The Quaker Walton family has been traced back to Thomas Walton, born about 1536 in Oxhill Parish, Warwickshire. Oxhill is close to Stratford-upon-Avon, in the Vale of the Red Horse. The valley’s name comes from a horse figure cut into the red soil of the hill above the village of Tysoe. Oxhill itself is an old town, named in the Domesday Book as Octeselve.1

The first reliable Walton ancestor is William, born in 1629 in Oxhill, who married Alice Martin in 1657.2 Before 1656 William and Alice moved out of Warwickshire, and their sons were baptized at Bibury Parish in Gloucestershire, which is about 25 miles from Oxhill. William died in England in 1681, but his four sons became Quakers, and they emigrated.3

The four brothers arrived around 1682 or 1683, in the first great wave of migration of English Friends to Pennsylvania.4 “These dates are confirmed by a letter written by Nathaniel, the eldest of the brothers, to his youngest brother William, dated October 7, 1713 in Byberry, in which he reminds his brother that he had paid his passage from England and that he claimed interest on this payment for thirty years and upwards.”5 Nathaniel said that, “he paid for William’s passage to this country, £5 sterling; that he laboured hard for this money in Old England at a groat a day; that the principal and compound interest which he had forborne thirty years and upwards, had almost come to £200 old currency; that William had got him nothing, but might see he had made a man of him to that very day; and that he most certainly expected him to pay some way or other to his content; not, he adds, because he could not do without it, for he blessed God, he had plenty of every thing, but because it was his due, and William was able to pay it.”6

In the Keithian separation in 1692 John Hart, Nathaniel Walton and others at Byberry followed Keith.7 They kept possession of the meeting house. Daniel Walton, William Walton, Thomas Walton, John Carver, Giles Knight and others formed their own meeting and remained Friends.8 This may have caused some estrangement between the brothers, which never healed. Nathaniel’s was written long afterwards.

Children of William and Alice: (all baptized at Bibury in Gloucestershire)

Nathaniel, b. 1656, d. 1733, m. 1685 Martha Bowling at Philadelphia Monthly Meeting

Thomas, b. 1658, d. 1758, m. 1) 1689 Priscilla Hunn, 2) 1736 Elizabeth Eastburn

Daniel, b. 1660, d. 1719, m. 1688 Mary Lamb9

William, b. 1662, d. 1736/7, m. 1689 Sarah Howell10

Nathaniel stayed in Byberry, while his brothers later moved to Bucks County. Daniel and William were both counted as eminent early Friends. Their names both appear in a list kept by Middletown Monthly Meeting.11 Thomas was not as active in the meeting as his brothers, while Nathaniel followed George Keith in the separation of 1692 and was no longer a member of Byberry Meeting.

Second generation: The four brothers in Pennsylvania

Nathaniel and Martha lived in Byberry. In 1688 the four brothers bought land from Thomas Fairman.12 The four tracts were side by side in Byberry.13 They were laid out at the northern end of the township, running along the line of Moreland Township, extending south of Byberry Road.14 Nathaniel later bought more land, four tracts in Byberry and one in Bucks County.15 Some of this land went to his sons Joseph, Benjamin and Malachi. Some of it was sold by his executors after his death.16

In 1692, when the Keithian separation tore Friends into two factions, Nathaniel followed the Keithians, unlike his three brothers. In a profile of Daniel Walton, written in 1854, a story was told about Nathaniel.

“Nathaniel, the eldest of the family,… became entangled in the sophistries of Keith, lost his spiritual perception and slid back again into outward observances, from which his parents and himself had been led; but the younger brothers stood firm, and all three signed the testimony of the Yearly Meeting against Keith. The Keithites kept possession of the meeting-house, where the Friends of Byberry had been wont to assemble, yet they found their numbers small and deceasing, whilst those who kept to the faith and practice of their forefathers in the Truth, increased in numbers… It is narrated that on a certain occasion, he [Nathaniel] came to Friends’ meeting, and one of his brothers being led to labour in the gospel… stirred up angry feelings in the man, who probably feeling himself wrong, took every defence of the truth as a personal attack, so in the heat of the moment, he interrupted the speaker with the coarse language, “Brother, thou lyest.”17

Nathaniel died in 1733. In his will he named his wife Martha and ten children: Mary, Lydia, Elizabeth, Margaret, Esther, Martha, Joseph, Benjamin, Nathaniel, and Malachi. Nathaniel and Malachi were the executors.18 The daughter Martha was probably deceased, as he gave her legacy to her children. He left varying amounts to the different children; some had probably already received assistance from him. The real and personal estate was to be sold, and the proceeds divided among Martha and three of the children. Martha wrote her will in 1736 and died in 1741.19 Eight of the children were still alive.

Thomas, the second brother, was a member of Abington Meeting, but was not as active as his brothers Daniel and William. He moved north to Moreland, Philadelphia around 1708.20 He married twice. His first wife was Priscilla Hunn. They declared their intentions in 11^th month (January) 1689 and were cleared to proceed the next month.21 In 1716 Thomas appeared before Abington Meeting and “seemed to be some what sorry that he had indulged his children and that for ye future he hopes to be more carefull and desires friends to pass it by.” This was probably for allowing liquor to be served at the wedding. Thomas and Priscilla had seven known children: Thomas, Caleb, John, Joseph, James, Mary and David.22 In 1718 Thomas Walton’s son Thomas appeared before the meeting to repent of “Several Evil practises whereby ye truth hath been reproached”, including frequenting ill company. He hoped to be more careful in the future. In 1736 Thomas was an elderly widower of 77, when he married the 41-year old Elizabeth Eastburn from Southampton.23 Thomas died in 1758, probably in 1^st month (March). Byberry Meeting records noted his death and added, “aged near a hundred, by computation”.24 He did not leave a will.

Daniel Walton immigrated with his three brothers and settled in Byberry, where he eventually owned 500 acres of land.25 In 1688, he married Mary Lamb in 1688 under the auspices of Abington Meeting.26  “Throughout his long life he was much respected, and was considered among the faithful Friends of that day. He died in 1719, leaving seven children:  Samuel, Daniel, Joshua, Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah, and Mary.  Nearly all the Waltons at present residing in the vicinity of Byberry are descendants of the ancient Daniel.”27 Daniel served as a minister in Byberry Meeting for many years, represented the meeting at the Quarterly Meeting in Philadelphia many times, and served on many committees. In 1711 he was approved as a traveling minister with his brother William.28 He died in 1719 and left a will, describing himself as a husbandman of “Bibery”.29 In it he named his wife Mary and six sons.30 He essentially disinherited his eldest son Samuel, for “disobedience and undutifulness to me and to his mother and also his extravagant life whereby I have been forced to pay several sums of money to discharge his debts which doth amount to such a sum or to so great a part of my estate as I doo think fitt to be his portion.” He gave tracts of land to his sons Daniel and Joshua, and the home plantation to the three younger sons to share when they reached the age of 21, and to be diligent around the plantation under their mother until then. The daughter Mary, youngest of the children, was to receive a cow and £15 when she came of age.31 Children of Daniel and Mary: Samuel, Daniel, Joshua, Joseph, Benjamin, Nathan, Mary.

William Walton was the youngest of the four brothers. Like his brother Daniel he was a preacher at Byberry Meeting. He served as an elder, a representative to Quarterly meeting, and visited families. In 1688 he bought a tract in Byberry, and eventually owned 750 acres there.32 In 1689 he married Sarah Howell under the auspices of Abington Meeting and they had ten children, who married into other Quaker families like Walmsley and Parry.33 “His descendants are now widely scattered, but a greater proportion of them probably retained membership in the Society of Friends than the descendants of his brothers.” 34 William died in late 1736 while on a missionary trip to Tortola Island. At the time Henry Tomlinson called him “a public Friend in good esteem.”35 He wrote his will in April 1734, calling himself a yeoman of “Buyberry”. In it he named his wife Sarah, seven children, and three grandchildren.36 The son William was to inherit the plantation and to keep Sarah there while she lived. Sarah died on 25 of 6^th month (August) 1749.37 She left a will, proved the following month.38 She was living in Byberry at the time, obviously with one of her children.39 She left household goods and small amounts of money to her daughter Sarah and several grandchildren. Her friend William Duncan was the executor.40 Children of William and Sarah: Rachel, Isaac, Jeremiah, Jacob, Sarah, William, Abel, Job, Hannah, and Mary.

