History of Bucks County Pennsylvania United States of America

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Biographies:

John Lacey, soldier, was born in Bucks county, Pa., Feb. 4, 1755. He was captain in Col. Anthony Wayne's 4th Pennsylvania battalion and went with the battalion to Long Island, N.Y., Feb. 22, 1776, and on the Canada expedition. In 1777 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and on Jan. 9, 1778, brigadier-general of Pennsylvania militia, serving in the efforts to prevent the occupation of Philadelphia by the British. He was a representative in the Pennsylvania legislature, 1778, and a member of the council, 1779-81. He commanded a brigade of state militia from August, 1780, to October, 1781, and after the war removed to New Mills, N.J., where he engaged in manufacturing iron. He represented his assembly district in the New Jersey legislature and was county judge. He died at New Mills, N.J., Feb. 17, 1814.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Joseph Ellicott, engineer, was born in Bucks county, Pa., Nov. 1, 1760. He removed with his father and uncle to Ellicott's Mills, Md., in 1774, and became a surveyor. He assisted his brother Andrew in plotting the city of Washington, D.C., and in the survey of the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania. He was employed by the Holland land company of New York in surveying the "Holland purchase," 1797-1800, and laid out Buffalo, N.Y. He joined Governor Clinton in urging the projected Erie canal but opposed him when he proposed to send to Europe for engineers, and finally converted the governor to his view. He was state canal commissioner for some time and remained with the Holland land company for twenty years, during which time he succeeded in selling most of the vast tract held by the company to actual settlers. He died in Batavia, N.Y., Aug. 19, 1826.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Peter Hecht, clergyman, was born in Bucks county, Pa., Feb. 28, 1790. He was educated for the ministry of the Lutheran church and preached his first sermon in Philadelphia in 1806. He had charge of two congregations in Montgomery county after 1808. He was then called to Carlisle and on Dec. 10, 1815, removed to Easton, where he was pastor of St. John's church till 1845. He was a director and superintendent of schools in Easton; professor of German in Lafayette college, 1840-45, and a trustee of the college, 1839-45. He served as secretary and as president of the synod of Pennsylvania. He resigned his pastorate and college duties in May, 1845, and died at Easton, Pa., Jan. 30, 1849.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Rembrandt Peale, artist, was born in Bucks county, Pa., Feb. 22, 1778; son of Charles Willson Peale . He early developed artistic talent; removed to Charleston, S.C., in 1796, and in 1801 studied painting in London under Benjamin West. He returned in 1803 on account of ill health, and immediately gained popularity in Philadelphia as a portrait painter. He visited Paris in 1807 and 1809 to study art in the Louvre, painting several portraits of distinguished Frenchmen for his father's museum, and in 1810 again established himself in Philadelphia. He painted in New York, Boston and Baltimore, 1810-29; visited France and Italy, 1829-30, England in 1832, and in 1833 opened a studio in London and exhibited in the Royal academy. He was president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1805; an original member of the National Academy of Design, New York city, and upon his removal to Philadelphia was elected an honorary member in 1827. He was a skilful lithographer, being one of the first to draw on stone, and was awarded a silver medal by the Franklin Institute for a lithographic portrait of Washington in 1827. His most noted portrait was that of Washington, begun in 1795, completed in 1823, exhibited in Rome, Florence and London and finally purchased by the U.S. senate. Among his other portraits are: Baron Cuvier, Bernardin de Saint Pierre, Jean Antoine Houdon, Thomas Jefferson, Mrs. James Madison, Thomas Sully, Oliver H. Perry, Ranmohun Roy, G.W. Bethune, William Bainbridge, Joseph Priestly, General Armstrong and Stephen Decatur. His figure compositions include: Napoleon on Horseback; Babes in the Wood; Errina; Song of the Shirt; Jupiter and Io; Wine and Cake; Lyseppa on the Rock; Roman Daughter; An Italian Peasant; Ascent of Elijah, and Court of Death. He lectured on "Washington and His Portraits" in several of the larger cities of the Union, and edited the Portfolio of an Artist (1839). He is the author of: An Account of the Skeleton of the Mammoth (1802); Historical Disquisition on the Mammoth (1803); Notes on Italy (1831); Graphics (1841); Reminiscences of Art and Artists (1845), and translations contributed to the Crayon and other publications. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 3, 1860.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Bucks County Pennsylvania

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