John Lee was an early settler in Bucks County. There is no record of his arrival, but he registered his cattle mark in Phineas Pemberton’s list of 1684.1 John was a member of Falls Monthly Meeting.2

He appeared in Bucks County court in 1690, along with two other members of his family. They were called as witnesses when John Pidcock assaulted Pilocarpus Rose.3 Rachel Lee and Martha Lee were called; from the wording of the record it looks as though Rachel was John’s wife.4 Who was Martha? If she was a daughter of John and Rachel, and old enough to be a witness in 1690, then John must have been born before 1655. The alternative is that Martha is a sister of John’s, and that John was born around 1675.5

John Lee was back in court a few months later when Thomas Tunnecliff brought a suit against him, which was withdrawn. Tunnecliff had been a member of Falls Meeting at least until 1686. If he was still a member in 1690 he should not have brought suit against Lee; if they were both Friends the matter should have been handled by the Meeting. In 1712 John Lee served on a jury that tried Reuben Pownall for condemning the authority of the court. This was usually viewed severely at the time, and in fact the jury found Pownall guilty and fined him.

In 1719 Daniel Lee, the only known child of John Lee, married Mary Ashton at Falls Meeting, and settled in Makefield.6 In 1726 John and Daniel were on a jury together. Adam Pettet, late of Makefield, a cooper, went into the river with Samuel Hough and John Pickering to “wash and bath himself”. He got in too far, was unable to swim, and drowned.7

John died in Makefield in 1733. He did not leave a will, and letters of administration were granted to Daniel Lee, John Clowes and Henry Woodward of Makefield.8 His wife Rachel must have died before him, since she was not an administrator. An inventory was taken of John’s estate. He owned two guns, some carpenter’s tools, a horse and mare, and a few other oddments, but no livestock or other household goods. He was clearly living with someone, probably his son Daniel. The total value of the estate was about £25.

Children of John:

? Martha, b. ab. 1670, alive in 1690 (She may have been a sister of John, rather than a child.)

Daniel, b. ab. 1695, m. 1719 Mary Ashton, dau. of Thomas & Deborah at Falls Meeting

Next generation: Daniel and his family

Daniel Lee and Mary Ashton were married in 1719. They were Quakers, members of Falls Meeting. He was a blacksmith. They lived a quiet life and appear in few records. It is not known when Daniel died. It is very likely that Mary died between 1721 and 1723, because in 1723 her father and stepmother named a daughter Mary, which would be very unusual if the first Mary were still alive. The second Mary was probably to commemorate her.

Daniel and Mary had two known children:

Deborah, b. 1720, her birth in the Falls Meeting Records, no further records

John, b. ab. 1721, m. in 1749 Sarah Carr, daughter of John & Mary

Next generation: John and Sarah Lee

John lived in lower Bucks County, and was a member of Wrightstown Monthly meeting. 9 In 1749 he requested a certificate of clearance to marry Sarah Carr, a member of Falls Monthly Meeting. He was on the tax list in Lower Makefield in 1753. In 1755 John requested a certificate from Wrightstown for him and his wife to Radnor Monthly Meeting, on the other side of Montgomery County. The record of Radnor show their arrival there by 5^th month 1755, when they brought a certificate from Wrightstown.10 It is probable that both John and Sarah died by 11th month 1766, when Radnor issued two certificates to Wrightstown for the five children of John Lee deceased. The children were all underage and needed someone to care for them. Joseph Buckman of Wrightstown Meeting was married to Martha Carr and was the uncle of the Lee children on their mother’s side. The minutes of Wrightstown recorded that at least the three youngest children were put under the care of Joseph Buckman, David Buckman and John Story.11

Children of John and Sarah:12

Mary, b. ab. 1750, m. 1770 Thomas Powell of Marple Twp, Chester County. They had at least two children before Thomas’ death in 1785. He did not name Mary in his will; she probably died before him. He did however name her siblings, Daniel, John, Deborah and Merebe Lee, showing that they all lived to adulthood, and that Thomas had some connection to them, even though they returned to Bucks County after their parents died.

John, b. ab. 1752, alive in 1785, no other records

Daniel, b. 1753, m. 1774 Margaret Buckman at Upper Makefield MM13. He was taxed in Newtown in 1775 and paid a militia fine in 1780. They moved to Roaring Creek, Northumberland County, where there was a Quaker meeting house. They had twelve children, born between 1775 and 1797.14 Daniel died in March 1803.15

Deborah, b. 1754, m. 1780 Joseph Walton at Wrightstown Monthly Meeting. 16 He had a certificate from Abington Monthly Meeting; they were married under the auspices of Wrightstown, where she was a member. They lived in Warwick Township until about 1786 and their first three children were born there. They later lived in Byberry and were members of Byberry Monthly Meeting. Joseph died 3rd month 19th, 1821; Deborah died in 1840. They had nine children, born between 1781 and about 1798.

Meribah, alive in 1785, no further record.

