History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



Haines Family - WILLIAM ELLIS HAINES Biography

The Haines family, now prominently represented in business circles in Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, by William Ellis Haines, of Haines & Peaslee, Frederic Block, has been actively identified with the development and progress of this great commonwealth for several centuries. The ancestry is English and the family was founded in America by John Haines, who sent an invitation tŪ his parents, Richard and Margaret Haines, and brothers, Richard, William, Thomas, and Joseph, to follow him. Richard Haines, or Haynes, resided during the latter part of the seventeenth century in the village of " Ainho," or Aynho-on-the-Hill, in the county of Northampton, England. The village of Aynho, the original name of which was Avonho, meaning wellhead or fountain, derives its name from a powerful spring called the town well which issues from below the rock upon which the village stands. During the slow voyage of those early days across the Atlantic ocean Richard Haines or Haynes (lied on the sea.

John Haines, the pioneer ancestor, probably brought his wife, Esther (Borton) Haines, with him from England. Tradition says that his first home was a cave on the banks of the Rancocus, not distant from a small tribe of Indians known as the Cotoxen. In 1683, probably shortly after his arrival, he purchased six hundred acres of land in Goshen, Chester county, Pennsylvania, and in 1710 purchased another tract consisting of several hundred acres. He was the owner of two hundred acres on the Rancocus, and was joint proprietor with his brother Richard, son Jonathan, and others, of two thousand and one hundred and ninety acres, upon which was located the Friendship Mill, on a branch of the Rancocus. After the survey was made they bought the Indian title and received deeds from the chief We-Sosig. Thirteen children, six sons and seven daughters, the majority of whom attained years of maturity, were the issue of the marriage of John and Esther (Borton) Haines. Esther Haines died in 1719, and from the testimony of Friends appears to have been an earnest Christian. Three years later, 1722, John Haines married Hannah Wood, daughter of John Whitall; his death occurred in 1728, and Friends recorded that "he was an appointed elder and a zealous man."

Isaac Haines, third son of John and Esther (Borton) Haines, was born in the year 1680. He removed from Gloucester county, New Jersey, to Goshen, Chester county, Pennsylvania, bearing a certificate from the Monthly Meeting of Friends there dated Second month 8, 1714. Early in the same year he married Katharine David, a young Friend from Wales. They became members of Goshen Monthly Meeting in 1722, when it was set apart from that of Chester. They probably settled on the one hundred and fifty acres afterwards left to him by his father's will. The issue of this union was four sons and six daughters, all of whom married, with possibly one exception. The death of Isaac Haines occurred in the year 1757, at the age of seventy-seven years.

Isaac Haines, Jr., eldest son of Isaac and Katharine (David) Haines, was born Eighth month 10, 1718. On Eighth month 5, 1744, he married Mary, daughter of Lawrence and Ellen Cox, of Willistown, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Their children, ten in number, were as follows: Jane, Ellen, Elisha, Caleb, Isaac, Jacob, Jesse, William, John and Martha. Isaac Haines, father of these children, died of influenza in 1790, aged seventy-two years; his wife, Mary (Cox) Haines, born in 1726, died in 1773, aged forty-six years.

Jesse Haines, fifth son of Isaac and Mary (Cox) Haines, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, Ninth month 14, 1756. His home was near the " Turk's Head." now the town of West Chester. Early in life he was led to inquire what the Lord would have him do, and in simple faith he obeyed. His faithfulness was often put to the test. His conscientious scruples forbade him from taking an active part in the Revolutionary war, and in consequence, when called out to serve in the army at the age of eighteen, he was deprived of all his money, watch and best clothing. Upon declining the second time to engage in war he was taken to Chester, ostensibly for the purpose of putting him in jail. On another occasion when near Springfield meeting house, in Delaware county, he was arrested and placed as a prisoner for the cold night in a small room without fire, food, or a chair to sit upon. The following day he was brought before General Wayne, who after some conversation informed him that he was at liberty to go home, but added, " The next time we find you going to Philadelphia while the British have possession there, we will shoot you." Near the close of the war he was again drafted, and for his refusal to fight was sentenced to one year's imprisonment in Chester. At first the jailer was severe with him, but later became kind and sympathizing and allowed him to teach his children, and obtained books from a library for him to read. His health failed under the confinement in prison, and at the end of three months, by the entreaty of Friends of Chester Monthly Meeting, the officers of .. the American army released him and he resumed his school in Middletown, Delaware county.

