Bucks County PA Archives Biographies.....Pemberton, The Family ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ 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 Falls Township THE PEMBERTON FAMILY *The Pembertons, of Pennsylvania, are descended from an ancient family of that name in Lancashire, England. This branch of the family early became converts to the doctrines of the Friends, or Quakers; and in 1670, Phineas Pemberton, a young man of 20, then an apprentice to John Abraham, a grocer in Manchester, was imprisoned in Lancaster castle for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the king, and for attending Quaker meetings. He married in 1676-7, Phoebe, the only child of James Harrison, an active and zealous Friend, who had frequently been imprisoned for his religious convictions. In 1681 James Harrison was appointed agent of William Penn. Mr. Harrison with his wife and her mother, together with his son-in-law, Phineas Pemberton, and the father of Phineas, Ralph Pemberton, and seven servants, sailed from Liverpool September 5, 1682, arriving in America the last of October. Mr. Harrison settled upon one of the tracts of land he had purchased, adjoining William Penn's manor of Pennsburg. He continued to be Mr. Penn's agent until his death. *From "Early New England People," 1882. He continued to be Mr. Penn's agent until his death. He took a prominent part in state affairs, being speaker of the house of provincial representatives in 1682, and also a member of the governor's council of sixteen, and of the first assembly. He held, also, many important offices. Phineas Pemberton, after the death of his father-in-law, which occurred in 1687, continued in the confidential relation to William Penn thus begun. He was early appointed register-general for Bucks county; clerk of the courts; member of the assembly; master of the rolls; member of the provincial council, and one of the council of state. When William Penn left for England in 1701, Phineas Pemberton was a dying man, and Penn, writing to James Logan (the son-in-law of Phineas, who had succeeded Mr. Harrison as Penn's agent), says: "I am grieved at it; he hath not his fellow, and without him this is a poor country, indeed." On receiving notice of his death Penn writes: "I mourn for Phineas Pemberton; the ablest as well as the best man in the province." Ralph Pemberton, Phineas and Phoebe Pemberton, with several of their children, as well as James Harrison, with his wife and mother, are buried in the family graveyard laid out by Phineas Pemberton on his plantation at the Point, four miles below Trenton. Israel Pemberton, born in 1685, was the only son of Phineas Pemberton who reached manhood. He early became an active and influential Friend, and held "divers high and honorable offices." He was for nineteen consecutive years a member of the general assembly of Pennsylvania. In his younger years he was one of the most considerable merchants of Philadelphia. Israel (Jr.), born in 1715; James, born in 1725, and John, born in 1727, the surviving children of the above, ever maintained the characteristics of their father and grandfather. They were all active merchants and zealous Friends. Until the revolution the three brothers, and especially Israel, were at the head of all public affairs. The revolutionary party looked upon former members of the Quaker government as disaffected if not hostile to them; and in 1777, Israel, James and John Pemberton were exiled to Winchester, Va., and detained there upwards of eight months. Israel Pemberton died soon after their return. Israel was twice married. By his first wife, Sarah Kirkbride, he left one son and two daughters; one of whom married Samuel Pleasants; the other married Samuel Rhoades. The descendants of the above are represented by the families of Fox, Fisher, Norris, Emlen and Byrd, of Virginia, and by prominent families of Philadelphia. By the second marriage he left one son. James, the second brother, lived to be 87 years of age. He left no male descendant. One daughter married Dr. Parke and another married Anthony Morris. John Pemberton, the youngest of the brothers, devoted the latter part of his life to preaching the doctrines of the Quakers. He died in Westphalia, Germany. He left no children. Joseph, the only son of Israel, Jr., who left descendants, married Ann Galloway, of Maryland, first cousin of the well-known Joseph Galloway, the loyalist. Joseph Pemberton died at the age of 36, leaving a large family, of whom John Pemberton, born in 1783, was in 1812 the only male representative of the children of William Pemberton, who was born in 1580. John Pemberton married Rebecca, only child of John Clifford, and left a large family, of whom James lives in Paris, France; John C. married a Miss Thompson, of Norfolk, Va.; Anna E. married Dr. Hollingsworth; Rebecca married Charles Newbold; Henry married, first, Caroline Hollingsworth, and second, Agnes Williams; Andrew died unmarried; Clifford married Helen A. Tryer. Gen. John C. Pemberton, the second son of John and Rebecca Pemberton, was graduated at West Point in 1837. Entering the 4th artillery, her served in the Florida war, and was aid-de-camp to General Worth during the Mexican war. He was brevetted captain and major for gallantry at Monterey and at Molino del Rey, September 8, 1847. He was distinguished also at Contreras and Churubusco and at the capture of the City of Mexico, where he was wounded. He resigned in 1861. He entered the confederate service as a colonel of cavalry and assistant adjutant-general to Gen. Joe Johnston, and in 1862 was made a brigadier-general. He was subsequently a lieutenant-general. He commanded the army opposed to that of General Grant in northeast Mississippi, and was entrusted with the command of Vicksburg. He made a gallant defense, but was compelled to surrender July 4,1863. He died July 12, 1881. The arms of this branch of the Pemberton family are: "Argent, a chevron, sa. Between three buckets of the second, hoped and handled or.; crest, a dragon's head couped sa. erect."