John Carr was a Quaker who lived in lower Bucks County and died there in 1731. Nothing is known of his origins or those of his wife Mary. John and Mary were probably born between 1690 and 1695, either in England or Pennsylvania.1

John Carr lived in Middletown and his affairs were under the care of Falls Monthly Meeting.2 He died in 1731. Letters of administration were granted to his widow Mary and to Joseph Wildman. Mary signed by mark. The usual inventory was taken of the estate. It included four horses, two cows and their calves, “nine piggs running at large” and a servant man. Although the list of household furniture and goods seems sparse, the estate was valued at £95, a good sum for the time. However, he had debts as the meeting discovered when Mary remarried. Two years later the marriage of John Clows and Mary Carr was accomplished at Falls Monthly Meeting.34 As the minutes state “Care was to be taken that what belongs to Mary’s children by her former husband was secured. However, after his debts were paid there was nothing for them.”5 Who were these children? Looking at the Quaker marriage records for Falls and Wrightstown, we find two daughters, who can be tentatively placed as children of John and Mary, and one known to be their child.6 There may have been others who did not live to marry.

John Clows, who became the stepfather of the Carr daughters, came from good Quaker families. He was the son of Joseph Clows and Elizabeth Pownall, whose families came over from Cheshire in the great migration of the 1682 and 1683. John and his brothers Thomas and George all lived in Makefield. Since John’s brothers were carpenters, perhaps he was too.  John and Mary Clows had a daughter Meribah born in 1733.7

In 1735, the meeting at Falls reported that “It is evident that Mary the wife of John Clows hath been disorderly in her conversation in several respects.” We don’t know what she had done. There is no record of her death.

Probable children of John and Mary:

Dorothy, b. ab. 1715, m. 1) 1737 Isaac Ashton, son of Thomas & Hannah, 2) by 1756 m. John Ballance. Had 9 children with Isaac and a son Joseph with John.

Martha Carr, b. ab. 1720, m. 1746 Joseph Buckman at Falls MM. He was from Wrightstown Mtg.8

Sarah, b. ab. 1725, m. 1749 John Lee, son of Daniel & Mary. Had children Mary, John, Deborah, Daniel and Meribah.

Child of Mary and John Clows: (surname Clows)

Meribah, b. 7^th mo 1733, alive in 1755 when she got a certificate to Philadelphia9

Next generation:

Dorothy Carr married twice. Her first marriage, to Isaac Ashton, was contrary to rules, as reported at Wrightstown Monthly Meeting in 1^st month 1737, since they were married with a license from New Jersey. They were apparently not disowned.10 Dorothy and Isaac named their first two children Mary and John (for her parents) and the next two Hannah and Thomas (possibly for his parents). The others were Elizabeth, Ann, Martha, Lydia and Susanna.11 According to one site, with no evidence, Isaac died on 22 September 1751. In 1753 Dorothy was living in Lower Makefield and taxed there as “Doratha” Ashton. By 1756 she was married to John Ballance.12 In the birth record of their son Joseph she was listed as the daughter of John Carr.13

Her sister Martha married Joseph Buckman. He requested a certificate from Wrightstown in 8^th mo 1746 to proceed in marriage with her, since she was a member of Falls Meeting. Joseph was born in 1723, to a solid Quaker family. (His grandfather William had come on the Welcome with William Penn.) Joseph died in 1798. His will named eight children, but there was no mention of Martha. She must have died before him.14 The children were Joseph, Esther, Mary, Agnes, Letitia, Sarah, Elizabeth and Asenath. All seven of the daughters were married by then.

Sarah, probably the youngest of the sisters, married John Lee. She was a member of Falls Meeting, when in 1749 he got a certificate from Wrightstown to proceed in marriage with her. They had five known children, before moving to Radnor in 1755.15 John died before 11^th month 1766 when the children were granted a certificate to return to Wrightstown.16 Since there is no mention of Sarah in the minutes, the implication is that she was dead as well. The children were Daniel, Deborah, Meribah, Mary and John.

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John Bowman came with to Bucks County with a certificate from the meeting at Pardshaw, Cheshire in 1701, which he presented to Middletown Monthly meeting.1 It said that he came with his wife and children.2 The wife was probably Francis; the children were Sarah and Jeremiah.3

John was listed as a cordwinder of Middle Township, Bucks County when he bought land there in 1708, paying £40 to Israel Morris.4 It was a 52-acre tract in Newtown, adjoining land of Israel Morris, Henry Paxson and Ezra Croasdale.5 John left this land to his son Jeremiah, who sold it to Stephen Twining in December 1735.6 According to the records of Middletown MM, John died in December 1712. He wrote a will, dated 12^th 8^th mo (October) 1712, but it was lost. In it he left £40 to his daughter Sarah and his land to Jeremiah.7

His widow Francis requested in 1^st mo 1716 that the marriage of her daughter Sarah to Alexander Beal be accomplished at the house of Stephen Twining in Newton. The marriage was reported orderly accomplished the next month.8 Francis died in December 1730, still a member of the Middletown Monthly Meeting.9

Children of John and Francis:

Sarah, b. ab. 1695, m. 1716 Alexander Beal, son of William and Elizabeth. Alexander grew up in Bensalem and was a member of Abington Meeting. In 1716 he married Sarah at Wrightstown Meeting. The births of their children were not recorded, but only two survived to adulthood, Hannah and William.10 Sarah died about 1722, possibly in childbirth, leaving Alexander with small children to raise. He later married Sarah Town, had two children with her, after her death married Hannah Rogers, moved with Hannah to Burlington County, after Hannah’s death married Esther Butterworth. Alexander died in 1754.

