Benjamin Worthington was born in 1813, the son of John Worthington and Sarah Walton. He grew up in Byberry, Philadelphia County. His parents had been disowned by Byberry Meeting for marrying contrary to Quaker discipline. Around 1838 Benjamin married Lydia Groom, daughter of Evan Groom and Rachel Randall. Evan Groom was a well-off farmer of Bensalem, Bucks County.

In 1848 Benjamin was keeping a store, probably in Southampton. They sold land there to Evan, adjoining other land Evan already owned along the Poquessing Creek. By 1850 Benjamin and Lydia were living in Bensalem, Bucks County, with four children.1 By 1860 they had moved to Moreland, and had another child.2 By 1870 they had moved again, to Warrington Township, Bucks County, with children Rebecca, William, and Rachel.3

Benjamin did not leave a will at the time of his death in 1876. His son Watson and widow Lydia renounced their right as administrators in favor of William Brunner and William E. Worthington, Watson’s younger brother. The inventory of the estate gives evidence that Benjamin kept a store. It included  canned fruit, a barrel of pickles, tin pans, canned tomatoes, benches, barrels, potatoes, a Buffalo robe, feathers, three bags of beans, onions, a shotgun, a hay wagon and ox cart, tools and plows, 500 bushels of corn, 100 bushels of oats, 125 dozen brooms, 15 pair of pigeons, 3 horses, 12 head of cows, a bull, and winter grain in the ground. The house and land was sold to John Rhoads for $7700. Expenses against the estate included $30.66 for marketing the brooms and $1817.59 for loss of an outstanding debt due from Watson Worthington.4

In 1880 Lydia was living in Cheltenham, Montgomery County, with her daughter Annie R. age 33, and in the same household as her son Emmor and his wife Tamsen. He was described as a huckster.5 In 1900 Lydia had moved to the Bustleton area, Philadelphia County, living with Emmor and Tamysen, and her daughter Rebecca. Emmor was listed as a gentleman, which seems to mean that he was retired.6 Emmor and Tamsen probably did not have any children. Lydia died in January of 1908, at the ripe age of 89. She was living on Bustleton Avenue in Somerton at the time and was buried at William Penn cemetery.7 She left a will, naming her brother Evan J. as executor, and leaving her property to her children Rebecca, Watson, Elmira, Emmor and Rachel.8

My grandmother Helen Worthington Tyson remembered Watson’s siblings. They were her great-uncle and great-aunts. She said that they were Quakers and used the old thee and thy speech.9 They may not have been members of a Quaker meeting, but they still kept the cultural tradition.

Children of Benjamin & Lydia:10

Watson, b. 1839, d. 1919, m. Elizabeth Cornell, daughter of Alfred Cornell and  Rebecca Jane Van Buskirk; Watson was buried at William Penn. Elizabeth was of Dutch heritage, from families who moved down from New York to Bucks County in the early 1700s, had their own church and cultural heritage and intermarried for several generations. Watson and Elizabeth first lived in Bucks County, then moved to Somerton, where Watson was a toll booth keeper on the Bustleton Pike for twenty-five years. Elizabeth died in 1906 and Watson moved in with his youngest daughter. Children: Harry, Benjamin F, Nellie, Edna May.11

Elmira, b. April 1840, d. Nov. 10, 1926, m. Franklin Tomlinson, lived in Somerton on Tomlinson Road. 12. In 1880 they were living in Philadelphia County where he was a farmer. Edward Worthington, age 73, and Elmira’s uncle, was living with them and working on the farm.13 The daughter Anna married Harry Chapell.14 In 1890 Franklin was dead and Elmira was the head of household. Anna and Harry were living with her. Frank died in 1898 (born 1836).15 They were buried at William Penn.16 Children of Elmira and Franklin: Ellsworth, Anna, Franklin.

Annie Rebecca, known as Rebecca, b. 1845, unmarried, living with her brother William in 1910. She died on Dec. 13, 1914, at the age of 69. She had been keeping house on  the Bustleton Pike. The doctor stated that she died of Bright’s Disease, with a contributing cause a burn on her right arm, “not serious, clothing caught fire while she was lighting a lamp”.17 She was buried at William Penn Cemetery.

