Biddle family

For people and other things with the name Biddle, see Biddle (disambiguation).

The American Biddle family of Philadelphia began when William Biddle (1630–1712) and Sarah Kempe (1634–1709), Quakers, emigrated from England to America in 1681, in part, to avoid religious persecution. Having acquired extensive rights to over 43,000 acres (170 km²) of lands in Quaker West Jersey, they settled first at Burlington. Two third generation brothers, William Biddle, 3rd (1698–1756), and John Biddle (1707–1789), moved from Mount Hope (1684) near Bordentown to Philadelphia in the 1720s and 1730s and constituted the first generation of the Philadelphia Biddle family.

Family members

Branch of William Biddle, 3rd (1698–1756) and Mary Scull (1709–1790)

• Lydia Biddle (1734–1767), married William Macfunn (died 1768)
  • William Macfunn Biddle (1764–1809), married Lydia Spencer (1766–1858)
    • Lydia Spencer Biddle (1797–1871), married Samuel Baird (1786–1833)
      • Mary Deborah Baird (1829–1900), endowed Biddle University, married distant cousin Henry Jonathan Biddle (1817–1862) grandson of Clement Biddle
• John "Jacky" Biddle (1736–?) married Sophia Boone
  • Edward Biddle bought Biddle House on Mackinac Island
  • William Biddle married Abigail Johnson
    • Joseph Cadwalader Biddle (1805–1884) married Elizabeth Cook (died 1899)
      • William Biddle married Anna W.?
        • Frederick Davis Biddle married Estelle Warne Harbeson
          • Eric Harbeson Biddle (1898–1993), businessman and diplomat, assisted Franklin D. Roosevelt during the creation of the United Nations and the United Nations Establishment Commissions (married Katherine Rogers, the daughter of Colonel John I. Rogers).
            • Eric Harbeson Biddle, Jr. (1928–2013), CIA Section Chief, later Immigration Lawyer
            • John "Jack" Biddle
            • Maurice R. Biddle (1932–1999), Jazz composer and pianist, also advertising executive in Philadelphia and New York City
• Edward Biddle (1738–1779), lawyer, soldier, delegate to the Continental Congress, married Elizabeth Ross, sister of George Ross
• Charles Biddle (1745–1821), politician, married Hannah Shepard
  • James Biddle (1783–1848), Navy commodore
  • Nicholas Biddle (1786–1844), president of the Second Bank of the United States, married Jane Craig
    • Edward Biddle (1815–1873), married Jane Josephine Sarmiento
      • Edward Biddle III (1851–1933), married Emilie Taylor Drexel (1851–1883) daughter of Anthony Joseph Drexel
        • Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Sr. (1874–1948), subject of novel, (written by his daughter) adapted as Broadway play and Disney motion picture The Happiest Millionaire
          • Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. (1897–1961), U.S. ambassador to seven different countries, married Mary Duke the sister of Angier Buchanan Duke
            • Mary Duke Biddle (1920–2012), heiress and philanthropist
            • Nicholas Duke Biddle (1921-2004)
          • Cordelia Drexel Biddle (1898–1984), married Angier Buchanan Duke the brother of Mary Duke
            • Angier Biddle Duke (1915–1995), U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador 1952–1953, U.S. Ambassador to Spain 1965–1968, U.S. Ambassador to Morocco 1979–1981, member of the Council on Foreign Relations
            • Anthony Drexel Duke (1918-2014)
          • Livingston Ludlow Biddle (1899–1981) married Kate Raboteau Page (1903–?), daughter of Robert N. Page
            • Livingston Ludlow Biddle (1926–2009) married Elizabeth "Betsy" Elwell Collin in 1953
        • Livingston Ludlow Biddle (1877–1959), married Rosalie Eugenia Carter Law (1890-1980)
          • Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. (1918–2002), chairman National Endowment for the Arts
          • Ernest Law Biddle (1919-1970)
        • Edward Craig Biddle (1879–1947), tennis player, married firstly Laura Baker Whelen (1879–1925)
          • Craig Biddle, Jr. (1902–1988)
          • George Drexel Biddle (1903–1952)
          • Laura May Biddle Stewart (1907–?), married William Rhinelander Stewart, Jr., sister of Anita of Braganza
    • Charles John Biddle (1819–1873), Civil War colonel and U.S. Congressman, married Emma Mather (1830–1918)
      • Charles Biddle (1857–1923) married Letitia Glenn
        • Charles John Biddle (1890–1972), World War I aviator and lawyer
      • Alexander Mercer Biddle (1865–?), married Marriet Fox (1867–?)
        • Sydney Biddle (1901–?), married Donald Byers Barrows (1898–1991)
          • Donald Byers Barrows, Jr. (1926–), married Jeannette Ballantine (1930–2011)
            • Sydney Biddle Barrows (born January 14, 1952), New York City madam and author, known as the "Mayflower Madam"
  • Thomas Biddle (1790–1831), War of 1812 hero who died after a duel with a Missouri Congressman over a perceived insult to his brother Nicholas
  • John Biddle (1792–1859), Michigan politician, married Eliza Falconer Bradish
    • Magaretta Falconer Biddle (1825–1913), married General Andrew Porter (1820–1872)
    • William Shepard Biddle (1830–1901), married Susan Dayton Ogden
      • John Biddle (1859–1936), Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
      • William Shepard Biddle II (1863–1938), married Margaret Alden Burrell
        • William Shepard Biddle III (1900–1981), Major General in World War II
  • Richard Biddle (1796–1847), U.S. Representative
• Nicholas Biddle (1750–1778), Revolutionary War Navy captain