Jeremiah, named in minutes of Buckingham Meeting in 1723, sold 52 acres in Newtown to Stephen Twining in 1735, witnessed the will of John Chapman of Wrightstown in 1743.11 Jeremiah was probably dead by January 1748, when his niece Hannah, her brother William, and her father Patrick confirmed the sale of the 52 acres to make the title good for Twining and others.12

Children of Sarah and Alexander: (surname Beale)

Hannah, b. 1717, d. between 1769 & 1784, m. Patrick Malone about 1742. Patrick bought a farm in 1745 in Buckingham near Forest Grove. He was a member of Buckingham Meeting, although not active in its affairs. In 1781 he released from bondage a mulatto lad named Jesse, filing the record with Bucks Quarterly Meeting.13 Patrick died in 1788. In his will he named seven of his eight children; another daughter, Sarah, had died before him.14

William, b. ab. 1722, d. 1752, m. 1742 Grace Gill at Buckingham Meeting, the daughter of Thomas Gill and Alice Comly of Byberry. William and Grace had six children.15 They lived in New Brittain on a farm of 157 acres. William left a will, as did Grace. She outlived him by forty years, dying in 1793. By the time she died the plantation was reduced to 30 acres.16

Before 1685 a man named John Clarke emigrated to Pennsylvania or West Jersey, bringing four servants with him: Bernard Littlejohn, Mary Chapman, Christian Chapman (sister to Mary), and William Beale.1 Clarke bought 300 acres on Pennsaukin Creek in West Jersey, but apparently did not stay there. In May 1685 he was living in Pennsylvania when he made his will, and in July of that year he died. The terms of the will were unusual. He left his estate to Littlejohn and the Chapmans, to be divided among them. Littlejohn also got Clarke’s clothes and working tools, and stones, and the “indenture and time of service of William Beale”. Clarke was a mason, and Beale was an indentured servant, learning to be a mason.2 When Beale’s time of service was done Littlejohn was to give him twenty shillings, and a hammer, trowel and pick. By leaving his time to Littlejohn, Clarke provided Littlejohn with valuable labor, while also giving Beale a place to live until he came of age. They probably lived somewhere near Philadelphia, since in October 1685 Littlejohn got a certificate of clearness to marry from the monthly meeting there. It was granted the following month, and he married Mary Chapman.3 William probably lived with Bertrand and Mary Littlejohn for three years, either in New Jersey or in Pennsylvania, until 1688 when he bought his own land.4

Who was William Beale, the apprentice mason? He was probably the son of William and Elinor Beale, members of Ross Monthly Meeting in Herefordshire. William Senior was a cordwainer who had been fined and persecuted for his Quaker faith. William and Elinor were married at Ross meeting in 1664. They had three sons: Alexander, William and John.5 There are no further records of Alexander and John, and William was believed to have come with John Clarke as an apprentice.

William Beale bought land three times in his life: once when he was starting out on his own, ten years later when his family was growing, and much later when he wanted a parcel to leave to his sons. The first land that he bought was near Poquessing Creek, a small piece of Joseph Growden’s great manor of Bensalem. Growden had come over from Cornwall about 1683 with a lot of money and great plans. He had purchased 5000 acres of land, to be laid out in Pennsylvania, and his father Lawrence had bought another 5000 acres. Growden’s plan was to establish a manor, where his servants worked the land and where anybody who bought part of his land owed him yearly rent and a day’s work in the time of harvest.6

On the 10^th day of the 12^th month [February] 1688 a group of men gathered together to transact land business, probably at Joseph Growden’s mansion. On that day Growden sold land to Stephen Nowell, a mason, Abel Hinkston, William Beale, also a mason, Thomas Fox and Joseph Wilford, both shipwrights. Nicholas Hickst and Thomas Fox witnessed most of the transactions, except the one to Fox himself. While they were there Beale authorized Nowell to be his attorney to receive the deed when it was acknowledged in court the following month, signing a paper to that effect. Beale paid £16 for his 102 acres, lying on Potquessink Creek and adjoining the land that Abel Hinkston bought the same day. He also had to pay to Growden the yearly ground rent of two English shillings and “one day’s work in time of harvest forever”. Beale signed with his initials; he had not learned to write.7

About 1690 William married a woman named Elizabeth, probably at Byberry Meeting.8 There is no marriage record for them. Byberry Friends did not keep their own records until later, and Abington Monthly Meeting records do not include a marriage for William and Elizabeth, or the birth of their children.9 Elizabeth was undoubtedly a Friend, possibly the daughter of a local family, although many single women Friends came on their own, sometimes as indentured servants to pay their way. Since William and Elizabeth are apparently not mentioned in the wills of other local families, it is possible that they were on their own, with no family support.

Bensalem had no Quaker meeting of its own. The Friends of Bensalem would have met with Friends in Byberry, on the other side of Poquessing Creek. At first Byberry Friends met in private houses, especially those of Giles Knight and John Hart. In 1694 Henry English gave an acre of land for a meeting house and burying place. A log building was erected there, which served for 20 years until a two-story stone building was erected in 1714. It had a fireplace at one end, hinged windows that could be opened, and separate seating for men and women on either side.10 For William Beale and his family it was a three-mile trip to the Meeting. As good Friends they would know that route well. They had six known children. Alexander was the oldest, named first in William’s will, followed later by John. If William was in fact from the family of Ross, then these sons may have been named for William’s brothers.