Daniel Walton immigrated around 1682 or 1683 with his three brothers from Bibury, Gloucestershire, and settled in Byberry, where he eventually owned 500 acres of land.1 In 1688, he married Mary Lamb in 1688 under the auspices of Abington Meeting.2  “Throughout his long life he was much respected, and was considered among the faithful Friends of that day…”3 Daniel served as a minister in Byberry Meeting for many years, represented the meeting at the Quarterly Meeting in Philadelphia many times, and served on many committees. In 1711 he was approved as a traveling minister with his brother William.4

He died in 1719 and left a will, describing himself as a husbandman of “Bibery”.5 In it he named his wife Mary and six sons.6 He essentially disinherited his eldest son Samuel, for “disobedience and undutifulness to me and to his mother and also his extravagant life whereby I have been forced to pay several sums of money to discharge his debts which doth amount to such a sum or to so great a part of my estate as I doo think fitt to be his portion.” He gave tracts of land to his sons Daniel and Joshua, and the home plantation to the three younger sons to share when they reached the age of 21; they were to be diligent around the plantation under their mother until then. The daughter Mary, youngest of the children, was to receive a cow and £15 when she came of age.7

The date of Mary’s death was apparently not recorded. “Nearly all the Waltons at present residing in the vicinity of Byberry are descendants of the ancient Daniel.”8

Children of Daniel Walton and Mary Lamb:

Samuel, b. ab. 1689, d. about 1758 in Bucks County, married Marcy Waterman in 1709 at Abington. She was the daughter of Humphrey and Margaret. In 1716 Abington Meeting testified against Samuel for his “gross actions” and “vicious practices” and ordered that the condemnation should be read and posted at Byberry.9 Samuel died in 1758 in Bucks County; he did not leave a will, but Marcy survived him and renounced as administrator.10 The list of children is uncertain.

Daniel, b. ab. 1691, d. 1757, m. about 10^th month 1714 Elizabeth Cliffton, daughter of Henry, at Philadelphia MM.11 In 1715 Daniel was “overcome with strong liquor” and had to condemn his behavior before the meeting.12 They lived in Byberry, where Daniel died in 1757, leaving in his will a wife Elizabeth, and three children. Other sources add two more children. Probable children: Daniel, Jane, Joseph, Benjamin, Mercy.13

Joshua, b. ab. 1693, d. 1759, m. Cassandra “Case” Albertson. In 1757 he was on a list of members of Byberry Meeting, although he apparently did not contribute to the collection for the yearly meeting.14 His house in Byberry was supposedly haunted. “Joshua committed suicide by hanging himself to a tree in front of his house and was buried in one of his back fields.  For many years after the death of Joshua the premises were believed by the superstitious to be haunted, and ‘marvelous tales were told of sights, sounds, and presentations, terrific in their nature.’ Men were actually frightened from the  ‘Timber Swamp’ in the daytime, but the ghosts have since departed.”15  Joshua left a will.16 He described himself as a yeoman of Byberry, aged and “somewhat infirm in body”. He named seven children, but not his wife, who must have died before him. The will was proved in July 1759. Children: Elizabeth,  Cassandra, Jonathan, Albertson, Hannah, Joshua, Ann.

Joseph, b. ab. 1698, d. 1727,  m. Esther Carver, daughter of William & Mary.17 Joseph and Esther were cleared to marry by Abington Meeting on 11^th month 1722. They had only two children, Richard and Rachel, before Joseph’s death at a young age. He died in Byberry.18 Letters of administration were granted to Esther and her father William in April 1727. In 1747 Richard and Rachel (by then married to William Groom) filed a paper, releasing all claim on the estate, in favor of their mother Esther, by then married to Daniel Knight.19 The inventory, taken on 18 April 1727, was rather sparse, with some household goods and farm tools, three horses, some cattle and sheep, for a total of £48. Esther later married Daniel Knight, son of Giles and Mary. Daniel’s first wife Elizabeth Walker, while Daniel was at the meeting, left her children alone in the house and hung herself in the stable.20 Daniel and Esther had six children together: William, David, Martha, Joseph, Ann, Thomas. In addition Daniel had children from his marriage to Elizabeth: Mary, Joseph, Jonathan.21 After Esther’s death he married Mary Wilson. Daniel died in 1782.

Benjamin, b. 1701, d. 1753, m. Rebecca Homer in 1724. Abington Meeting reported in 1724 that Benjamin Walton of Byberry “having been Educated Amongst friends” had married his wife by a justice.22 They lived in Byberry and raised their nine children there. Years later their daughter Elizabeth married Benjamin Gilbert and was captured by Indians in a famous incident.23 Children: Elizabeth, Mary, Daniel, Hannah, Rebecca and Sarah (twins), Benjamin, Esther, and William.

Nathan, b. ab. 1703, died unmarried before 1724.

Mary, b. ab. 1708, m. William Homer. He was the widower of Mary’s first cousin, also named Mary Walton, the daughter of William Walton and Sarah Howell.24 Mary (the second Mary) and William had eight children: Daniel, Thomas, David, Esther, Nathan, Joseph, Mary, and Jacob. The three youngest sons were known as “Taff”, Joe and Jake. They lounged at home and drank much whiskey, and were called the Young Homers, since they were by the second wife.25

Thomas Walmsley was born in the rolling hills of the Ribble Valley in northern Lancashire, not far from the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.1 His family lived near Waddington, a town between Slaidburn and Clitheroe, and probably attended the church there when he was little. Nearby Clitheroe is a larger town, with a landmark castle, one of the last places to surrender during the Civil War. From the top of Clitheroe Castle one can see Pendle Hill, famous in Quaker history. It was at the top of this hill that George Fox, founder of the Friends, had a vision of the work ahead for him and his fellow Quaker missionaries. He wrote in 1652, “As we travelled, we came near a very great hill, called Pendle Hill, and I was moved of the Lord to go up to the top of it; which I did with difficulty, it was so very steep and high. When I was come to the top, I saw the sea bordering upon Lancashire. From the top of this hill the Lord let me see in what places he had a great people to be gathered.”

The valley that Fox looked down on was fertile ground for the Quakers. Within the next generation it would be filled with Friends, some suffering fines and imprisonment for their beliefs. In 1654 Cuthbert Hayhurst and Thomas Wigglesworth were arrested for “breakinge of the peace up on the lords day in the church of Slaidburn.” In 1671, Hayhurst was “convicted for beinge at a Conventickle or an unlawfull meeteinge and assemblie at the house of Thomas Wiglesworth of Skelshay.”2 In 1682 when the opportunity came to move to the new province of Pennsylvania, many of the Friends of Clitheroe and Waddington and Slaidburn chose to leave the valley.

Thomas was married by then. His wife Elizabeth Rudd was from a Slaidburn family, part of the local Quaker community that worshiped at Bolland meeting. In November 1665 Thomas and Elizabeth were married at the house of her cousin Jane Waln in Slaine Merrow, Yorkshire. By 1682, when they made the decision to leave Lancashire for Pennsylvania, Thomas and Elizabeth had six children. As was the Quaker custom they asked their monthly meeting at Settle for a certificate to take with them, showing that they were members in good standing. This was normally written by the clerk of the meeting for an individual or one family, but in the case of Thomas Walmsley and his kin, the clerk wrote out one certificate for the entire group of over thirty adults and children. This Settle certificate, as it is known, is unusual, and was given because the group intended to travel together and because they were tightly connected by marriage. Two of Elizabeth’s cousins, Dorothy and Mary Rudd, had married the Hayhurst brothers, William and Cuthbert. The Hayhursts had a sister Alice, married to Thomas Wigglesworth. Nicholas Waln was a nephew of the Hayhursts. Thomas Stackhouse was married to Margery Hayhurst and Bridget Croasdale married John Cowgill.

This clan of Lancashire Friends may have chartered their own boat, the Lamb of Liverpool. The Lamb loaded goods from Liverpool. It was a long trek of sixty miles southwest, through the valley of the Ribble to Liverpool’s fine harbor on the Mersey. They took their household goods—bedding, clothes, kitchen ware, tools—and some of them took goods to sell, which had to be declared to the customs men. Thomas Wigglesworth brought gunpowder, lead and brass. James Dilworth, not on the Settle certificate but sailing on the Lamb with them, brought 150 pounds of woolen cloth, hats, shoes and cheese. Thomas Clayton brought boxes and crates of linen, hats, rugs (coverings) for beds, tobacco pipes, calico and neck cloths. Cuthbert Hayhurst brought the most. He declared cargo of 35 dozen woolen stockings, five dozen hats, 35 pots, 462 cheeses, 40 grindle stones and five millstones. He must have either conveyed this on ox carts to Liverpool or bought the goods there.3 Thomas Walmsley did not declare any goods, but it is said that he intended to set up a mill, possibly using some of Cuthbert’s stones.

In any case Thomas did not live long enough to build his mill. The Lamb was infected with disease, probably smallpox or dysentery, and had a difficult journey. Disease spread easily in close quarters on a ship. Most of the adults and children survived, but the Walmsley family was hard-hit, losing daughters Margaret and Rosamund and probably also Mary. Some of those who did survive the voyage were ill when they arrived. This was probably the case with Thomas, since he died of dysentery within two months after they arrived.