William Emmor, known as Emmor, b. Feb 1849, d. Dec 28, 1919, m. Tamyson H. Greaves18 He was a groceryman. An ad in the Bucks County Gazette for May 26, 1898 included him in a list of grocers who were “up to date” and sold Karang Java coffee. They lived in Somerton and were buried at Hatboro.19 His wife Tamyson died in 1932. No known children.

Rachel, b. March 5, 1854, d. 1934, married Edward Clark, lived in Norristown. In the 1900 census he was a train engineer and they had three sons: Edward, William and Albert. In 1910 he was working as a foreman in the paper mill.20 Rachel died in 1934 and was buried at Riverside Cemetery.21 Edward had died before her, in 1932.22

William Walton was the youngest of the four Quaker Walton brothers of Byberry. He was renowned as a preacher at Byberry Meeting and as a traveling Friend, who visited meetings as far as Maryland and Carolina.1 In 1689 he married Sarah Howell under the auspices of Abington Meeting.2 They settled in Byberry, and had ten children, “most of whom migrated to Warminster, Warwick and Buckingham in Bucks County, and to the neighborhood of Horsham in Montgomery County.  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.  His grandchildren and those of his brother Daniel intermarried.”3

William first bought a tract in Byberry in 1688, adjoining the land of his brothers. He later added more holdings, one of 100 acres from John Holme and 555 acres from William Allen, both in Moreland Township. Pennypack Creek flowed through his lands, and Byberry Road cut across a corner of it.4

William was one of the elders of Abington Meeting. He was a representative many times to the Quarterly Meetings in Philadelphia. He also visited families in Byberry and went on ministerial visits to other areas. In the records of Abington MM he is sometimes referred to as the Preacher.

He may have been personally associated with Penn.5 In 1708 William Penn was in England, during a long absence from the colony and his manor house of Pennsbury. Penn wrote to his secretary James Logan and instructed him to “let William Walton, that comes from Bristol, keep all in order till we come.”6

Walton lived about fifteen miles south of Pennsbury, but he could have been in charge of the manor house, since there is no other known William Walton at the time and the second generation of Waltons would not have been old enough.7 (The alternative is that Penn was sending out a man named William Walton from Bristol in England to be his manager; he was known to send other servants from England.)

William died in late 1736 or early 1737 while on a missionary trip to Tortola Island. At the time Henry Tomlinson called him “a public Friend in good esteem.”8 In his will he named his wife Sarah, six children, and three grandchildren. His son William Jr. was the executor.

Sarah died before September 1749, when her will was probated. In it she named her daughter Sarah Alberton, two sons of her son Isaac, granddaughter Mary Mardon, and granddaughter Rachel Mardon. Sarah had outlived at least six of her children.

Children of William and Sarah:9

Rachel, b. 7^th month 1690, d. 1718, m. 1714 Edward Parry, lived in Horsham. Edward had a daughter Sarah from his first marriage, to Jane Evans.¹⁰ Edward and Rachel had children Edward and Rachel, before Rachel’s death at a young age, possibly related to childbirth.11 Edward died in Horsham in 1726.

Isaac, b. 4^th month 1692, d. 1755, m. 1) ab. 1713 Mary Parry, 2) 1728 Sarah Kennet, 3) 1737 Sarah Holt.12 He was in trouble with Abington Meeting for the marriage with Sarah Holt, being “indecently familiar” before the marriage. He was in trouble again with the meeting in 1755 for drinking to excess, but died before the meeting could give him a copy of the testimony against him.13 He died in Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia County, without a will. He had at least nine children, possibly by all three wives.

Jeremiah, b. 9^th month 1694, d. Feb. 1740/1, married in 1718 or 1719 at Abington Elizabeth Walmsley, daughter of Thomas and Mary.14 “Most of the Waltons about Horsham are of this family.”15 They lived in Byberry, and raised a family of ten children. Elizabeth died in 1775.16 Children: William, Thomas, Rachel, Jeremiah, Jacob, James, Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Phebe. The children married into Quaker families such as Duncan, Kirk and Jeanes.

Jacob, b. 3^rd month 1697, probably died young. He was not named in the wills of his parents.

Sarah, b. 1^st month 1699, d. 1767, married 1724 Benjamin Albertson, son of William and Hannah. They were cleared to proceed in marriage by Abington meeting on 8^th month 1724.  Children: William, Jacob, Josiah, Benjamin, Chalkley, Sarah. The children were alive in 1749 when Sarah’s mother made her will.17

William, b. 2^nd month 1701, d. 10^th month 1740, unmarried. Letters for his estate were granted to his brother Isaac.18

Abel, b. 10^th month 1703, d. 1771, married 1731 Rebecca Walmsley, daughter of Henry and Mary. They were married under the auspices of Abington Meeting between 8^th month and 10^th month 1731. They lived in Moreland and had four known children. Abel died in 1771; Rebecca died in 1775.19

Job, b. 3^rd month 1706, d. 1784, m. 1) Agnes Walmsley, dau. of Thomas and Mary, 2) 1757 Catherine McVaugh.20 He lived in Byberry. According to tradition he was a preacher at Byberry Meeting in 1752, but Abington meeting complained that he preached while drunk. He was finally disowned in 1755 for drinking to excess. He and Catherine were married at Swedes Church; she died 1800.21  Children of Job and Agnes: Isaac, Sarah, Job, Isaiah, Thomas, Mary, William, Elijah.22

Hannah, b. 2^nd month 1708, d. 1741, m. 1) Thomas Walmsley, Jr., 2) Thomas Mardon. Hannah’s first husband, Thomas Walmsley, was the son of Thomas Walmsley and Mary Paxson. The younger Thomas died a few months after his marriage to Hannah by falling off a horse. About 1730 she married Thomas Mardon, a tailor, and bought out the time of his indenture.23 They lived in Byberry, where Hannah died in 1741 and Thomas in 1762. Children: Rachel, Mary, Jacob and Sarah.

Mary, b. 7^th month 1710, d. 1732, m. in 1729 William Homer, son of William Homer and Elizabeth Walmsley. They were cleared by Abington to proceed in marriage in 2^nd month 1729. Mary died a year or so later, and in 1732 William married Mary’s first cousin, also named Mary Walton, a daughter of Daniel and Mary Walton. William had two children with the first Mary and eight more with his second wife. Children: Elizabeth, William.24

Richard Walton was born in 1723, the son of Joseph Walton and Esther Carver of Byberry. His father died when Richard was an infant. The next year his mother Esther married Daniel Knight, whose first wife Elizabeth Walker was dead. Daniel and Elizabeth had three children together, one of whom died young. He married Esther in 1728, blending their two families and adding six more children together.1 Richard grew up as one of ten children in the family.

Richard married in 1753 Abigail, daughter of Thomas Walmsley. She was the widow of  Isaac Comly and eight years older than her husband. Isaac, one of nine children of Henry Comly and Agnes Heaton, worked as a blacksmith.2 He and Abigail were married in 1738 and lived in Somerton for ten years before he died, leaving Abigail with children Agnes and Isaac.3 She supposedly took her children and lived with her father for five years until she married again.4

Richard and Abigail were married at Trinity Oxford Church, for which they were reprimanded by the Abington Meeting and which they acknowledged.5  They continued to be Friends, and the births of two of their children were recorded in the Abington Meeting records. They lived in Byberry.  In 1775 Richard bought 128 acres on Byberry Creek from Benjamin Gilbert on which Gilbert had built a grist mill.6 In his will he left this to his son Joseph and son-in-law Ephraim Howell.

