THE LINTON FAMILY, of East Bethlehem township, claim descent from a very early settler in the county, who came hither over a century ago. The name Linton is probably of Scottish origin, there being two towns of that name in Scotland, one situated about fifteen miles south and the other some thirty miles east of the city of Edinburgh. John Linton, the first of the ancestry to come to this country, having immigrated about the year 1682, was, so tradition says, at one time a clergyman of the Established Church, but was converted to the Quaker faith. An old family Bible now in the possession of Oliver M. Linton, of East Bethlehem, contains a record of five generations, and the first item in this record is the following "Benjamin Linton, son of John and Rebecca, born 6th month, 10th day, 1703."
Joshua Linton, son of the above-named Benjamin, by a second wife, nee Jane Cowgil, and born January 22, 1738, was married May 16, 1770, to Hannah Hutchinson. [The marriage certificate, now in the possession of their great-grandson, Mahlon Linton, East Bethlehem, is a very formidable looking document. It is engrossed on parchment by the clerk of the meeting ("Falls township, Bucks Co., and Province of Pennsylvania"), and certifies the marriage of the parties above named. It is signed, as was the custom of the Quakers, by a great number of witnesses. A copy of a similar certificate, dated 1771, in the hands of Prof. Edwin Linton, Washington, has the names of no less than sixty-seven witnesses attached.] Joshua Linton, in company with his three sons, Benjamin, Mahlon and Joshua, Jr., came from Newtown, Bucks Co., Penn., to Washington county, toward the close of the last century, and bought a tract of land in East Bethlehem township, which is still owned by his descendants. Of the children of Joshua, Benjamin never married. Mahlon married March 31, 1802. [The Hilles family have now no representatives, bearing the name, in Washington county. Two brothers of Ann Eli and Samuel removed to Wilmington, Del., where they established a Friends' school, which was conducted successfully for several years. They amassed considerable property in Wilmington, and their descendants still live there, for the most part engaged in manufacturing. The descendants of another brother, David, live in Iowa.] The following is a record of the children and grandchildren of Mahlon and Ann (Hilles) Linton:
(1) Sarah (born August 14, 1804, died 1873) married Nathan Cleaver. They had one child Martha, now Mrs. W. H. Mitchell, of Bentleyville, Penn.
(2) William H. (born April 30, 1806, died 1862) married Matilda Taylor. Their children, now living, are: Caroline, married to Jacob Maxwell, now in Ohio; Oliver M., married to Philena Cleaver has two children living, Cora and Eva, and lives on the old homestead; Hilles, married, has five children, and lives near Salem, Ohio.
(3) Samuel (born June 23, 18 , died 1864) married Eliza Deems (not related to the Deems family of West Pike Run township); was a civil engineer; elected county commissioner in 1840; appointed clerk of commissioners in 1858, and served in that office until his death in 1864. His children are Anna E., married Abel Knight, son of Jonathan Knight, now a widow and living in the State of California (she has four sons); Charles L., who enlisted in the first call for volunteers (1861), known as the "three months' men," then re-enlisted and served throughout the war (was wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House; was promoted, and at the end of the war was captain of Company D, One Hundred and Fortieth P. V. I. He married in Kansas, has several children, and lives in Junction City, Kans.); and Eli H., who also enlisted, and served till the end of the war (was promoted to the office of captain near the close of the war. He is married and has two children, lives in Holton, Kans.).
