Category Archives: Families related to Tysons

William Kimble and Sarah Worthington

William Kimble was born in Buckingham, Bucks County, around 1730 to 1735, the youngest child of Anthony and Matilda Kimble.1 William grew up on land given to Matilda by her father Richard Morrey, of the wealthy Morreys of Philadelphia and Cheltenham. William might have known his grandfather Richard, who died in 1753. Richard and his children fell away from the Quaker faith and joined the Church of England. When William married Sarah Worthington in 1770, they married at Christ Church in Philadelphia.2

Sarah was the daughter of Samuel Worthington and Mary Carver, from two good Quaker families of Buckingham township, although they were falling away from the Society by this generation. One of Sarah’s sisters, Esther Worthington, married William’s brother Anthony. Samuel named his daughters Sarah and Hester Kimble in his will of 1775.3 The marriage in 1770 was a late one for William, but they nonetheless had a large family.

William and Sarah lived in Buckingham. The tax records for Buckingham Township, starting in 1761 and extending for years, include William Kimble and his brother Anthony.4 In 1763 William added to his farm by buying 92 acres in 1763 from his nephew Thomas Hicks. He also received land, another fifty acres, from his mother’s estate in 1750.5 This entire tract of 275 acres in Buckingham adjoined the land of Benjamin Worthington.6 In 1790 there were three Kimble households living close to each other in Buckingham: William, Anthony and John.7 There is also a William Kemble living in Abington, Montgomery County. This William appears in the census with two older males, two younger males, and two females, which would closely fit the profile of his family. This would also make it easy for William’s daughter Martha to meet her husband Peter Tyson of Upper Dublin. In the direct tax list of 1798 (the “windowpane tax”) William Kimble was listed as the owner of a stone house in Abington, 30 feet by 18 feet, with two floors but no outbuildings. The occupant was William’s son Jonathan. If this is the same William, then he must have been renting out the Buckingham land, since he still owned it.

William Kimble died in 1812 or early 1813. On February 1, 1813, letters of administration were granted to his son-in-law Peter Tyson. Sarah had died before him, since she was not named in the court record.8 The Orphan’s Court of Bucks County noted that he owned 264 acres in Buckingham.9

After William’s death, Richard Kimble sold the family homestead, placing an advertisement for it.

Plantation of 269 Acres in Buckingham Township, 24 miles from Philadelphia – and 4 ½ miles from Doylestown. The later Property of Wm. Kimble (dec.d) Adjoins land of Benjamin Worthington, Wm. Titus (Anthony Kimble’s homestead) and others. Improvements are – good two story Stone House. Well of excellent Water near Door. Log Barn with Stabling. The place is well watered and divided in 2 Farms by a Road leading from Doylestown to Newtown (Swamp Road). Apple Orchard is in Prime of bearing, with many other Fruit Trees. With the Buildings, is proposed to sell about 100 A. – with a sufficient proportion of Meadow and Timber. The remaining 169 A. the Principal Part of which is under Timber will be sold in Lots of 5 A or more as may suit the Purchaser.10

Children of William and Sarah:11

Jonathan, died 1852. He served as administrator of William’s estate along with Peter Tyson. He owned a tract of 150 acres in Plumstead. He died in 1852, unmarried and with no children.12

Martha, died 1832, married about 1793 Peter Tyson, son of Rynear and Mary. Peter and Mary lived in Upper Dublin, Montgomery County, and had children Rynear, William, Peter, Martha, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca and Jesse.13 After Peter died, the daughter Mary took care of Martha. Martha and Peter are buried at Upper Dublin Friends, although they were not Quakers. Peter had close relations with his Kimble in-laws. He administered William’s estate, sued Isaiah, borrowed money from Richard and Jonathan.14

Richard, born about 1775, died in 1843, married Mary Jane Kerr, lived in Moreland, Montgomery County.15 Children: Abel, Chalkley, Isaiah, Sarah, Owen, William and Richard.16 His sons Owen and Isaiah were the administrators.

John, married a woman named Charlotte. They lived in Montgomery Township, Montgomery County, where he died in 1812, leaving Charlotte with seven children under 21. Children: John, Sarah, Mary Ann, Martha, William, Isaiah, Azor. John did not leave a will, and his estate of 94 acres was handled by the Orphan’s Court.17

William, died before 1852, married Rachel Dungan in 1794.18 William was living in Northampton when he married Rachel at the Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of Warminster. Children: William, Garret, Sarah.19

Isaiah, married a woman named Anna Maria. They lived in Abington, where Isaiah died in 1848, leaving his widow and seven children: G. Washington, Tamysan, Harriet, Jonathan, Juliana, Isaiah, Mary Jane.20 Isaiah owned 120 acres in Abington, on the Welsh Road and Limekiln Road, which was sold in two pieces after his death, part to Owen Kimble and part to Isaiah Kimble.21

Christopher, alive in 1830 but died before 1852.22 Christopher was unable to manage his own affairs, and Peter Tyson was appointed trustee for him. “Peter Tyson was appointed trustee for his brother in law Christopher Kimble a lunatic, amount unascertained but supposed to be on the 18th June 1830 to be about 6831.00.”23