When the Lamb landed in Philadelphia in October 1682, the immigrants would have urgent priorities: to unload their goods, to find temporary housing, and to have their land surveyed. Some of them bought their land before emigrating, but it still needed to be laid out. Most of the Settle group chose to stay together in Bucks County. Thomas Holme’s map shows many of them on “Neshameneh Creek” between 1685 and 1687. On the east side of the creek were “Widdow Crosdal”, Robert Heaton (also on the Lamb), Thomas Stackhouse, Thomas Stackhouse Senior, James Delworth, “Widdow Hurst”, and Nicholas Walne. “Widdow Walmsly” was on the west side of the creek, with more land of Nicholas Waln. Other settlers lived around them: Robert Holdgate, Alexander Giles, “Widdow Bond”, and Richard Thatcher.

Four of the Settle certificate women lost their husbands within months of their arrival. Thomas Walmsley died of dysentery, leaving Elizabeth with the surviving children.4 Thomas Wigglesworth wrote his will in the first month and died that winter, leaving his widow Alice but no children. The Hayhurst brothers (the name was pronounced as one syllable) chose a bad place to settle along the creek and died soon after, leaving Cuthbert’s widow Mary and her six children. As Penn wrote in 1684, “Poor Cut Hurst and Brother deceast soon after arrivall, fixing on a low marshy place (tho a dry banck was not a Stone’s cast from ym) for ye rivers sake: they had ye Ague and feaver but no Sickening in any other settlements.”5 Thomas Croasdale died the following May. Margery Stackhouse, wife of Thomas, died in 1683, leaving them childless. Nicholas Waln, who was literate, well-off, and of mature age, became the unofficial leader of the Settle group. He took in an apprentice, witnessed wills, and acted as trustee for property.

After Thomas Walmsley died in 10^th month 1682, Elizabeth was responsible for the family and the estate. Her 250 acres on the Neshaminy were patented to her in 5^th month (July) 1683. She managed the farm, probably with paid help. In early 1684 Middletown Monthly Meeting ordered David Davis to pay 8 shillings to the widow Womesley for damage done to her sow.6  (The meeting had received several complaints about Davis’ dog and Henry Paxson and James Dilworth were assigned to speak to him about it.) At about the same time Alexander Giles complained to the meeting that Elizabeth owed him two bushels of meal.

Finally in 10^th month 1684 Elizabeth probated Thomas’ estate, two years after his death, mostly to ensure the property rights of her children as she prepared to marry again. Letters of administration were granted by the registrar Phineas Pemberton to Elizabeth, and to her intended husband John Purslow, both of whom signed by mark, and to Nicholas Waln, who signed his name.7 An inventory of Elizabeth’s property, taken then, included a horse, two heifers, a sow and pigs and some household goods. The total value, not including the land, was £27 10s. This was less than the other Settle people who died early. Thomas Croasdale left property worth over £47; Thomas Wigglesworth’s estate was £99; Cuthbert Hayhurst left £112; Agnes Croasdale in 1685 left £106.8 Elizabeth was able to raise the three surviving children to adulthood with a smaller estate than her neighbors, perhaps because of her marriage to Purslow. Nicholas Waln was keeping some land in trust for the two sons. In 1686 he conveyed the land to them and brought the releases into court, to be held by Ezra Croasdale in trust until the sons were grown.9

John Purslow, who would become the stepfather of the Walmsley children, was an Irish Quaker who had arrived in 1677 on the Phoenix. When he testified in the Bucks County court in 1689 he gave his age at about sixty years, making him born about 1630.10 He acted for the family in March 1690 when he petitioned the Orphan’s Court on behalf of his stepson Henry, who was in the service of Nicholas Waln, “against the will of the relations.”  Normally this kind of dispute was settled quietly in the Monthly Meeting. Henry was about nineteen years old then, so it must have been a very long apprenticeship. By 1693, Henry paid his own taxes in Middletown, showing that he was now over 21, while John Pursley still paid for a Walmsley child, probably Thomas, since he owned land which could be taxed and he was not quite of age.

Children of Thomas Walmsley and Elizabeth Rudd: (all born in England)

Margaret, b. 1666, believed to have died at sea in 1682, since there are no further records for her.

Mary, b. 1669, possibly died at sea, since there are no further records for her.11

Henry, b. 1671, d. 1759, married Mary Searle in 1699 at Abington Meeting. Mary’s father Frances Searle was a butcher who accumulated over 1,000 acres of land by the time he died in 1722 and left a solid legacy to his daughter Mary. Henry and Mary settled in Bensalem, and had a family of two sons and seven daughters. They lived to see all but one of them married, some outside of Quaker meetings. Mary died in 1747, the year after the youngest child was married. Henry lived on to 1759, and was named in Henry Tomlinson’s list of “aged persons” as 88 years old. Children: Mary, Thomas, Francis, Elizabeth, Joan, Rebecca, Sarah, Ann, Grace.

Thomas, b. 1673 or 1674, d. 1754, m. Mary Paxson in 1698 at Middletown Meeting. They moved to Byberry, where Thomas was a farmer and dealer in horses. He was not active in the meeting or in government. By the time he died Thomas owned a large tract in Byberry, 200 acres in Middletown, land in Buckingham, another 60 acres in Byberry, and a farm in Moreland. Mary was subject to seizures. Her great-grandson John Comly remembered a story about her. “Mary had fits, many years before she died, took all her senses away, once fell in the fire, had to mind her carefully as a child.  After a while she would come to…”12 They had nine children who all lived to adulthood and married. Children of Thomas and Mary: Elizabeth, Mary, Thomas, William, Agnes, Abigail, Phebe, Esther, Martha.

Elizabeth, b. 1676, d. 1760, m. William Homer in 1700 at Middletown Meeting. They settled in Byberry and had at least thee children. William died rather young in 1715; Elizabeth lived on to 1760, surviving her husband by over 45 years.13 Children: Rebecca, William, another child mentioned but not named in William’s will. The younger William married twice, both times to women named Mary Walton. His wives were first cousins.14 His sister Rebecca also married a Walton.

Rosamund, b. 1679, believed to have died at sea in 1682, since there are no further records for her.

Thomas Walmsley was born in Waddington, Lancashire, the son of Thomas Walmsley and Elizabeth Rudd. His parents were Quakers. By 1682, when they made the decision to leave Lancashire for Pennsylvania, Thomas and Elizabeth had six children, including a son Thomas. They immigrated on the Lamb, which was infected with disease. Most of the adults and children survived, but the Walmsley family was hard-hit, losing daughters Margaret and Rosamund and probably also Mary. Some of those who did survive the voyage were ill when they arrived. This was probably the case with Thomas, since he died of dysentery within a month after they arrived.

The younger Thomas grew up in Bensalem with his mother and stepfather John Purslow, brother Henry and younger sister Elizabeth. In 1698 he and Mary Paxson announced their intention to marry.1 This was an advantageous marriage for him. She was the daughter of William Paxson, a member of the Assembly, active in local government, and prominent in the Middletown meeting. Thomas and Mary moved to Byberry, Philadelphia County, about 1703 and settled down to run their farm and raise a family. In addition to farming he was also successful as a dealer in horses. Thomas was not active in the meeting or the government, in contrast to his father-in-law. He did buy several tracts of land, including 400 acres in Buckingham which was so far back in the woods that he traded it for a smaller tract with his nephew William Carver Jr.2 By the time he died Thomas owned a large tract in Byberry, 200 acres in Middletown, land in Buckingham, another 60 acres in Byberry, and a farm in Moreland.3

Mary was subject to seizures. Her great-grandson John Comly remembered a story about her. “Mary had fits, many years before she died, took all her senses away, once fell in the fire, had to mind her carefully as a child.  After a while she would come to…”4 Thomas and Mary went on to have nine children who lived to marry. There were gaps between the births of their children, and they may have lost at least two more. They raised the children in a one-story wood house with three rooms, built at different times, probably added to as the family grew.5

Thomas was “a quiet, peaceable man, attending to his private business; and doing but little in the affairs of either Church or State.” He was considered wealthy, and his property consisted principally of lands and horses. He was also generous. “He had good natural abilities, and although successful in accumulating property, was not at all parsimonious. As a proof of this, having a number of daughters, most of whom were married in meeting, he made provision to entertain large numbers of wedding guests, sometimes amounting to more than a hundred; and on one occasion after meeting broke up, he invited the whole congregation to dine with him.”6

Thomas Jr, eldest son of Thomas and Mary, was killed as a newlywed when he was thrown off his horse. This left seven daughters and only one son to carry on the family name (along with some first cousins). The surviving son, William, was favored in Thomas’ will, written in early 1750, when Thomas was in his late 70’s. He died four years later, in 10^th month 1754. Mary died the following year.7

Thomas used his will to provide for Mary as a widow and to divide his estate among his surviving children.8 She was to have the full use and benefit of the plantation while she remained a widow, not just the use of a room or two as was often the case. In addition she was to have three horses, three cows, ten sheep and six swine, a generous bequest. After her death the plantation was to go to the son William, along with the tract in Middletown. William also received the bonds and book debts, worth over £1278, out of which he had to pay legacies of £600, to be shared among five of his sisters. (Mary and Abigail got land instead of cash.) The two youngest daughters, Esther and Martha, were unmarried at the time. They were to share a tract of land in Buckingham and the household goods not kept by his wife Mary. They also received a larger cash payment than the married daughters, who had presumably received an “outset” or dowry at the time of their marriage.

