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History of the Biddle Family

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HISTORY of the BIDDLE FAMILY by Virginia Biddle Thode 1964 Dedicated in memoryof my dad, Russell L. Biddle and my grandfather, Tunis W. Biddle Dear Relatives, eightFromextensive years, I haveresearch written and_personal this informal interviews account during of our the Biddle pasw history. As you must realize,it is quite a task to collect so much material about several hundred people and as some people disagree about dates or swelling of names...you will find error . The material was obtained from county histories, newspapers, census reports, Civil War records, marriage and death records, wills, land records, family Bibles, tombstones and through my correspondence with many relatives. Mysincere thanks to each of you who so kindly contributed. /€47/~€./I, tiazsaszmf5? A if 3?H H w. 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Eizfacobglad/e23»,/"t.-_fJ._L~Iq./-p_§;__BJ_‘dd/e»/6'55»/L11 " ~ ._ '~ 0 " 7%}FM’1gc»:,L_M._z3./f:/;([9Ag2a_uz3s; __ M 5 :~S_4_I,I.'141.c,/..4::.fi/024.4./.F.’__’_"S_¥£3_-_/31.1 05.1: 7,i-§:!.r.4!L___31‘d;£lc._+-1131.11.32 114Misc» 7133 517'" .6:Q<J.q;L___]3}ZC47’_L§_fi3§.Isa_L8§£% - ~ I. '1 ­ ononf”."msmvnnunmAll DAN'SIf/04taApv. 39me.s,_-%___.31}{1L¢- /1 9'0 /937; ‘= «» ~­ Y.mdlc.'QChg!childquhvjvqvofaflogeipropontuau.1hm-Ixun ....-;5J2LCrP‘2 _ T3L9’d/[<3 r A;g_l?9‘3 « «. -§ -- 2‘;.2’."'4*t’;‘f.:'£J"““"“"1“‘“i,,_-,_w . 7/””"‘/"'5. R. 7T0dG)1??rdlq.,‘8 . _ ‘, ‘PO B.oX 67 . ‘ __ ~ ‘ ‘ “ii” %74756‘ /0» 1/‘ I}4;’L"'j” JOHN W. BIDDLE AND ELIZABETH (GKMBER) BIDDLE and descendants .l ii «M\/ it -94 John W. Biddle was born about 1790 in the state of NewJersey. John was married in 1816 in Pennsylvania to Elizabeth Gamber. Elizabeth was a native of Pennsylvania and born about the year, 1800. ln 1817, the couple movedwest to Donegal township in Washington County, Penn. where they lived for six years. Next they moved to Wheeling, West Virginia where they lived for about the next six yearsu Sometime around 1830, the couple with their first six children, Eliza, Isaac, John E., Jacob , Maryand Sam­ uel G, Biddle moved to Carroll County, Ohio. On the sixteenth of February in 1833, John and Elizabeth Biddle bought 76 and 7o/ioo acres of land from Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Barin. NeithVJohn W. nor Elizabeth Biddle could write as had both signed their X.E1izabeth did learn to write somelater as the information about her marr­ iage and the years lived in Penn., W. Va. and names of their ten children was learned from a paper written by Elizabeth. The farm was about 3%miles due north of the village of Dellroy, Ohio. The land was situated in Harrison township, range 6, twp. 15, Section 34 and comprised the west one half of Southwest quarter. Four more children, Sarah. Georce. Amosand Joseph were born on this farm, making a total of seven sons, and three daughters. The family enjoyed many social events at Baxters Ridge Methodist Church which was just 1 3/4 miles east of their home, The four oldest children married in Carroll County, Ohio. On Sept. 28, 1849, John and Elizabeth sold their farm to Jacob Best. Then with their five youngest children accompanyingthem, they headed for OwenCounty, Indiana. ( All the other children with their fami­ lies followed with”next couple years...except for oldest daughter. Eliza Biddle Baxter and fifth child, MaryBiddle, whoboth died in 1844 and buried in Baxters Ridge Cemetery). On October 26, 1849, John W. Biddle bought 80 acres from John G. Long. The land was located 1%miles west of Vandalia, Indiana. It comprised the west one—half of Southeast one~quarter of Sec. 7, range 4 in La— fayette township. The land was a wilderness as was most of the county at that time. Vandalia consisted of one good general store, a hotel kept by James Davis, a blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse and a post office. The village of Lancaster, nowcalled Patricksburg. was about 3 miles west of the Biddle homestead. The