Branch of Joseph Biddle (1705-1776) and Rebecca Arney (b. 1709)

• Arney Biddle (1735-1777), American Revolutionary War soldier, died at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11th, 1777, married Abigail Ogden (1733-1801)
  • Catharine Biddle married Samuel Taylor
    • Jonathan Taylor (1800-1866), married Rebecca McPherson
      • Beulah Taylor (1850-1918), married Benjamin Lunt Cook (1840-1918), he was the double first-cousin of Dr. Nathan Cook Brackett, Founder of Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia site of John Brown (abolitionist) raid on the U.S. Arsenal.
• Sarah Biddle married Joseph Harker
  • Hetty Harker (1783-1853), married William Foster
    • Hetty Harker Foster (1814-1848), married Edward Canby Biddle (1808-1893), son of John Biddle, grandson of Owen Biddle, Sr.
      • William Foster Biddle (1834-1910), married Emily A. Leavitt (1838-1903), mining engineer, during the American Civil War he served as an aide-de-camp, with the rank of Captain, U.S. Volunteers on the staff of General George B. McClellan. He was the uncle of American artist Cecilia Beaux whom Beaux would later describe as "after my grandmother, the strongest and most beneficent influence in my life." Cecilia Beaux's niece married William Christian Bullitt Jr. a great-grandson of early Philadelphia Jewish doctor Jonas Horwitz, his grandfather founded the law firm Drinker Biddle & Reath and his daughter Anne married Nicholas Duke Biddle. Emily A. Leavitt was the daughter of prominent New York City businessman John Wheeler Leavitt he was an associate of John Jacob Astor and served as director of Bank of America. His first-cousin was David Leavitt (banker). David was co-partner in a firm called Leavitt & Lee after his departure the firm became Reed & Lee in 1922 and then Lee, Dater, & Miller. Miller's daughter Helen Day Miller married Jay Gould. Jay Gould's eldest daughter married Anthony Joseph Drexel II, a descendant of financier Anthony Joseph Drexel among whom's descendants married into the Joseph Pulitzer family, the Vanderbilt family, the Isidor Strauss family, & financier Jacob Schiff family who was the leader of New York City's Jewish community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Other connected families include the Kuhn & Loeb families founders of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., the Warburg family, and the Rothschild family.

Branch of John Biddle (1707–1789) and Sarah Owen (1711–1773)

