What Connections Did Graeme Park Have on the Ambler Family?
- Yen Ho
- Aug 27
- 5 min read
I thought I can start making connections with all the historic buildings around the Philadelphia area and determine what kinds of connections I could find. Genealogy has been one of my favorite topics in local history because not only do you research about your family's history, but also you make connections with someone you didn't know were related. In this case, I found a connection between the the Penrose Family of Graeme Park and the Ambler Family.
History of Graeme Park
The original homestead (aka "Fountain Low") of Graeme Park was built as a summer home in 1722 by Sir William Keith, who was the Provincial Governor of Pennsylvania at the time. Due to a conflict with the Penn family, William's position as provincial governor was removed, and he had to travel to England to find another position. Unfortunately he passed away in England before returning to the Pennsylvania colony.
In 1739, the homestead was passed onto Dr. Thomas Graeme, who was responsible for renaming the property as "Graeme Park." He also used the home as his summer home as well. During his ownership, he remodeled the interior to "reflect the current English style and taste of the mid 1700s."
Fun Fact # 1: Graeme Park is the ONLY National Historic Landmark in Horsham Township.
His daughter Elizabeth would become the next owner after Thomas passed away. But her life became a controversy during the American Revolution when her husband declared his loyalty to the British government. Their home was confiscated by the colonial government as "the property of a traitor," but Elizabeth as able to regain the property thanks to her influential friends. Unfortunately due to mounting debts and her condition, she had to sell the property.
It wasn't until 1801 after Elizabeth's death Samuel Penrose (1748-1833) of Richland Township purchased the property and occupied the homestead. He was even responsible for building the bank barn that is currently used today as the museum's visitors center. For more than 100 years, the Penrose family had been preserving and maintaining the property's history.
Fun Fact # 2: Samuel's grandson Abel and his wife were the ones to start inviting visitors to take tours of the former Governor's mansion.
The Penrose Family of Richland
The Penrose family were of English descents but moved to Ireland during the late 17th century, and the first person to arrive to the Pennsylvania colony was Robert Penrose, II (1673-1755). Out of the 13 children he had, only five of his children came to the New World with him and his wife Mary: Christopher, Robert III, Margaret, Anne, and later William. They all came to Pennsylvania in 1717. In 1734, Robert, III brought a certificate to the Gwynedd Monthly Meeting and settled in Richland Township in Bucks County, PA on a large tract of land of 200 acres. On his tract he worked as a tanner.
While his second son Joseph inherited his tract, his third son, John Penrose (1739-1813), acquired 140 acres of land that included the borough of Quakertown. The other son, Samuel Penrose, was the one to settle in Horsham Township after purchasing the home of Dr. Thomas Graeme.
John's son Evan Penrose (1782-1861) accepted 56 acres of his land, and added 112 acres in Millford Township. After his death, his son Aaron (1809-1883) inherited his land in Millford Township where he spent the rest of his life. He married Maryetta Foulke (1811-1851), who was directly descended from the Foulke Family of Gwynedd. Her ancestor Hugh Foulke (1685-1760) settled to Gwynedd with his family in 1698, but then moved to Richland Township where his lineage began.
Fun Fact # 3: Maryetta's grandfather Everard R. Foulke was appointed as one of the assessors of the United States taxes in 1798. It was that year when John Fries raised his rebellion in the upper end of Bucks and Northampton Counties against the collection of the tax. As a result, Everard was attacked by Fries and his followers trying to keep the assessments from happening.
Married in the Ambler Family
Is it possible to have sisters who marry two brothers from another family? Yes.
It happened with the daughters of Aaron and Maryetta Penrose: Caroline (1841-1891) and Rebecca (1845-1924). Caroline was the first to marry one of Mary Ambler's sons: David Ambler (1837-1909).
David was the fifth son of town heroine Mary Ambler, and was born and raised at the family homestead. It was the year 1859 when he went to Quakertown where he established a coal and lumber business. That was most likely during that time while he was in Quakertown he met his future wife Caroline F. Penrose. He eventually returned to Ambler where he built a stone house on the west side of the railroad tracks. He lived in Ambler for the rest of his life years after Caroline passed away. He helped established the First National Bank of Ambler and became one of the first board of directors and later vice president. He served on the board of the Ambler Independent School District and the Ambler Borough District.
David and Caroline had one daughter: Ella.
Lewis J. Ambler (1839-1908) was the sixth son of Mary Ambler, and was one of the sons responsible (along with his brother Issac) to run the family mill where they manufactured woolen yarn and blankets. After the mill was gone, Lewis moved to Philadelphia where he engaged in the milk business, and then became a collector of freight bills for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
He was married twice. In 1862, Lewis married his first wife, Rachel Walton, but died too soon years after having their first child. In 1880, he married his second wife to Rebecca Penrose and had a son together: Aaron.
Bibliography
Jenkins, Howard Malcolm. Historical Collections Relating to Gwynedd: A Township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Settled 1698, by Welsh Immigrants ; with Some Data Referring to the Adjoining Township of Montgomery, Also Settled By Welsh, Second Edition. (Philadelphia: Howard Malcom Jenkins, 1897): 236-237, 254, 264, 271.
Morris, William E, and Robert Pearsall Smith. Map of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: from surveys. [Philadelphia: R.P. Smith, 1850] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012590185/.
Morris, William E, and Smith & Wistar. Map of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: from original surveys. [Philadelphia: Smith & Wistar, 1849] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012590207/.
"Obituary: David J. Ambler." Ambler Gazette. September 30, 1909. Page 8. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_5978.
"Obituary: Lewis J. Ambler." Ambler Gazette. May 14, 1908. Page 1. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_5068.
"Robert Penrose (1632 - 1677)." WikiTree. Last modified November 12, 2024. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Penrose-17.
Roberts, Clarence Vernon. Early Friends Families of Upper Bucks With Some Account of Their Descendants; Historical and Genealogical Information about the Early Settlers in Upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania. (Philadelphia: Clarence Vernon Roberts, 1925): 396-398, 403, 406-407.
Roberts, Ellwood. Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Containing Genealogical Records of Representative Families, Including Many of the Early Settlers and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Citizens, Volume 2. (New York: T.S. Benham, 1904): 314-315.
Scott, J. D. Bucks County 1876, Milford, 1876.
Scott, J. D. Bucks County 1876, Quakertown Borough, 1876.
Scott, J.D. North Pennsylvania Railroad 1886 Philadelphia - Bucks - Montgomery Counties, Ambler, 1886.
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