family de­ pendedfor cultivation. mostly on meat for survival -1­ until the land could be clears; Wild turkey, deer, prairie chickens, and squirrels were very plentiful. The creeks were stocked with manyvarieties of fish and wild ducks and other water fowl lived along the river banks. At times buffalo roamed in the county which provided skins for clothing. Beavers, coons, opposums, muskrats and otter also provided skins for clothing and to be traded for such staples as sugar, molasses, meal and flour. In 1852, a son Jacob Biddle bought a saw mill in Lancaster, installed a set of burrs and the town boasted of having a meal and flour mill. There were wild plums, grapes, black and red haws, dew­ berries, blackberries, which were preserved for use during the long winter months. Many persimmon and pawpawtrees grew along the rivers and there were manykinds of nut trees. The in­ genuity of our ancestors were great for they madealmost every thing they owned. The womenmade all the clothing and took muchpride and pleasure in carding , spinning, weaving, sew­ ing and knitting. Wehave no way of knowing if there was a house on the land when John W. Biddle bought it. If not, we can be sure they erected one in no time. The present house stands on the same spot with the hand dug basement of clay underneath. With all our luxuries of today, it is hard to realize howthe pioneers got along with so little. Following is what John and Elizabeth ownedin l850 and its appraised value at that time: 1 gray mare $25, 1 wagon $35, 1 metle plow 32.50, l cow 38, l spinnin wheel $1.50, 1 lot of cooking utensils,$2.50, 1 brass clock t , 1 square table 75¢, 1 cup— board $4, 1 bedstead and bedding, $8.50, 1 bed $3, 1 wash kettle $1.25 l wash tub 50¢ l shovel 50¢, 2 flat irons 50¢, 1 log chain .l.50, l saddle $4, 1 reel $1.00, 1 horse glsning $4.50, 1 pair steele ards fi1.l2%, l brass kettle $2, A grain sacks 37%¢, 1 chair ~2.5o. 1 chest $1.25. On June 1, 1850, John W. Biddle bought and paid for 33 acres of land from the Board of Trustees of the Wabashand Erie Canal.It was adjacent to the eighty acres he already owned. John died in 1850, less than a year after he'd arrived in OwenCounty, Indiana. A son, Samuel G. Biddle was appointed administrator of the estate. The appraised value of the furniture, tools and other possessions totaled $115.75. There was also $300. cash received from Ohio. On October 4, 1851, Samuel G. Biddle paid eight dollars and 95¢ in full paymentof the burial expenses of the late John W.Biddle. Elizabeth Biddle continued living on the farm her husband had bought in 1849, until her death in 1898. The youngest son, Joe married in 1866 and he and Lydia made their homewith Elizabeth. Note—- from V.B.T. For almost eight years,could find we searched around Vandalia every cemetery for the we M” ,,,Ma~—~~—-»~—-nN ‘ grave of John W. Biddle but had long ago decided he must have just had an JOHNBIDDLE. old sandstone for a marker. So you born can just imagine our surprise when Nov. 20, 1791 on Feb. 28, 1964, Max and I found died the stone of John in the Vandalia Sept. 4, 1850 Cemetery. It had broken off at the aged base, fall backwards and became 2 ‘Z 58 y. 9 m. 16 d. covered with dirt and sod. Freezing and thawing over the years must have brought it to the surface so that it Blessed be the dead was 3/4 uncovered. We had searched this cemetery thoroughly twice before. which die in the Lord Wehave not found the grave of Eliz­ abeth (Gamber) Biddle nor her exact date of death but have learned she was still living with the youngest son, Joseph when she died 1fi‘“““ 1898 at 98 years old. Mygreat Uncle Jim told me eight years ago in April that his grandmother, Elizabeth GamberBiddle was buried in the Vandalia Cemetery. I've talked to three second cousins who rememberElizabeth as a little old lady who always were her shawl but they were all too young to remember exactly where she was buried. The following pages are as complete as I've been able to collect about the 10 children of John W.
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