(4) Joseph (born January 28, 1813, died 1882) married Naomi Harry, December 30, 1843. [The Harry family have no representatives bearing the name in Washington county. Naomi was the daughter of Lewis Harry, who came to Washington county from Chester county. His first wife was Maria Griffith, of York county, Penn., related to the Griffiths of West Pike Run and East Bethlehem townships. The children of Lewis and Maria were William (who is still living in Kansas), Naomi and Melinda (both dead). His second wife was Sarah Comley. After the death of Lewis Harry, April 1, 1865, his widow and two surviving children Comley and Mary removed to Illinois. They now live in St. Louis. Jesse, another son, was killed in the Civil war, shot June 17, 1864, at Petersburg, Va., died soon after.] Joseph Linton was a school teacher for a time, and for a good part of his life a civil engineer; he was a member of the original surveying party of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad through Maryland, with Jonathan Knight. He constructed the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad from the mouth of Yellow creek to Bellaire, Ohio. The later years of his life were spent on his farm in East Bethlehem township, although he continued work as a surveyor to the time of his death. He was quite devoid of political ambition, but often against his wish and without his knowledge was announced as a candidate for the office of county auditor, and always elected. He served in all twelve years in that modest but important office. The surviving children of Joseph Linton are Mahlon (b. 1844), married Elizabeth Cleaver, daughter of Amos Cleaver, and lives in West Pike Run township, where he is serving his second term as justice of the peace (he owns and operates the farm known as the Samuel Taylor farm, near Centreville, this county; he enlisted in the Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry when but little over nineteen years of age, and served to the end of the war; his children are Laurena, Gertrude, Naomi and Edith).
EDWIN (born 1855). He was graduated from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Penn., in 1879; was tutor for two years in Washington and Jefferson College; spent the year 1881-82 in post-graduate study in Yale College; since September, 1882, he has been professor of geology and biology in Washington and Jefferson College; is the author of several scientific papers, the most important of which have been published in the reports and bulletins of the United States Fish Commission; received the degree of Ph. D. from Yale College in 1890. On July 9, 1885, Prof. Linton was united in marriage with Margaret M., daughter of Rev. Dr. James I. Brownson, and one child, Eleanor, has been born to them. They live in Washington, Penn.
(5) Mary Ann (born April 27, 1815, died 1882) married Jesse Richards; after the death of her husband she removed to Ohio. She has three children: Henry (in Kansas), and Austin and Emma (Mrs. Freeman) (both in Ohio). Henry and Austin were both members of Company C, One Hundred and Fortieth P. V. I., and served to close of the war.
(6) Isaiah (born September 29, 1817, died 1891) married Victoria Dutton, who bore him one child, Ellen, who married Rev. Thomas Galway, and they are now living in Huntington, W. Va.; Isaiah married, for his second wife, Mary Riley, of Brownsville, Penn., and they have two children living: William H., a civil engineer in Ravenna, Ohio, and Edith (unmarried), also living in Ravenna. Isaiah was chief engineer of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad from the early days of the road until the time of his death, a period of over forty years; during the last few years of his life he was relieved of active duty, but was retained as consulting engineer on full salary.
(7) Caroline (born August 21, 1820) died young.
(8) Margaret (born September 21, 1825) married Thomas Packer, removed to Salem, Iowa, where with several children and grandchildren she is still living.
Joshua Linton, Jr., third son of Joshua, Sr., married Mary Baker, and, of their children, Nathan removed to Iowa; Nathan had three sons in the Civil war: Ira, killed at Lost Mountain, Ga., 1864; Harvy, wounded, and Edmond. David married Mary Thistlethwait (both died in East Bethlehem township, on the Joshua Linton homestead); Henry is still living with his niece (David's daughter) Eliza Nickerson, in Ohio. Miles, another son of David, now dead, married Emma Buffington, and left two children, a son Fred, and a daughter, Laura, who, if still in Washington county, are the only descendants of Joshua, Jr., bearing the name, in the county. Hannah, a daughter of Joshua, Jr., married Miles Ruble, and Hiram L. Ruble, who lives in East Bethlehem township, is a son of these. Other sons were William, who is now living in Illinois, and Griffith, who lives in Ohio. Both of the latter were volunteers in the war of the Rebellion. Eliza, another daughter of Joshua, Jr., married Mark Davidson, and removed to Wapello, Iowa, where she died, and left three sons and one daughter; two of the sons, Frank and Hiram, were volunteers in the Civil war; another son of Joshua, Jr., Hiram, was also a soldier in the Rebellion, and died at Fort Donelson, Tenn.
Although of Quaker origin, none of the later generations of Washington county Lintons are identified with that body. The old Westland meeting, where their ancestors worshiped, has long ceased to exist as a congregation. The burying ground is preserved, but the meeting-house is in ruins. The older generation were in sympathy with the so-called "Hicksite" division of Friends. In politics they were Whigs, and their descendants are, naturally, Republicans.
Text taken from page 41 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed March 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published April 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]