Individual Details
Robert ELDER
(1730 - 21 Apr 1807)
Robert Elder, emigrated to America from Ireland, about the year 1750. He located in Path valley, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where he died about the year 1810.
According to the family traditions he was a man of small stature, but great energy. He was a farmer, and also dealt in horses, buying them in the north, training them and selling them in the south. It is perhaps from this circumstance, that so many of his descendants have a great penchant for horse flesh. Robert Elder brought a wife with him from Ireland. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Watt. By her he had two sons, David and Abraham.
After his first wife’s death, Robert Elder married again and became the father of five sons, to-wit: John, Matthew, Robert, Samuel, and Joseph. Of the sons of the second wife but little is known. The youngest one, Joseph, died in 1858, in Ligonier valley, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and some of his descendants are still there.
The sons of the first wife, David and Abraham, removed to Half-moon, Centre county, Pennsylvania, shortly after the close of the revolution. Abraham died there about 1825. He was an extensive farmer, and kept a public house. Abraham's son Robert inherited his estate, and became well known as a farmer and drover.His (Robert’s) only surviving son is George W. Elder, an eminent lawyer of Lewistown, Pennsylvania.
David Elder removed to Spruce creek, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in 1796. He purchased a farm near the village of Graysville, where he died in 1823. He served a short time in the army during the revolution, and was also in one of the expeditions against the Indians, in the western territory. His wife was Jane Boggs, daughter of Andrew Boggs, who was one of the first settlers of Bald Eagle valley, Centre county, Pennsylvania, having settled there as early as 1767. David Elder had five sons and three daughters, nearly all of whom are now dead.
Robert, the oldest son, was the only one of them that ever located in Indiana county, Pennsylvania.
Events
| Birth | 1730 | Perth, Perth, Scotland |  | ||
| Arrival | Abt 1750 | Pennsylvania | | ||
| Marriage | Abt 1751 | Ireland - Elizabeth WATT | | ||
| Marriage | 1759 | Path Valley, Franklin, Pennsylvania - Mary Thorn | | ||
| Residence | 1790 | Franklin County, Pennsylvania | | ||
| Will | 4 Oct 1799 |  | |||
| Residence | 1800 | Fannett, Franklin, Pennsylvania | | ||
| Death | 21 Apr 1807 | Path Valley, Franklin, Pennsylvania | | ||
| Military | American Revolution: (DAR# A037139) - Lancaster County, Pennsylvania | |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth WATT ( - 1759) |
| Child | David ELDER (1752 - 1823) |
| Child | Abraham Elder (1754 - 1827) |
| Spouse | Mary Thorn ( - 1807) |
| Child | John Elder (1759 - ) |
| Child | Robert Elder (1760 - 1804) |
| Child | Matthew Elder (1763 - ) |
| Child | Joseph Elder (1770 - 1858) |
| Child | Samuel Elder ( - 1844) |
| Father | James ELDER (1712 - 1818) |
| Sibling | David Elder (1739 - 1813) |
Notes
Will
Will of Robert ElderWill Book "B" p. 320, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
The Will of Robert Elder, of Fannett Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, yeoman.
I give and devise the plantation I now live upon in the township, county and state aforesaid I give and devise the same unto my two sons Joseph and Samuel to be equally divided between them and I give and devise wife Mary all personal effects. I give and devise to my son Samuel all my moveable property after the death of my wife Mary. To my son David, all my wearing apparel and forty pounds in cash and to son Abraham in Huntingdon County, forty pounds in cash and to my son John, thirty pounds in cash. To my son Robert, fifty pounds to be paid to him by the said Joseph and Samuel. And I also give to my son Matthew, three pounds five shillings to be paid to him by the said Joseph and Samuel and lastly I nominate and appoint my two sons Joseph Elder and Samuel Elder to be executors of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all other wills by me made. In witness whereof I have set my hand and seal this 4th day of October, 1799.
Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of us
Robert Simeson
James Alexander
Proved April 27, 1807
Military
Robert was a Private in the Pennsylvania Militia.Endnotes
1. , Elder Web Site (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
2. Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Volume: 265.
3. Ancestry.com, U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010), Place: Pennsylvania; Year: 1720-1750; Page Number: 278.
6. Ancestry.com, 1790 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Year: 1790; Census Place: Fannet, Hamilton, Letterkenney, Montgomery, and Peters, Franklin, Pennsylvania; Series: M637; Roll: 9; Page: 295; Image: 163; Family History Library Film: 0568149.
7. Ancestry.com, 1800 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010), Year: 1800; Census Place: Fannett, Franklin, Pennsylvania; Series: M32; Roll: 38; Page: 940; Image: 330; Family History Library Film: 363341.
8. Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Volume: 265.