William also received the residue of the estate, and acted as executor. As Thomas put it, “Now considering my son William he having remained long in my service and proving a duty full son and considering the cumber and trouble of executing this will with divers other good considerations ingages me to conclude in manner following lastly I give and devise to my son William Walmsley and to his heirs and assigns forever all the residue and remainder of my whole estate.”9

Three of the sons-in-law were given five shillings each, a relatively token amount given the size of Thomas’ estate. It is perhaps no surprise that one of them, Isaac Carver, issued a caveat against the will. A few days afterward, Mary wrote a note to the registrar supporting the will. “I am sensible of what the contents of my late deceased husbands last will and testament is with respect to my dowry and I am therewith fully sattisfied and contented and do desire that the sd will may stand and not be frustrated nor broken by no means not withstanding any opposition made and if it was not for infirmity of body I would be glad parsonally to appear before thee to testifie my desire that my late husband Thomas Walmsleys last will may not be broken. I subscribe my self thy friend.” Five of her daughters also wrote in support, referring to Isaac as a “troublesome person.” They said, “…informed by our brother William Walmsley of .. the contents of sd will… we nothing doubting of the truth and verity of his information according to law and that notwithstanding any opposition or interruption … the same may stand in good force and not be frustrated nor broken by no means as we believe it to be our fathers will and testament. From thy friends..” This was signed by Martha Walmsley, Esther Walmsley, Abigail Walton, Elizabeth Walton , and Mary Worthington. Each signed well, showing that they had been taught to write.

It is disconcerting to see that Thomas owned slaves. Slavery was a difficult issue for early Friends, one that divided them. Some, like Benjamin Lay, John Woolman and Anthony Benezet, fought to persuade other Friends that slavery was inconsistent with Quaker beliefs. In spite of their efforts, the institution was too entrenched and too many people benefited from it. By 1754 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends cautiously warned against slave-holding, but it was not until 1776 that they banned it for members.10

The inventory of Thomas’ possession showed the typical goods of a well-to-do farmer of his day: his clothing and ready money, debts owed to him, household goods, livestock, corn and other grain crops, tools, and a gun, amounting to about £1560. The Negro slaves were valued at £120. Only one of them, a girl named Hannah, was specifically named in his will. The others would have been left to son William as the residual legatee. When Mary died in 1755, her inventory included only her clothing and a small legacy left to her by her father William Paxson “which she had not disposed of in her lifetime”. She must have turned the farm over to her son William.

The children of Thomas and Mary were provided for by their relatives via legacies. Elizabeth and Mary received 20 pounds each from the estate of their great-uncle Henry Paxson, who died childless in 1723 (not their uncle Henry Walmsley, who had about nine children of his own to provide for). The four oldest children got a legacy from their grandfather William Paxson. All of the daughters got a legacy from their father Thomas. Mary and Abigail got land; the others got cash.

Most of them stayed around Byberry and probably saw each other in Byberry meeting. They attended each other’s marriages. For example when Esther married Stephen Parry in 1755, the certificate was signed by her brother William, and sisters Elizabeth, Martha, and Mary.

Children of Thomas and Mary:11

Elizabeth, b. 5^th month 1699, d. 1787, m. 1719 at Abington Jeremiah Walton, (1694-1740), son of William and Sarah. They lived on the Byberry Road in Moreland Township.  Years later, the Comly brothers recalled the family of Jeremiah and Elizabeth. “Jeremiah Walton married one of Isaac Comly’s aunts — Father of the chunky Waltons.  Lived at Horsham — his wife Betty Walmsley — children well ah! – William the oldest, Tommy, Jacob, Jeremy, three girls – one married.  Mary married. Sarah married Jeans, afterwards James Tyson, another Phebe remained unmarried.”12 He had a few of the names mixed up. Jeremiah died in 1740 and was buried at Horsham.13 Elizabeth lived on until 1787. Her will named five of her children, as well as several grandchildren. Children of Jeremiah Walton and Elizabeth Walmsley: William, Thomas, Rachel, Jeremiah, Jacob, James, Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Phebe. Seven of them lived to marry.

Mary, b. 1701, alive in October 1754, m. about 1720 John Worthington, the emigrant. His parents and origin are not known; he was probably born in England and immigrated as a child or young adult. They settled in Byberry and had eleven children, recording their births at Abington Meeting. In 1734 John was on the list of landowners in Philadelphia County with 25 acres. He made his living as a weaver.14 In 1752 John was elected as an overseer of the poor. The job was “to provide the necessaries of life to all who are unable to procure them, and not let any suffer.”15 John died in 1777. In his will he named his six living children, referred to six pieces of land, and provided for his unmarried daughter Mary, specifying that four of his sons were to build her a suitable house. Children: Elizabeth, Mary, Thomas, Hannah, John, William, Isaac, Joseph, Martha, Benjamin, Esther.

Thomas, b. 1706, d. 1728, m. 1728 at Abington Hannah Walton, daughter of  William and Sarah; as a newlywed he was  thrown off his horse and killed.16 Hannah died about 1741. After Thomas’ death she married Thomas Mardon in 1730 at Christ Church. Hannah’s mother Sarah named two Mardon granddaughters in her will. Children with Thomas: Richard, Rachel, Mary, Jacob, Sarah.17

William, b. 1708 or 1709, d. 1773, m. 1735 Sarah Titus at Westbury Meeting in Long Island, m. 2) 1764 at Byberry Mtg, Susannah Mason Comly, widow of Walter Comly. William became prosperous as the main heir of his parents. In the 1769 tax list of Byberry he was listed with 350 acres, by far the largest holding. He married Sarah Titus, a Friend from Westbury, Long Island, in 1735. In 1759 William noted in his account book that his wagon was used to deliver supplies to the English during the French and Indian War. It was pressed into service and brought back three months later.18 William was active in meeting affairs and often represented Byberry meeting at quarterly meetings. His wife Sarah was an elder of the meeting. She died in 1763 and William later married Susanna Comly, widow of Walter Comly. William died in 1773. Elizabeth Drinker went to his funeral and noted it in her diary for June 18: “We went to Wms house great numbers of carriages and horses there, thought it best to go to meeting before the burial, as it was very hot and dusty.” In his will William named his widow Susanna, and five children. He left three slaves – Bett, Nane, and Sam – to serve until they were 30 years old, then to be freed with a set of clothes. This was at a time when many Quakers no longer held slaves.19

Agnes, b. ab. 1710, d. ab. 1754, m. 1728 at Abington Job Walton, son of William and Sarah. He was the son of William Walton the preacher and his wife Sarah. Job attempted to preach at Byberry Meeting but was not accepted there. As Abington meeting noted in 11th month 1754 “Complaint is made by Byberry friends against Job Walton who was guilty of drinking strong liquor to excess frequently and of an unbecoming ridiculous behavior in his drunkenness as taking upon himself to preach.” John Michener and James Paul were asked to visit him and “lay the evil and inconsistency of his behavior and ridiculous conduct before him.” Agnes and Job lived in Byberry and had eight children. “He had a strong constitution and performed a great deal of hard work, yet did not get rich.”20 Agnes died in 1755. In 1757 Job married Catherine McVaugh at Swedes Church in Phila. She was probably the widow Catryna Van Pelt who married the widower John McVaugh in 1754 at the Dutch Church.21 Job died in 1784, leaving his widow Catherine and seven grown children. Children of Agnes and Job: Isaac, Sarah, Job, Isaiah, Thomas, Mary, William, Elijah.

Abigail, b. 1715, d. 1789, m. 1) 1738 at Abington MM Isaac Comly, 2) 1753 Richard Walton,  son of Joseph and Esther, at Trinity Oxford Church in Philadelphia.

Phebe, b. 1723, m. 1742 at Abington Meeting Isaac Carver, son of John and Isabel. Phebe married Isaac Carver in 1742. The son of John and Isabel, he was a local character. He taught school in Byberry. Known as “Poet Carver”, he was shrewd and sarcastic in his verses about local events.22 In 1754, when Thomas Walmsley died, Isaac filed a caveat against the will. The other heirs supported the will and called him a “troublesome person”. He died in early 1787.

