Pidcock Family Reunion 2013


Thompson-Neely House

Reunion to begin with picnic lunch

The centennial reunion of the Pidcock Family Association will begin at 12 noon on Saturday, August 17, with a picnic lunch at the Captain James Moore Pavilion, Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, 1635 River Road, New Hope PA 18938.

The Family Association will provide soft drinks, water and hot dogs, rolls and condiments. Please bring a covered dish to share with other family members.

Games for children

Games for children will begin at 1 o’clock, and the formal reunion program will start at 1:30. Speakers will include descendants of Lenni Lenape Indians and Revolutionary War re-enactors. Our family genealogist will present the revised Pidcock genealogy, and our family historian will release “The Pidcock Chronicles,” a new book about three early Pidcocks.

Please contact us

We’re eager to know how many Pidcock cousins plan to attend our Aug. 17 reunion. Even if you’re just thinking about coming or need more information and details, please send us an email. Our address is: pidcock2013@yahoo.com

You may also use this address if you have comments or questions about our organization.

Captain James Moore Pavilion

Captain Moore Pavilion

The Captain James Moore Pavilion is across from the Thompson-Neely House, which is part of Washington Crossing Historic Park in Bucks County. Family traditions say that John Pidcock built the original part of the house in the early 1700s. Captain Moore was an officer in General George Washington's Continental Army.

Van Sant Covered Bridge, built in 1875, spans Pidcock Creek

The 1913 reunion

Our grandparents and great-grandparents established the Pidcock Family Association a century ago. They held the first reunion on Aug. 22, 1913, along Pidcock Creek at a place then called Neely’s Mill. This was where our original Delaware River ancestor John Pidcock had settled, perhaps as early as 1678. This scenic spot, where the stream flows alongside Bowman’s Hill before joining the Delaware, was the location of a Native American village called Win-Na-Haw-Caw-Chunk. It is about three miles south of present-day New Hope, Pa., along River Road.

Jonathan Pidcock

Association members trace our descent from Jonathan Pidcock, 1729-1812. A resident of present-day Lambertville, N.J., he was a merchant, a miller and owner/operator of a small fleet of Durham boats, commercial vessels that worked the river between Lambertville (then called Coryells Ferry) and Philadelphia. During the Revolutionary War, Jonathan and two of his sons belonged to the New Jersey Militia and served in 1776 and 1777. Official records disclose that Jonathan sold flour to General Washington’s army. His grave is on Bowman's Hill.

Jonathan's descendants

Over the centuries, Jonathan’s descendants have prospered, multiplied and scattered. Many continue to live in Bucks County, Pa., and Hunterdon County, N.J., two neighboring counties divided by the Delaware River where the Pidcocks first lived. But hundreds of other Pidcocks and Pidcock descendants live throughout the United States. If you include Jonathan Pidcock among your ancestors, please consider this as your invitation to our Aug. 17 reunion.

Upriver communities

New Hope, Pa., and Lambertville, N.J., are quaint communities of picturesque old homes, specialty shops, restaurants and visitor attractions. They are only a few miles north of the (Pidcock) Thompson-Neely House.


Looking south towards Bowman's Hill from the Delaware River bridge at New Hope

A street scene in New Hope

Life along the Delaware

A dinosaur guards New Hope's southern gateway.

Downriver

Several miles to the south of the (Pidcock) Thompson-Neely House are the headquarters, visitors center and historic buildings that make up the McConkey’s Ferry section of Washington Crossing Historic Park. Visitors can see the exact place where American soldiers boarded Durham boats to cross the Delaware as they began their surprise march on Trenton in December 1776. The Friends of Washington Crossing Historic Park coordinate special events and recruit and train tour guides. For more information, go to: www.ushistory.org/washingtoncrossing/info/friends.htm

The New Jersey side

Across the Delaware River in New Jersey is Washington Crossing State Park, which is operated by the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection. This park has a Visitors Center Museum that is open daily. Another feature is the Johnson Ferry House, an early 18th-century farmhouse and tavern. General Washington likely used this building when he and his soldiers crossed the Delaware on Christmas night in 1776 during their march on Trenton. More information about this park is available at: www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/washcros.html

This scale model of a Durham boat is on display in the Visitors

Center Museum, Washington Crossing State Park, N.J. Early

Pidcocks operated boats such as this one on the Delaware

during the late 1700s and early 1800s.