John Goforth was born in Yorkshire about 1667, the son of William Goforth and Ann Skipton.1 His parents were convinced Quakers, who were married in 1662 in a meeting at Elloughton, East Riding of Yorkshire. They immigrated in 1677 to West Jersey with their five sons, including John, and lived at first in Burlington, New Jersey. William died in March 1678, six months after their arrival. Ann soon married William Oxley and had a daughter Honora with him. They moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania. John was not yet of age then, and would have grown up with his mother, stepfather, and two stepbrothers and a stepsister. William Oxley died in 1717 and Ann died in 1723. After that the Goforth sons—John, George, William, Miles and Zachariah—scattered. George stayed in New Jersey, where he died in 1732. In his will he left land to his son, but if the son did not arrive to claim it, it was to go to his brother John. William lived near Easton, Maryland, but moved to Red Lion Hundred, New Castle County before his death in 1748. Miles moved to Kent County, Delaware and died there before 1734. Zachariah also died in Kent County, in 1736.

John moved to Red Lion Hundred, where he was a tanner and miller. He owned a sawmill on Christiana Creek, but worked as a tanner2. He bought land in St. Georges Hundred in 1725, and another tract in 1728, on the road to Bohemia Manor.3 He was supposed to have a wife Hannah who died in 1721.4 At some point he married a woman named Lydia. John had five known children, named in his will.5

John and Lydia were not Quakers. In 1740 they were both baptized at Welsh Tract Baptist Meeting in Pencader, just west of Red Lion Hundred.6 John died in 1750. In his will he left land and the sawmill to John, land to William, and money to the three daughters, following the typical pattern of the time. He hoped to keep the land in the family, and left it entailed, to the heirs of his sons. 7

Children of John:8

William, the eldest son. He married twice. He married before 20 July 1742, Ann, daughter of Andrew Anderson.9  By 1756 he was married to a woman named Mary. William and Mary bought and sold several pieces of land, including some of the land he had inherited from his father John. John had left the land entailed, to William “and the heirs of his body lawfully begotten for ever”. William had to go through a process of Common Recovery in order to own the land in fee simple, so that he could sell some of it.10 The last reference to William and Mary is in 1767 when they sold a tract on the Kings Road and another near the Black Bridge.11

John, alive in 1750. He may have lived in Bucks County for a time, possibly as an apprentice to learn the sawmill trade. In October 1747 a John Goforth was accused in Bucks County of fornication and bastardy with Rebecca Kelly. William Groom, father of Thomas Groom, stood surety for John.12 In 1750 John inherited a saw mill on Christiana Creek with its “great saw and timber wheels”, and the adjoining land, partly in Pencader Hundred and part in White Clay Hundred. He was to inherit the silver watch and some of his father’s apparel. A marriage or probate record has not been found for him.

Elizabeth, married a Cochran before 1750, possibly the James Cochran, mariner, who gave power of attorney to his wife Elizabeth in 1783.13

Margaret, married a Cannon before 1750.14 “The Cannons were a prominent family who came to [St Georges Hundred] in 1724.15 She might have been the wife of Isaac Cannon, who was living near the Dragon Swamp in 1742.16

Lydia, m. 1750 Thomas Groom of Bucks County, son of William and Margaret. They lived in Southampton where Thomas owned a mill. They were often in debt and in 1785 they lost the mill property in a sheriff’s sale.17 After that they lived on a property leased from their son Thomas. Children: Thomas, John, William.

 

Anne Skipworth was the daughter of Willoughby Skipworth and Honora Saunders—a Royalist and a Quaker.1 Willoughby was born in January 1613 in Ormsby, Lincolnshire, the son of William Skipwith and Anne Portington. Both William Skipwith and Anne Portington had royal ancestry, well documented through the Lincolnshire Pedigrees, the Complete Peerage, and other sources.2 The “best royal line”, that is the shortest descent, places William as the 8^th generation from Edward III and his wife Philippe of Hainault. As his first cousin Anne Portington had the same descent.

The illustrious background did not make an easy life for William He “suffered from the pecuniary misfortunes brought upon his family by his father [Richard]. He is found in several instances joining with his father in mortgaging, or selling, the family property, probably to pay his father’s debts. At one time he was in the Fleet Prison for debt.”3 William and Anne had nine children, of whom Willoughby was the eldest son.4

Willoughby inherited the family manors when his father died in 1622. The following year his mother Anne married Francis Guevara of Stenigot, from a Spanish family that settled in Lincolnshire. In 1634 Willoughby married Honora Saunders, daughter of Patrick Saunders and Sarah Smith. The same year Willoughby’s father-in-law Patrick had paid off a debt for him, secured by the manors of Skipwith and Menthorpe in Yorkshire.5 Two years later Willoughby, Honora and Patrick mortgaged the manor of Ormsby to Sir Charles Harbord. They forfeited on the mortgage, but “Sir Charles Harbord does not wish to take advantage of this, and for a sum of money conveys all his rights to Drayner Massingberd.”6 The same year Willoughby moved his family back to their old manor of Skipwith, Yorkshire.