The big news in Bensalem in 1692 must have been exciting even to the sober Quakers. An unknown man was found murdered by the mouth of Neshaminy Creek in May. Suspicion fell on Derrick Jonson, a Swede, when blood was found on his bed and wall, appearing about the time that the stranger was murdered. Derrick and his wife Britta and sister Eliza were indicted by the grand jury, but the court put the trial off for the winter, evidently hoping that evidence would appear to exonerate him, but it did not, and he was hanged for the murder the next summer.11

In 12^th month 1698/9 (February 1699) William bought another 202 acres from Joseph Growden. This was also on the Poquessing and adjoined Abel Hinkston’s land. Growden reserved two acres near one side for a mill “when he shall think fit to build on thereon”, along with ingress, egress and regress. The Poquessing was a fast-running stream, and many mills were eventually built along it.

William was a respected Friend. In 1694 he was appointed a representative from Abington Monthly Meeting to the Quarterly Meeting in Philadelphia.  This was an honor for someone so young, and suggests that he was trustworthy, since he would be representing the entire meeting. He was appointed again in 1709. In 1700 Byberry Meeting chose William Beale and Thomas Groom as overseers for the following year. This was another honor. The overseers were responsible for the welfare of the members, especially the youth, the poor, and those who might be straying in their conduct. Along with the elders, the overseers were the leaders of the meeting. Of the six children of William and Elizabeth who lived to adulthood, at least five of them married under the auspices of a Friends meeting. William and Elizabeth were successful as Quaker parents in keeping their children from leaving the faith.

William was also mentioned in civic records. In 1703 he was appointed with Joseph Growden, Frances Searle, Thomas Knight and others, to lay out a road to Albersons Mill. This was a typical obligation for landowners who lived in the neighborhood and had a stake in the location of the roads. In the middle of June 1714 he was chosen to review the layout of a road from Newtown to Dunks Ferry.12

In 1713 William bought his final piece of land, probably to leave to his sons. It was in Buckingham, far from his Bensalem land.13 This was a tract of 550 acres, bought from Thomas Stevenson.

In January 1715, William was 47 years old. His six children were in their teens or early twenties. None of them were yet married. His life came to an abrupt end, as he made his will on January 1, and died within five days.14 He left the Buckingham land to be split between his sons John and Alexander, with 225 acres to each. He left his daughter Ann £10 and a black mare. The residue of the estate, including the personal property and the Bensalem land, was left to Elizabeth with no restrictions. He trusted her to manage the affairs and made her the sole executrix. When she died it was to be shared among their four daughters. One of the witnesses was William’s old neighbor Abel Hinkston.15

His inventory shows the standard possessions of a farmer in these early decades of the 1700s. The house had four beds (everybody doubled up), earthen and woodenware, cooking gear, chairs and a table, a dough trough and money scales, glass bottles, barrels and tubs. They had no chests, side tables, no extra items in the kitchen or dining room. A few tools were mentioned: axes, pitchfork and dung fork, grubbing hoes, two spinning wheels, old iron, a plow and plow irons, a cart. The livestock included 17 cows, 14 sheep, 8 horses and a colt, and 15 swine. There were stored 75 bushels of wheat and 25 of barley. The family owned two Bibles. It was a respectable living, with no luxuries. There is some indication of excess production for the Philadelphia market, particularly the number of cows, but there is no mention of dairy equipment. With a value of over £150, it was a solid estate for the time.

In 1717 the widowed Elizabeth bought land from Henry and Mary Walmsley, 16.5 acres in Bensalem, probably adjoining her existing land. (She later sold that same parcel to her son John.)16] In 1721 she subscribed to a collection for the poor of Byberry, along with her son John and many other members of Byberry Friends.17 She outlived William by forty years. In 1751 she was living in Warminster, possibly with one of her children. She died in early 1754, probably well into her eighties.18 Her estate was administrated by her son-in-law Eli Welding, husband of her daughter Elizabeth.

Children of William and Elizabeth:19

Alexander, b. ab. 1690, d. 1754, m. 1) 1716 at Wrightstown Sarah Bowman, dau. of John and Francis, 2) 1723 at Falls, Sarah Town, 3) 1737 Hannah Rogers, 4) 1746 Esther Butterworth

Ann, b. ab. 1694, d. 1747, m. 1717 John Watson, son of Thomas and Elinor, at Abington MM20

Elizabeth, b. ab. 1695, d. 1773, m. 1721 Eli Welding, with a certificate from Abington MM

John, b. ab. 1696, d. 1762, m. 1729 Martha Carter, daughter of John and Grace21, prob at Abington MM

Rebecca, b. ab. 1698, m. 1733 Samuel Richey at Christ Church22

Martha, b. ab. 1700, d. 1786, m. 1729 John Taylor at Abington MM

Most of these siblings married into local Quaker families.

Alexander was probably the oldest, and the first to marry. He first married Sarah Bowman at Wrightstown Meeting. They became members of Buckingham Monthly Meeting. The births of their children were not recorded, but only two survived to adulthood, Hannah and William.23 Sarah died about 1722, leaving Alexander with small children to raise. In early 1722/3 he married Sarah Town, a member of Falls Meeting. They had at least two children, but she died before 1737 when he asked  Buckingham for a certificate to Burlington, West Jersey, to marry the widow Hannah Rogers. He married her, probably without permission since he made acknowledgement to the meeting for his misconduct.24 The following year he came before the meeting again to acknowledge fornication with Hannah before marriage. Around 1742 he and Hannah moved to Burlington, New Jersey, where she died. Alexander was to marry one more time. In 1746 he married Esther Butterworth.25 He died in Gloucester County, New Jersey, in 1754.26