Esther, m. 1755 at Abington Meeting Stephen Parry, son of Thomas and Jane. Married Stephen Parry in 1755. Born in 1723, he was from a Welsh family of Radnor Township, where his father Thomas owned a grist mill near Willow Grove. Stephen died in 1763 in Moreland and left a will naming his children Martha and Jane.23

Martha, m. 1761 at Abington Meeting David Parry, son of Thomas and Jane, brother of Stephen Parry. They lived in Moreland, where Stephen left a will in 1794.24 He probably married a second wife after Martha’s death, also named Martha.25

William Paxson was baptized in St. Mary’s Church in Marsh Gibbon, Buckinghamshire, in 1648, one of the four sons of James Paxson and Jane Clerk. William and his three brothers became Quakers and appeared in the minutes of the meeting at the Upperside of Bucks.1 Three of the brothers, Henry, William and James, married while still in England, and immigrated in 1682 with their younger brother Thomas. They came on separate ships. William and James came on the Amity, while Henry and Thomas came on the Samuel. Disease broke out on the Samuel, and Henry’s wife and brother Thomas died at sea. William, James and Henry arrived safely and settled in Middletown.

William’s land in Middletown is shown on Holmes’ 1687 map of Pennsylvania near the land of Robert Heaton, Thomas Stackhouse, James Dilworth, and Nicholas Waln.2 In 1693 James, William and Henry Paxson were all taxed in Middletown. James had the most land of the three. William eventually owned about 900 acres of land and sold only one piece, to his son-in-law Thomas Walmsley.3

William apparently married twice, both times to women named Mary. There are no records of either marriage, but circumstantial evidence for their names. In England he married Mary Sydenham and had two or three children with her.4 The evidence for her name is the family Bible of William Sydenham, which included the births of Sydenham’s children as well as the children of William and Mary Paxson, not William Paxson the immigrant but his son William and wife Mary Watson. The only logical reason for them to be there is that the wife of the older William was William Sydenham’s sister.5

William and Mary immigrated together with their two children and settled in Middletown. Mary died before September 1698 when he married Mary White, the widow of Judge John White.6 Again there is no record, so the date is unknown and her maiden name is uncertain. It is often said to be Packingham, but there is no good evidence for this.7 William and his second wife had no children together, but she had three children by John White, named in his will of 1693 as James, Mary and Grace.
William was active in local government and in the Pennsylvania Assembly. “William was elected a representative from Bucks County to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1692, 1696, 1700, 1701, 1703, and from 1705 through 1708.  He served as a highway overseer in 1693 and was suggested as a County tax collector in 1696.  He served on eight grand and twelve petit juries before 1700, and was asked by the court to appraise distrained goods which had been overpriced and would not sell. He was listed as one of the justices sitting at the Quarter Session held 13 December 1704 …  He also witnessed wills and served as an executor at least once.”8

He was also active in Middletown Friends Meeting. “His name appeared often in the minutes as he was appointed to various committees to clear a man for marriage (five times), deal with a Friend who acted out of unity with  Friends’ principles (twelve times), and other jobs. In 1690 he was one of several asked to set out and fence the burial ground, and to oversee the building of a stable for the meeting house. He had subscribed £10 to help build the meeting house and 10s for the stable. He signed with his mark the 1687 Meeting testimony against selling rum to the Indians. He attended and signed the certificates of at least eight weddings in the Meeting, including that of his brother Henry.”9 A letter written by a Friend in 1688 stated that “William Paxson is a man mild in manner but as strong in the cause of Truth as the great oaks by which he is surrounded.”10

In 1692, when the teachings of George Keith split the Quaker community into two factions, William followed Keith and withdrew from Middletown Friends for a time. Keith was a charismatic preacher who taught that Quakers needed more than just the inner light; they needed specific beliefs in scripture. On 6 August 1692 the Middletown minutes showed that William Paxson had separated. He did not reappear in their minutes under September 1696, when he wrote a paper acknowledging his fault and condemning it. This was accepted and he was once more active in committees, as a trustee, overseer, and representative to the Quarterly and Yearly meetings.11

William wrote his will in August 1709; it was proved the following January.12 He was buried in the burying ground of Middletown Meeting on 2 January 1710. In the will he left the usual one-third of his estate to his wife Mary, plus a bond for £120 for her heirs. He left a smaller sum to his daughter Mary and her husband Thomas, plus a legacy for their four oldest children. (Their other five children were born after their grandfather’s death.) He left the land to his son William, three tracts for a total of 900 acres, and made William the executor. There was no mention of Mary’s children with John White; they would be provided for by the £120 bond. The inventory was extensive. He owned six horses, four oxen, fourteen cattle, the usual household furnishings, a wolf trap, tools, bushels of wheat and rye, the time of a servant woman and a Negro boy. The value was over £391.13

Mary died in 1718. In her will she provided for her daughters Mary and Grace and several grandchildren.14

Children of William and his first wife Mary:

Elizabeth, bapt. Feb. 1676/7 in Marsh Gibbon, England, died in infancy.

Mary, bapt. Mar 1678/9 in England, d. 1755, m. 4 April 1698 Thomas Walmsley, the son of Thomas Walmsley and Elizabeth Rudd. The older Thomas died two months after landing in Pennsylvania, and Thomas and his brother and sister were raised by their mother and her second husband John Purslow. Thomas married Mary in 1698 and they moved to Byberry, where Thomas was a farmer and dealer in horses. He was not active in the meeting or in government. By the time he died Thomas owned a large tract in Byberry, 200 acres in Middletown, land in Buckingham, another 60 acres in Byberry, and a farm in Moreland. Mary was subject to seizures. Her descendants remembered a story about her. “Mary had fits, many years before she died, took all her senses away, once fell in the fire, had to mind her carefully as a child.  After a while she would come to…”15 They had nine children who all lived to adulthood and married. Children of Thomas and Mary: Elizabeth, Mary, Thomas, William, Agnes, Abigail, Phebe, Esther, Martha.

William, b. June 1685 in Middletown, d. 1733, m. Mary Watson in May 1711 at Falls Meeting, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca.16 She d. 1760. William served in the Provincial Assembly for many years, where he was “remarkably inactive”.17 He was a Justice of the Peace, and was active in Middletown Monthly Meeting. Mary was even more active in the Meeting, serving as the clerk of the women’s meeting for almost 25 years.18 William’s will named his wife, sons and daughters. His estate included a Negro man, who was probably the Negro boy bequeathed to him by his father years earlier. “William’s personal estate (excluding real property but including crops “in the ground”) was worth £542.03.0. It included possessions his parents had not owned such as two looking glasses, two brass kettles and six brass pans, two maps, and table linens.”19 Children of William and Mary: William, Mary, Thomas, John, Henry, James, Deborah. All but John lived to marry and have children.

William Hibbs the Quaker was supposedly born in Gloucestershire, England, around 1665. Many sources claim that he was the son of William and Joan, from Dean Forest, but there is no evidence for this, and the name is a common one.1 William emigrated on the Kent in 1677 as a young man. It is sometimes said that he was a cabin boy on the Kent. He more likely came over as a servant, like so many others who lacked money to pay their passage. The Kent carried colonists to Burlington, West New Jersey; it loaded in London and sailed in May 1677. This was a well-known voyage, as it was one of the earliest to bring Quakers to the New World. As the story goes, “King Charles the second, in his barge, pleasuring on the Thames, came along side, seeing a great many passengers, and informed whence they were bound, asked if they were all quakers, and gave them his blessing.” 2 They landed first in New York, then sailed up the Delaware to West Jersey, where most of the passengers got off. They stayed at first with the Swedes, who had thin settlements on both sides of the Delaware, then began to build their own houses.