• Owen Biddle, Sr. (1737–1799), American Revolutionary War soldier, mathematician, astronomer, observed 1769 transit of Venus at Cape Henlopen, member of the American Philosophical Society, married Sarah Parke
  • John Biddle (1763–1815)
    • William Biddle (1806–1887), married Elizabeth Garrett (1806–1881)
      • Samuel Biddle (1844–1919), Bailey Banks & Biddle jewelry store
  • Owen Biddle, Jr. (1774–1806), member of the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, architect-builder, author "The Young Carpenters' Apprentice" (1805)
  • Clement Biddle (1778–1856), married Mary Canby (1780–1849)
    • Robert M. Biddle (1814–1902), married Anna Miller (1823–1891)
      • Henry Canby Biddle (1845–1886), married Anna Mary McIlvain (1850–1926)
        • Robert Ralston Biddle (1885–?), lent name to Biddle Motor Car Company
• Clement Biddle (1740–1814), American Revolutionary War soldier, helped organize the “Quaker Blues" volunteers, deputy quartermaster general of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey militia, married Rebekah Cornell (born 1755) daughter of Gideon Cornell
  • Francis Biddle (1775–1775)
  • Thomas Alexander Biddle, Sr. (1776–1857), married Christine Williams (1780–1861)
    • Clement Biddle (1810–1879), prominent Philadelphia lawyer, served during the Civil War in Landis' Battery, Pennsylvania Militia Light Artillery.
    • Thomas Alexander Biddle, Jr. (1814–1888), married Julia Cox (1819–1906). He was the senior partner of the firm of Thomas A. Biddle & Co., bankers and brokers, and a director of the Cumberland Valley Railroad Company, the Allentown Iron Company, the Equitable Life Insurance Company, and other corporations.
    • Henry Jonathan Biddle (1817–1862), married distant cousin Mary Deborah Baird (1829–1900), who endowed Biddle University. He served as a captain in the Union Army during the Civil War; he was mortally wounded during the battle of New Market Cross Roads
      • Jonathan Williams Biddle (1855–1877), served during the War with the Plains Indians. He was killed at Bear Paw Mountain, Montana when his regiment charged a camp of Nez Perce Indians.
      • Henry Jonathan Biddle (1862–1928), Oregon/Washington engineer, businessman, and philanthropist. In 1915 he bought the Columbia Gorge landmark Beacon Rock and developed a trail to its peak; his children Spencer and Rebecca donated it to Washington as a state park.
    • Alexander Williams Biddle, Sr. (1819–1899), lieutenant colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War, married Julia Williams Rush (1833–1898) granddaughter of Benjamin Rush
      • Dr. Alexander Williams Biddle, Jr. (1856–1916), married Anne McKennan (1858–1934)
        • Julia Rush Biddle (1886–1978), married Maj. Thomas Charlton Henry (1887–1930), mother-in-law of Philip D. Armour, Jr.
        • Alexander Biddle (1893–1973), married Margot Scull (1896–1972)
      • Henry Rush Biddle (1858–1877)
      • Julia Rush Biddle (1859–1885)
      • James Wilmer Biddle (1861–1927), married Cora Rowland (1861–1927)
      • Mariamne Biddle (1866–1917)
      • Lynford Biddle (1871–1941)
    • Jonathan Williams Biddle (1821–1856), married Emily Skinner Meigs (1824–1905)
      • Christine Biddle (1847–1900), married Richard McCall Cadwalader (1839–1918)
      • Charles Meigs Biddle (1849–1853)
      • Williams Biddle (1850–1852)
      • Mary Biddle (1851–1851)
      • Dr. Thomas Biddle (1853–1915)
      • Emily Williams Biddle (1855–1931)
  • George Washington Biddle (1779–1812)
  • Mary Biddle (1781–1850) married Thomas Cadwalader (1779–1841) son of General John Cadwalader
  • Rebekah Cornell Biddle (1782–1870), married Dr. Nathaniel Chapman (1780–1853)
  • Clement Cornell Biddle (1784–1855), married Mary Searle Barclay (1785–1872)
    • John Barclay Biddle MD (1815–1879), married Caroline Phillips (1821–1906)
      • William P. Biddle (1853–1923), 11th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps (1910–1914)
    • George Washington Biddle (1818–1897), married Maria Coxe McMurtrie (1818–1901)[3]
      • George Washington Biddle, Jr. (1843–1886), married Mary Hosack Rogers
      • Algernon Sydney Biddle (1847–1891) married Frances Robinson
        • Moncure Biddle (1882–1956), a banker
        • George Biddle (1885–1973), an artist
        • Francis Beverly Biddle (1886–1968), US Attorney General, and primary American judge during the Nuremberg trials
        • Sydney Geoffrey Biddle (1889–1954),> a psychologist
          • Oliver Cadwell Biddle, married to Katharine Mortimer (1923–2003)
      • Arthur Biddle (1852–1897)
    • Chapman Biddle (1822–1880), Civil War colonel
  • Anne Biddle (1785–1786)
  • Lydia H. Biddle (1787–1826)
  • Sarah T. Biddle (1789–1790)
  • Anne Wilkinson Biddle (1791-), married Thomas Dunlap (1793–1864)
  • John Gideon Biddle (1793–1826), married his cousin Mary Biddle (?-1854)
  • James Cornell Biddle (1795–1838), married Sarah Caldwell Keppele (1789–1877) daughter of Michael Keppele (1771–1821)
    • Thomas Biddle (diplomat) (1827–1875), married Sarah Frederica White (1845–1870)
    • Caldwell Keppele Biddle (1829–1862)
    • Catherine Keppele Biddle (1831–1914), married William P. Tatham (1820–1899)
    • Rebecca Biddle (1833–1859)
    • James Cornell Biddle (1835–1898), married Gertrude Gouverneur Meredith (1839–1905). He served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War.
    • Cadwalader Biddle (1837–1906), founder of Union League of Philadelphia
• Ann Biddle (1742–1807), married James Wilkinson

See also

• Biddle House (Mackinac Island)
• List of United States political families

References

• Washington Post; August 17, 1933 "Helen Avis Howard Engaged To Anthony J. Drexel, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Clinton Howard, of Atlanta, have announced the engagement of their daughter. Miss Helen Avis Howard, to Mr. Anthony Joseph Drexel 3d, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Joseph Drexel, jr., of Philadelphia."
• New York Times; October 14, 2004 "Nicholas Duke Biddle, 83, Scion Of Wealth Who Helped the Poor. Nicholas Duke Biddle, scion of two prominent American families who helped refugees from Cuba and Caribbean, dies at age 83. Mr. Biddle was originally named Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle III, after his father, Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr., a prominent diplomat."

External links

• The Biddle Family Papers, documenting the personal, professional and social life of members of the Biddle family from 1683–1954, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
• William & Sarah Biddle's MOUNT HOPE, West Jersey (1684-2007/8) [4]