Live Long is this weeks theme for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. Those who have lived the longest life span in our family tree are more recent ancestors, like grandpa Dougherty and “Gay”. Since I have already written about them last year I thought I would find one I have not had the opportunity to write about.
John Westfall is my 3x great grandfather. He was the Son of Wilhelmus Westfall and was born in 1794 in New Jersey. He lived to be 84 years old. This was not an outstandingly long life. But it was greater then the average lifespan for a man of this time. His life span saw the great western migration of the United States, War of 1812,and The American Civil War.

 John Westfall afterward owned the old Mordecai Roberts place in 1834. He raised a large family of children, among them Solomon and James, of Rowland’s, and Gabriel, of Columbia, D.T. Judge William Westfall, who died at the Westfall home in 1882, contributed many articles of a historical character to the press, and was for years a correspondent of the Milford Herald and Dispatch, a stanch Democrat. He was elected county commissioner in 1851, and served four years as county treasurer, five years as associate judge, five years as county auditor, and was a member of the Legislature when he died, besides being town clerk, justice of the peace and school director thirty-eight years.

The above quote has been taken from the following: http://www.pa-roots.com/pike/history/chapter11

Another photo identical to the above photo can be found on Ancestry attached to someone else’s family tree and identified as John Westfall’s home. My grandfather had identified it as his fathers childhood home. The family moved to  Lackawaxen township in Pike County, Pennsylvania. Could this be the old Mordecai Roberts place?

He saw his children move from the original 13 colonies west, two to the west coast and the Pacific Northwest. He saw his grandchildren fight on both sides of the civil war. He buried his wife when he was 45 and his son John Westfall when he was 70.

He lived to have 9 children, 23 grandchildren, and see 4 of his great-great grandchildren born.

John Westfall died May 21, 1878 at Rowlands, PA.