According to lore passed down in the Jeanes family, Esther Brewer was one of the first white children born in Philadelphia.1 This suggests that her parents, whose names are unknown, arrived in the first rush of Quaker settlers in 1682.2 This is a fine story, although improbable given the ages of Esther’s children.3 When Esther grew up and married William Jeanes, the marriage was not recorded in Quaker meeting records, and their first child was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in August 1713. However William and Esther remained Friends. At least four of their children married as Friends, and William himself got a certificate from Abington meeting when he married his second wife.

The family lore about William was that he was French, probably because of the sound of the name.4 “William Jeanes is believed to have come to this country with his father and two brothers from England, and settled at New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York– the family being originally from LaRochelle in France.”5 However the Jeans name is quite common in southeast England, appearing in Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, and Gloucestershire. It is more plausible for Quakers to move to early Pennsylvania from England than from anywhere else.6

There is some circumstantial evidence for William’s origin and parentage. His oldest son was named Joseph. In February 1713, William and Mary Jeanes were the administrators of the estate of Joseph Jeanes of Bucks County. Joseph was either William’s brother, or—less likely—his father. In either case—brother or father—it is plausible that William’s own father was named Joseph. In fact the baptismal records of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, show a Joseph and Elizabeth Jeynes with four children born at the right time: Elizabeth in 1681, Joseph in 1683, William in 1687, Nathaniel in 1691.7 Tewkesbury had a Quaker community, with a cemetery reportedly dating to 1660.8 Jeanes is a common name in Gloucestershire, and there is no evidence yet that this is the family of the immigrant William, but the pattern fits well.9

The first record of William in Pennsylvania is not an immigration record, but rather the death of Joseph Jeanes in 1713. Letters of administration were granted to William Jeanes, of Bucks County, and Mary Jeanes. Mary was not William’s wife; she was probably Joseph’s widow and William’s sister-in-law. Joseph’s estate was small; the bond of administration was for only £50.10

William and Esther were probably married about the same time. There is no record of a marriage for them in Pennsylvania or England.11 By tradition her last name was Brewer. It is possible that they were Quakers who did not marry under the care of a Monthly Meeting. This often happened when the woman was already pregnant and they did not want to wait for the multi-step Quaker approval process. In any case the birth of their first child, a daughter Mary, was recorded at a Presbyterian Church.12 After that they either joined Abington Monthly Meeting or reconciled with the meeting, since the birth of their next child, Joseph, was recorded there in 1716. The births of later children were not recorded at the meeting, but it was common for Quaker families to omit the recording step. At least four of their children married under the auspices of Abington Meeting, and in 1739 Abington gave William a certificate to proceed in marriage with his second wife Elizabeth.

The first record of William buying land in Pennsylvania is in November 1732, when he bought a 142-acre tract in Moreland Township, Philadelphia County, from John Van Boskerck.13 William paid £88.19. In 1739 he extended his land by buying another 30 acres from Benjamin and Elizabeth Cooper. How was William making a living between 1713 and 1732? It is very likely that he was working for others as a farm laborer. The inventory of his estate shows no special tools of a craftsman, and in deeds he is listed as a yeoman, the typical description for a landowner.14 Since he was married, he was probably not an indentured servant. Hired labor was in demand at the time, and he probably saved up his earnings to buy his own land.

William and Esther had seven known children from 1713 to 1735. This suggests that Esther was born about 1690, so that she would be no more than 45 or so at the birth of her youngest child.15 She died in 1737 and William married Elizabeth Baker in 1739.16 He died in 1747.17 In his will he named his wife Elizabeth, children Joseph, James, Isaac, Jacob, Mary, Esther, and Rebecca, as well as grandchildren William and Esther Walton (the children of James Walton and Mary Jeanes). He left his plantation in the Manor of Moreland to Joseph, with a provision that Joseph should pay his brother James £25 “if he ever arrives in Pennsylvania”.18 William also left land to sons Isaac and Jacob, and money to the daughters, in the traditional legacy pattern of the time. He required Jacob to provide Elizabeth with “one-third of the grain and apples, the keeping of one horse and one cow the year through, the best chamber upstairs to reside in, necessary firewood, a part in the kitchen and at the spring house”. He left his son Joseph a suit with white metal buttons, but specified that Isaac should have the leather breeches, the great coat, and the “last wedding suit of worsted apparel”.19 The executors were the son Joseph and William Walmsley. The inventory showed the usual household goods and farm tools, much livestock including 9 horses, 40 sheep, 11 cows, 8 hogs, and 376 bushels of wheat.

