The Hillborn Farm
Painted by Edward Hicks ca. 1845
Above: The Residence of Thomas Hillborn, by Edward Hicks, painted 1845 - 1847. Image source: Colonial Williamsburg
Inscriptions on the stretcher, not in Hicks’ hand, added later: "Purchased by his son Cyrus Hillborn in 1845, when/this Picture was painted, by Edward Hicks in his 66th year." A second inscription reads, "The Residence of Thomas Hillborn in Newtown Township / Bucks County Pennsylvania, in the Year 1821."
Thomas Hillborn was a Quaker farmer whose family emigrated from Somerset, England. The painting shows Hillborn wearing typical Quaker clothing of that era while he plows a farm field. His wife, Margaret Hillborn, stands in the farmhouse doorway.
In 1845, their son Cyrus commissioned this painting from Edward Hicks. By January 1846, Cyrus Hillborn was a prosperous Philadelphia merchant. He wrote to Hicks expressing regret at having left Bucks County. That same year Cyrus Hillborn resolved those doubts by buying back the farm.
The Thomas Hilborn Tract:
This map shows Thomas Hillborn owned 80 acres here at Newtown. According to Colonial Williamsburg, the Hillborn House in Edward Hicks’ painting was built 1792 - 1793. Above: Image source: Ancestry.com
Hillborn Properties North of Newtown
On an 1850 Map:
Above: This 1850 map of Bucks County shows the Hillborn properties noth of Newtown. One of these properties was likely the site of the Hillborn farm painted by Edward Hicks. Map of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Morris and Smith. Image source: Library of Congress.
A Hillborn Farmhouse on the Hillborn Tract:
Above: This Hillborn house is on the tract deeded to Thomas Hillborn in 1702. The exact identity and location of the Hillborn farmhouse in Edward Hick’s painting continues to be a mystery to me. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus.
A List of Anti-War Residents of Newton
During the Revolutionary War
Including Hillborn Men:
Above: Image source: Historic Newtown, Edward R. Barnsley, 1934. Internet Archive
Not all Newtown residents were “military minded” during the Revolutionary War. This list shows 73 “non-associators” from Newtown who refused to bear arms, including two Hillborns.
Edward Hicks’ Paintings
of Farms in Bucks County:
Links: