General William W.H. Davis, “The History
of Bucks County, Pennsylvania,” 1905, pages 247-248:
LINFORD R. CRAVEN. Among the men who have achieved
local eminence in their chosen profession is Linford R. Craven, photographer,
Doylestown, Pennsylvania. He was born March 26, 1864, in Hilltown, Bucks
county, Pennsy]vania, the
son of
Joseph and Ann (Ritchie) Craven.
The
family of Craven are of Holland descent, and have been residents of Bucks
County since the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Jacobus (James)
Craven was one of the trustees of Neshaminy Presbyterian church of Warwick in
l743. He was a large landowner in Warminster township and in Moreland township,
Montgomery county. He died about 1760 at an advanced age. His children were:
Thomas, Giles, James, Alice, wife of Harman Vansant; Elinor, wife of Clement
Dungan; Hannah, wife of William McDowell; Esther, wife of William Gilbert; and
Mary, wife of Anthony Scout. Giles died without issue in li9B. and James
removed to Virginia.
Thomas
Craven married Lena. Daughter of William and Janet (Suydam) Bennett, and
settled in Warminster township, where he died August, l799, leaving sons:
William. James, Giles, Isaac and Thomas. And daughters: Christiana. wife of
Thomas Beans; Edith, wife of Charles Vansant; Ann, Catharine and Helena. Isaac
Craven inherited from his father the "Man~ion House" and 103 acres of
land in Warminster that had been his grandfather's. whereon he died in May,
1835. at an advanced age. His chi]dren were William, Isaac, Abraham, and Elenah,
wife of John Finney. On1y the ]ast two survived him and inherited his lands.
His son Abraham married Hannah Finney and settled on a farm in Moreland, but
returned to Warminster some time after his father's decease. He died in 1882,
aged about eighty-five years, leaving seven children, four sons and three
daughters.
Joseph
Craven, son of Abraham, and father of the subject of this sketch, was born near
Hatboro, in Moreland township, in 1823. He married Ann, daughter of Thomas
Ritchie, and great-granddaughter of James Rltchie, a Scotch-Irish settler of
Warwick township, Bucks County. In 1869 he removed to Hatboro, where he
conducted a store for four years. In 1873 he purchased a farm in Moreland, upon
which he resided until 1883, when he removed to North Wales, Montgomery County,
where he lived a retired life. His children are: Edwin, residing in Scranton,
Pennsylvania; Sue, wife of Frank McVeagh, of Philadelphia; Joanna, wife of
Lewis K. Hall of Upper Makefield; William of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania; Linford
R.; Robert, of Ashbourne, Pennsylvania; and Mary deceased, who was the wife of
Elmer Smith.
Linford
R. Craven, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the public schools of
Hatboro and Upper Makefield, and at the age of fourteen years began his business
career as a clerk in a store at Frankford, Philadelphia. In 1880 he removed to North Wales, where he was
employed in making shirts, came to Doylestown three years later and followed
the same business for one year, when he began photographing in connection with
Samuel F. Dubois, a local photographer, and William Boyce of Philadelphia. In
1885 he opened a portable studio in Doylestown, and a year later purchased the
old spoke factory at the junction of Court and State streets and erected his
present residence and studio. In politics Mr. Craven is a Democrat. He and his
family belong to the Doylestown Presbyterian Church. He is a member of
Doylestown Lodge, No.94, I.0.0.F., Doylestown Encampment, No.35, I.0.0.F.
St.Tammany Castle, NO.173. K. G. E., and of Lenape Council NO.1117, Royal
Arcanum. He has served three years in Doylestown borough council, and held
other local offices. He was married February 14, 1883, to Fannie H., daughter
of Gibson Johnson.