Ann made the most advantageous match when she married John Watson in 1717 at Abington Meeting.27 He was not trained in a medical school, but he read several books about surgery and “physic” and became the local doctor in Buckingham. He set broken bones, cured disorders in general, and prescribed a spicy medicine of his own invention called Watson’s Black Drops.28 Ann and John had three children before her death in 1747, Thomas, Joseph and Elizabeth. John died in October 1760, leaving a very large estate and a will written on one enormous piece of parchment.29 Ann and John lived a comfortable life for the time. Their house was full of material goods:  maps of Asia and Africa and Europe and America, a tea table with porcelain tea cups and silver tea spoons, the imported china known as “Delf ware”, a looking glass, hat box, case of drawers, clock, brass candlesticks, abundant furniture, stacks of linen. The house had a cheese room with cheese, a coffee mill and other goods. Around the farm John had many tools, two hives of bees, a wolf trap. As a country doctor he needed to travel to his patients, so he had a chair and chair horse to pull it. This was a light-weight riding cart with two large wheels, pulled by a single horse, and with a folding top to protect the rider from the elements.30 Their house had a parlor, front room, back room, a front and back room upstairs, a garret, cellar, kitchen, a room over the kitchen, cheese room, and an addition in back called a “linto”. Outside there was an outhouse (probably a storage building, not a privy), chair house, cart house and barn. These were surrounded by an orchard, fields and meadow. The house and land was to go to son Thomas, but John’s widow Sarah, whom he married after Ann died, got the privilege of living in three of the rooms until her death, the usual provision for meat and drink and firewood and a riding creature and an annual cash payment.31 The estate was valued at over £1200.32

Elizabeth Beale married Eli Welding. Eli was a blacksmith who had emigrated from Wales with his brother Jacob, also a blacksmith. Jacob stayed in New Castle County, while Eli married Elizabeth and settled in Buckingham, where he bought land from Humphrey Morrey and Alexander Beale. The area where he lived was probably named for him, the village of Weldon. Eli and Elizabeth were married under the auspices of Abington Meeting and had three children. He died in 1771; she died two years later.

John Beale lived next to his brother Alexander on his share of the land inherited from their father.

In about 1729 John Beal married Martha Carter.33 In 1732 they got a certificate from Abington to Buckingham Meeting. They settled down in Buckingham and raised their family, with two children surviving to adulthood. In 1754, after their mother died, John and Alexander agreed to partition their remaining inheritance.34 John died in Dec 1761.35 His will was unusual in two ways. Instead of the usual provision for his wife to have the use of a room or two in the house, he provided Martha with the use of a small log house on the south east corner of his land, along with the profits, probably in case she should choose to rent it out. In addition, he left land to his daughter Phebe, with the provision that she supply firewood and a cow and an annuity for Martha. This was a typical provision for a son, but rare for a daughter. The son John got the remainder of the land and was also expected to keep a horse and firewood for Martha. The will also stipulated that “my cousen Jonathan Beal” should be under the care of John’s sisters Elizabeth Welding and Rebekah Richey, to be bound out for a trade and to be educated. At the time “cousin” could mean nephew, and it is not clear who this is. Martha outlived John by twenty-four years and died in 1786.

Rebecca Beal was the only one to not marry as a Quaker. In 1729 she and Joseph Gilbert Jr. were brought before the Bucks County court and convicted of fornication. This offense was discovered in the usual way when Rebecca became pregnant. Joseph denied the charge, but was convicted on her word, and was fined for the cost of prosecution and the cost of nursing the child. Joseph died before 12^th month (February) 1730/31, when Abington Meeting took up the case. The meeting felt a “tender regard” for Joseph, who was no longer around to speak for himself. They wanted Rebecca to “take the shame and blame on her self as far as she was guilty and leave his name out of her condemnation”. She refused, and they drew up a paper against her, disowning her, “until it may please God to bring her to a sight and sence of her out going. That she may be received again is the sincere desire and prayer of this meeting.” Rebecca apparently did not take any action that would satisfy the meeting, since she and Samuel Richey were married in 1733 at Christ Church. They must have stayed in Bucks County since she was charged with the care of Jonathan Beal along with her sister Elizabeth Welding in 1761.

Martha Beal, probably the youngest child of William and Elizabeth, married John Taylor at Abington Meeting in 1729. They lived in Buckingham, where Martha died in 1786. She left a will, naming her daughter Phebe Tucker and son John.36 The inventory of her estate showed the furniture for one room, plus cookware, a horse and a cow. She must have been living with one of her children.

William Beale was born in Gloucestershire around 1640, moved to Ross, Herefordshire and became a committed Quaker.1 He is often said to be a son of William and Susanna Beale of Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, whose house was a meeting place for Quakers as early at 1655. Since William and Susanna had a son William baptized in 1641 it is easy to see how the William Beale of Ross might fit in their family.2 However the records of Nailsworth Meeting show that William Beale, presumably the son of William and Susanna, married Hannah Carter in 1668 and had three children with her.3 These records overlap with the time when William Beale of Ross was marrying and having children.4

William of Ross had become a Quaker by 1660. In that year at Ross, “James Merrick, Thomas Atkins, John Merrick, William Beale …(and eleven more) were taken from the Meeting, others in the street, and some from their own houses, and committed to the Marshall’s custody: Next day the Oath of Allegiance were tendered them by a Justice of the Peace, who sent them to Prison for refusing it. Six of these were very poor men, having families dependent on their labour, for one of whom, when five persons in compassion offered to be bound, the Justice refused it.”5

