Bucks County PA Archives Biographies.....Burton, Anthony
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joe Patterson, Patricia Bastik & Susan Walters Dec 2009

Source: History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania; edited by 
J.H. Battle; A. Warner & Co.; 1887
Bristol Township


ANTHONY BURTON was one of the first settlers of what is now 
Bucks county (then called Buckingham) in Pennsylvania.  He 
emigrated from England.  The exact date of his arrival is 
not known. He was settled, however, and possessed of 
considerable property previous to 1684.  In Phineas 
Pemberton's book of cattle marks of that date his mark is 
there described and recorded.  He also owned slaves.  March 
16, 1695, he and one Thomas Burk purchased from Peter White 
and others a tract of land covering the present side of 
Bristol.  They laid it out in town lots and called it New 
Bristol and he, with other lot-owners, in 1720 petitioned 
for and procured letters patent from Governor Keith for the 
incorporation of Bristol, which continued its charter down 
to the Revolution.  In 1715 he was commissioned a justice of 
the peace, and held that office for several years.  He was a 
man of liberal education and great influence in the 
community.  He belonged to the established church and gave 
the land for the church and church-yard of St. James 
Episcopal church, at Bristol, and also contributed to the 
erection of a church building which was completed in 1712.  
It appears from the records that he and any of his lineal 
descendants are entitled to the occupancy of two pews in the 
church forever.  On the 18th day of December, 1687, he 
married Sarah Gibbs, widow; she died June 28, 1718, without 
issue. July 28, 1720, he married Susan Keene by whom he had 
two children:  Martha, who died unmarried, and Anthony Jr., 
born July 17, 1721.  Anthony Burton died in 1739, and was 
buried in St. James churchyard at Bristol.
   
   Anthony, Jr., son of Anthony and Susan, married Mary 
Hough, daughter of Richard Hough, February 12, 1752.  He was 
a large land-owner and resided on his estate on the old road 
about midway between Bristol and the falls of the Delaware, 
in what is now Bristol township.  The father of his wife was 
an eminent Friend and the daughter was a member of meeting.  
It was supposed her husband adopted her religious views, as 
it does not appear that he attended at Bristol church after 
his marriage.  All his children became Friends.  He had 
eight children, of whom four died in infancy and four 
survived him: John, born September 17, 1753; Martha, born 
July 25, 1757; Anthony, born August 9, 1758; and Jonathan, 
born August 21, 1765.  John, the oldest son of Anthony, Jr., 
and Mary, married Rachel Wilson (nee Satcher), widow of 
Henry Wilson, in February, 1778.  He resided on the 
homestead of his father in Bristol township the most of his 
life and afterward removed to Falls township.  He had two 
children by his wife Rachel:  Joseph and John.  She died in 
1781.  October 9, 1789, he married Hannah Watson, and by her 
had the following children:  Benjamin, Mary, Rachel, 
Anthony, and Charles.  He died September 3, 1835, and was 
buried at Fallsington.  Anthony, son of Anthony Jr., and 
Mary, married Jane, daughter of Dr. John Gregg, of New 
Jersey, April 27, 1781.  Their children were John G., Amos, 
Deborah, and William.  He died in April, 1838, and was 
buried at Fallsington.  Jonathan, son of Anthony, Jr., and 
Mary, married Letitia Williamson, on the 11th of March, 
1790, and had children:  William, Sarah, Mary, Peter, Ann 
L., and Elizabeth.  He died in 1840 and was buried at 
Fallsington.  The descendants of these three children of 
Anthony, Jr., and Mary have become related by marriage to 
the Houghs, Watsons, Williamsons, Wilsons, Carlisles, 
LaRues, Headleys, Paxsons, Mitchells, Thompsons, 
Stackhouses, and Cadwalladers, nearly all of the old 
families in the lower part of the county.  Being Friends 
they eschewed politics, although always having a decided 
political faith.  They were generally agriculturists, some 
of them occupying land owned by the first Anthony.
   
   Joseph, the grandson of Anthony, Jr., was a large 
land-owner in Bristol and Falls townships and was a justice 
of the peace for over thirty years.  He married Sarah Watson 
and died in 1858.  Anthony, also a grandson of Anthony, Jr., 
was nominally a farmer, though he engaged in many other 
business enterprises.  He married Mary Headley, and after he 
death Anna Paxson.  He died in 1874.  He was a devoted and 
prominent member of the Society of Friends, a man of 
unblemished reputation and great ability.  For twenty-four 
years he was president of the Farmers' National Bank of 
Bucks County.  He was also president of the Delaware River 
Steamboat Company, and filled many other positions of trust 
and usefulness.  In the various public positions to which he 
was called his ability and worth were highly appreciated, 
and he enjoyed to the fullest extent the esteem and 
confidence of the entire community.  In his social 
intercourse he was kindly and frank and always ready to 
encourage those in adverse circumstances.  All efforts made 
for the advancement of society received his quiet aid.  He 
was industrious and frugal, yet generous.  In his death the 
community lost a valuable citizen and a wise counselor.   
His son, Elwood, is a successful merchant of Tullytown.  
William, also a grandson of Anthony, Jr., was a merchant in 
Philadelphia and afterward a doctor of medicine.  He was 
remarkable for his brilliant conversational powers and the 
extent and variety of his information.  He married Susan 
Hallowell, of Philadelphia, and died at Penn's Manor. 
Jonathan, a grandson of Jonathan and great-grandson of 
Anthony, Jr., was a large manufacturer of iron and died in 
Ohio a few years since very wealthy.  William, another 
great-grandson, was a successful merchant in New York.  One 
of his sons is now in the U. S. navy, and another was killed 
in the late war.  John A., a great-grandson of John, son of 
Anthony, Jr., is a lawyer of high standing at the 
Philadelphia bar.  He married the daughter of Dr. William S. 
Van Horn, who was a surgeon of eminence in the U. S. navy. 
John H., a great-grandson of Anthony, son of Anthony, Jr., 
was a member of the state legislature in 1878.