Matilda Morrey, daughter of Richard and Ann Morrey, married a man named Kimble between 1710 and 1720. His name is usually given as Anthony, but there are no contemporary records showing this.1 There are no immigration records, church records, marriage records, or birth records for any Anthony Kimble. The only reference to Matilda Kimble is a cryptic one. In 5^th month (July) 1710, Ann Kemble was buried in Philadelphia, the daughter of John and Matilda Kemble.

Although the burial record appears amid papers of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Ann was buried as a non-Friend.2 If in fact this was a daughter of Matilda Morrey Kimble, then the name John was either a mistake in the record or researchers have gotten the name of Matilda’s husband wrong.3 There is another record of a John Kemball in early Philadelphia.4 In March 1696/97, a long list of inhabitants of the city signed a letter to Governor William Markham complaining about proposed changes to the frame of government. Among the signers was a John Kemball.5 There were other Kimble or Kemball families in the area; the name was not unusual, but the name Matilda was rare at the time.6

Matilda and her husband were married about 1710. The marriage does not appear in any Quaker meeting records. Matilda’s grandfather Humphrey Morrey had been a Quaker, but his children fell away from the Society and became Anglicans. The Morrey family was wealthy, due to Humphrey’s successful land speculation. They were also well-connected, with marriages with prominent members of the “Philadelphia elite” such as the Budd family. However these connections did not continue into the next generation. Matilda and her family lived in Bucks County, instead of Philadelphia, probably because Matilda inherited land there from her father. The Kimble children married into families surrounding them in Buckingham, such as Carver and Worthington.

In 1735, Jane Laurence died in Philadelphia. She was a wealthy spinster and friend of the Morrey family. In her will Jane Laurence named Matilda and two of her daughters: Rose and Ann Kemble. The same year Matilda inherited 200 acres in Buckingham Township from her brother Thomas, while her children were to share another 200 acres. This land later passed to her children William, Anthony, Rose, Ann and Mary, along with additional land from Matilda’s father Richard and cousin Humphrey.7 After Anthony’s death, Matilda married a man named Carty, and later married again, to a man named Flannagan.8  She died in 1749 or 1750. She did not leave a will, and her heirs petitioned the Orphan’s Court to divide the land.

The court ordered four men to view and partition the land, “in the township of Buckingham of which Matilda Flannagin, late Matilda Carty and theretofore Matilda Kimble died seized”. The map shows the shares allotted to the five claimants: Thomas Watson, William Kimble, Mary Hickst, the children of Charles Hickst, and the children of Rosa Wilkinson. Watson got the largest share, because he had already bought one-third of the land from Anthony Kimble. Ann and John Bewley had sold their share to Charles Hickst.9

Children of Matilda and her husband: There are no birth records for them, but they must have been born about 1715 to 1735.

Mary, died 1758, married Charles Hickst by Sept 173610, had children Edward, Kimble, Matilda, and Thomas. They lived in Buckingham, on land given to Mary by her grandfather Richard Morrey.11 Charles died in 1753. He did not leave a will, but Mary did, naming her three sons.12

Ann, married 1739 John Bewley at Christ Church. They lived in Buckingham and had seven children: Anthony, George, Nathan, Isaac, John, Jesse, Christopher.13 Some of the children ended up in Virginia.

Rosa, married 1740 Josiah Wilkinson at Christ Church. They had two children, Matilda and Israel, before Rosa’s death.14 He then married Mary Carver, daughter of William Carver Jr. and Elizabeth Walmsley and had more children.15

Anthony, died 1796, married first by 1750 Esther Worthington, daughter of Samuel & Mary. Esther died in 1779 and Anthony married a woman named Sarah.16 Between his two wives, Anthony had ten daughters and three sons, named in his will of 1791, probated in 1796.17 The children were Phebe, Esther, Rachel, Matilda, Sarah, Ann, Mary, Elizabeth, Christopher, Cinthia, Tabitha, Anthony, and John. He left his son Anthony “the plantation whereon I now live”, conveyed from Richard Morrey in tracts of 100 and 40 acres. All of the ten daughters except Cinthia lived to marry.

William, born about 1735, died 1813, married 1770 Sarah Worthington, daughter of Samuel and Mary.18 They were married at Christ Church, Philadelphia.19 This was a very late marriage for William, but Sarah must have been considerably younger, since they went on to have nine children.20 For over twenty years starting in 1761, William and his brother Anthony were taxed in Buckingham township.21 By the time he died William was living in Moreland, Montgomery County and renting out his property in Buckingham. The inventory of his estate was taken in February 1813.22 Children of William and Sarah: Jonathan, Richard, Martha, John, Isaiah, William, Christopher, Sarah and Frances.23