He died 10th month 6th, 1776, probably in the epidemic of camp fever which killed many people in Byberry that year.7 In his will he named his wife, children Joseph and Esther, and a grandson Richard Howell. The executors were son Joseph and “son-in-law” Isaac Comly (actually a stepson).8

Children of Abigail and Isaac (surname Comly):9

Agnes, b. 2^nd month 1738, d. 1821, m. 1) 1759 John Duncan, son of William Duncan and Rachel Carver, married 2) 1793 Andrew Singley. Agnes and John were married on 12^th month 1759 at Abington.10 Agnes and John had five daughters born between 1760 and 1767.11John died in October, 1772. Administration on his estate was granted to Richard Walton (Agnes’ father), William Duncan (John’s brother), Thomas Ridge (John’s brother-in-law) and Daniel Walton.12 Agnes married again, in 1793, to Andrew Singley Jr. of White Sheet Bay on the Delaware River. She died in 1821.13

Isaac, b. 1743, d. 1822, m. 1771 Asenath Hampton, daughter of John and Ann Hampton of Wrightstown. They settled in Byberry, raised a large family, and gained “considerable property”.14 Asenath became a respected elder of Byberry Meeting. She died in 1826. Children: Martha, John, Joseph, Isaac, Ezra, Ethan, Jason. The sons Joseph, John and Isaac were all interested in local history and much of the material in Martindale’s History of Byberry and Moreland came from Isaac’s notes.15

Children of Richard and Abigail:16

Joseph, b. 1754, d. 1821, m. 1780 Deborah Lee, daughter of John and Sarah.17 They lived in Byberry but later moved to Buckingham, Bucks County.18 They had eight or nine children. Children: Sarah, Abigail, Deborah, Asenath, Agnes, Ann, John, Robert, possibly Bernard. Five of the children married into the Worthington family.

Benjamin, twin to Joseph, died in infancy.19

Esther,  b. 8^th month 1755, d. 1813, married Ephraim Howell in 1775 at Byberry Meeting. He was from Falls Meeting. The next year Ephraim inherited a grist mill from Esther’s father Richard. Children: Richard, Joseph, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Abigail, Mary, Ephraim, Deborah.20

Joseph Walton was the son of Richard Walton and Abigail Walmsley of Byberry, Philadelphia County.1 Born in 1754, Joseph was a twin; his twin brother Benjamin died in infancy. Abigail had been married before, to Isaac Comly. When Comly died he left her with two children, Agnes and Isaac, who were much older than Joseph.2 Joseph, Agnes, Isaac, and Joseph’s younger sister Esther, all grew up in Byberry, where Richard owned a grist mill on Byberry Greek.3 When Richard died in 1776 he left the mill to Joseph and Esther’s husband Ephraim Howell. Isaac Comly, Joseph’s half-brother, was the executor.4

In 1780 Joseph married Deborah Lee.5 Deborah was born in 1754, the daughter of John Lee and Sarah Carr. Her parents both died while Deborah was still under age, and she was taken under the care of Wrightstown Meeting.6 When she and Joseph married, she was a member of Wrightstown Meeting, and he got a certificate from Abington Meeting for the marriage. They settled in Byberry and were members of Byberry Meeting, where the births of their children were recorded.7

In 1786 Joseph came down with smallpox. The son of his half-brother Isaac Comly wrote the story in a memoir. Joseph said, “early in 1786 Uncle Joseph Walton caught smallpox in town and as none of our family had it but mother [Asenath Hampton Comly], it was concluded she must go there to help nurse him, and that John and myself were to go and be inoculated and have it there, and we went.”8

They later moved to Buckingham.9 Joseph died in 3rd month 1821. He did not leave a will, and his estate was administered by two sons-in-law, Abner and Joel Worthington. They presented their account to the Orphan’s Court in March 1822, showing an inventory of $426 and a balance after debts were paid of $260. This is not a large amount for the time, but it does not include the value of any real estate Joseph owned at his death. During his life he owned at least eight tracts, some large.10 Deborah died in December 1840, aged 86.11 She did not leave a will.

Joseph and Deborah had seven children who lived to marry. Five of them married Worthingtons.