Mr. Haines became a preacher of the gospel and was recorded a minister by his Monthly Meeting when he was about thirty years of age. On Tenth month 6, 1785, at a meeting of Friends in Middletown, Delaware county, Jesse Haines and Rachel Otley were married; she was the only daughter of James and Ann Otley. The Otleys probably came to Pennsylvania from Otley, a market-town and parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire, beautifully situated in the valley of the Wharfe. Previous to the summer of 1788, Mr. Haines and his family removed from Middletown to Wilmington, Delaware, taking charge of a Friends' school in that city and residing there several years. They then returned to Pennsylvania, locating at first in Columbia county, not far from Catawissa, where he pursued his previous occupation. In 1802 he purchased a tract of land in the Elklands, where he indulged in hunting and angling, but only as a means of adding to the family comfort. After residing there for a few years he located in the southern counties of the state, and finally settled in Muncy Valley. He was faithful to his calling as a minister of the gospel in his own meetings, and at various times traveled extensively in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. He was very regular in his habits and remarkably temperate in all things, which no doubt contributed greatly to the sound, healthy state of his mind and body. He enjoyed perusing the works of good authors, and, having a retentive memory and a contemplative mind, profited by his reading and accumulated a large store of useful information. For many years he read the Bible through annually, derived much pleasure from good poetry, especially hymns, often committing them to memory. Although he adopted the doctrines and testimonies of Friends because he believed them to be in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, that did not prevent his enjoyment of the company and conversation of other religious persons, and he was heard to remark : " I am no sectarian ; I can give the right hand of fellowship to all who look for salvation through the offering and atonement of our Saviour." Mr. Haines passed away Ninth month 8, 1856, being within six days of one hundred years old. His wife, Rachel (Otley) Haines, who was a valued elder in the church and a faithful wife, mother and friend, was called to her reward in the year 1834, in the seventy-ninth year of her age.

Jacob Haines, eldest son of Jesse and Rachel (Otley) Haines, was born in Wilmington, Delaware, Seventh month 6, 1788. From early boyhood he was thoughtful, earnest, industrious and untiring in efforts to improve in learning, manners and moral attributes. While the family resided in the Elklands, he was very energetic in clearing and cultivating their land, planting fruit trees, making sugar, and in other ways providing for the domestic comfort. At that time the children of the household pursued their studies when at leisure, and in the evenings under the care of their father. About the nineteenth year of his age he pursued his studies under the teaching of a well known mathematician of that day, Enoch Lewis, in Chester county, and passed several years after that as a student and instructor. Subsequently he established a school in Philadelphia for the daughters of the wealthier class of citizens, which he conducted successfully until a serious attack of typhoid fever compelled him to give up all employment for several months. On recovering his health he accepted a position as teacher in Friends' Boarding-School at Westtown.

While there, in the Tenth month, 1815, he was united in marriage to Rachel Ellis, who was born at Muncy, Eleventh month 25, 1788, a daughter of William and Mercy (Cox) Ellis, of Muncy. She had been the object of his especial regard from the age of thirteen, when he had first observed her as she moved about her father's house, and his youthful admiration and devotion only increased with time as the nearly half century of their wedded life on earth rolled on. In 1823, with his wife and three children, he removed from Westtown to Muncy, Lycoming county. Their first residence was a farm belonging to his wife, but shortly afterward he purchased the paternal dwelling of the Ellis family with its ample acres, and the Wolf Run house became the happy home of his family. His patriotic spirit led him to promote all public improvements, always assisting to the extent of his means in defraying expenses connected with them. In addition to the care of his farm, he was often occupied with surveying and conveyancing for several years after removing to Muncy. The Lycoming County Mutual Insurance Company was almost a creation of his own, and while under his supervision and some of its founders, was financially successful and widely useful. During the construction of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad through that part of the country he was commissioner for the award of damages on the property through which it passed, for which he was well qualified by knowledge acquired in previous lines of business. The last engagement of this kind was in acting as vice-president of the Catawissa Railroad while it was being made through the mountain region to Williamsport. He was a Friend by conviction as well as by early education, was regular in attendance on divine worship, in his family daily, and in the meetings for the public twice in the week, never allowing business or difficulties to prevent when he was within reach of such opportunities. He was a man of fine physique and great strength, of undaunted courage, and his sympathies were wide and warm. The cause of education was clear to his heart, and a good school under the care of Friends was vigorously supported by him, to which he sent some children who had no other means of receiving proper instruction. Mr. and Mrs. Haines were the parents of the following named children William, Mary, Mercy, Jesse, Sarah Ellis, Anna Morris, Rebecca Ellis, and Rachel. The death of Mr. Haines occurred First month 27, 1866; his wife passed away First month 12, 1862.