Sarah, alive in 1813, died before 1852. No further records.24

Frances, died before 1852.25

  1. There is some uncertainly about the name of William’s father. It is usually given as Anthony, beginning with a reference in Davis’ History of Bucks County in 1876, but there are no known original records of Anthony. There is one record of a Matilda Kemble with husband John, but it is not clear whether it refers to the same Matilda Kimble.
  2. Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810, vol. 1, Pennsylvania Archives, series 2, vol. 8, ed. by Linn and Egle.
  3. The witnesses were Joseph Carver, William Worthington, and David Evans. The will also named Samuel’s nephew Isaac Worthington.
  4. On the web at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/buckinghamtownshiptax.html
  5. Seruch Kimble and Helen Kimble, The Kimbles of Bucks County, 1994.
  6. Kimbles of Bucks County, p. 32
  7. 1790 federal census.
  8. Bucks County Orphan’s Court Record #2127.
  9. Orphan’s Court Record #2127, May 1813. All were alive then except John. By 1852 only five were alive.
  10. The Kimbles of Bucks County, p. 33
  11. Orphan’s Court Record #6841, the estate of Jonathan who died in 1852. The dates of birth are unknown; the order here is estimated.
  12. Bucks County Estate file #6841. The estate papers show the names of his nieces and nephews alive at that time.
  13. Orphan’s Court Record #6841, and records of Montgomery County.
  14. After Peter died, his administrator David Thomas paid off debts owed to Richard Kimble and Jonathan Kimble. (OC 19328, first account filed Nov 17, 1830). The debt to Richard Kimble was a bond and interest for $744.53; the one to Jonathan Kimble was a note and interest for $169.07.
  15. Orphan’s Court Record #5801. One of his grandsons Seruch T. Kimble was the informant for Davis.
  16. Bucks County OC record 6841, estate of Jonathan Kimble. Since he was childless, his nieces and nephews were his heirs.
  17. Bucks County Orphan’s Court Record #6841; Montgomery County Orphan’s Court Book 3: p. 3, 13, 20, 34. The land was sold to Jacob Knipe for $37.74 per acre.
  18. It is possible that the William who married Rachel Dungan was William’s cousin, the son of John and Mary. However, the names of the children suggest that he belongs here as a child of William and Sarah.
  19. The children are from the Orphans Court Record #6841.
  20. Montgomery County Orphan’s Court Record #10259. At some point Peter Tyson and Jonathan Kimble filed suit against Isaiah; at Peter’s death the suit was still pending. (Montgomery County OC Record #19328)
  21. Montgomery County Orphan’s Court Book 10: p. 160, 167, 221, 351, 369.
  22. In the Orphan’s Court record of Peter Tyson in 1830, but not in the record for Jonathan Kimble in 1852.
  23. Montgomery County Orphan’s Court record #19328. Christopher was a late child; did he have Down Syndrome?
  24. She was in the Orphan’s Court record of William’s estate in 1813, but not in the record for her brother Jonathan in 1852.
  25. She was in the Orphan’s Court record of William’s estate in 1813, but not in the record for her brother Jonathan in 1852.

Anthony Kimble and Matilda Morrey

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 5th 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

  1. The identification of Anthony as Matilda’s husband goes at least as far back as W. W. H. Davis in his 1876 History of Bucks County. Since Davis’ biographies were based on interviews, the information about Anthony would have come from a great-great grandson, Seruch Titus Kimble, the subject of Davis’ biography. There is no evidence of a Kimble family Bible that could aid family memories.
  2. William Hudson kept a list of burials of non-Friend in Philadelphia, saved on Ancestry, US Quaker Records 1681-1935, Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Arch Street, Record of Births Deaths and Burials 1688-1826, image 183.
  3. There is one problem with the identification of the Matilda in this record with Matilda Morrey. Richard Morrey, Matilda’s father, was baptized in 1675. (He could have been born a year or two earlier, of course.) He could not have married much earlier than age eighteen, and age twenty-one at least would be more typical. Even if Matilda were born as early as 1693, she would also have to marry extremely early in order to have a daughter by 1710. On the other hand, Matilda was an unusual woman’s name for the time. It stretches belief to have two women named Matilda Kimble/Kemble at the same time. And yet the name Anthony does appear in the names of Matilda’s children and grandchildren.
  4. The name shows up in many spellings: Kimble, Kimball, Kemble, Kemball, etc.
  5. Samuel Hazard, Register of Pennsylvania, 1831, vol. 6, p. 258.
  6. In 1713 Thomas Kemball of Philadelphia County bought land near the Great Swamp in Bucks County with Thomas Groom and William Marshall. They intended  to build a mill. (Egle, Early Pa. Land Records, pp. 569-570) There was a Kimble family of Burlington County, New Jersey, with a distant connection to the Budd family (the Budds intermarried with the Morreys), but no direct connection to Matilda.
  7. Davis, History of Bucks County, p. 550.
  8. Bucks County Orphan’s Court Record #113, in Vol. A1.
  9. Bucks County Orphan’s Court Record #113.
  10. She is mentioned as Mary Kimball alias Hicks in the will of Matilda’s brother Thomas, written in Sept 1735/6.
  11. Mary’s will, proved in 1758, Bucks County wills, Book 2, p. 346.
  12. Orphan’s Court Record #177 and Mary’s will; Charles died in 1753. In her will Mary left the “plantation I live on conveyed to my husband and myself by my grandfather Richard Murray.” The daughter Matilda was not named in the will; the name comes from Ancestry trees.
  13. Bewley Family History, by Stephenie Flora, online at Oregonpioneers.com, accessed 3/2020.
  14. Ancestry trees, not verified.
  15. W. W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County.
  16. Kimble and Kimble suggest that she was the same as the Sarah who later married his brother William, but the dates make this impossible. (Seruch T. Kimble & Helen Matchett Kimble, The Kimble Family from Z to A) After Anthony’s death Sarah married Joseph Johnson and released her dower rights to a tract of land. (Bucks County deeds, book 29, p. 449)
  17. Bucks County wills, Book 5, p. 523.
  18. According to The Kimbles of Bucks County he was born in 1720 and lived to be 92 years old. This would make him 50 when he married.
  19. Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810, vol. 1, Pennsylvania Archives, series 2, vol. 8, edited by Linn and Egle.
  20. The children were listed in an Orphan’s Court petition in 1814 by Peter Tyson, who was married to William’s daughter Martha.
  21. Terry McNealy and Francis Waite, compilers, Bucks County tax lists 1693-1778.
  22. Montgomery County probate records, RW 13141, filed 27 February 1813.
  23. Petition by Peter Tyson, husband of Martha Kimble and administrator of William’s estate, in 1814. (Montgomery County Orphan’s Court Record, #10915)

William Jeanes and Elizabeth McVaugh

William Jeanes was born in 1754, the son of Isaac Jeanes and Isaac’s second wife Mary Walton, Quakers of Moreland, Philadelphia County.1 William would not have known his father. Isaac died in 1757, leaving Mary with three children: William, Levi, and a daughter Mary from his first wife, Abigail Sands. Four years later the widowed Mary married James Tyson. But she died in 1762 or 1763, leaving James with the Jeanes children, and in 1764 James Tyson married Sarah Harper at Oxford Meeting. James and Sarah became the step-parents of the Jeanes children, and went on to have a large family of their own children. William may have lived with them, as one of the older children, or he may have been apprenticed out to another family.

In the tax assessment of Cheltenham for 1776 William was listed as a single man.2 He probably married Elizabeth McVaugh the next year, since he was disowned by Abington meeting in 11th month 1778 for going out in marriage.3 From her last name and the name of her son Edmund, Elizabeth was from the McVaugh family of Montgomery County, but her parentage is not yet known.4 It is also not known where William and Elizabeth were married or when their children were born. William and Elizabeth were not members of a Quaker meeting, although two of their children applied to join as adults, and when their daughter Rebecca married the Quaker Seth Holt, it was contrary to discipline and Holt was disowned.5

William and his brother Levi inherited their father’s property in Moreland, over 170 acres. In 1788 Levi sold his share of the land to his brother for £100.6 William and Elizabeth probably moved into the house, if they didn’t already live there. In 1788 William paid taxes for the land with one dwelling, 3 horses and 4 cows.7 He was shown there in 1790 census, in the “windowpane tax” of 1798 (with a stone house 38 feet by 20 feet, assessed at $450) and in the 1800 census.8 In 1820 William is still in Moreland, in a household with 17 people.9 William died in March 1828, leaving no will. His estate was administered by Isaac and Isaiah Jeanes, two of his sons. The inventory was taken on March 20, and showed the usual household goods and farm tools, along with horses, cows, sheep and pigs.10 Isaiah Jeanes and Seth Holt petitioned the Orphans Court of Montgomery County for partition of a tract in Moreland of 189 acres. It was sold in two pieces, to William Hallowell and to Joseph Wood.11 After paying the usual charges for the funeral and estate, there was almost $8,000 to be distributed to the heirs. After setting aside a one-third share for the widow’s dower, each of the eleven children (or the husbands, in the case of the daughters) received $482.63. Elizabeth died intestate around 1847, in Abington. Her son-in-law Seth Holt administered her estate.12 She had outlived all but seven of her children.

Children of William and Elizabeth: (born between 1780 and 1800)

William Jr., born about 1783. He requested membership at Horsham Meeting in 9th month 1807 and married Hannah Webster there in 3rd month 1809. They were disowned later that year for fornication.13

Edmund, born about 1793, married Mary Eastburn. She was a distant cousin, daughter of David Eastburn and Elizabeth Jeanes.14 Edmund died 5 February 1828 of a “remitting fever”, possibly malaria.15 His estate was administered by his wife Mary, Seth Holt, Isaiah Jeanes and Joshua Jeanes.16 The account of Edmund’s estate showed that he was a grocer like some of his cousins. It included cigars, beeswax, raisins and currants, pepper, mustard, ginger, tea and coffee, soap, crackers, scrubbing brushes, wine and spirits.17 Edmund was not a Friend, but was buried at the Cherry Street burying ground because his wife was a member.18

Isaac, married and left a child.19

Benjamin, alive in 1830

Sarah, alive in 1847, no further information.

Isaiah, possibly born about 1799, married Sarah LNU, moved to New Garden, Chester County, and kept a store in Toughkenamon. He appeared in the 1850 census with Sarah and two children. He was in the census there in 1870 and 1880, but as a widower.  Children: Catherine and Joshua.

Hiram, born about 1802, died 1860, probably in Moreland. 20 John Smith was the administrator for his estate, because the widow Agnes renounced.21 Hiram and Agnes were members of Horsham Monthly Meeting and the names of their children were recorded there as Mary, Sarah, and Arthur.

Jonathan, a “lunatic”, died 1831 in Moreland. Seth Holt was the administrator of his estate.22

Mary, married Samuel Lloyd or James Lloyd.23 No further information.

Martha, died between 1807 and 1828.24

Elizabeth, born about 1785, married Aaron Richardson. By 1847 she was married to David McCartney.

Eleanor, born about 1795, died 1876, married Rynear Tyson, born about 1800, the son of Peter and Martha. Rynear was the oldest son of Peter Tyson and Martha Kimble. He and Eleanor married around 1818 and lived in Upper Dublin, where they had six children. Rynear died young, only a year after his father. Eleanor did not remarry and  lived with relatives in Montgomery County. Children: Edmond, Peter, Sarah Ann, William Jeanes, Seth Holt, Ephraim.25 Only Edmond and Ephraim married. Sarah Ann lived with Seth and Rebecca Holt before she died of consumption at age 40. Seth Holt Tyson, named for his uncle, headed west for the gold rush and died in California.

Rebecca, born in 1799, died 1883, married Seth Holt and lived in Philadelphia. Seth Holt was disowned at Philadelphia MM in 1824 for marrying contrary to discipline. In 1850 they were living in the Spring Garden ward where Seth was a confectioner. In 1860 they were in Plymouth, Montgomery County and in 1870 in Germantown. Seth died in 1876 and Rebecca died in 1883; both were buried at Laurel Hill with several of their children. Children: J. Franklin, Seth, Allan, Chalkley, Ann Rebecca, Sarah Cordelia.

Keziah, married in 1829 Thomas T. Webster. Thomas Webster was a birthright Friend but disowned in 4th month 1829 by Frankford Monthly Meeting for marrying outside the Society.26 They were probably in the 1840 census in Lower Dublin, with three children under ten, and probably taxed in 1864 on Darkrun Road, north Philadelphia.27 Thomas was probably buried at 1889 at Belvue Cemetery, in north Philadelphia, just south of Frankford.28

  1. It is important to keep the facts of his life separate from those of his two cousins: William, son of Joseph and Sarah (Roberts), who died in 1767 in North Carolina, unmarried; William, son of Jacob and Leah (Harmer), born 1774, married Hannah Webster. Note on places: There were two places named Moreland Township, both originally in Philadelphia County, then in Montgomery County when it was created in 1784. The Manor of Moreland was later called Upper Moreland to distinguish it from Lower Moreland. The Jeanes family lived in the Manor of Moreland (Upper Moreland).
  2. Jacob McVaugh was listed there too, also as a single man. Was he a brother of Elizabeth? Did William own two separate pieces of land or did he move from Cheltenham to Moreland?
  3. He had two cousins named William, as noted above. If this William was in fact the son of Isaac, one of the two men from the meeting appointed to give him the testimony was Samuel Lloyd. In a twist of circumstances, William’s daughter Mary married a Samuel Lloyd, possibly the son of this Samuel.
  4. In the family Bible passed down through the descendants of Eleanor Jeanes Tyson, her name was spelled McVaw. She named her oldest son Edmund, suggesting that she was the daughter of an Edmund McVaugh. She cannot be placed in the known McVaugh family at this time. From her presumed birthdate, she is either a daughter of one of the four sons of the immigrant Edmund McVaugh and his wife Alice Dickinson, or an early birth in the next generation.
  5. A William Jeanes was in trouble with Abington meeting in 1765, but it was more likely William’s cousin William, the son of Joseph Jeanes and Sarah Roberts. In 10th month 1765, the meeting noted that William Jeanes had attended a marriage contrary to the usage of Friends. He was not willing to submit a paper of condemnation, and four months later a new charge was added. He had been at a shooting and gaming match, along with Lewis Roberts, Benjamin Harmer, and the brothers Thomas and Daniel Waterman. In 3rd month 1766, Benjamin Harmer and Thomas Waterman added to their troubles by attending a dancing and fiddling frolic. William Jeanes finally submitted a paper of condemnation in 6th month 1766, but it was not accepted, and in 1st month 1767, he was disowned. (Abington Monthly Meeting minutes, 12th month 1765 through 1st month 1767). Daniel Waterman became ill and died before the case was concluded.
  6. Montgomery County deeds, Book 14, p. 332.
  7. “Moreland Residents 1788”, Old York Road Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. XLIV, 1984.
  8. In the 1800 census William’s household included three males over 45 (William himself and two others), one woman over 45 (probably Elizabeth), one woman over 26 (not identified), and nine younger children. Since William and Elizabeth were believed to have 13 children, this is no surprise. In 1810 William was in the census with no women over 45, 4 sons and 4 daughters.
  9. His son William Jeans Jr. is also shown there, with another large household; he had married Hannah Webster in 1709. By 1830 there is only one William in Moreland, the younger William. By 1840 there are no Jeans left in Moreland.
  10. Montgomery County probate record #RW 12495, at Montgomery County Archive.
  11. Montgomery County Orphan’s Court record #OC 9588.
  12. Montgomery County estate files, RW12332, and Orphans’ Court record OC9215. In Seth Holt’s OC petition, the children living then were: William, Sarah, Hiram, Mary Lloyd widow, Elizabeth intermarried with David McCartny, Ellen Tyson widow, Rebecca intermarried with the Petitioner and Isaac deceased leaving children one of whom is a minor.
  13. Horsham Monthly Meeting men’s minutes.
  14. Findagrave and other web sources. Elizabeth Jeanes was a granddaughter of Joseph Jeans and Sarah Roberts and a great-granddaughter of the immigrant William Jeanes.
  15. Records of Philadelphia Meeting Arch Street.
  16. Seth Holt was his brother-in-law. Isaiah Jeanes could have been his younger brother Isaiah, but was more likely his cousin Isaiah, son of Jacob and Leah (Harmer). The older Isaiah was a successful merchant in Philadelphia; he died in 1850. Joshua Jeanes was a son of Isaiah, the Philadelphia merchant. Isaiah and Joshua were probably administrators because they were grocers in Philadelphia and could assist with the contents of Edmund’s grocery store.
  17. Philadelphia Wills and Probate Records 1683-1993, on Ancestry, Admin Files 21-86, 1828.
  18. Interment records of Philadelphia Meeting Western District. The record gave his age at about 35.
  19. In the OC petition of Seth Holt, 1847 estate of Elizabeth Jeanes.
  20. In the 1840 census there as a farmer.
  21. Montgomery County Orphan’s Court record #OC 9290.
  22. Index of Wills and Administrations at Montgomery County Historical Society, Norristown.
  23. His name was given as Samuel in an Orphans’ Court petition and as James in the 1830 account of her father’s estate.
  24. She was named in the will of her uncle Levi Jeanes in 1807, but was not in the Orphan’s Court petitions of her father’s estate in 1828.
  25. From the Orphan’s Court record #4108, on the death of Rynear’s father Peter, which listed six children of Rynear (who died soon after his father), and the Orphan’s Court docket for Rynear’s own estate, November 1831.
  26. Frankford Monthly Meeting minutes, on Ancestry.
  27. IRS Tax assessment lists, on Ancestry.
  28. Findagrave

