Today, the property is known as "Farview Farm." Back then, it wasn't. The property was owned by the Walton family who lived in Whitpain township. There were no earlier maps to know how long the Walton family owned the property. The earliest map is from 1817 where the name "E. Walton" owned the property. "E. Walton" is actually Eber Walton. Eber owned the property some time before the 1830 census data came out.
Eber Walton was born on May 4, 1800 in Quakertown, Bucks County, PA. His ancestors lived in Bucks County before growing up and becoming independent in their lives. For Eber, in his 20s, he conducted a farm in Southampton Township in Bucks County until around the 1830s he moved to Whitpain, possibly to continue farming. During that time, he married Ann Shaw (1800-1838) in 1825, and had 5 children. Eber married twice: after his first wife Ann died in 1838, he married Alevia Shaw (1797-1881) with no children.
Eber's children with Ann Shaw: Joseph, Mary Israel, Amos, and Mahlon
Continuing on the family generation was Joseph Walton. Joseph was the first born child on December 17, 1825. According to the 1850 census data, his father Eber was a farmer while Joseph was a laborer*.
*Laborer- a person doing unskilled manual work for wages
He married at a young age of 22 in 1847 to Elizabeth M. Conard (1824-1890). In that census data, he had 2 children who were 2 years old at the time, and they were twins: John and Sarah. Later on they had more kids: Isaac, Annie, Ellen, J. Conard, and Tacy. Since marriage, Joseph lived in his father's farm (Walton Road) his whole life until he and his family moved into his father's other farm (Skippack Pike).
Also continuing the family generation was Amos Walton. Amos lived right next to his brother Joseph. His son William Eber lived right across from him. Like Joseph, Amos was a laborer. Both Amos and Joseph took over their father's farms after he died in 1890. Amos took over the farm on Walton Road.
Back to Joseph...
This is when it gets confusing: Joseph died in 1867, and his wife Elizabeth died in 1888. It didn't make sense who owned the property in 1893 and 1916 according to those maps. They were labeled as "Jos Walton" and "Joseph Walton Estate."
Today, the property is known as "Fairview Farm," currently owned by a local resident.
Fun Fact: There were maybe 2 road milestones still sticking out of the ground that measures how far away from the house to Philadelphia. At the "Farview Farm," it was the 16th milestone, meaning the house is 16 miles from Philadelphia. The milestones were useful for post riders to keep track of their schedules.
Who knows.
The buildings are still there, at least. But, Amos's property was gone due to development.
NOTE: The Walton Property/Farview Farm has a street perpendicular to Skippack Pike named "Walton Road," possibly named after Eber Walton. As a reminder, he had 2 properties that were handed down to his sons Amos and Joseph. The one Amos took over was on Walton Road.
Bibliography:
"Amos Walton." My Genealogy Hound. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://www.mygenealogyhound.com/pennsylvania-biographies/pennsylvania-montgomery-county-biographies/amos-walton-genealogy-montgomery-county-pennsylvania-whitpain-township-pa.html.
"BIOGRAPHIES OF JOHN AND SARAH CONARD." Kunders and Conard Family History. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://conardfamilyhistory.com/john_sarah_conard_family_biographies.php.
"Distance Calculator." DaftLogic. Accessed April 29, 2020. https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm.
"Historic Estates Blue Bell PA Real Estate For Sale." Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Fox & Roach REALTORS. Accessed May 1, 2020. http://membrane.com/jane/5488820.html.
Hopkins, G.M. Atlas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Page 031, 1871.
Mueller, A. H. Atlas of the North Penn Section of Montgomery County, Pa., Plate 28, 1916.
Smith, J. L. Montgomery County 1893, Whitpain and Worcester Townships, Bethel Hill, Fairview, Cedar Hill, Washington Square, Broad Axe Left, 1893.
Tourison, David Wallace. "WALTON FAMILY." Bucks County History. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~buckscounty/genealogy/EarlyFriends/earlyfriendswalton.html.
Whitpain Township Bicentennial Commission. Whitpain... Crossroads in Time. (Montgomery County, PA: Whitpain Township Bicentennial Commission, 1977): 390-393.
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