low er Dublin Academy, whose foundation w as due to him. Thom as Crispin married ja n e, daughter of J o ^ ) h .Ashton* Esq., a justice of the Iliiladclphia County courts, and a considerable land­ owner in Low er Dublin township. T hey had issu e: S ila s : see below. Thom as: nothing was known. Jo se p h : nothing was know*n. Hannah married A pril 2, 1748, John Engle. M ercy married March i. 1753, Joscidi Engle* brother o f John. Su.AS C risp in, son o f Thomas and Jan e (.Ashton) Crispin, inherited the land o f his father in Low er Dtildin township and lived his whole life there. In I78. w as a soldier in the Revolution. U e was twice marrietl. fir>t to Elizabeth Rickey, bom in Bucks county. Pa., March 0, 17 7 5; second w ife's name unknown. 11 Illia m. nothing known. Sarah, nothing known. Jan e, nothing known. Thoinas, nothing known.

SUiis, born M ay 1 1. 1767, o f whom pres­ ently. S iijx s C r i s p i n * bom M ay 1 1, 1767, in Low er Dublin township, died (here Aug. 13* i8of>* from lockjaw, caused by running a needle into his foot. H e married in 1788 listher Doughcrtv (bom 1767, died M ay 7, 18 38 ). Issu e: Slartha, lK>m March 18, 1789* died A pril 3, 1 8 1 7; married Jam es SiitKin. Hcnjamin, bom 1792* o f whom presentiy. M ary died unmarried, X o v, 13, 1865. R aul n urried Sarah (.cshcr; died!:^ te n ihcr, 1847. Silas, lK>m A pril 8* 1798* died A pril 13, 1823. A n n, lx>m Oct. 2, 1800, died March 18, 1829: nurried M icluel Jacoby. H csicr, l)om Aug. 3 1, 1803, died Aug. 20, 1832. H o n . U k n j a u i n CaisriN * son o f Silas and ILsthcr (I>oughcriy) Crispin* bom in 1792 on his father’s estate* known as "Bellevu e,” on the Welsh road above Holmcsburg, [u rt of the W ell Spring plantation that had come down in the fam ily from their distinguished ancestor, Capt. T h on u s Holme* was educated at the Low er Dublin Academy* with which his fam ­ ily was so closely identified. In 1822 he w as commissioned a lieutenant o f Pennsylvania militia. In 1823 he w as appointed by the g o v ­ ernor o f Pennsylvania as justice of the peace for the towiisliips o f Bybcrr)'* Ixiw cr Dublin and Oxford* I ’hiladclphia county, and held that office until 1837. In 1828 he was ap|x)iiucd by the court o f Q uarter Sessions o f Iliiladclphia director o f (he public schools in his district. In 1837 he was elected a member of the General Assembly o f Pennsylvania, and rcclcctcd in 1838-39. In 1840 he was elected to the Stale Senate, and in 1843 w as n u d e speaker of the Seiutc* as the presiding offi­ cer o f that liody w as then designated. W hen the whole o f Philadelphia county w as incor­ porated with the cil^, in 1854, M r. C rispin was elected a s the hrst common councilman from the Twenty-third ward, (hen com pris­ ing the present Twenty-third* Twcnty-hfth* Thirty-filth and Forty-second w.'irds, and a part of the present Nineteenth ward. He con­ tinued to manifest a deep interest in the schools, and on leaving council w as again elected to the local school board. A ncw pub­ lic school in Holmcsburg has recently been named for him. Benjamin Crispin w as a founder o f Hmnunuel Protestant Episcopal Cliurch, at Holmcsburg, and served for twenty y e ars as