Children of Joseph and Deborah:12

Sarah, b. 1781, d. 1858, m. about 1805 John Worthington, son of Benjamin Worthington and Hannah Malone. The marriage was contrary to discipline and John was disowned as a member of Byberry Meeting.13 They lived in Byberry and had seven known children there. John wrote his will in 1849, providing for an annuity for Sarah. He died in 1852.14 Sarah died in 1858. Children: Edward, Malvina, Benjamin, Lydia, George, Walton, Asenath.

Abigail, b. 1783, d. 1863, m. in 1804 Abner Worthington, son of Joseph and Sarah, married under the auspices of Byberry Meeting.15 They lived in Buckingham, Bucks County, and had three children: Eber, Sarah, Joseph.

Deborah, b. 1785, d. 1877, m. Anthony Worthington, son of Joseph and Esther. She is probably the Deborah Worthington, late Walton, disowned by Byberry Meeting in 6^th month 1805. Anthony and Deborah lived in Buckingham and had children: Joel, Anthony, Robert, Esther, Ann.16 Anthony died before 1850, but Deborah lived until an old age. In the 1850 census she was living in Buckingham with her children Anthony, Ann and Esther.17 She was still there in 1870, in her own household, living with just a housekeeper.18 Deborah died in 1877 and is buried at Buckingham Friends.19

Asenath, b. 1788, married in 1810 Benjamin Tomlinson, son of John Tomlinson and Phebe Malone.20 They had no children.21

Agnes, b. 1790, m. in 1809 Joel Worthington, son of Joseph and Esther. The marriage was contrary to discipline and she was disowned by Byberry meeting in 8^th month 1809. The names of their children are not definitely known, but were probably Abner, John, Deborah, and Sarah.22

Ann, b. 1792, m. Benjamin Worthington, son of Benjamin and Hannah. They were married by a minister, as Horsham Monthly Meeting reported on 5^th month 1809.23 Benjamin and Ann did not appear to defend their conduct and a testimony was written against them on 8^th month. Benjamin died before 1850, and Ann lived with her daughters, still around Byberry.24 Ann died in 1874 and was buried at William Penn Cemetery.25 Children: Amanda, Alfred, Rebecca, Abner, Mary.26

John, b. 1795, m. Elizabeth Matchner about 1816, daughter of John & Elizabeth (Strickler). John Walton is possibly the one who died in 1824, with letters of administration in Phila. Elizabeth lived until 1870.27 Children: Joseph, Jacob, Mary.28

Joseph Walton, born about 1698, was the son of Daniel Walton and Mary Lamb, Quaker immigrants to Pennsylvania.1 He grew up in Byberry, Philadelphia County, with his parents and siblings. In 1719 his father Daniel died, and left the plantation in Byberry to his three younger sons, Joseph and Benjamin and Nathan, to share when they came of age. Until then they were to be diligent on the plantation and under the rule of their mother.2

In 1722 Joseph married Esther Carver, daughter of William and Mary, under the care of Abington Meeting. They were cleared to proceed in marriage in 10^th month 1722.3 They settled in Byberry and had two children before Joseph’s death in 1727, at a young age. He did not leave a will, and letters of administration were granted to Esther on April 12, 1727.4

The inventory of his estate was taken on April 18 by John Duncan and Thomas Walmsley, two Quakers of Byberry who would have known Joseph and his family very well. It included very sparse household goods, just a little brass, earthen and iron ware and a frying pan. Could Joseph and Esther have been still living on the plantation with his mother? He owned some farming tools: hoes and axe, a harrow and plow and irons and the ubiquitous saddle and bridle for the riding horse. He owned three horses, some sheep and cattle and had corn in the ground. The total came to only about £50. Twenty years later the children of Joseph and Esther renounced any claim to the estate in favor of their mother and her second husband.5