William Jeanes and his wife Esther

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 9th 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 3rd 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 8th 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 12th 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.

  1. The earliest reference to his claim seems to be Charles Dawson, A Collection of Family Records, 1874. He was concerned primarily with the Dawson family; the reference to Esther Jeanes is in a footnote on page 430. He attached the story to the daughter Esther, but if there is any truth to the story, it could only have been her mother Esther who was supposedly born in 1682. The daughter Esther, who married Joseph Bond, was born about 1720. How is Esther’s surname known to be Brewer? It does not appear in any original records.
  2. However, if Esther’s last child was really born in 1735, then she was probably born closer to 1690 than 1682.
  3. They are believed to have been born between 1713 to 1735. She could not have had a child at age 53. The last child, Jacob, could have been born earlier, but his birth date was taken from the records of Abington Meeting, normally reliable. (Abington Monthly Meeting, Minutes 1629-1812, (actually births and burials), online at Ancestry, US Quaker Meeting Records 1681-1935, Montgomery County)
  4. The Jeanes-Jeynes family may have been originally French but settled in England for some generations.
  5. “Jeanes”, manuscript at Friends Historical Library (Pamphlet Group 7), attributed to Augusta I. T. Hicks. A note at the end of the manuscript says “The foregoing taken from a paper furnished by Augusta Isham Thomas Hicks, Piqua, Ohio, Feb. 18, 1899; and which she obtained from Emma Walter, Philadelphia.” Emma Walter was a relative of the philanthropist Anna T. Jeanes, named in Anna’s will of 1907 and given a bequest of $5,000. (Will of Anna Jeanes online on Ancestry) So the family of Anna Jeanes, at least Emma Walter’s part of it, probably originated the story of William coming from New Rochelle, “with his father and two brothers”. I have not been able to verify this claim. Bolton’s History of the County of Westchester, p. 395, has lists of early Huguenot settlers, which do not include Jeanes. The records of the Huguenot cemetery of New Rochelle also do not include any Jeanes. (at the Bucks County Historical Society, Spruance Library, Doylestown)
  6. This is assuming that William was in fact a Quaker. See the discussion about the birth of their daughter Mary. There is a very large family of Janes in Massachusetts, with the tradition that they descended from William Janes, born in 1610 in Essex. He had 16 children with two wives. There is no apparent connection between this family and the Pennsylvania family. There is also a Joseph Jeanes of Prince George’s County, Maryland, born in 1680, died in 1719, leaving a wife Elizabeth and five children, including Joseph, Mary, Edward, Ann and William. William Jeans, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, was a Quaker and surveyor in Montgomery County, Maryland. The names Joseph and William are suggestive, but there are no records to connect them to the Pennsylvania family.
  7. Church records on FamilySearch. Another record shows the marriage of Joseph Jeynes and Elizabeth Chandler in 1680. It is particularly interesting to see the name Nathaniel, since a Nathaniel Jeines of Tewkesbury was taken from a religious meeting and committed to prison in 1660. (Joseph Besse, Sufferings of the People called Quakers, vol. 1, p. 212) There is a Nathaniel Jeans who died in Penns Neck, Salem County, West Jersey in 1702, who left a substantial estate. His associates named in the will are not Pennsylvania names. (Calendar of NJ Wills online)
  8. Church listings online at http://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/GLS871.php. George Fox held meetings there in 1660 and 1686. (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol8/pp154-165) The records of Tewkesbury would have been kept at Stoke Orchard Monthly Meeting, which also included the meetings for worship at Cheltenham, Stoke Orchard and Tirley (D. Beaver, Parish Communities and Religious Conflict in the Vale of Gloucester, 1590-1690).
  9. “Few names are more common in the northern vale than Jeynes. A family of this name owned a substantial landed estate in Southwick. known as Jeynes Farm, …. Another branch of Jeyneses practiced trades in Tewkesbury, and the Independent Thomas Jeynes may have been the son of a wealthy joiner of the same name, a friend of the joiner Francis Godwin, prosecuted in 1635 for sitting at divine service.” (Beaver)
  10. Philadelphia County estate files, 1712, #106, City Hall, Philadelphia.
  11. A search in RG6, the non-conformist records, turned up nothing.
  12. Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.
  13. Montgomery County deed book 46, p. 128. The deed from Benjamin Cooper is immediately after it on page 130. These deeds were not recorded until 1830, when they were brought in as part of the estate settlement of William’s grandson William.
  14. He is listed as a yeoman in the 1732 deed from Van Boskerck. It is not clear what land William might have owned before then.
  15. The date of birth of Jacob Jeanes, in 1735, was recorded by Abington Meeting along with the births of the children of his brother Joseph. (Ancestry, US Quaker Meeting Records 1681-1935, PA, Montgomery County, Abington Monthly Meeting, Minutes 1629-1812. All of the Quaker meeting records referred in this narrative can be found on Ancestry.)
  16. In second month 1739 Abington Meeting gave a certificate to William “Janes” to proceed in marriage with a Friend from Middletown Meeting.
  17. The inventory was taken on July 2.