During the English Civil War, Willoughby sided with the king and “took an active part on the King’s side in the wars between King and Parliament, and was heavily fined as a delinquent when the Puritan party got the upper hand.”7 He “laid down his armes… in March 1644”. He died in Skipwith in 1658, and letters of administration were granted to his widow Honora.

Honora brought her own history to the marriage with Willoughby. Her father Patrick Saunders was a Doctor of Physick, who had been admitted as a candidate for the College of Physicians in 1620.8 His degree as a doctor of medicine was granted by Franeker in 1619. Franeker University was the second-oldest university in the Netherlands, later disbanded. Patrick is supposed to have acquired some of the books of John Dee, the scholar of science and the occult, who assembled one of the largest libraries in England.9 Many of Dee’s book were stolen from his house in 1585 and dispersed. Some of them ended up in “the hands of John Pontois and Patrick Saunders.”10  Pontois was Dee’s executor; Saunders may have worked for Dee. “Since John Woodall and Dee’s servant Patrick Saunders were Pontois’s heirs, they must have been responsible for the final dispersal of Dee’s belongings in 1626 or 1627.”11

Patrick married Sarah Smith in 1613 at St. Saviour’s Southwark.12 They lived in St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate, where he died in 1638. Sarah died before him, in 1632.13 They had a daughter Honora and at least one other child who died young.14

By 1662 Honora had become a Quaker, along with her daughter Ann. Honora was imprisoned in York Castle, where she died in 1679. She is considered to be a Quaker martyr. As George Goforth put it, “The early Quakers were of two main types – those who followed the pacific teachings of George Fox, and those who felt they must force their beliefs on others. The latter were frequently subject to severe punishment, even imprisonment, for disturbing the peace.”15

Known children of Willoughby and Honora:16

John, b. ab. 1634, d. 1680 in Hemingbrough, Yorkshire. He married and had four sons.

Patrick, b. 1635, no further record.

Anne, b. 1642, d. 1723 in Philadelphia, m. 1) William Goforth, 2) William Oxley. Ann immigrated to West Jersey with her husband William Goforth and their sons when it was opened for settlement as a Quaker refuge from persecution. Goforth died six months after they landed at Burlington and Ann married another Quaker, William Oxley. They moved to Chester County and had three children, a daughter Honora and two sons. The Goforth sons fell away from the Quakers, which would surely have dismayed their grandmother Honora.

William Goforth was born in 1631 in Knedlington, Yorkshire, the son of Miles and Mary Goforth.1 William grew up on a farm and attended the large Howden church, as his ancestors would have done for generations. As the oldest son he might have expected to inherit the farm. His mother died in 1659 and was buried at Howden.2

Around the same time that his mother died, William became a Quaker. Yorkshire was at the northern edge of Quakerism in England.

“The north of England holds a special place in the history of Quakerism. It was there that the message of its charismatic founder George Fox (1624-1691) first took root and from there that the early converts, known as ‘First Publishers of Truth’, spread out across the country. It was also the site of the first settled Meetings and the source of early forms of Quaker organisation and discipline.

‘Truly Friends in the North is rare and precious, very few I find like them’, wrote Richard Roper to Margaret Fell in October 1656 … By the end of 1653, the main areas of Quaker convincement were Westmorland, Cumberland, north Lancashire, Durham and Yorkshire.”3

The meetings in eastern Yorkshire were scattered and distant. The closest meeting for William was probably at Elloughton, about 15 miles east of Knedlington.4 Quaker converts around there may have been convinced by William Dewsbury, an early minister, who “loved not his Life unto Death, but was willing to Hazerd it for ye word of his Testimony, wch he faithfully Bore through several Marketts, and in Steeple Houses, and in other Places where people were together.”5 William Goforth might have been convinced of Quaker teachings at the large horse market in Howden.