Four years later William Beale “of the parish of Tufley county of Gloucestershire”, married Ellinor Bellamy, daughter of Guy Bellamy, late of Ross on second month (April) third day, 1664.6 The marriage certificate was signed by Thomas Merrick, James Merrick, William Fisher and John Caton. Tuffley is a small town about twenty miles from Ross, across the Severn in Gloucestershire. It is unlikely that William moved from Ross to Tuffley and back again between 1660 and 1665. More likely the marriage record showed his birthplace or where he was living before he moved to Ross, not where he was living at the time. In the marriage record William is shown as a cordwainer, a skilled shoemaker. In 1665 William Beale was taxed at Ross-on-Wye for three hearths.7

The general meeting also recorded the birth of three sons of William and Elinor between 1664 and 1669, named Alexander, William, and John.8 In 1670 Elinor died, leaving William with at least one young child to raise. 9 There is no record that he married again. He was still in Ross in 1683 when goods were taken him to the value of £12 7s 10d, along with six other Friends.10 He was an active member of the meeting, serving as a witness to marriages from 1677 through 1693, most of the recorded marriages of Ross Meeting.11 William died in Ross in 7^th month (September) 1694, still a member of Ross Meeting.12

William and Elinor had three known children: 13

Alexander, b. 5^th 11^th month 1664, no further record

William, b. 21^st 6^th month 1667, emigrated before 1685, d. 1714 in PA, m. Elizabeth —

John, b. 18^th 7^th month 1669, no further record

There are no further records of Alexander and John. William born in 1667 is probably the one who appears in Pennsylvania in 1685. He is a Quaker of the right age. He first bought land in Pennsylvania in 1688, when he would have been 21. He named his own sons Alexander and John, matching the names of his brothers. John is a ubiquitous name at the time, but Alexander is uncommon.14

Alexander Beale, son of William and Elizabeth Beale of Bensalem, had a complicated life, with four marriages and many changes of residence. He grew up in Bensalem and was at first a member of Abington Meeting. In 1716 he married Sarah Bowman at Wrightstown Meeting. A year or so later he got a certificate from Abington to go to Falls Meeting. Perhaps he and Sarah were living with his widowed mother and farming her land in Bensalem. He and Sarah later became members of Buckingham Monthly Meeting.1 The births of their children were not recorded, but two survived to adulthood, Hannah and William.2 Sarah died about 1722. In early 1722/3 Alexander got a certificate from Buckingham to marry Sarah Town, a member of Falls Meeting. They lived in Buckingham, where in 1724 he mortgaged a 200-acre tract bounded by land of his brother John and others.3

Alexander and Sarah Town had at least two children, but she died before 1737 when he asked  Buckingham for a certificate to Burlington, West Jersey, to marry Hannah Rogers. The request was denied. He asked again the next month, and married her the month after that, probably without permission since he made acknowledgement to the meeting for his misconduct. The following year he came before the meeting again to acknowledge fornication with Hannah before marriage. Alexander was almost 50 years old at this time, so he should have known better. Hannah was the widow of William Rogers, who had been a lieutenant of militia of Northampton in 1706 and who died in 1736 in Burlington County.

In 1741 and 1742 Alexander sold off his Buckingham land, apparently preparing for a move to West Jersey.  He sold a small portion of it to Elizabeth and Ely Welding, and the remainder to John Watson, practitioner in physic. It was about this time that his older children married and started households of their own.4 After his eventful life Alexander remained in good standing with Buckingham Meeting, and in 1743 he requested a certificate from them to Burlington Meeting. Around 1742 he and Hannah moved to Burlington, NJ and owned a farm in Hanover Township. Alexander was to marry one more time. In 1746 he married Esther Butterworth, with a license in New Jersey on December 11, 1746.5

In March 1749/50 his daughter Deborah married Thomas Rambo, both of Gloucester County. Married at St. Michael’s and Zion Church in Philadelphia, they lived in Deptford Township, Gloucester County.6

Alexander died in Gloucester County, New Jersey, in 1754.7 Thomas Rambo was the administrator for Alexander’s estate. Beal was described as a husbandman of the Township of Deptford, Gloucester County. Was he living with Deborah and Thomas when he died?

Children of Alexander and Sarah Bowman:8

Hannah, b. 1717, d. between 1769 and 1784, married Patrick Malone about 1742. They bought a farm in Buckingham in 1745 near Forest Grove. Patrick died in 1788. In his will Patrick named his sons John and James, and his daughters Elizabeth, Mary, Hannah, Phebe, and Ann, as well as grandchildren Abner and Sarah Worthington, children of his daughter Sarah Worthington deceased. John was the residual heir and executor.  Since there was no mention of Hannah, she had clearly died before him.