The first definite record of William in Pennsylvania is his marriage to Hannah Howell. In 10^th month 1686 they accomplished their marriage at the house of John Hart in Byberry. Those present who signed their wedding certificate included Hannah’s father Thomas and brother Job, neighbors like John and William Carver, members of Byberry meeting like William Walton and John Rush.3

In 1692, when many Quakers split off from the main group to follow George Keith, Hibbs remained with the traditional meeting. He signed a paper that was sent to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, denouncing the “spirit of separation” of Keith and his followers.4 Even so William’s relations with Byberry Meeting could be strained. In 1698 William was reprimanded by the meeting for his “disorderly behaviour in keeping on his hat when William Walton was at prayer in their meeting.” This showed great disrespect for Walton’s ministry. At the next meeting Hibbs promised to do so no more.5 The early Friends were stern with those who did not follow their code of behavior. As one historian put it, “It is fair to say that this part of Pennsylvania, from Germantown…to Byberry…to the headwaters of the Pennypack and the Little Neshaminy above Horsham, was guided and policed for 25 years by the weighty Friends of Abington Monthly Meeting.”6

William also got into trouble for his actions outside of the meeting. In 1708 Abington Meeting reported on a problem between him and Thomas Harding. “A complaint was made today against William Hibbs for detaining £3 being part of pay for a horse bought of Thomas Harding, by William Hibbs, ye matter being heard and considered, The result of this meeting is that William Hibbs do within a month pay the said Thomas Harding in Silver Money, and likewise Condemn his abusive language to Thomas Harding.”7

In 1701 William contested the boundary between his land and that of the brothers William and John Carver. When John tried to get a patent for his land in Byberry, Hibbs filed a caveat with the Secretary of the land office. At the hearing of the case, he claimed that the Carvers had taken away a corner post and thereby altered the boundaries. The Surveyor General pointed out that he himself had done the survey “to the utmost of his Power”, so that a resurvey would be futile. In the end the patent was granted to Carver.8

William died in 1709. His will, made in 1708, named his wife Hannah and eight children, Joseph, Jonathan, Jacob, William, Jeremiah, Sarah, Phebe and Hannah.9 He left a Negro man to his wife, and after her death to his sons Joseph and Jonathan, if the man was still alive then. Hannah and Joseph were to share the plantation. Each of the other children was to receive £20 when he or she turned 24 years of age. Hannah was specifically allowed to raise the children at her discretion. “I leave the whole charge of bringing up my children to my dear wife she doing this according to her own discretion.” But friends Daniel and William Walton were chosen as overseers to assist Hannah in managing her affairs. William apparently trusted Hannah with the family affairs, but not the financial ones.

Even after William’s death Hannah continued a feud he had begun with his Carver neighbors eight years before over the precise location of the property boundary. Abington Meeting minutes reported that “Whereas there hath been a former difference between John Carver and Widdow Hibbs, about a former line between them; The meeting being willing to put an end to ye sd difference: have appointed Six friends, with two Surveyors to view ye land and ye lines and to endeavor to put an end to ye differ.”10

In 1712 Hannah married Henry English at Byberry Meeting. He was a widower, a Quaker, and a resident of Byberry. They had no children together. Before they were married, Henry gave her 124 acres “in consideration of the love and good will and affection which he had and did bear towards his loving friend Hannah Hibbs.”11

Hannah died in 1737. In her will, made as Hannah English, she named her children Sarah, Phebe, Jeremiah, Joseph and William, as well as two namesake granddaughters. She gave her sidesaddle to her granddaughter Hannah Cooper and her “pilers” (pillows) to her granddaughter Hannah Hibbs. She left her clothing to daughters Sarah and Phebe (the brown gown and petticoat and riding hood and bonnet), her bed and bolster and bedding to Phebe, and residue of property to sons Joseph and William and son-in-law Jonathan Cooper. She specified that her Negro servant Trail should be set free, to have his own mare and scythe and ox, and enough wool to make him a coat and waistcoat and britches.12

The children of William and Hannah generally stayed in Bucks County, married, and left descendants. Some of them are sparsely documented, and some of the numerous people named Hibbs in Bucks County in the 1700s cannot be placed in the family.

Children of William and Hannah:

Joseph, b. 1687, d. 1762, m. 1) 1711 Rachel –, 2) 1749 Catherine Love, widow of Andrew Love. The name of Joseph’s first wife is often given as Rachel Waring, with no evidence. The children of Joseph and Rachel are not definitely known, since their birth was not recorded in Quaker records. Rachel died before 1749, when Joseph married Catherine Love at Buckingham Meeting. Soon after, he acknowledged “misconduct” with her before the marriage. He died in early 1762. He did not leave a will, and letters of administration were granted to Catherine, along with Isaac Kirk and James Spicer.13

Jonathan, b. 1689, m. Elizabeth –. The name of his wife is given as Elizabeth in a record of Abington Monthly Meeting; her last name is not given.14 The names of their children are also not known.15 In 4^th month 1716 Abington Meeting issued a paper of condemnation against Jonathan Hibbs and his wife.16 In 6^th month 1717 Jonathan wrote another paper condemning his outgoing with his wife.17 The paper was accepted. This may have been in an attempt at rejoining the meeting. Was he the Jonathan Hibbs buried in Philadelphia in June 1722 as a non-Friend?18

Sarah, b. 1692, m. 1714 Jonathan Cooper. Jonathan was not from the Cooper family of Philadelphia. He immigrated in 1699 with his parents from Yorkshire and settled in Buckingham.19 Wrightstown Meeting recorded the death of Jonathan Cooper the elder in 2^nd month 1769 at the age of 98.20 Children: Hannah, William, Sarah and others.

Phebe, b. 1697, m. 1715 Paul Blaker at Abington Meeting. He was the son of Johannes Bleikers, one of the original thirteen settlers of Germantown in 1683. Bleickers was the only one of the original thirteen to move away from Germantown and settle in Bucks County. The names of children of Phebe and Paul, if any, are unknown.

Jacob, b. 1699, m. 1727 Elizabeth Johnson with a license from New Jersey. In 1723 Jacob was living in Byberry, where he took out a mortgage for his land adjoining his brother Joseph.21 Jacob is supposedly buried in the Johnson-Williamson Cemetery in Bensalem. Jacob and Elizabeth do not appear in Quaker records. Children: Jonathan, Jacob and Phebe.22

William, b. 1700, d. 1789, m. 1728 Ann Carter at Middletown Meeting.23 In order to marry Ann at Middletown Meeting, William brought a certificate from Abington Meeting.24 They had twelve children, including Hannah, who married James Cooper, son of William and Mary.25 Hannah and James were the grandparents of James Fenimore Cooper.26

Hannah, b. 1702, died young.

Jeremiah, b. ab. 1707, m. 1735 Hannah Jones, daughter of John and Margaret, at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.27 John Jones was wealthy.28 Jeremiah did not manage his money well, according to a petition by his sister Sarah and her husband Jonathan Cooper to the Bucks County Orphans Court.29 Jeremiah and Hannah had a daughter Hannah, named in the petition. He did not leave a will in Bucks County.

Joseph was born about 1687, the son of William Hibbs and Hannah Howell. He grew up in Byberry, where his parents were members of Byberry meeting. His father died in 1709, and left the family plantation to Joseph. He received half at first, and the other half when he turned twenty-one.

He was disowned by Abington Meeting on 4^th month 1716, at the same time that his brother Jonathan was disowned.1 This is probably for marrying out of unity. The name of his wife is not known; it is often given as Rachel Waring. There is no local Waring family, and her background is unknown.

At some point Joseph moved north to Buckingham, Bucks County. In 5^th month 1734 he brought a paper to Abington Meeting expressing sorrow for his outgoing and asking to be reunited with Friends. This was accepted, and a paper sent to Wrightstown, his local meeting for worship.2

The consensus on the web is that Joseph and Rachel had at least thirteen children, over a period of over 25 years. This is possible, but there is no primary evidence for this list. There are no Quaker records of the births of the children, and Joseph did not leave a will. The probable children are: Catherine, William, Sarah, Rachel, Joseph, Hannah, Jacob, Phebe, John, Benjamin, Samuel, and possibly Isaac and Abraham.3 If in fact these children are all Rachel’s, then she must have lived well into the 1730s.4 She died before 1749, when Joseph proposed to marry again. In 10^th month 1749 Joseph Hibbs and Catherine Love declared their intentions of marriage at Buckingham Monthly Meeting.5 They were approved and married, but a few years later it was reported that she had been pregnant before they were married. Catherine was the widow of Andrew Love, a weaver who died in Plumstead Township. She and Andrew had five surviving children, as she stated in an Orphan’s Court record, when she and Joseph charged Andrew’s estate for their upkeep, and for two of them, the funeral expenses.6 Andrew had been a member of Plumstead Meeting, and had been in trouble with them in 1747 for drinking to excess, and “other scandalous actions when in drink”.7

Joseph and Catherine lived in Buckingham, where they took out a mortgage in 1760 and where he was taxed in 1761.8 They moved to Plumstead, where Joseph died in March 1762. Bond for administration of his estate was issued to Catherine and to Isaac Kirk and James Spicer. An inventory was made, showing typical farm implements and animals, for a total of £178.3.0.9 The date of her death is not known.10

William Groom was a Quaker, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Groom. He grew up in Byberry, Philadelphia County, with his two sisters Elizabeth and Mary. Around 1716 William married a woman named Margaret. Her last name is unknown, but she was probably not a Friend, since in 1716 Abington Meeting drew up a paper of condemnation against him.1

Around 1718, William settled in Southampton, Bucks County, where he erected a grist mill on 112 acres of land.2  It had been sold to him by Joseph Jones, in two parcels, a tract of 50 acres in 1718 and another 62 acres two years later.3 The land lay on the line of Bensalem Township.