In 1662 William married Ann Skipwith at a Quaker meeting, probably in Elloughton or in Hull.6 Ann had an interesting ancestry for a Quaker. She was the daughter of Willoughby Skipwith and Honora Saunders. Willoughby was born to a family that traced its ancestry for generations in the village of Skipwith. “They are first mentioned in the early 13th century, when Osbert of Skipwith had an interest there. …and in 1418 Sir Thomas Skipwith died seised of the whole manor of Skipwith, two-thirds held of the Durham fee and one-third of the Wake fee. … The manor was held by the Skipwiths … until 1709….”7 Willoughby was a Royalist, who fought for Charles I against Cromwell, and died in 1658 leaving his wife Honora and several children.8 Honora and her daughter Ann became Quakers. Honora was later imprisoned in York Castle for her Quaker beliefs, where she died in 1679. Before then she was probably living with her family in Skipwith, which is about ten miles north of Knedlington.

William and Ann were married in 1662, probably at Elloughton, although a record of the meeting was kept at Hull.9 It is pleasing to see that William’s father Miles attended and signed the marriage certificate as a witness, along with Ann’s mother Honora and her brother John.10 The record of the marriage read: “William Goforth of Knedlington and Anne Skipwith, after publishing, &c., upon the 11th day of the 7th mo: 1662 their marriage was consummated in presence of Miles Goforth, Honora Skipwith, John Hodgson, John Skipwith, George Canby, Anth. Collier, Josh. Wright, Chr. Graves, Martha Monckton, and Alice Wright.” The following month another Knedlington man, Christopher Graves, married at Elloughton. William was a witness, along with Honora Skipwith.

William and Ann lived together in Yorkshire for fifteen years and probably had all of their children there.11 They had five known sons and possibly a daughter. In 1677 another event changed their life completely. The colony of West Jersey opened up for Quaker settlement, under the leadership of William Penn and other trustees, who circulated descriptions of the land encouraging Quakers to escape persecution by settling in the new colony.12 William and Ann made the commitment to leave. They sailed with their children on the fly boat Martha, leaving from Hull, thirty miles east of Knedlington on the Humber. The Martha was a relatively small boat, yet it made the crossing safely and landed, probably at Burlington, in September 1677.13 William bought two pieces of land there.14

A Quaker, John Crips, who landed about the same time on the Kent, wrote a glowing description of their situation back to a Friend in England.

“Through the mercy of God, we are safely arrived at New-Jersey; my wife and all mine are very well and we have our healths rather better here than we had in England; indeed the country is so good, that I do not see how it can reasonably be found fault with: As far as I perceive, all the things we heard of it in England, are very true; and I wish that many people (that are in straits) in England, were here.

“Here is good land enough lies void, would serve many thousands of families; and we think if they cannot live here, they can hardly live in any place in the world; but we do not desire to persuade any to come, but such as are well satisfied in their own minds. A town lot is laid out for us in Burlington, which is a convenient place for trade; it is about one hundred and fifty miles up the river Delaware; the country and air seems to be very agreable to our bodies, and we have very good stomachs to our victuals: Here is plenty of provision in the country; plenty of fish and fowl, and good venison very plentiful, and much better than ours in England; for it eats not so dry, but is full of gravy, like fat young beef. You that come after us need not fear the trouble that we have had, for now here is land ready divided against you come: The Indians are very loving to us, except here and there one, when they have gotten strong liquors in their heads, which they now greatly love: But for the country, in short, I like it very well; and I do believe, that this river of Delaware is as good a river as most in the world.”15

In spite of Crips’ description of the healthful air of West Jersey, William did not live long there. He was buried on the 25^th 1^st month (March) 1678.16 He was about 47 years old. Ann would outlive him by 45 years. After his death she was left with five sons and a possible daughter. Within the next few years she married William Oxley, who had also come on the Martha.17 William and Ann lived first in Chester County, where they had a daughter Honora and two sons.18 The sons with William Goforth were under age and would have lived with their mother and stepfather at first.

The Goforth sons were unruly. In 1687 William Goforth testified in Chester County Court against Samuel Rowland, who had beaten Samuel Baker in a drunken rage. William had seen them drinking together at John Hodskins’ place; presumably William was drinking there too.19 The same month William testified against Richard Crosby, a notorious troublemaker when drunk. Crosby struck Goforth on the head and threatened to do violence to the Swedes.20 Crosby was poor company for a young Quaker man. When two of Ann’s sons, Miles and Zacharia Goforth, were arrested by the Commissioners in January 1692, for cutting down trees from the Proprietor’s land near Philadelphia, their stepfather William Oxley appeared on their behalf and gave his word they would not do it again. Richard Jennett, who was accused with them, was insolent upon examination and was held on bond.21

William and Ann and their family lived first in Chester County. He serves on juries there in 1681, 1682 and 1683, and was overseer of the highways in 1682 from Upland Creek to Amersland.22 In 1684 he was sued in a complex case involving payment for a cattle barn built for him.23 Henry Hasting and Richard Friend were supposed to build a “cattle house” for Oxley, but Oxley was actually sued by a third party, Stephen Chambers. In the end Oxley had to turn over the plantation with its livestock to Chambers, and Oxley was to be held harmless from “any party or parties that may or shall lay Claime to the premisses”.

