Ridley Township.

Tasker was married in Wilmington, Del., Feb. 4,1820, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Hickman, of New Castle County, Del., and has had nine children, of whom six survive. Mrs. Tasker's death occurred in 1878. Mr. Tasker purchased in 1857 over four hundred acres of land in Ridley township, Delaware Co., and has since devoted his leisure to farming and the introduction of blooded stock, first making a specialty of Durham cattle, and later of Ayrshires and Guernseys, which he continues to propagate. His grandson, Thomas Tasker Clark, who resides in Ridley, has the management of this property. Mr. Tasker was first a Whig in politics and afterwards became a Republican, but is not an active partisan. In religion he holds the relation of local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

William Custer, the grandfather of Bethel M., resided in Montgomery County, Pa., where he was interested in the manufacture of woolen goods. His children were Anna (Mrs. Nathan Ramsey), Mary (Mrs. Charles Van Dyke), Margaret (Mrs. Bethel Moore), Amos, and John. The birth of John occurred in 1784, in Montgomery County, where the larger part of his life was spent as a manufacturer and stone-mason, which trade he also acquired. Later he removed to Perry County, Pa., and became an extensive farmer. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonah Osborne, of Montgomery County, and had children, - Mary Ann (Mrs. Franklin Egbert), Margaret (Mrs. Robert C. Branyan), George W., Elizabeth (Mrs. Enos Keel), Bethel M., Anna L. (Mrs. Francis L. Lubbe), John Osborne, and Thomas. Bethel M. was born Jan. 8, 1828, in Montgomery County, from whence he removed, after a residence of ten years, with his parents to Perry County. After such limited opportunities of education as the public schools of the country afforded, he began a career of independence at the age of seventeen, having apprenticed himself to a blacksmith in West Philadelphia. This trade he pursued with energy for two years, when a more profitable field opened in the sale of milk, in which he engaged, in the spring of 1850, in West Philadelphia. In 1853 he removed to Haddington, and, having rented a farm, continued the business he had successfully established. In 1855 Montgomery County became his residence, from whence he made a final removal, in 1866, to the valuable property he had purchased three years previously, and which is his present home. Here he continued the traffic in milk on a more extended scale, and became one of the oldest and most prominent milk dealers in Philadelphia. Mr. Custer was married, in November, 1851, to Mrs. Jane Robertson, daughter of Samuel Crothers, of Kingsessing, Philadelphia Co. Their children are Luanna J. (Mrs. Thomas L. Partridge), Charles D., Samuel C., Ida J. (Mrs. Thomas L. Ulrick), Isaac R., Maggie S., John W., Bethel S., Lizzie, and Mary Alice. The death of Mrs. Custer occurred in December, 1870, and he was again married, in June, 1872, to Miss Mattis, daughter of Richard Holmes, of Ridley township, to whom were born children, - Laura H. and Lewis B. Mr. Custer is in his political predilections a Democrat, and actively interested in the local issues of the township. He was for a period of seventeen years a member of the board of school directors of the township, and has held various minor offices. He is a prominent Mason, member of Cassia Lodge, No. 273, of F. and A. M., of Ardmore, Montgomery Co., Pa., as also of St. John's Commandery. Mr. Custer is in his religious belief a Baptist, and a trustee and member of the church of that denomination at Ridley Park.

Peter Worrall, the pioneer of the family, was born in England, and emigrated with William Penn to America in 1682. He had three sons, - Peter, who settled in Bucks County, Pa.; George, who located in the State of Delaware; and Jonathan, who became a resident of Marple township, Chester Co. (now Delaware County), Pa. The latter married Mary Taylor, whose parents were members of the Penn colony, and had among his sons, - Jacob, who was united in marriage to Elizabeth Maddock, and had a son, Jesse, who married Mrs. Jane Bishop Bennett, daughter of Robert and Jane Bishop, - their children were Elizabeth, Jacob, and Tacy; Jacob, the subject of this biographical sketch, was born Sept. 7, 1806, on the ancestral estate in Ridley township, where the birth of his father also occurred. Here his youth was spent amid the employments of the farm, with such advantages of education as the neighborhood afforded. He, until twenty-one years of age, assisted his father in his routine of labor, and was later given an interest in the annual yield of the farm. On a subsequent division of the estate he received the half, which included the homestead. Here he resided, and continued his farming occupation until October, 1882, when the residence of his daughter at Leiperville became his home. Mr. Worrall married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Worrall, of the same township, and had children, - William (deceased), Mary P. (Mrs. Joseph K. Lukens, whose children are Jacob W., Elizabeth W., and William), and John B. (married to Miss Mary, daughter of William and Elizabeth Playford, whose children are William and George). Mr. Worrall was formerly a Whig in his political faith, and is now a Republican. He has held minor offices in the township, but is indifferent to such distinctions. Though not identified with any religious creed, he was educated in the faith of the society of Friends.