  18. Where was James and did he ever arrive? Was he the James Jeanes of Northern Liberties, Philadelphia who advertised in the Pennsylvania Gazette in February 1762 that his wife Jane had “very unbecoming behavior” and gave a “warning to creditors”? There are no references to James in records of the next generation of the family.
  19. The will was witnessed by Joost Van Buskirk, Thomas Walton, and Phillip Wynkoop. The sole executor was Joseph Jeanes, since William Walmsley had renounced.
  20. Only the dates for Joseph and Jacob were recorded at Abington MM. Joseph recorded his own birth date when he brought in the list of his children. The date for Jacob is very late and might have been a scribe’s error. Who were the Sarah Janes and William Jeans who signed the certificate at the wedding of John Brock and Sarah Jenkins at Abington in 1753? William the elder was dead; he had no known son William; the grandsons were a bit young for this. Is this an otherwise unknown son of William and Esther? He was not in William’s 1747 will.
  21. Abington Monthly Meeting Minutes.
  22. His death was apparently not recorded by Abington Meeting.
  23. Abington Meeting recorded the certificate received for Thomas and his wife and step-daughter Esther Walton.
  24. Marriage records of New Garden Monthly Meeting 1704-1765. Thomas was described as the son of Thomas Carrington and Mary, deceased. The wording is ambiguous, but it can only refer to Thomas the widower. It can’t be a son of Thomas and Mary Jeanes, since they were married only in 1745, and their son Thomas died in 1760.
  25. The will is available online on Ancestry, PA Wills and Probate 1663-1993, Chester Estate Papers No 3760-3868. In the will Thomas said he had six daughters, but only named Mary and Sarah. From other meeting records, the others are probably Rachel, Margaret, Hannah, and one unidentified.
  26. Sarah’s parents are not known. She was not the daughter of Thomas and Eleanor Roberts. Their daughter Sarah married Isaac Jones (not Jeanes) in 1749 at Abington Meeting. Her parents Thomas and Eleanor signed at the top of the witness list, along with Katherine Jones, probably the mother of Isaac. His father’s name has not been traced.
  27. Philadelphia deeds, Book H6, p. 72.
  28. Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb 24, 1763.
  29. Philadelphia County wills, Book M, p. 540. The births of the children were recorded at Abington Meeting.
  30. Philadelphia County deeds, book D4, p. 403.
  31. Unless he placed the ad in 1762 about a runaway wife; see Footnote 18 above.
  32. In some sources Esther is said to be the first white child born in Philadelphia in 1682. This doesn’t seem possible. There is some evidence that the first English girl born in Pennsylvania was Mary Britton, daughter of Lyonel Britton. She was born in June 1680 in Bucks County. (Davis, History of Bucks County) The record of her birth is in the handwriting of Phineas Pemberton, a well-known Quaker leader of the time.
  33. Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Southern District, Record of Births and Interments 1734-1806.
  34. Children from Katie Ives, who has researched this line extensively.
  35. There were not many other possible Rebecca Jeans at this time. In spite of the coincidence of names, she is not the Rebecca McVaugh, wife of James McVaugh. Rebecca and James took out a mortgage in 1747 on a tract in Oxford. She was the widow of Isaac Worrell when she married James (Phila Deeds, Book H12, p. 222). After James died, she ran a tavern in Oxford until her death in 1776. According to Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, vol. 2, her maiden name was Hawley. In any case, Abington Meeting would not have waited ten years to disown her. James and Rebecca McVaugh had a daughter Rebecca who married William Roberts in 1765 at Trinity Church, Oxford.
  36. At the wedding of Isaac and Mary, the certificate was signed by Elizabeth Jeanes (his step-mother), Elizabeth Walton (her mother), Richard and Mary Sands (parents of Isaac’s first wife), Joseph Jeanes (his brother), William and Phebe Walton (her brother and his wife), Joseph and Esther Bond (his sister and her husband), Thomas Walton (her brother), Thomas and Mary Carrington (his sister and her husband), two more of Mary’s brothers, and many of the large Walton family.
  37. Philadelphia County wills, Book K, p. 564. The inventory is at City Hall, Philadelphia, will #349, 1757.
  38. Mary died in 1762 or 1763, and in 1764 James Tyson married Sarah Harper at Oxford Meeting. Rebecca McVeagh was one of the witnesses. (Abington MM records)
  39. William Roberts wrote a will in 1780 naming a son-in-law Jacob Jeanes. This suggests a first marriage for Jacob, to a daughter of William Roberts. Mary Jeanes, daughter of Isaac and Abigail (Sands), married Timothy Roberts, a son of William Roberts. (Will of William Roberts, Philadelphia County, Book R, p. 493 (not page 365 as listed in the abstracts on the Philadelphia County PAGenWeb Archives).
  40. The marriage certificate was signed by Joseph Janes (brother, signed first because Jacob’s father was dead), Hannah Waterman Priscilla’s mother), Thomas and Mary Carrington (his sister and her husband), Rebeckah McVaugh (his sister), no other McVaugh signed, Mary Janes (widow of his brother Isaac), Joseph and Esther Bond (his sister and her husband), Jane Merrick (Priscilla’s sister), William Janes (not identified) and others.
  41. They were married in 12th month 1768. Abington meeting records show the marriage as accomplished, but the certificate was apparently not recorded.
  42. The reference to him as a cabinet maker was online at: artarchives.si.edu/guides/crafts/wood.htm, no longer online. The evidence for the first marriage is from the will of William Roberts in 1780 who named his son-in-law Jacob Jeanes as executor. In 1774 Jacob had witnessed the will of Jno. Eastburn, who was related to the Roberts family.