In 6^th month 1688 a lot was surveyed for Oxley in Philadelphia, on Mulberry Street.24 How was he making his living? If he moved to the city, he could not have been a farmer. William was not active in Philadelphia Meeting of Friends. He died in 2^nd month (April) 1717. In 9^th month 1719 Ann requested a certificate from Philadelphia MM, “she being moved to Burlington”. The same month a certificate was requested for John Oxley.25 But the next month, the meeting reported that, “It doth not appear that she now stands so related to friends as that a certificate can be granted”.26 She was probably not disowned and her death four years later was reported in the records of Philadelphia Meeting.27 Ann died in 2^nd month 1723.28

Ann’s Goforth sons did not remain in Philadelphia. One of them lived in West Jersey; two or three of them moved to Delaware. They also did not remain Quakers. There are no Quaker records for any of their marriages. Her Oxley stepchildren also scattered, one apparently moving to Barbados.

Children of William Goforth and Ann:

George, born 1663, died 1732, supposedly married Jane Robinson, was a mariner.29 In a slightly dubious claim, he is said to have carried dispatches in 1682 from Governor Markham to authorities in New York, protesting actions of Lord Baltimore.30 He owned land in Burlington, Jersey.31 George was sued three times in Burlington Court in cases of debt: by Edward Hunloke in 1689, by Abraham Senior and Richard Russell in 1690.32 In all three cases the jury found for the plaintiffs and against George.  He made a will leaving his land to his wife Jane and son William, “provided they come into the Province to claim it within five years after my decease”, otherwise it was to go to his brothers and sister: “John Goforth, William, George and Susannah Robinson”.33 The precise identity of these people is unclear.34

William, born 1665, died 1748 in New Castle County, Delaware, married in 1694 Sarah Preston.35 It is often stated that he was disowned from Falls Meeting around 1682 for privateering, and assumed from this that he met his wife Sarah in Maryland “in his sailing trips”.36 That was based on a misreading of the Quaker meeting record and does not pertain to this William. He married Sarah in Maryland and had four children baptized at St. Peter’s Church, Easton (Episcopalian). According to the Goforth Genealogy, which follows this line, he and Sarah had five children before her death. He supposedly then moved to Red Lion Hundred, New Castle County, where his will was probated in 1748.37 The will is problematic because in it he named his wife Ann and son William, but no other sons. William was to pay £10 to “each of his sisters”. There are numerous land deeds in New Castle County referring to the William who died in 1748. He was a weaver, with wife Ann, married to her by 1731.38 After his death his estate was administered by Adrian Laforge, then married to the widow Ann.39 The younger William, the one named in the will, became a carpenter and married Ann Ferguson in 1759 at Immanuel Church.40 In 1761 they sold land on the Dragon Swamp that had belonged to William the weaver.41
The fit between the William who married Sarah Preston and the William who died in 1748 is not very close. The will only names one son, where there should be more. It is possible that they are the same man, if only because the 1748 William must be accounted for in the family.42 The strongest argument for the identity is that no probate records have been found for William in Maryland.
Children of William and Sarah (as given in the Goforth Genealogy): Willoughby, Marcy, George, Sarah, Preston.43 If the 1748 will is his, then there was also a son William.

John, born 1667, died 1750, m. 1) Hannah —, 2) Lydia —. John was named in the 1732 will of his brother George. There are no marriage records for him that have been found. He is supposed to have a first wife Hannah, who died on July 3, 1721.44 He then married a woman named Lydia. They lived in Red Lion Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, where John owned a saw mill and worked as a tanner. In his will, written on 26 April 1750, he named his wife Lydia, three daughters and two sons. Two of the daughters were married by then, and another would marry within a month.45 In the will John left money to his three daughters. He left the sawmill on Christiana Creek with its land to his son John, along with personal goods like a silver watch. He left his son William a tract of 330 acres and all the farm animals.46 Lydia was to have full use of the estate during her natural life. Children of John: William, John, , Elizabeth, Margaret, Lydia.47

Miles, born 1673, died before 1734, married 1) Francis —, 2) Elizabeth Brown.48 In 1704 he was admitted as a freeman in Philadelphia, licensed to do business.49 He later moved to Kent County and settled there. Miles had at least two sons, but they apparently left no heirs.50 Children: George, Miles. The younger Miles is probably the one who sold land in Kent County in 1742 that he had bought in 1735.51

Zachariah, born 1675, died 1736, married Ann Morgan, lived in Delaware. Moved to Dorchester County, Maryland around 1700, later to Kent County, Delaware52 When Zachariah died in 1736, his son Zachariah was the administrator.53 Child: Zachariah.54

? Susannah, m. William (or George?) Robinson. She is inferred from the will of George Goforth in 1732. No other records have yet been found for her.

