Biographical Sketch of Samuel HIGH (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Phila- delphia, PA, 1893, pp. 635-6. "SAMUEL HIGH, a prosperous, well-known and highly esteemed farmer of North Coventry township, who is also a wheelwright by trade, is the eldest son of Henry and Anna (East) High, and was born in Colebrook, Dale township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, November 28, 1826. His paternal grandfather, Jacob High, was a native of Chester county, born on the farm now owned by Samuel Stauffer, in North Coventry township. He was a farmer by vocation and removed to Cumberland county, this State, where he purchased a farm of three hundred and forty-nine acres, on which he lived until his death, about 1845, when he had attained the ripe old age of seventy years. In politics he was an old-line whig, and in religion a Mennonite. He was twice married. By his first wife he had two sons and a daughter. "One of his sons, Henry High (father), was born in Chester county, near Phoenixville, in 1796, and was taken by his father to Cumberland county when he was about ten years of age. In 1820 or 1821 he returned to North Coventry, Chester county, and lived for two or three years with his uncle, Rev. Christian Beary, a farmer and preacher in the Mennonite church, who resided on the farm now owned by the canal company. He then married Anna East, a daughter of Samuel East, a prosperous farmer of Colebrook, Dale township, Berks county, this State, and for some years engaged in farming in that county. In 1829 he returned to Chester county and purchased the farm of eighty-one acres now occupied by Edwin E. Johns, in North Coventry township. Here he resided until about 1857, when he once more removed to Berks county, and died there in the year 1858, aged sixty-two years. In his political affiliations he was a whig and republican, and in religion was a strict member of the Mennonite church, in which he served as trustee for many years. By his marriage to Anna East, he had a family of nine children, three sons and six daughters: Samuel, the subject of this sketch; Jacob, a resident of East Vincent township, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Mary, deceased; Sarah, also dead; Elizabeth, married Adam Mench, a prosperous farmer of Upper Providence township, Montgomery county; Henry, now deceased; Leah, likewise dead; Catherine, married John Mench, a tailor of Pottstown, this county; and Anna, now living with her sister in Pottstown. "Samuel High came to North Coventry township, Chester county, with his father, when only three years of age, and was reared and educated in this township, his education being obtained in the public schools of his neigh- borhood. After leaving school he learned the trade of wheelwright and has worked at that business to some extent, though his principal occupation has been farming. He owns two fine farms, one containing seventy-eight acres of choice land, nearly all of which is well improved and in a good state of cultivation, and the other consisting of sixty-six acres, almost equally valuable. Politically Mr. High follows the traditions of his ancestors, and has been a republican ever since the organization of that party in Pennsylvania. In religion he likewise adheres to the faith in which he was reared, and for many years has been a devoted member of the Mennonite church. "On March 16, 1854, Mr. High was united in marriage to Sarah Kulp, a daughter of Samuel Kulp, of North Coventry township, this county. To Mr. and Mrs. High was born a family of six children, three of whom died in infancy. The three who lived to reach maturity are: Milton K., who married Catharine Tyson, and is now a prosperous farmer of North Coventry township; Allen K., wedded Martha Tyson, and is now engaged in managing his father's farm; and Emma K., who became the wife of Milton Prizer, a farmer residing in East Coventry township. Mrs. Sarah High was born in Lower Providence township, Montgomery county, in 1827, and is still living, hale and hearty for a woman her age."