Isaac Jeanes and his two wives

Isaac was born about 1726 in Moreland, Philadelphia County, one of seven children of William and Esther Jeans. He was one of their younger children, and his older sister Mary probably helped take care of him. Isaac and the others grew up in Moreland, on land bought by their father William in 1732 and 1739. Isaac’s mother Esther died in 1737 and two years later William married again, to Esther Baker. William was a Quaker at this time, and he got a certificate from Abington meeting for the marriage. Most of the children, including Isaac, considered themselves Friends and married according to Quaker customs. In 1747 William died. He left his land to his three sons, Joseph, Isaac and Jacob. Isaac’s portion was 170 acres.

Two years later, in 1749, Isaac married Abigail Sands, daughter of Richard and Mary. She was a member of Middletown Monthly Meeting and Isaac got a certificate from Abington Meeting to show his clearness for the marriage.1 Isaac and Abigail probably lived on the land he had inherited, but their marriage was short-lived. Abigail died between 1750 and 1752, leaving Isaac with a baby daughter Mary. Isaac soon remarried, possibly as soon as the customary one-year mourning period allowed. His second wife was Mary Walton, daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Walmsley).2 They were married in 8th month (August) 1753 at Horsham Meeting, probably the closest meeting house to Isaac’s farm in Moreland.3 The marriage was witnessed by Isaac’s stepmother Elizabeth, several of Isaac and Mary’s brothers and sisters, his Sands in-laws Richard and Mary.4 Mary was one of nine children, two of whom had died young. The Waltons were a large, well-established Quaker family, so she had many relatives.

Isaac and Mary had two sons, William and Levi.5 But in 1757, Isaac died, leaving Mary with three small children.6 He left a will, written a month before his death.7 He left the plantation to Mary until his two sons reached the age of 21, to support and school them. After they reached the age of 21, they were to have the plantation in Moreland to share, paying £20 to their sister Mary as her inheritance. The inventory of the estate included typical household goods, farm tools, horses, cows, sheep, hogs and hives of bees.8

Four years later Mary married James Tyson, son of Henry and grandson of Rynear and Margaret.9 James became the stepfather of the three Jeanes children. Mary died a few years later and James married Sarah Harper in 1764. In a chain of parenthood, James and Sarah were now the stepparents of Isaac’s children, and they added more children of their own.

