BARTHOLOMEW. These are said to be descended from the celebrated Barthhelemi family of France, many of whom, having seceded from the Roman Catholic Church, emigrated to Great Britain in order to escape persecution. From England they came to Pennsylvania at an early day, and we find George Bartholomew, with his wife Jane, living at and owning the Blue Anchor tavern in Philadelphia in 1683. John Bartholomew, of Montgomery township, (now) Montgomery County, died in 1756, and Mary, his widow, about 1762. They had children, _Ann, m. Thomas Waters; Joseph; Thomas; Elizabeth m. Isaac Davis, Esq., of Tredyffrin; Rachel, m. Benjamin Davis; John; Andrew; Benjamin; Mary, m. __Thomas; Augustie; and Edward.

Joseph settled in East Whiteland soon after 1740, and died there in November, 1754, leaving a wife, Sarah, and children, _John, Benjamin, Hannah, and Rachel. Their father's lands were divided between the sons, John receiving the homestead and 180 acres, while the remaining 160 acres was devised to his brother. But at the dawn of the Revolutionary war Benjamin spurned the idea of being the inglorious cultivator of an invaded soil. He marched, as captain of a company, to the tented field; he fought gallantly and suffered much, yet Providence spared him to witness the happy termination of the contest, and ultimately restored him to his friends and paternal fields. Soon after the close of the Revolutionary war, Captain Bartholomew married Rachel, daughter of William and Sarah (Potts) Dewees, and settled on his farm in the Township of East Whiteland, located in the vicinity of his birthplace. On this farm were concentrated all his joys and all his toils. The industry for which he was conspicuous in every pursuit of life was in no situation more fully exemplified than in his agricultural occupations. The appearance of his farm and his stock, the harmony which pervaded his household, his excellent arrangements, all combined too bring to recollection the elegant exclamation of the prince of Roman poets: "O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint, Agriolas!"

Capt. Bartholomew did know and did realize the happiness of a farmer's life. No inducements were sufficiently powerful to withdraw his attention from agricultural pursuits. From 1772 to 1775, inclusive, he served as a member of Assembly, and he was repeatedly solicited in after life, by those who were best acquainted with his capacity for business, to accept a public trust; but this he uniformly refused. On a particular occasion he was requested to assign his reasons for declining a public station. He replied, "Many are fond of public employment, and are totally regardless where the theatre of action may be. I should not refuse my services if required on a public exigency, but until that shall exist I must be permitted to remain with my family on this farm; each requires my attention, and each possesses my regard."

His family embraced the following children: Joseph, who married Hannah Davis, and died in Tredyffrin in 1811; Hannah, who married John Hughes; Sarah; John, who married Lydia Cleaver; Rachel, who married Thomas Davis; Marian (Maryanne), who died unmarried; Edward, who married Emily Cleaver; Augustine, who married Maryanne Philips; Benjamin, who married Elizabeth Pritner; and Ellen, who became the wife of Thomas Maxwell.

Captain Bartholomew was a plain, blunt man, and freely spoke his mind. He died on his well-cultivated farm March 31, 1812, aged sixty years. His remains are deposited in the cemetery of the Baptist Church, Tredyffrin.

John Bartholomew, Esq., was the brother of Captain Benjamin Bartholomew, and was educated for mercantile pursuits, but, preferring agriculture, he early settled on his paternal estate in East Whiteland. He served as Major of the Chester County regiment of the Flying Camp in 1775, and in after-life attained to the rank of Colonel and Brigadier General of militia. He was also a justice of the peace, and of the County Court. In the burial ground of the Great Valley Baptist Church a monument was erected to his memory, from which it appears he died Jan. 24, 1814, in the sixtieth year of his age.

Thomas Bartholomew, a brother of John (1), probably settled in Willistown after the year 1756. He married Margaret_______, but left no children. He died before December 3, 1765; his wife died in December or January, 1776-7.

Benjamin Bartholomew, of Chester Borough, gentleman, died in 1784, leaving a considerable estate to his relatives, including the children of his brother Joseph and sister, Elizabeth Davis.





This page updated on February 26, 2009