William died in 1732,  leaving a widow and several children. Letters of administration were issued to Margaret Groom, Thomas Groom (William’s father), and Thomas Walton. The inventory of William’s estate was taken by Benjamin Scott and William Walton; it included eight acres of wheat, farm implements, livestock, clothing and other personal items. He owned a lot of tools: a whip saw, hand saw, carpenter’s tools, cooper’s tools, axes, adze and chisel, hammer and auger, mill picks, a heading knife, and scythes. He must have been a handy and versatile miller and farmer. He had the assistance of a Negro man, who died soon after William himself.4 In addition to running the mill, William also farmed. He owned several horses, eight cows, thirteen swine and ten sheep. There were seventy bushels of wheat and fourteen well worn mill bags, probably stored in the mill. The appraisers rated his estate at £162.19.2.5

The tax list for Southampton in 1742 shows the ‘widow Grooms’. This must be Margaret, since Thomas’ wife Elizabeth was dead by then. Margaret did not file her account of the estate until March 1757.6 By waiting so long to settle the account, Margaret controlled all of the funds, even as four of her surviving children grew to adulthood and married. There is a stereotype of a grasping miller who cheats his customers; Margaret seems to have been the grasping wife of the miller.7 In her account she followed the usual form, taking the appraised value of the estate and subtracting her expenses and charges to show the total available for the heirs. The more expenses she subtracted the less there would be for her children: Phebe, Thomas and William. In her account she charged for maintaining and schooling the children. The yearly profit of renting the mill and farm for 15 years was £270. During that time she finished the house and repaired the mill and dam race for a cost of £41. When the Orphans’ Court audited her account they disallowed some of the expenses for maintaining the children as well as the value of the Negro man’s service; the court ruled that his life was at her risk and would not allow it. The four children’s share of the estate was £165. She said she had already paid them £105, leaving £60 to be distributed to them.8 The court ruled that this was too little.

In 1760 her son William died, leaving a widow Rachel and four children. Rachel needed money to maintain the children and pay William’s debts. This raised an issue of dividing the mill and land among the heirs. Up until then it was owned jointly by Thomas and William, the two sons.9 The court found that the land could not be divided, and Thomas offered to buy the shares of Rachel’s children so that he could own the mill and land outright. The court valued the property at £800, out of which a yearly payment had to be made for Margaret’s dower, as long as she lived.10

Margaret died in 1773 or 1774.11 Three of her children had died ‘in their minority’—Hester, Phebe and Sarah.12 The other four were alive in 1757. The children were not Quakers and none married in a meeting. In fact Ann’s husband was descended from two Dutch families that moved down to Bucks County from Long Island.

Children of William and Margaret:

Ann, b. ab. 1718, m. 1739 Garret Vansant at Christ Church in Philadelphia13. He was the son of Jacob Vansant and Rebecca Vandegrift. A Garret Vansant, blacksmith, died in October 1779 in Southampton, Bucks County.14 It was probably the same man.15 Children: possibly Jacob and Phebe, probably others.

Thomas, b. ab. 1720, m. 1750 Lydia Goforth, daughter of John and Lydia of Red Lion Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware. They took out the marriage bond on May 1750.16 Thomas initially owned part of a saw mill and grist mill with his brother William, but after William died Thomas bought out the interest of William’s five children in the mill property and settled there in Southampton. Thomas was still alive in 1791 when his son Thomas leased a house to him after Thomas lost the mill property in a sheriff’s sale. Children: Thomas, John, William.

Mary, living in 1761, m. (?) – Halloway.17 No further information.

William, b. ab. 1725, d. 1760, m. about 1748 Rachel Walton, daughter of Joseph and Esther. After William died Rachel married Edmund Briggs, in 1761. At his death William owned part of the saw mill and grist mill with his brother Thomas. There was much litigation over the settlement of his estate and possible mismanagement by Rachel and Edmund.18 Children of William and Rachel: William (died 1773), Esther (died 1773), Thomas (married Hannah Atkinson), Mary (married Joseph Siddell), Mahlon (died without issue).19

Hester, d. young

Phebe, d. young

Sarah, d. young

Thomas Groom was a son of William and Margaret Groom of Southampton, Bucks County, where William owned a saw mill and grist mill. Thomas was born about 1720. His father William died in 1732, when Thomas was still a boy, and his grandfather Thomas Groom, for whom he was probably named, died four years later. In his will the grandfather left £20 to each of his grandsons, Thomas and William, and the carpenter’s tools “at their mother’s house”.1 Thomas and his brother William were taught to be coopers, barrel-makers.2

In the spring of 1750 Thomas was of age to marry and he did something unusual. He married a young woman from New Castle County, Delaware, over sixty miles south of Southampton. Her name was Lydia Goforth and she was the daughter of John and Lydia of Red Lion Hundred, New Castle County.3 The Groom family had no known connections to New Castle, but members of the Goforth family make occasional appearances in Bucks County records. In particular when John Goforth was accused in Bucks County Court in 1747 of getting Rebecca Kelly pregnant, William Groom was one of his sureties.4 John Goforth may have been Lydia’s brother.5 Since Lydia’s father John owned a saw mill, perhaps her brother was in Bucks County to learn the miller’s trade. (He inherited his father’s mill in 1750 when the older John died.) Both families were originally Quaker, but had fallen away from the society in the previous generation.6

The same year that Thomas married Lydia, he had some financial difficulties. He and his brother William owned jointly two tracts in Southampton, one of 50 acres and one of 62 acres, land they had inherited from their father. In September they mortgaged the 62-acre part to Paul Isaac Voto of Philadelphia. They repaid this the following year. In 1760 William died, leaving a widow Rachel and five children.7 This set off a prolonged legal process of dividing the land, a process that left Thomas with sole ownership. Thomas petitioned the Orphans Court in March 1761 to have the land valued, with its grist mill and saw mill.8 The sheriff’s jury valued the land at £800, with the obligation of paying the yearly interest on £150 to the widow Margaret, Thomas’ mother, as long as she lived, as her dower or widow’s thirds as it was called. Thomas wanted full ownership, so in March 1762 he paid £300 to Rachel and her new husband Edmund Briggs to buy out their share.9 To pay for this Thomas and Lydia mortgaged the land, and paid off the mortgage the following year.

There was no love lost between Thomas and Edmund. In 1763 Thomas complained to the court that Rachel and Edmund had gotten William’s estate into their hands, had moved to Maryland, and had left a property of William’s in Philadelphia County “much injured”.10 The court appointed Samuel Biles as a guardian for the property rights of William’s children.11 When Biles presented his account to the court, it was decided that Rachel had already taken more than her share of the estate, and the residue should be shared among his three living children.12

By 1772 Thomas and Lydia were in financial difficulties. They mortgaged the 62-acre tract and they did not repay it.13 This was the beginning of a fourteen-year period when Thomas was constantly in the courts, unable to pay his debts, with many judgments against him.14 The sheriff advertised the land for sale in the Pennsylvania Gazette from 1786 through 1788.15 Finally, to repay the mortgage, the sheriff sold the 62 acres with its mills to Henry Walmsley of Southampton.16 The remaining 50 acres was sold to Thomas’ son Thomas.17 For perhaps the final indignity Thomas and Lydia rented a house from their son Thomas, paying 10s a year rent. The lease, on 8 March 1791, was their last appearance in the records.18

Children of Thomas and Lydia:19

Thomas, b. about 1750. Married a woman named Rebecca.20 Stayed in Southampton. In 1788 he bought from the sheriff the 50-acre tract of his father. There in 1791 when he leased a house to his parents. In 1794 he sold the land to Garrett Vansant.21 Somehow Thomas retained or repurchased part of the land, since in 1823 Thomas (then of Byberry) and Rebecca his wife sold six acres of the land to Evan Groom, son of Thomas’ brother John.22 Probably the Thomas Groom in the 1810 census in Southampton, with eight people in his household, plus two free Black people.23

John, b. 1750, lived in Southampton through 1779, where he was a constable.24 married ab. 1779 his cousin Phebe Cooper, dau. of Thomas and Phebe.25 Phebe was disowned by Buckingham Monthly Meeting for marrying “with the assistance of a hireling minister” and for marrying a non-Friend.26 They moved to Upper Makefield by 1798,  and bought a lot there from John Beaumont.27 John died in 1810 in Upper Makefield.28 Four children are listed in the Orphans Court record for his estate, but five in the will of Phebe’s father Thomas Cooper in 1805. Children: Thomas, Phebe, Mary, John, probably Evan.29

William, moved to Upper Makefield, possibly d. 1836.30 He is said to have married Hannah Atkinson31. Children: Mary, William, John, Jonathan.32 William did not leave a will in Bucks County and there is no listing for his estate in the Bucks County Orphan’s Court records.33

Thomas Groom arrived in Philadelphia in late 1683. He probably shipped goods on the Comfort of Bristol, which left Bristol in May 1683 and arrived a month later.1 His brother Peter had already arrived. Their sister Mary might have come with either of them.2 Peter settled in Burlington County, New Jersey. He and Thomas remained close, and years later Thomas named some of Peter’s family in his will. When Mary Groom married John Rogers in 1685, she was living in Byberry, probably with Thomas, and Peter Groom was one of the witnesses. Mary and John Rogers “published their intentions of marriage by writing affixed on the meeting house doore according to law … 16th day of 7th mo 1685 … in their publick meeting place in the house of John Hart on Poequesy (alias Bybury Creek in the upper part of the county of Philadelphia.”3 After their marriage they lived on Crosswicks Creek, Burlington County, New Jersey, and had four children, John, Deborah, Mary and Joseph, born between 1687 and 1692. John died in 1700. Mary’s death in 1692 or 1693 was recorded by Chesterfield Meeting.