 

Children of Ann and William Oxley (surname Oxley)

Honora, b. about 1680, d. 1742, m. 1698 George Harmer at Phila MM. Harmer was a comb-maker.55 They were married on 20^th 11^th month (January) 1697/98. William and Ann Oxley signed their wedding certificate as nearest relations. It is noteworthy that none of Honora’s half-brothers signed. Honora and George had a large family. He died in Upper Dublin, Philadelphia County in 1732. Honora died in 5^th month 1742.56

Joseph, buried in Philadelphia on 8^th of 8^th month 1700 as a non-Friend.57

John, born about 1682.58 In 1706 Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting reported that he goes about as a preacher among Friends, with which they were not satisfied.59 They found that some of the charges against him were unfounded, being when “he was but a boy”, but asked him to be more careful for the future. He died in 3^rd month 1743.60 Samuel Hazard, in his Register of Pennsylvania, said that John lived in Barbadoes and had come to Philadelphia before he died, “for the recovery of his health, and to see his brethren and Friends.”61

The Goforth family appears in the records of Howden Parish as early as the 1500s.1 At first the family name could be written either Goforth or Gofar. At a time when few people were literate, this would have been at the choice of the rector.2 Howden is in the southwest corner of the East Riding of Yorkshire, close to the West Riding and northern Lincolnshire.3 Howden parish included a number of villages, and covered 20 square miles of flat land.4 Miles and Mary Goforth lived in Knedlington, an old town, named in the Domesday Book in Howden hundred.5 The nearby town of Howden was historically a market town, especially known for its horse market, and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham.

Miles was baptized in March 1608, the son of George Goforth of Knedlington.6 He was one of six known children of George, three of whom died in infancy.7 The children were: Margaret, baptized 1600; Robert, baptized 1602; William, baptized 1605; John, baptized 1607; Miles, baptized 1608; George, baptized 1611.8

About 1630 Miles married a woman named Mary. 9 They had three known children, and possibly one or two more. In the baptismal records Miles is shown as a resident of Knedlington. In 1659 Mary died. Three years later Miles’ son William married Ann Skipwith in a Quaker ceremony in Elloughton; Miles was one of the witnesses to sign the marriage certificate.10 Although there is no record of Miles becoming a Quaker himself, he did not disinherit his son, and left land to William in his will. The will, written in July 1674, and proved in December of that year, did not name his wife. Miles left three pieces of land, none of them in Knedlington. The tracts in Sandholme and Hive were left to his daughter Elizabeth Halliwell and son-in-law Henry Nutbrowne to pay for Miles’ debts and funeral expenses, with the remainder to go to his grandchildren Alice and John Awdus and Miles, Marie, and Elizabeth Nutbrowne.11 Henry Nutbrowne was the husband of Miles’ deceased daughter Mary.12 The house and farm buildings in Gilberdike were to go to his son William, and after William’s death to the grandson Miles. Sandholme, Hive and Gilberdike were three hamlets close together, and about four miles east of Knedlington. Miles was buried on July 15, 1674.13

Children of Miles:14

William, bapt. Jan 1631 O.S.15, married Ann Skipwith in 7^th month (September) 1662, buried in Burlington, NJ on 25^th 1^st month (March) 1678.16

Elizabeth, bapt. May 163417; married – Helliwell, possibly first married – Awdus.

Mary, bapt. Aug 163618; married Henry Nutbrowne in June 1663, had children Miles, Mary and Elizabeth before 1674

George, son of Miles, died June 1657.19 There is a burial record for him, but no birth record.

My grandmother Helen Worthington never knew her maternal grandparents. Her grandmother Jenny Scott died before she was born, and she apparently had no contact with her grandfather James. But she had heard a family story about them, probably from her mother Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s father was James F. Scott. He was in business in Philadelphia with his brothers. His first wife, Jenny, died when Elizabeth was young. When James remarried, to the sister of his first wife, the new wife did not want the baby, and Elizabeth was sent away to be raised in a Catholic orphanage.1

So far the story seems mostly true.2 Elizabeth’s father was in fact James F. Scott.3 In 1880 she was not living with her father and stepmother, but in a residential school for girls run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.4 When she died in 1911, Elizabeth was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Glenside.5 The open question is whether his first and second wives were sisters. They were both born in New York, which is unusual for wives of a man living in Philadelphia.

Scott Brothers is listed in city directories of Philadelphia between 1872 and 1902. Variously described as express, teams, carmen, and livery, it was a delivery service, in business for over 30 years, first at 146 South Street, and later at 1529 S. Front.6 From the directories the brothers were James, Samuel, and Ezekiel.

They came from northern Ireland, near Newtown Limavady in County Derry. Samuel and Dorothea Scott had five sons there: Ezekiel, James, Samuel, Joseph, and Alexander. They were Presbyterians, and attended a church in Carbullion, a few miles north of Newtown Limavady.7 They all emigrated together in 1851 on the Superior out of Londonderry, and arrived on May 5.8 The ship carried 217 passengers, all Irish, and mostly farmers and laborers. In Philadelphia, the parents died before the 1860 census was taken, and the brothers scattered. James lived with his brother Samuel, boarding in the “eating house” of John and Sarah Gallagher.9 (Samuel would later marry their daughter Sallie Gallagher.) By 1867 James was married, to the first of his three wives.10 Her name was Jennie.11 She was born about 1843, and was just a few years younger than James. They had one known child, a daughter Elizabeth, born about 1867, probably in August.12 In 1870 James, Jennie and Elizabeth were living a few houses away from James’ brother Ezekiel, his wife Ellen and their young sons Samuel and Ezekiel, surrounded by other Irish immigrants in Philadelphia’s rough-and-tumble 4^th ward.13 The 4^th ward was just south of the 5^th ward, “Bloody 5th”, and probably shared its character. “Poor newcomers to the Fifth Ward lived in and amid crowded streets and alleys, apartments, taprooms, cheap rooming houses, warehouses, and small stores. In this increasingly marginalized district, murder and prostitution became chronic, and law enforcement nonexistent.”14 On Election Day 1871 riots spread through both wards as Irish clashed with African Americans and police over the blacks’ right to vote.15 Brick-throwing Irish mobs erupted on Election Day 1871, causing deaths and injuries among blacks attempting to vote. The Irish were led by their “ward boss”, William McMullen, who controlled the 4^th ward for almost fifty years.16 McMullen was “certainly behind much of what happened in the Fourth Ward…. He was the key to the riot.”17 After that incident, political deals kept the wards quiet on election days.18 Unemployment made it easy to exploit discontent. “Irish males carried bricks, portered goods, and produced textiles and clothing, while women worked largely as housekeepers and maids. Employment was at best sporadic, too frequently leaving Irish males out of work and in the streets.”19

James and Jennie had only the daughter Elizabeth, before Jennie’s death in August 1875.20 She was 32 years old, buried at Mt Moriah, a large non-sectarian cemetery along Cobbs Creek in southwestern Philadelphia.21 James remarried on October 10, 1877, at the Third Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.22 His wife was Mary Maxwell. She was 28 years old, and born in Bath, New York.23 This was an unlikely match. Bath is in Steuben County, upstate New York, largely rural and agricultural in the 1800s. It was not a core destination for Irish immigration, yet in the 1850 census, there was a cluster of Scots-Irish families living near the family of James and Sarah Maxwell, possible parents of Mary.24

In 1880, when the census was taken, James and Mary were living on Federal Street.25 This was south of his old location in the 4^th ward. Elizabeth was not living with them. She was a resident in a school on the corner of 39^th and Pine, the Immaculate Conception School run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.26 In 1880 the school housed girls between the ages of seven and twenty-two; it must have served as an orphanage as well as a school, although the girls were taught housekeeping, sewing, and a “good English education”, presumably reading, writing and arithmetic.27 Elizabeth was 14 years old, and probably stayed in the school until she was 17 or so, or old enough to find a job as a domestic servant or similar occupation. There is no way to know whether she had any contact with her father or stepmother during this time.

James and Mary had a daughter Sarah, born on September 20, 1878.28 She is probably the same as the daughter Asseth listed in the 1880 census, age one. There are no further records of her, suggesting that she died young. At the time infant mortality was high. In 1880 an infant in Philadelphia had a one in six chance of dying before its first birthday.29 This rate was probably higher for poor Irish families such as the Scotts. James’ brother Samuel and his wife Sallie buried at least six of their children, most of them less than a year old. Mothers sometimes stopped breastfeeding early and fed their children bottled milk, which was often adulterated, infected with bacteria, or taken from tubercular cows. The city distributed forty thousand copies of a circular urging mothers to breastfeed their babies longer, especially through the summer months when the milk supply was more at risk due to the lack of refrigeration, but more babies still died in the summer until the early 1920s.30

In January 1882 James and Mary had another child, named Fannie.31 Like her half-sister Elizabeth, she would survive to marry. In February 1885 Mary died at age 39.32 She was buried at Mt Moriah, like Jennie ten years before her. Her death left James with little Fannie, just three years old, and Elizabeth, who was by then 17 years old. Instead of bringing Elizabeth back to keep house for him James remarried, for the third and final time around 1886.33  His wife was Martha Maxwell, probably the younger sister of his second wife Mary.34 They lived on Federal Street, where they owned the house. James worked as a contractor, still part of Scott Brothers. James and Martha had two children together, James F. and Cora Ferguson.35 Little James was stillborn in February 1888 and buried at Mt Moriah.36 Cora, born in December 1891, would live to marry, the only one of James’ five known children to outlive him. In 1900 James and Martha were still on Federal Street, with Fanny and Cora, as well as a housekeeper Sarah Mason, a widowed cousin.37 By 1910 they had moved north to the Oak Lane neighborhood of north Philadelphia, probably a step up in living conditions.38 In 1912 they were received at the Oak Lane Presbyterian Church, from the Third Presbyterian Church where they were already members.39

In 1911 when Fannie was 29, she made an unusual marriage to a fellow member of the Oak Lane Church, but someone of a different social background.40 John Mahn Thissell had graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was on the chess club and the championship bowling team.41 He had both a Bachelor’s and a Law degree and was set to practice law. He and Fannie were married for just three years. She gave birth to their son, John M. Thissell Jr, in October 1914, but she died soon after, from complications of the birth, and the baby died the next month at the age of five weeks.42

The following year Cora married Philip Guckes, probably at Oak Lane Church.43 This was another unexpected marriage for the Scott daughters. Philip was a grandson of Philip Guckes of the International Brewing Company, who built a brewery on School House Lane, produced 2,000 gallons of ale in 1870, lost the brewery to fire in 1881, and lost everything in a sheriff’s sale in 1883.44 Cora and Philip moved to Montgomery County, where they had two sons, Philip and James Ferguson. Cora died in 1965; Philip died in 1974.45

In October 1916, James Scott died, at age 76. He was buried at Mt Moriah, the preferred burial place for his immediate family.46 He had outlived three of his brothers, two of his wives, and most sadly, four of his children.47 After his death Martha lived with Cora and Philip in Montgomery County, until her death in 1928.48 The funeral was held at her home church of Oak Lane Presbyterian.49

 

Samuel Scott and Dorothy Ferguson came from the county of Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, near the town of Newtown Limavady, where records about them are found in two adjoining parishes: Aghanloo and Drumachose. Londonderry was confiscated from the O’Nials in 1607 along with the rest of Ulster. “In 1608, under James I what became known as the Plantation of Ulster began. This period saw the arrival of settlers from England and the building of walled towns designed in orderly patterns, unlike the clusters of huts that the Gaelic Irish lived in.”1 Because of the Plantation, the county was a mix of Gaelic Irish and settlers from England and Scotland, many of whom later immigrated to America.2

Samuel and Dorothea Scott had five sons—Ezekiel, James, Samuel, Joseph, and Alexander. Two of the sons, Samuel and Joseph, were baptized at the Presbyterian Church in Carbullion, a townland in the civil parish of Aghanloo.3 Either the other sons were not baptized there, or their records were missing. Presbyterianism came to Ulster from Scotland. It was illegal for many years because the Church of Ireland was the state church. By the 1830s there were several Presbyterian churches north of Newtown Limavady.4

Samuel may have been the son of Ezekiel Scott, found in the 1831 census in the townland of Ballyclose in the parish of Drumachose.5 Ezekiel Scott was also named in the 1825 tithe book of Carbullion, as well as in Artikelly, both in Aghanloo parish.6 It is noteworthy that Samuel named his oldest son Ezekiel. There are also three entries for Samuel Scott in the tithe books for the parish of Aghanloo: one in Maghryskeagh, one in Carbullion, and one in Tullyarmon.7 In Griffith’s Valuation, published from 1847 to 1864, taken as a basis for taxation, Samuel Scott appears in the landholding of Glenkeen (Drumachose parish), in a house assessed at 5s which he was renting from James McFarland.8 These records may not refer to the same Samuel Scott.

By 1851 Samuel and Dorothy had five known children, all sons. By then the worst of the Great Famine was over. It had affected Ulster as well as Ireland, but the southern part of Ulster more heavily than the north. In any case, Samuel and Dorothy decided to leave in early 1851. They packed up a few belongings and traveled 20 miles around the southern end of the Foyle estuary to Londonderry, a port where they could get a transatlantic steamer. They either walked or took a horse-drawn carriage, if they could borrow one.9 The Bianconi coaching service, a great service for travelers in the south of Ireland, did not reach Ulster until 1852.10 Once they reached Londonderry the Scotts boarded the steamship Superior, operated by the J. & J. Cooke Company. It was a relatively new ship, and considered well-run, clean, and well-provisioned.11 They were in steerage, not in cabins, and survived there for several weeks while the ship crossed the Atlantic.12 In all there were 217 passengers on the ship, all Irish, and mostly farmers and laborers.13 Finally on May 5, they arrived at the port of Philadelphia.

There were seven in the family: Samuel and Dorothea Scott with their five sons. Samuel was 51; Dorothea was 35; Ezekiel was 12; James 10; Samuel 8; Joseph 6, and Alex was nine months old.14 Since there are no further records of Alexander, he may have died young. They settled in Philadelphia, where the family scattered.15 Ezekiel and Joseph were living in the 4^th ward, where Ezekiel worked as an ostler, caring for horses. James and Samuel were living in the “eating house” of John Gallagher in the 5^th ward, working as express men, perhaps for a delivery service.16 By 1870 three of the sons—Ezekiel, James, and Joseph—were married. They were all working as drivers or expressmen and by 1874 they had formed their own delivery business, Scott Brothers. It operated for years, even into the next generation. The business, variously described in city directories as express, teams, carmen, and livery, was a horse-drawn delivery service. It operated out of South Street, probably at number 146, Ezekiel’s house for years until he retired.

There are no records of Samuel or Dorothy in Philadelphia after they arrived. They probably died before the 1860 census was taken.

Children of Samuel and Dorothea:

Ezekiel was born in 1838. He married a woman named Ellen.17 They lived in Philadelphia for years, and Ezekiel ran the family delivery business with his brothers James and Samuel.18 About 1885 Ezekiel and Ellen moved to a farm in Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, where he died in 1888. After his death Ellen stayed on the farm, living with her son Samuel and his family.19 She died in 1917 and was buried at Williamstown Presbyterian Church Cemetery with Ezekiel.20 Children of Ezekiel and Ellen (some of whom died young): Samuel, Elizabeth, Ezekiel, Ellen, Vera, Dora, Annie.21

James F. was born on July 25, 1840. He lived at first in the 5^th ward, later moved up to north Philadelphia. For over 30 years he was part of the Scott Brothers delivery service. He married three times. His first wife Jennie died in 1875, leaving him with a daughter Elizabeth, about eight years old. James then married Mary J. Maxwell, born in New York, probably from Bath, Steuben County, raising a question of how they met. Mary and James had a daughter Fannie before Mary died in 1885. James and his third wife Martha (probably a younger sister of Mary) had a daughter Cora. James died in 1916. He had outlived three of his brothers, two wives, and four of his children. Children of James: Elizabeth (with Jennie); Sarah and Fannie (with Mary); James and Cora (with Martha).

Samuel Joseph was born in December 1842. He immigrated in 1851 with his parents and arrived in Philadelphia as an 8-year old. By 1860 he was living with his brother James, probably as boarders in the “eating house” of John and Sarah Gallagher.22 In 1870 he was still living with the Gallaghers, including their daughter Sallie, age 11, who would later become Samuel’s wife.23 By 1880 Samuel, now married to Sallie, was still living with John and Sarah Gallagher, now at 418 German Street.24 By 1900 Samuel was finally the head of his household, widowed, a contractor, living with his mother-in-law Sarah Gallagher and two of her unmarried children, Charles and Elizabeth. In addition three of Samuel’s sons were there: Samuel J, Paul, and Joseph.25 Sallie died in 1896 and was buried at Old Cathedral.26 She left Samuel with some very young children. He died in 1905 at the age of 62 and was buried at Old Cathedral with Sallie. He had become a Catholic, probably at the time of the marriage with Sallie, and a Mass was said for him.27 Children of Samuel and Sallie: Mary F, Samuel Joseph, Regina, Dorothea, Paul, Joseph, Sallie, Mary, James Francis, Mary Agnes. All but Samuel, Paul and Joseph died young.

Joseph was born in December 1844 and immigrated with his parents and brothers in 1851. At first he lived with his brother Ezekiel in 1860, then married Mary White in 1866 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.28 In the 1880 census Joseph Scott was keeping a livery stable, continuing in the family trade. His household included Mary, his mother-in-law Ann White, and four children: Clarence, Walter, Anna Mabel, and Mary Viola. The son Clarence later appears in the listing for Scott Brothers in 1902. In 1900 Joseph and Mary were living at 2313 Catherine Street with Anna and Mary.29 Joseph died in October 1920, age 75, living on 2313 Catherine Street.30 Children: Clarence, Walter, Anna Mabel, Mary Viola.31

Alexander, b. 1850, no further record.

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