At Abington Meeting the following year Esther married Daniel Knight, son of Giles and Mary.6 His first wife Elizabeth Walker had committed suicide. Daniel and Elizabeth were married in 1719. A few years later, while Daniel was at the meeting, she left her two children alone in the house and hung herself in the stable. “As no person had discovered before that she was uneasy with her situation, Daniel felt anxious to know the cause of an act so extraordinary, and for several evenings afterwards he sat alone in the stable where she was found, in hopes that something might present to explain this mystery. At length he said he was satisfied, but never would give any person the least information by what means he became so.”7 Daniel and Elizabeth had three children together, one of whom died young. He married Esther in 1728, blending their two families and adding six more children together. After Esther died he married Mary Wilson. Daniel died in 1782 at the age of 85.8

Children of Joseph and Esther:9

Richard, b. 10^th month 1723, d. 1776, m. in 1753 Abigail Walmsley Comly, daughter of Thomas Walmsley and Mary Paxson, and widow of Isaac Comly.10 Richard and Abigail were married at Trinity Church in Oxford, but made an acknowledgment to Abington Meeting. She had three children with Isaac and three more with Richard. Richard died in 1776, supposedly of camp fever (typhus), and left a will, naming his wife and two living children. He left the plantation in Byberry to his son Joseph and left 26 acres with a grist mill to his son-in-law Ephraim Howell.11 Children of Richard and Abigail: Joseph, Benjamin (d. inf), Esther.

Rachel, b. 4^th month 1727, m. 1) William Groom, son of William Groom, 2) Edmund Briggs; disowned by Abington MM for the Briggs marriage. Rachel and Edmund were the guardians for her children with William Groom: William, Hester, Thomas, Mary, and Mahlon. There was much contention about their handling of William’s estate, with accusations of mismanagement by her Groom in-laws.12 Rachel was still alive in 1774.

Children of Esther Carver and Daniel Knight: (surname Knight)13

William, b. 9^th month 1729, d. 1782. “He was somewhat singular in his habits and would utter predictions which were afterwards so nearly fulfilled that many persons believed that he had a knowledge of future events and they looked upon him as more than an ordinary being.”14

Daniel, b. 7^th month 1732, married Ann Wilson in 1754 at Abington. It was reported accomplished on 30^th 12^th month 1754.15 Is he the Daniel Knight Jr who died in 1757 at Byberry?16

Martha, b. 9^th month 1736, married Henry Walmsley in 1759 at Byberry. The marriage certificate was signed by many Knights and Walmsleys as well as other members of the meeting like the Duncans and William Groom.17

Joseph, b. 1^st month 1739, d. 1799, m. Elizabeth James. He was probably the elder of Middletown Meeting whose death was reported by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting as 3^rd 10^th month 1799, age 61.18 He left a will naming his wife Elizabeth, one son and five daughters.19

Ann, b. 12^th month 1741/2, married in 1762 Daniel Walton, son of Daniel Walton and Elizabeth Cliffton. Daniel owned a saw mill in Byberry and died in 1776 of camp fever. Both Daniel and Ann were in trouble with Abington Meeting. Daniel was disowned for spreading “evil reports” and Ann was disowned for her irregular marriage after Daniel died. They had three or four known children. 20

Thomas, b. 7^th month 1744, married in 1771 Sarah Walton, daughter of Benjamin Walton and Rebecca Homer.21 They were married at Byberry. Children: Amos, Rebecca, and Esther. Sarah died in 1807.

Children of Daniel Knight and his first wife Elizabeth Walker.22 (Surname Knight)

Mary, b. 11^th month 1719/20, married in 1744 at Byberry David Buckman, son of William and Elizabeth. They lived in Wrightstown, Bucks County, where David was an elder. He died in 1791 but did not leave a will.

Joseph, b. 2^nd month 1721, no further record, probably died young.

Jonathan, b. 8^th month 1722, married in 1748 at Middletown MM Grace Croasdale. They lived in Southampton. Jonathan died in 1772.23 They had six sons.

Jeremiah Walton was born in 1694, the son of William Walton and Sarah Howell. His father was an eminent preacher for Byberry Meeting and a traveling friend. In 1712 William bought a tract of 555 acres in Moreland from William Allen, and four years later divided the land between his sons Isaac and Jeremiah. Pennypack Creek flowed through the tract.1

In 1719 Jeremiah married Elizabeth Walmsley, a daughter of Thomas Walmsley and Mary Paxson.  Jeremiah and Elizabeth lived on the Byberry Road in Moreland Township.  Years later, the Comly family recalled Jeremiah. “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.”2 He had Mary and Sarah mixed up, but had most of the names right.