William, b. about 1722, d. 1751, married 1742 Grace Gill at Buckingham MM.  She was the daughter of Thomas Gill and Alice Comly of Byberry. They lived in New Britain and had six children before William’s death in March 1752. In his will he provided for the maintenance of his “dearly beloved” wife Grace, left the plantation to his two sons Thomas and Joseph, asked his father-in-law Thomas Gill and cousin Thomas Watson to be executors. His inventory showed the typical farming household of the time.9

Children of Alexander and Sarah Town: (born between 1723 and 1730)

Deborah, married in 1749 Thomas Rambo at St. Michael’s and Zion Church, Philadelphia; lived in Deptford Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. They had children James, Jonathan, Elizabeth and Hannah.10

Benjamin, mentioned in a certificate of 1741. Benjamin was called before Bucks County court in May 1758 to answer a suit of Richard Yardley. His uncle John Beal of Buckingham and brother-in-law Patrick Malone were sureties for his appearance. There is no record of how this case ended. In 1764 he was probably the Benjamin Beal taxed in Buckingham, and in the same year Isaac Beal, son of Benjamin Beal of Buckingham Twp, was apprenticed to Edmond Kinsey, blacksmith. In 1769 Benjamin Beal, possibly the same one, was called before Bucks County court for assault and battery. Again there is no record of how the case ended.

Bryan and Ann Baines lived in Wennington, a village in Lancashire just north of the Forest of Bowland.1 Wennington was too small to have its own church, and Bryan and Ann had their children christened at St. Wilfrid’s in Melling, a few miles away.2 There were four christenings recorded there, starting in 1662, with their son Gabriel. But the church records of baptism between 1650 and 1662 were lost, and at least one other child was probably christened there as well.3

Bryan and Ann were probably not Quakers, at least at first, but four of their children became Quakers and at least three of them immigrated to Pennsylvania. In 3^rd month 1694 Thomas Banes married Janet Ward at the Friends meeting house in Bentham, just two miles east of Wennington.4 His siblings Gabriel, Agnes and Deborah all signed the wedding certificate.5 Two years later Thomas and Janet arrived in Bucks County with a certificate from Wennington Meeting. Arriving in 9^th month 1696, Thomas was described as a tailor by trade, “late of Wenninton in Lancashire, but belonging to the monthly meeting at Settle.”6

In 1698 Gabriel, Deborah, and their mother Ann immigrated to Bucks County, arriving with a certificate from the monthly meeting at Settle that they presented to the meeting at Falls.7 Signed by 23 members of the meeting, the certificate included reassurance that Gabriel and Deborah were free of marriage entanglements.8

Deborah married Thomas Ashton in 1701 at Falls Meeting. Gabriel, Thomas and Janet all signed the marriage certificate.9 Oddly enough, her mother Ann did not sign, although she was still alive.10 Thomas and Deborah had two daughters, Mary and Ann, before Deborah died. They may also have had a son Isaac, who is believed to be a son of Thomas’, either by Deborah or by his second wife.11 The date of Deborah’s death is not known; it was before 1710 when Thomas remarried, to Hannah Hough.

In 1702 Gabriel and his mother Ann bought land together, paying £150 to William Duncan for 145 acres in Falls Township.12 This is Ann’s last appearance in the records. It is Gabriel’s only known land purchase. He served several times on juries and was chosen by Falls meeting in 1712 to speak with Friends who were behind in their subscriptions. In 1717 he married Elinor Botting of Middletown Meeting, and they had one son, Bryan, presumably named for Gabriel’s father. Gabriel was 55 years old when he married; Elinor must have been considerably younger.

In 1727 Gabriel wrote his will. His estate was to go to his wife Ellin and son Bryan, but if Bryan died without issue, then the estate was to in equal shares to his brother Thomas, sister Agnes Wood, and to the heirs of his sister Deborah, who died fifteen years before him. Specifically, the will named her heirs as his “cousin Ann Hillborn” and the two children of his “cousin Mary Lee”. Ann and Mary were his nieces, daughters of Deborah; it was a common locution of the time to use “cousin” instead of niece. His estate was valued at over £120, a good amount for the time. The inventory included a flock of 54 sheep, unusual for the time. Was Gabriel’s father Bryan a sheep farmer as well?

Ellin died in 1749; Bryan clearly died before her, since he was not named in her will.13  Half of her estate was to go to the monthly meeting at Falls, for the “service of truth”, and the other half was to be sent to England for the use of Shipley Meeting and for her brothers John and Thomas Botting of Gillington Parish, Sussex.

Children of Bryan and Ann14

Deborah, born about 1660, died between 1703 and 1710, married Thomas Ashton in 1701 at Falls Monthly Meeting, had daughters Mary and Ann.

Gabriel, christened 12 Oct 1662, died 1727, married Elinor Botting in 1717, had a son Bryan born in 1718.

James, christened 28 Aug 1664, died 1681.15

Thomas, christened 11 Feb 1666, died 4^th month 1743, married in 3^rd month 1694 Janet Ward at the meeting house at Bentham, Yorkshire. They immigrated in 1697, settled in Middletown, had a daughter Ann who married Daniel Doan Jr.16 Janet died in 10^th month 1732; Thomas died in 4^th month 1743. His will left his property and estate to his daughter Ann and her husband, who were also executors of the estate.17

Agnes, christened 7 Aug 1670, married a man named Wood after 1694 and before 1727. It is not known whether she immigrated to Pennsylvania. Gabriel left her a legacy in 1727 but did not say where she lived.

Thomas Ashton and his wives Deborah and Hannah

Thomas Ashton first appeared in the records in Pennsylvania when he married Deborah Baines in the summer of 1701 at Falls Monthly Meeting. Various parents have been proposed for Thomas, but none are known. There is no real evidence to link him to any other Ashton. What is known is that he was a Quaker, probably from northern England where the Ashton name was common.1

His first wife, Deborah Baines, immigrated with her brother Gabriel and mother Ann in 1698.2 They came with a certificate from Settle Monthly Meeting in Yorkshire.3 Gabriel and Deborah were children of Bryan and Ann, of Wennington, Lancashire. Deborah was probably christened about 1660 when the baptismal records of St. Wilfrid’s church are missing.4

Thomas and Deborah were married in 5^th month (July) 1701 under the auspices of Falls Monthly Meeting. Gabriel, Thomas and Jennet Baines all signed, while no Ashton signed except for Thomas himself.5 In the marriage record Thomas was described as a husbandman of Falls Township, suggesting that he did not yet own land. In 1703 he requested 100 acres from the commissioners of property. He wanted it to lie between Newtown lots and the back of the lots on the Delaware River.6 It was laid out for him, adjoining Reuben Pownall, Joseph Clows, Thomas Janney and Shadrach Walley.7 In 1708 he got a patent for the land.8

Thomas lived a quiet life in Makefield. He was a constable there for the year starting September 1710.9 He was not active in the Friends Meeting, but he was still a member as late as 1728 when he requested a certificate for himself and his family from Falls to Wrightstown, which was probably closer to their home.10

Thomas and Deborah had two daughters and possibly a son. The daughters were Mary and Ann. The possible son was Isaac. Isaac Ashton was born about 1710 and married Dorothy Carr in 1736. They named two of their children Thomas and Hannah, which could have been for his parents, making him a son of Thomas and his second wife Hannah Hough. But Thomas and Hannah recorded the birth of eight children, not including Isaac. There was sufficient time for him to be an unrecorded son of Thomas and Deborah, born sometime before her death.11

Sometime before 1710 Deborah died, leaving Thomas with two or three small children. In 1710 he remarried, again under the auspices of Falls Meeting. His second wife was Hannah Hough, daughter of John Hough and Hannah Rossell. John and Hannah had emigrated in 1683 and settled in Middletown. The following year John was reprimanded by the Falls Monthly Meeting for fighting and drinking to excess. The Houghs remained members of Falls Meeting.12

Thomas and Hannah would go on to have eight children, whose births were recorded at Falls meeting.13

In 1719 Mary, the oldest daughter of Thomas and Deborah, married Daniel Lee of Makefield. They had two children before her death in 1722 or 1723, possibly in childbirth. The next child of Thomas and Hannah was named Mary, probably to commemorate her.

In 1728 Thomas was in trouble with the monthly meeting and the Bucks County court. In June 1728 he pleaded guilty to an unknown offence and was fined. Several other men were fined at the same time; it may have been fighting or drunkenness or some other relatively minor offence.14 In 7^th month 1728, three months later, Friends were appointed to speak with him about “his behavior at Newtown Court some time past”.15 He was not asked to submit a paper of acknowledgement.

1731 was a bad year for Thomas and Hannah. Three of their children died within six weeks, probably of a contagious disease. John died in the middle of December; the baby Martha died two weeks later; William died on February 1.16 There were other deaths at Falls Meeting around that time, but no family was hit as hard as the Ashtons.17

Thomas died in 1733. The inventory of his estate showed a successful farmer, with the usual household furniture and goods, seven horses, nine cows, farm implements, and sixteen acres of wheat in the ground. The bonds, bills and book debts—amount that others owed him—came to over £75, and the total value of the estate was appraised at £207.18 In spite of this abundance, he left Hannah with all eight children unmarried, and some of them under the age of five. It must have been difficult for her. Several of the children died unmarried, and none were known to be married in a Friends meeting. The date of her death is unknown; it was apparently not recorded in Falls or Middletown Meeting.

Of the ten known children of Thomas, only three were sons, and only one of them, Thomas, lived long enough to marry.

Thomas, b. in England, d. 1733, m. 1) 1701 Deborah Bains, 2) 1710 Hannah Hough, daughter of John Hough

Children of Thomas and Deborah:19

Mary, b. 1702, d. before 1723, m. 1^st month 1719 Daniel Lee of Makefield, married at Falls MM.20 Daniel was a blacksmith. They had children Deborah and John before Mary died, possibly in childbirth.

Ann, b. 1703, m. 5^th month 1726 Thomas Hillborn, son of Thomas and Elizabeth, married at Falls MM.21 They lived in Newtown and had seven known children. Thomas Hillborn died in 1779.

Probable son of Thomas, with either Deborah or Hannah

? Isaac, d. 1750, m. 1736 Dorothy Carr, dau. of John & Mary, lived in Makefield. They were married in New Jersey but made acknowledgment to Wrightstown and continued as members there. They had eight children, naming the first two for her parents and the second two Thomas and Hannah. Isaac died in 1750 and Dorothy married John Balance.

Children of Thomas and Hannah:22

John, b. 2^nd month 1711, d. 1731, his death reported at Falls meeting.

Hannah, b. 6^th month 1716, possibly died in 1717.23

William, b. 11^th month 1718, d. 1731, his death reported at Falls meeting.

Isabel, b. 2^nd month 1721, no further records

Mary, b. 6^th month 1723, no further records

Thomas, b. 6^th month 1726, m. Mary Strickland, dau. of John. John Strickland died in 1766 and in his will named his daughter Mary Ashton; his son-in-law Thomas Ashton was an executor.24 Thomas did not leave a will in Bucks County; the date of his death is not known.

Deborah, b. 9^th month 1727, m. ? Wm Waters in 1746 at the Churchville Presbyterian Church

Martha, b. 7^th month 1730, d. 1731, her death reported at Falls meeting.