Jesse Haines, second son of Jacob and Rachel (Ellis) Haines, was born in Westtown, Chester county, Pennsylvania, in April, 1822, and died in December, 1895, at Pennsdale, Pennsylvania. He was educated at the famous old Westtown Boarding School. He was a paper manufacturer at Montoursville, Pennsylvania, until 1869, when he retired and removed to his farm at Pennsdale, where he was married. He was a Republican in politics and a Quaker in religious belief. Tenth month 27, 1852, Jesse Haines was united in marriage to Mary Whitacre Ecroyd, born Fifth month 18, 1827, and died in July, 1892, second daughter of Henry and Catharine (Whitacre) Ecroyd, and the issue of this union was as follows: Anna Morris, Henry Ecroyd, William, Susan Lippincott, Edward, Sarah Ellis, and William Ellis, whose name appears at the head of this sketch.

The Akroyd or Ecroyd family, of which Mrs. Jesse Haines is a representative, was founded in England by John Aykrode, eldest son of William and Marianne (Waterhouse) Aykeroide, of Akroyd, settled at Worsthorne-apparently after marriage and births of his children between the years 1560 and 1570, died in 1573, having had issue Richard, John, Alice and Grace.

John Eacroide, of Worsthorne, second son and ultimate heir of John Aykeroid or Eakeroid, married, Fifth month 31, 1573, Agnes Aylotte or Eylotte, who bore him three sons and a daughter. His death occurred in 1622, that of his wife in 1618.

William Acroide, of Worsthorne, eldest son and heir of John and Agnes (Aylotte) Eacroide, was baptized Third month 19, 1574. He married, Fourth month 6, 1600, Isabel Holte, who died Second month 14, 1618, having had as issue one son.

John Eacroide, son of William and Isabel (Holte) Acroide, was born at Worsthorne, Seventh month 6, 1601. Later he removed to Fowlds, or Faulds House, Briarcliffe. He married and had a son.

John Ackroyd or Acroide, of Fowlds House, son of John Eacroide, was born First month 10, 1621, baptized Sixth month 7, 1621. He married, Fourth month 24, 1645, Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Monk Hall, near Extwistle, an ancient residence in the township of Burnley, and about a mile south of Fowlds, or as it is now written, Folds House, and the issue of this union was a son, John. According to family tradition, Mr. Ackroyd died suddenly during his return from Gawthorp Hall, being found in a lifeless state in Swinescar Wood, Ninth month 10, 1649, when in his twenty-ninth year. His widow married (secondly) John Vipont, and at her death, Eleventh month 16, 1681, was interred in John Ecroyd's orchard.

John Ackroyd or Ecroyd, of Folds House, baptized Eleventh month 18, 1649, married, at the house of Stephen Sagar, Eleventh month 2, 1678, Alice Pollard, daughter of George and Grace Pollard, of Westclose, near Padiham, who was born in 1647. Upon attaining manhood he was preparing to enter one of the universities, when, becoming extremely dissatisfied with the formal and heartless services of the State church, he commenced attending Friends' meetings and entirely abandoned the former. Accompanying for some time a sightless minister, John Moor, his convincement was complete, and shortly coming forth in public testimony he was accounted a great and able minister of the gospel. In Cornwall he was concerned to preach in and through the streets, and in 1711 he had a certificate "to visit meetings, going to London on an appointment of the quarterly meeting of Lancashire to attend upon Parliament on the Affirmation Act." Soon after his joining Friends, he determined, so far as his own example and wishes could extend, to fix the variable and uncertain orthography of his patronymic, and abandoning the " a " altogether, definitely wrote it Ecroyd, a mode which has been conformed to by every branch of his numerous descendants. During a part of his life John Ecroyd kept a seminary (boarding some of the scholars), for which vocation he was eminently qualified. He also engaged in the woolen and worsted manufacture, which proved' extremely lucrative. His heart and house was open to receive Friends traveling in the ministry, and the first Preparative meeting on record in Marsden Monthly Meeting was held there, and the monthly and preparative meetings were held there in regular course for many successive years. He died Eleventh month 12, 1721; his wife, Alice (Pollard) Ecroyd, died Seventh month 20, 1742. They were the parents of three sons and two daughters.