Jeremiah died in 1740 and was buried at Horsham.3 Elizabeth lived on until 1787. She wrote her will, leaving her tract in Moreland to four children: Thomas, Jeremiah, Jacob and Sarah, to be shared. She left to her daughter Rachel Duncan £40 “if it shall be by her lawfully demanded as she now dwells at a great distance”; Rachel was probably living in Maryland. She also left a legacy to the three children of her son William deceased, and to the three children of her daughter Mary Tyson.4

Children of Jeremiah Walton and Elizabeth Walmsley:5

William, b. 12^th month 1719, d. 1770, m. Phebe Atkinson in 1741 at Abington meeting. They lived in Moreland, Philadelphia County, where William died in 1770. He left a will, naming his wife Phebe and three children. Phebe died in 1773. Children: Rebecca, Phebe, Hannah, William, Elizabeth, William, Seneca, Phebe, John. Only the second Phebe, Hannah and John lived past childhood.6

Thomas, b. 8^th month 1721, d. 1796, m. Mary Titus in 1754. They were married at Westbury Meeting, Long Island. They settled in Moreland, Montgomery County, where he died in 1796. He left a will, naming Mary and their living children. She died in 1799. Children: Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Silas, Phebe, Martha, Amy, Thomas, Jeremiah.7

Rachel, b. 1^st month 1724, m. Joseph Duncan in 1744 at Abington MM, had a daughter Phebe Drinker.8 The Duncan family were Quakers of Byberry, descended from John Duncan, an elder of Byberry meeting, and his wife Margaret Crighton or Creighton. They were living “at a great distance” when Rachel’s mother Elizabeth wrote her will in 1775. Joseph was probably the son of George Duncan, who took a certificate in 1715 from Abington to Cecil Monthly Meeting in Kent County, Maryland.9 It is probable that Joseph moved his family there along with his father.

Jeremiah, b. 3^rd month 1726, d. 1792, m. Mary Kirk in 1761 at Horsham Meeting, the daughter of Thomas Kirk and Mary Shaw.10 He was apparently a short, fleshy man, called Chunky Jerry.11 They lived in Moreland. He died there and left a will naming Mary and nine children.12 Children: Thomas, Susanna, Amos, Elizabeth, Joseph, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Jesse, Isaac.13

Jacob, b. 6^th month 1728, d. 1799, m. Mary Conard in 1762 at Horsham Meeting. She was the daughter of Cornelius and Priscilla. He was taxed in Moreland in 1769 for 133 acres.  Jacob left a will, named his wife Mary and seven children. Mary died in 1814. Children: Enoch, Anna, Priscilla, Elizabeth, Isaiah, Charles, Martha, Jacob.14

James, b. 12^th month 1730, died young.

Mary, b. 9^th month 1732, m.1) in 1753 Isaac Jeanes, son of William and Esther, 2) 1761 James Tyson, son of  Henry and Ann. Isaac was first married to Abigail Sands and had a daughter Mary with her.15 After Abigail died, he married Mary Walton and they had two sons, William and Levi.16 Then in 1757 Isaac died, leaving Mary with the three children. In 1761 she married James Tyson, son of Henry Tyson and Ann Harker.17 James was born in 1738, six years younger than Mary. James and Mary had a daughter Elizabeth, born in 1762.

Sarah, b. 10^th month 1734, m. James Spencer in 1761 at Horsham Meeting.18 They lived in Upper Dublin, where Sarah died in 1787. James married the widow Elizabeth Marple, but they had no children together. Children of James and Sarah: Josiah, Enos, William, Seneca, Ezra, Elizabeth, James, Abner.

Elizabeth, b. 5^th month 1737, died young.

Phebe, b. 5^th month 1740, died 1756 unmarried.

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