Child of Isaac and Abigail:

Mary, born about 1751, married in 1772 Timothy Roberts, son of William Roberts10. They were married at St. Michael’s Church in Philadelphia. Timothy was a farmer. They lived in Moreland, Philadelphia County, where he wrote his will on 11 Nov 1786.11 It was proved 2 weeks later. His wife Mary was to stay on the farm until their youngest son Timothy reached 21. A Negro man Ishmael was to have his freedom after ten years, and to be maintained by the estate if necessary after that.12 The sons Timothy and Williams were to be placed out as apprentices, in trades suitable to their abilities and with respectable men who would use them well. The daughters were Martha, Catherine, Abigail, Elizabeth. Mary was the executor.

Children of Isaac & Mary:13

William, born 7th month 1754, died in 1828, married Elizabeth McVaugh, probably in 1778, since he was disowned by Abington meeting in 11th month 1778 for going out in marriage.14 When William reached the age of 21, he inherited a tract of land, shared with his brother Levi. William bought out his brother Levi’s share in 1788. William died intestate in 1828, leaving his widow Elizabeth and children Edmund, Benjamin, Isaac, William, Isaiah, Hiram, Jonathan, Mary, Martha, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Rebecca and Keziah.15

Levi, born 3rd month 1757, died in 1807, m. Hannah —, no surviving children. He wrote his will on September 2, 1807 and died three days later. He was buried in the Quaker cemetery at Mulberry and 4th Streets, Philadelphia.16 His still-born daughter died the day after him and was probably buried on the same day, perhaps in the same plot.17 His will of 1807 named four of the  daughters of his brother William: Mary, Martha, Elizabeth and Rebecca.18 (William had other children as well.) Levi lived in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia County when he made his will.

  1. Abington Monthly Meeting minutes.
  2. At the wedding of Isaac and Mary, the certificate was signed by Elizabeth Jeanes (his step-mother), Elizabeth Walton (her mother), Richard and Mary Sands (parents of Isaac’s first wife), Joseph Jeanes (his brother), William and Phebe Walton (her brother and his wife), Thomas Walton (her brother), Thomas and Mary Carrington (his sister and her husband), two more of Mary’s brothers, and many of the large Walton family.
  3. As of September 1752, the Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian one, making the year begin in January, instead of March. The Quakers still used the numbers for months instead of the names that they considered pagan.
  4. Abington Monthly Meeting marriages 1745-1841. The certificate was signed by Isaac and Mary, Elizabeth Jeanes (Isaac’s stepmother), Elizabeth Walton (Mary’s mother), Richard and Mary Sands (parents of Isaac’s first wife), Joseph Jeans (Isaac’s brother), William Walton and Phebe Walton (not present, someone signed for them), Thomas Walton (Mary’s brother), Thomas and Mary Carrington (Isaac’s sister and her second husband), Jeremiah Walton (Mary’s brother), Jacob Walton (Mary’s brother), and many more.
  5. Their births were recorded at Abington meeting.
  6. He died on 12th 8th month 1757, according to Abington Monthly Meeting Records.
  7. Philadelphia County wills, Book K, p. 564. The inventory is at City Hall, Philadelphia, will #349, 1757.
  8. For some reason bees are rarely mentioned in inventories of the time, just like chickens and geese. Perhaps they were so ubiquitous that it was not worth counting them.
  9. Mary died in 1762 or 1763, and in 1764 James Tyson married Sarah Harper at Oxford Meeting. Rebecca McVeagh was one of the witnesses. (Abington MM records)
  10. She was named in her father’s will of 1757, and was named as a granddaughter by Richard Sands, Abigail’s father, in his will in 1758.
  11. Philadelphia County wills, Book T, p. 418. It was proved two weeks later.
  12. This is quite late for a Quaker to own a slave. After about 1765, Quakers were reported to their meeting for owning a slave, and by the 1770s some were disowned for refusing to free them. In 1779 the Yearly Meeting suggested that former slaves were due some compensation.
  13. The births were recorded at Abington Meeting.
  14. He had two cousins named William. William, son of Joseph, wrote his will in North Carolina in 1767; he was unmarried. (Philadelphia County deeds, book D14, p. 191). William, son of Jacob, was born in 1775, according to records of Abington Meeting. If this William was in fact the son of Isaac, one of the two men from the meeting appointed to give him the testimony was Samuel Lloyd. In a twist of circumstances, William’s daughter Mary married a Samuel Lloyd, possibly the son of this Samuel.
  15. The births of the children were not recorded at Abington Meeting, since William had been disowned. The names are from Orphan’s Court records, the will of Levi Jeanes, and a Bible passed down in the Tyson family through descendants of Eleanor Jeanes Tyson, daughter of William and Elizabeth.
  16. Mulberry Street is now called Arch Street. The grounds surrounding the Arch Street Meeting are the site of the oldest Quaker burying ground in Philadelphia, in use for interments until about 1848.
  17. Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Northern District, Deaths of Members 1807-1885. The burials was shown in the records of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Grave Books 1806-1814. The cause of death is given for Levi, but it is unrecognizable. For Hannah to have a daughter born when Levi was 50, she must have been at least eight years younger than Levi.
  18. Philadelphia County wills, Book 2, p 183, written on 2 Sep 1897, proved 7 Oct 1807.