Bucks County PA Archives Biographies.....Magill, Watson P.
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joe Patterson, Patricia Bastik & Susan Walters Dec 2009

Source: History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania; edited by 
J.H. Battle; A. Warner & Co.; 1887
Solebury Township


  WATSON P. MAGILL farmer, was born in Solebury township, 
December 1, 1827, and is a son of Jonathan P. and Mary 
(Watson) Magill.  His paternal grandparents were Jacob and 
Rebecca (Paxson) Magill.  Jacob was the son of John and Amy 
(Whitson) Magill, and John was the son of William and Sarah 
(Simcock) Magill.  William Magill came from the north of 
Ireland and settled in Bucks county about 1726.  The 
maternal grandparents of Watson Magill were David and 
Richard (Twining) Watson.  David was a son of Joseph and 
Rachel (Croasdale) Watson, and Joseph a son of Mark and Ann 
(Sotcher) Watson.  Ann (Sotcher) Watson was a daughter of 
John and Mary (Loftis) Sotcher, both of whom came from 
England, with William Penn.  Jonathan P. and Mary (Watson) 
Magill, who lived in Solebury, reared a family of seven 
children:  Sarah T., Edward H., Watson P., Rebecca, 
Catherine M., Rachel and Matilda R.   Watson P. was married 
in September, 1851, to Mary W., daughter of Eli and Rachel 
(Hollingsworth) Harvey, of Delaware county, Pa.  They had 
two sons:  Chalkley H., a resident of Philadelphia, and 
Edward W., a member of the Philadelphia bar.  In 1882 Watson 
P. was married to Elizabeth H., daughter of Francis W. and 
Mary (Kelly) Moore, of Philadelphia, and a niece of James 
Kelly, one of the early editors of the "Bucks County 
Intelligencer," at Doylestown.  Mr. Magill always took an 
active part in the political affairs of Bucks county and 
served one term in the legislature, to which he was elected 
in 1854.  In 1862 he raised and was captain of a company of 
one hundred and three men, with whom he was mustered into 
the 17th regiment, Pennsylvania militia, at Harrisburg, and 
during the battle of Antietam they were forwarded to 
Hagerstown, Md.  In 1863, prior to the battle of Gettysburg, 
he again responded to the call of the governor, and with his 
company was mustered into the United States service for the 
emergency, as company D, 31st regiment, Pennsylvania 
volunteers.  He was elected presidential elector in 1868 on 
the Grant ticket.  He was appointed to and held the office 
of United States assistant internal revenue assessor in the 
fifth district of Pennsylvania for four years, and was 
appointed United States gauger and inspector for the first 
district of Pennsylvania in July, 1879, which position he 
held until December, 1885.  He has always been a stanch 
republican, and was a pioneer in the organization of that 
party, being president of the first republican association 
formed in Solebury and New Hope, a position he continued to 
fill for a number of years.  He is now a resident of 
Philadelphia.