Elizabeth lived until 1785, probably in the house with Jacob’s family. In her will she named her stepdaughter Esther Bond, and her step-son Jacob Jeanes as executor. The sons Joseph, Isaac and Jacob all lived in Moreland.

Children of William and Esther Jeanes:20

Mary, baptized 1713, married James Walton, son of Thomas and Priscilla in 9^th month 1730 under the care of Abington Monthly Meeting.21 They had two children, William and Esther, before James died.22 In 1745 Mary married Thomas Carrington, also at Abington. In 1755 they moved to Richland, Bucks County, but moved back the following year.23 Thomas bought land in Abington in 1758. In 3^rd month 1760, Mary and their son Thomas died within a day of each other. Thomas moved to Londongrove Meeting, Chester County, where he was approved as a minister. He married Mary Baker in 1762.24 Thomas died in 1781. In his will he named his wife Mary, sons Aaron and John, and six daughters.25

Joseph, born in 1716, died 1762, married 1738 Sarah Roberts at Abington Meeting.26 He bought land in 1752 in Moreland Township, and later lived in Whitemarsh, Montgomery County.27 Like his father and brothers, he was not very active in Abington meeting, but did serve on a few committees. Joseph wrote his will in 9th month 1762 and died the next year. The inventory of his goods showed a typical farmer. His heirs sold the plantation the next year, placing the customary ad in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It containing about “100 Acres of good land, about 25 or 30 acres of woodland, 10 or 12 acres of good meadow ground, but not all cleared, Water very convenient in every Field, a young bearing Orchard, a good Stone and Log house, with a Spring house near the Door, and a Log Barn”.28 In his will Joseph named his wife Sarah, and eight children: William, Esther, Joseph, Sarah, George, Abel, Daniel and Isaac.29 The son Daniel became a Loyalist, joining the “British Army when they were in possession of the city of Phila and continues to adhere to them by means whereof his one third part of the lands became forfeit to the Commonwealth”… and his share of the estate was sold in 1781 to Benjamin Harbeson.30

James, not in Pennsylvania in 1747 when his father wrote his will, no definite records of him.31

Esther, died 1809, married Joseph Bond, son of Joseph and Ann.32  Although Joseph and Esther were both from Quaker families, they were married in October 1750 at the German Reformed Church in Philadelphia. It is not known when Esther died. She is named in the will of her stepmother Elizabeth Jeanes in 1782. Her husband is probably the Joseph Bond, age 70, who died in 1803 in Philadelphia and was buried as a Friend.33 Children of Esther and Joseph: Elizabeth, Joseph, Rebecca, Sarah, Isaac, Mary, Esther, Rachel, Anna.34

Rebecca, born in 1725, living in 1759. Was she the Rebecca Jeans who was disowned in 1756 by Abington Meeting for marrying contrary to discipline?35 As Rebecca McVeagh, she signed a wedding certificate for her brother Jacob in 1759 and for James Tyson’s second marriage in 1764. Her husband cannot be placed in the family of Edmund McVaugh and Alice Dickinson, although he was probably a grandson of theirs. They were not Friends, and their descendants are poorly documented.

Isaac, born about 1726, died 1757,  married first, in 1749 at Middletown Meeting, Abigail Sands, daughter of Richard and Mary. Isaac married second in 1753 at Horsham Meeting, Mary Walton, daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Walmsley).36 They lived in Moreland, Philadelphia County on a 170-acre farm. Isaac died in 1757, leaving his wife Mary and three children: Mary, William and Levi.37 The inventory included typical household goods, farm tools, horses, cows, sheep, and hogs. After Isaac died, Mary married in 1761 James Tyson, son of Henry and grandson of Rynear and Margaret.38 Children with Abigail: Mary (married Timothy Roberts, son of William Roberts). Children with Mary: William (born 1754) and Levi (born 1757).

Jacob, b. 1735, d. 1812, m. 1) — Roberts39, 2) Priscilla Waterman in 1759 at Abington40, 3) 1768 Leah Harmer at Abington41; lived in Moreland, a cabinetmaker42^. Jacob Jeans had to turn in a paper of acknowledgement to Abington Meeting in 8^th month 1766, for fighting and marrying contrary to good order. Was this because of his first marriage? He was on the tax list of 1798 with two stone houses. He married Priscilla Waterman in 12^th month 1759 at Abington Meeting and married Leah Harmer in 1768, also at Abington Meeting. He died in 1812, age 76. Leah died 1833, age 87, as his widow. He and Leah had children: Isaiah, Elizabeth, Jane, William, Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Keziah, Anna. The son Isaiah married Anna Thomas and had eight children, including the wealthy philanthropist Anna T. Jeanes, who died in 1907.