Peter Groom probably started out living in Bucks County. In May 1682 he bought 200 acres in Southampton from Thomas Fairman.4 That November he sold that tract; at the time he was still living in Bucks County.  In 1683 he rented 200 acres in Bucks County, and requested that it be joined to Thomas “Hold”.5 This is probably Thomas Howell, who shipped goods on the same ship as Peter’s brother Thomas. In 1690 Peter sold that tract of 200 acres.6 By March 1691, when Peter gave a power of attorney to his brother Thomas, he was living in Burlington County. He married twice and had children with both wives. In 1694 Peter was hauled into Burlington Court, accused of living in sin with the wife of Thomas Wright. Peter did not do his case a favor by appearing drunk in court and refusing to take off his hat.7 In his will of December 1726 Peter named his wife Elizabeth (née Wood) as well as five sons and five daughters. He died around October 1728, when the inventory was made of his estate.

The Groom family of southeastern Pennsylvania is descended from Thomas, since Peter’s descendants stayed in New Jersey. In 1683 William Penn issued a warrant to lay out 200 acres in Southampton Township, Bucks County, for Thomas Groom.8 This was the first of several pieces of land Groom would own. As one of the earliest settlers there, he is shown on Holme’s map of early landholders, with land on Poquessing Creek.9 In addition to farming, Thomas was described in a 1691 power of attorney as a carpenter.10 In 1694 Thomas bought 150 acres in Philadelphia County from Thomas Fairman adjoining Job Howell (son of Thomas Howell) and Peter Groom.11 This may have been his primary plantation.

Sometime around 1690, Thomas married Elizabeth; her last name is unknown. Thomas and Elizabeth were members of Byberry Meeting. He was active there; she was not. Along with William Walton and many others, Thomas signed a paper signifying disunity with the faction of George Keith, denouncing the spirit of separation.12 In 1707 he was appointed by Byberry Meeting as an overseer, along with William Beal. Two years later he attended the Quarterly Meeting, along with Rynear Tyson.

Thomas and Elizabeth had three children who lived to marry. Since the births of their children were not recorded at Byberry or Abington (the monthly meeting that Byberry belonged to), there may have been other children who died young. Their daughter Mary married William Cooper, son of James and Hester, but this was not her first choice. A mason named Samuel Grimsditch lodged with the Groom family for two years until his death in January 1713. He was contracted to marry Mary Groom and “intended (had not death prevented) in a short time to have made [her] his wife”. He wanted her to have his possessions. After his death Thomas Groom, William Groom (Mary’s brother), and William Marshall (the husband of Mary’s sister Elizabeth) affirmed his statements before a justice and letters were granted to Mary Groom.13

Thomas had multiple dealings with William Marshall. Although there is no record of the marriage, there is strong circumstantial evidence that William was his son-in-law, married to Thomas’ daughter Elizabeth. Thomas named her in his will as Elizabeth Marshall, although he did not give her husband’s name. In 1697 Thomas sold land to William Marshall. This was part of a tract of 350 acres in the Manor of Moreland, bought from John Holme on June 4.14 Groom promptly divided the tract into three parts, selling 100 acres to Thomas Scott and 150 acres to William Marshall, tailor of the Manor of Moreland.15 Groom sold the remaining 101 acres to Hugh Morgan, bought it back again, and finally sold it to John Wharton in 1715.16 In 1713 Thomas Groom and William Marshall bought land together, along with a man named Thomas Kemball. They went to the Commissioners of Property in Philadelphia and bought 2500 acres, a large tract, in the Great Swamp in Bucks County, near Richland. They proposed to build a grist mill on it.17 Half the money was to be paid at next summer fair, on the 16^th of May, and the remainder six months later. The Great Swamp was in the northern end of Bucks County, about twenty miles north of Byberry. In 1713 only a few settlers had moved there, but people were buying up the land on speculation. In 1707 Groom sold a tract of 550 acres in Bucks County that he had bought a few years earlier; this may have been another speculation.18 In 1716 Groom acted as an intermediary for a sale of two tracts in Philadelphia County, from Thomas Kimber to James Cooper. Kimber sold the land to Groom on March 6, and a week later Groom sold it to James Cooper, merchant of Philadelphia.19 William and Mary Groom, children of Thomas, witnessed the deed. Soon after this Mary married William Cooper, James’ son.20

In 1735 Thomas was approaching the end of his life. His son William had died before him. His wife Elizabeth was dead. He was lodging in a room in Byberry and no longer lived on his Byberry land. He had mortgaged it and later assigned it to Samuel Cooper, who paid off the mortgage. Samuel was another son of James Cooper, and the brother of William Cooper, Thomas’ son-in-law.21

Thomas wrote his will on October 1, 1736. He did not mention his wife Elizabeth or his daughter-in-law Margaret Groom, widow of William Groom. He did name both daughters, a niece, some of his grandchildren but not others, and several people named Marshall of unspecified relationship. He left a small legacy of five shillings to Mary Dunning; perhaps she was keeping house for him. The largest legacies were to his daughters, Mary Cooper and Elizabeth Marshall. Johanna Page got £5; she was a niece, the oldest daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Groom. He left £5 to Mary Halloway, who was not a known child of Peter. She was probably a granddaughter, a married child of William and Margaret, since he named the other three of their children.22 He left £20 to each of his grandsons, Thomas and William (sons of William and Margaret), and the carpenter’s tools “at their mother’s house”. He left to Ann Groom, daughter of William and Margaret, the moveable goods at Margaret’s house. He only named one of the children of Mary and William Cooper, their daughter Rebecca, leaving her the remaining moveable goods “in the room where I lodge”. The Coopers were relatively well off, with a substantial legacy from William’s father James; perhaps Thomas felt that they did not need as much from him. He left another £5 to Mary Johnson, the eldest daughter of William Marshall. This is plausibly another granddaughter, although the wording is odd, since he did not name her as a relative, for example “my granddaughter” or the “daughter of my daughter Elizabeth”. Yet the legacy of the same amount suggests that she was a granddaughter or a niece. A Mary Marshall married John Johnson in 1728 at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.23 Was this the same Mary? Finally he left another £5 to Sarah Marshall, wife of Moses. Her relationship to Thomas is unknown. If she was a granddaughter, she would have to be an unknown daughter of William and Mary Cooper or else a daughter of Elizabeth Groom Marshall. Thomas’ daughter Elizabeth and Mary were the executors. Normally the son would be executor, but William had died four years before.

Children of Thomas and Elizabeth:24

Elizabeth, m. — Marshall. This was probably William Marshall, who is surely related to the tailor of the Manor of Moreland who bought land with Thomas in 1697 and 1713, and who attested to the will of Samuel Grimsditch in 1713. A man who bought land in 1697 could be a generation too old to marry Elizabeth, and her husband could be the son of that William. A William Marshall died in February 1764, according to the Byberry death record kept by Henry Tomlinson. However he does not fit easily into the Marshall family of Tinicum, Bucks County, which included a Moses, born about 1701, who married a woman named Sarah, possibly referred to in Thomas’ will.25

Mary, b. ab. 1695, d. 1772, m. ab. 1722 William Cooper, son of James and Hester of Philadelphia. They lived in Byberry until William’s death in 1736. Mary died in Byberry in 1772. Children: Rebecca (married William Hibbs), Thomas (married Phebe Hibbs), James (married Hannah Hibbs), Samuel (married Grace Ridge), Letitia (married Abraham States).

William, b. ab. 1698, d. 1732, m. ab. 1716 Margaret—.  Lived in Southampton, Bucks County, where he operated a grist mill. He was disowned by Abington Meeting in 1716, possibly for marrying out of unity. He died in 1732, before his father Thomas, and did not leave a will. Children: Anne (married Garrett Vansant at Christ Church in 1739), Thomas (married Lydia Goforth of New Castle County), Mary (possibly married — Halloway), William (married Rachel Walton), and three daughters who died young.