My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE W. LUKENS, son of Abel and Naomi (Jenkins) Lukens, was born in Philadelphia, February 24, 1844. He attended the public schools of Montgomery county until he was fourteen years of age and two years in Norristown, and was then employed as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of Robert E. Taylor, at Norristown, remaining there for three years. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted as a member of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Colonel William J. Palmer, and in 1863 re-enlisted and remained until the close of the war. He was in the battles of Stone River, Murphreesboro, Lookout Mountain, and was with Sherman at Atlanta. He served under General George H. Thomas. He enlisted as a private and was discharged as a sergeant.

In December, 1869, George W. Lukens married Catharine Harley, daughter of Samuel and Anna Harley, of Lower Salford township. They have three children: Laura H., born December 20, 1870, married Joseph McElroy, and they reside in Philadelphia; Jennie H., born in June, 1872, married Adis Munyan, of Philadelphia; Ann H., born in September, 1877, is unmarried and resides with her parents. Joseph and Laura McElroy have three children: Elizabeth, George and Caroll. George Lukens is a Republican.

The great-great-great-grandfather of George W. Lukens was Jan Luken, who emigrated from Holland and landed at Chester, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1688, afterwards settling at Germantown. He brought with him an old Dutch Bible, printed by Peter Sebastian in 1598, which is still in the possession of the Lukens family. The children of Jan Luken were: Elizabeth, born July 28, 1684; Elias, born in 1685; William, in 1687; Sarah, in 1689; John, in 1691; Mary, in 1693; Peter, in 1696; Hannah, in 1698; Matthias, in 1700; Abraham (great-great-grandfather) in 1703; and Joseph, in 1705.

Abraham Lucken (great-great-grandfather) purchased, in 1729, one thousand acres of land in what is now Towamencin township and lived there until his death in June, 1776. It was during his lifetime that the name was given the modern spelling, Lukens. Of his children, John, the second child, was the ancestor of George Lukens.

John Lukens (great-grandfather) was born Tenth-month 17, 1729. He purchased one hundred of his father’s one thousand acres and lived on this until 1814. In 1805, however, he had sold it to his son, George, who occupied it until 1849.

George Lukens (grandfather) married Esther Jenes, of Whitemarsh township, Twelfth-month 12, 1805. Their children were: Abel (father); Edith, born in 1809; William Lukens; Mary, born in 1811, and married Samuel Rhoads; Seth, born Third-month 20, 1814; Sarah, who married C. Todd Jenkins; Hannah, who married Aram Drake; Eliam, who lived in Iowa; Comly, who lived in Illinois. Seth Lukens married Mary, daughter of James Hamer, M. D., of Skippackville, and their children are: Fannie, who married Edmund P. Zimmerman; Esther, who married George W. Bockius; Anna M.; David H.; and Carrie A.

Abel Lukens (father) was born in what is now Kulpsville, Montgomery county, August 9, 1807. He attended school and worked on his father’s farm until he was about twenty-three years of age. For the next ten years he was engaged as a drover and butcher. In 1840 he rented the old Golden Lamb Hotel, on Second, above Callowhill street, Philadelphia, and remained as its proprietor for fifteen years. For one year he was janitor of the National Clubhouse, Philadelphia, and then rented the North Pennsylvania Hotel, at Third and Willow streets, Philadelphia, where he was engaged in business for eight years. He removed to his farm in Kulpsville but at the end of one year and a half took charge of the North Wales Hotel, which he conducted for eight years. At the expiration of that time he retired from active life. He resided on his farm, where he was born, during the summer seasons for the remainder of his life and lived with his son in North Wales during the winters. He died in 1887 and was buried at Montgomery cemetery, near Norristown.

In October, 1830, Abel Lukens married Naomi, daughter of John and Ann Jenkins. Mrs. Abel Lukens died October 7, 1877, at the age of sixty-eight years. Her father owned most of the land upon which the borough of Lansdale was afterwards built. The children of Abel and Naomi Lukens were as follows: Jane T., born September 29, 1831, married, July 17, 1856, Robert E. Taylor, who died May 8, 1871, his widow still residing in North Wales; one, born November 18, 1832, died in infancy; Sarah J., born March 28, 1834, married, October 31, 1854, David Jones, they being both deceased; Rachel, born July 12, 1835, married in April, 1857, H. C. Stout; Charles J., born July 8, 1837, died young; Esther Ann, born October 5, 1839, died young; William Henry, born January 18, 1841, married, in January, 1862, Anna Little, of Philadelphia; George W. is the next of the family; Edward, born November 27, 1846, married, June 10, 1874, Lucy A., daughter of Alexander and Josephine Riddle, who died August 16, 1881. Jane T. and Robert E. Taylor had two sons, Robert deceased and William. David and Sarah J. Jones had one daughter, Mary A., born September g, 1864. H. C. and Rachel Stout had one son, Abel L., born in October, 1859. William Henry and Anna Lukens had two children: Elizabeth L., born May 22, 1863; and Robert B., born July 8, 1870. Edward and Lucy A. Lukens had one son, Carroll T., born May 21, 1880.

The Lukens family have always stood high in Montgomery county. John, of Horsham, was a government surveyor in colonial times, and was chosen by the Philosophical Society to assist David Rittenhouse. The family have generally either belonged to or been in sympathy with the Society of Friends.