Richard Ecroyd, of Lane House, Wolverden, and later of Edgend, third son of John and Alice (Pollard) Ecroyd, was born at Folds House, Tenth month 21, 1689. He married, First month 1, 1720, Susanna Kailey, only surviving daughter and child of Henry and Martha (Hoyle) Kailey, of Todmorden Edge, who was born Fourth month 17, 1696. Lane House, Wolverden, in Briarcliffe, where Richard and Susanna Ecroyd resided for awhile after their marriage and where their three eldest children were born, lies one mile west of Folds House. They were the parents of eight children, four sons and four daughters. Richard Ecroyd died Eleventh month 9, 1787; his wife passed away Third month 15, 1763.

Henry Ecroyd, eldest son of Richard and Susanna (Kailey) Ecroyd, was born Eleventh month 24, 1726. He bore a high character in his native dale, whilst his active and intelligent mind commanded great influence over a widely extended circle. His chief characteristic appears to have been great suavity, combined with decision, hence the local sobriquet, " Gentle Henry " or " Patient Henry." To him and his brothers is due the credit of introducing into their district and successfully carrying on the dyeing and manufacture of worsted, now the staple one, though in recent times combined with that of alpaca and other fabrics. Henry, as the eldest, received from his father the Edgend house and estate, together with the property of his grandparents Kailey. He married, Eighth month 17, 1751, Mary Moss, daughter of Isaac and Martha Moss, of Manchester, and seven children were born to them. Henry Ecroyd died Ninth month 4, 1784, and his remains were interred in the Friends' graveyard at Marsden Height; his wife passed away Eleventh month 30, 1774, and was buried at the same place.

James Ecroyd, sixth son of Henry and Mary (Moss) Ecroyd, was born at Edgend, England, Eleventh month 1, 1767. During the early years of his life he resided at the home of his uncle by marriage, William Payne, Newhill Grange, and while there learned the tanning business. He emigrated to the United States, Eighth month 30, 1795, in a vessel owned by Seth Barton, of Baltimore, reaching that port after a safe and uneventful passage of two months' duration. He was the founder of the Ecroyd family in America. He at once proceeded to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, making a temporary home of the residence of an earlier emigrant from his native district, John Howarth. He settled upon a farm bordering the Loyal Sock River, where he erected a domicile, and where for awhile his cousin, Susannah Marriott kept house for him. He married, at Philadelphia, Fourth month 9, 1800, Martha Howarth, daughter of John and Mary (Norton) Howarth, of Philadelphia, and granddaughter of George Howarth, of Shuttleworth Hall, near Bacup. They were the parents of two sons and six daughters. James Ecroyd died in Philadelphia, Tenth month 28, 182-; his wife, who was born in 1775, died Fourth month 19, 1845.

Henry Ecroyd, eldest son of James and Martha (Howarth) Ecroyd, was born at Muncy, Pennsylvania, Second month 10, 1801. He resided for more than half a century upon a farm in Edgend, which lies in the township of Muncy, three miles north of the village of this name, and one and a half miles distant from the western branch of the Susquehanna river ; it commands a fine view of the Bald Eagle mountain to the southwest. He was held in high esteem for his judgment, and few men were more popular with their fellow-citizens or more deserving of public regard. He was a prominent member of the Society of Friends, and from early manhood took an active part in the disciplinary business of his religious society. He married, Third month 5, 1823, Catharine Whitacre, born Eleventh month 16, 1799, died Eleventh month, 16, 1873, daughter of Joseph and Catharine Whitacre, of Muncy. Their children, six in number, two sons and four daughters, were as follows : James, Richard Henry, Susan Howarth, Mary Whitacre, aforementioned as the wife of Jesse Haines, and mother of William Ellis Haines, Martha Howarth, and Catharine Anna Ecroyd.

William Ellis Haines, son of Jesse and Mary Whitacre (Ecroyd) Haines, was born at Pennsdale, Pennsylvania. July 7, 1872. He passed his boyhood days on the parental farm, and was educated (as was his father) at the Westtown Boarding School in Chester county. He studied law with H. C. and S. T. McCormick, in Williamsport, was admitted to the bar April 10, 1897, and has continuously practiced his profession from that time. In 190O he formed a copartnership with Clarence L. Peaslee, under the firm name of Haines & Peaslee. Mr. Haines is a stockholder and director in many commercial and financial corporations in his county. He is a birthright member of the Society of Friends, a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Ross Club of Williamsport.

Mr. Haines married, in June, 1898, Miss Lillian A. Focht, born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, a daughter of E. R. and Elizabeth Focht, who were of German extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Haines are without children.


Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Lycoming County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1906.










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