USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. I > Part 84
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Thomas Gilpin, the second son, ( 1727-1778) was adopted by his uncle Thomas Gilpin, the proprietor of extensive flour mills on the Brandywine, near Wil- mington, Delaware, which his nephew later inherited and operated. He became later a prominent merchant and shipper of Philadelphia and was among those members of the Society of Friends who were arrested on the approach of the British army to Philadelphia, and exiled to Virginia, where he died March 2, 1778. He was a man of high scholastic attainments much interested in scienti- fic investigations, a prominent member of the American Philosophical Society, and the projector of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal.
Samuel and George Gilpin, the two younger sons, though reared in the peac- able principles of the Society of Friends of which their parents were members, were among the most active patriots of their section from the inception of the Revolutionary struggle. Samuel, (1734-1799), was a major of Maryland mil- itia; rose to the rank of colonel in the Continental line, and was some time purchasing agent for the army on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He inherited the homestead at "Gilpin's Falls," and died there in 1799.
George Gilpin, youngest son of Samuel and Jane (Parker) Gilpin, born in Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland, March 4, 1740, was brought up by his elder brother Thomas, at Brandywine, New Castle county, Delaware, at the head of Chester creek, now Millington, Maryland, where Thomas operated flour mills, and carried on an extensive shipping business for many years. George removed, prior to the Revolutionary war, to Alexandria, Virginia. where the remainder of his life was spent. He was intimately associated with George Washington, and many autograph letters of the "Father of his Country" to George Gilpin are still in possession of the family. He was commissioned colonel of Fairfax county militia in 1775, and joined General Washington's army at Dor- chester Heights, Boston, with his regiment, and took part in the siege of Bos- ton, later taking part in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. While the army was encamped at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-8,. Colonel Gilpin went to visit his brother, in his exile at Winchester, Virginia, and returning to the camp at Valley Forge proceeded to York, Pennsylvania, where congress was then in session to intercede for the return of the exiles to their homes. He secured the promise that they should be permitted to return, but his brother died before it was accomplished. At the close of the revolution, Colonel George Gilpin, under the direction of General Washington, made a survey of the river Potomac from tide water to the upper falls and prepared a plan for the improve- ment of the channel for navigation. He was interested in this and other pub- lic improvements there, until his death, December 24, 1813. At the request of the family he was named one of the pall-bearers of Washington. He married (first) Catharine Peters, and (second) her sister, Jane Peters, cousins to Martha Washington. He had three children by Catharine, and six by Jane, most of whom have left descendants.
JOSEPH GILPIN, eldest son of Samuel and Jane (Parker) Gilpin and ancestor 4
of the subject of this sketch, was born in Concord township, Chester county,
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Pennsylvania, August 1, 1725, and removed with his parents to Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland, at the age of eight years. On arriving at manhood's years he acquired the tract of land long known as "Gilpin Manor," and in 1760 erected thereon on the bank of the Big Elk, about one mile north of Elkton, the county seat of Cecil county, the fine old colonial mansion, still standing, and one of the picturesque and historic colonial houses of the Atlantic coast. Joseph Gilpin was one of the prominent patriots of Maryland and was from the first an ardent supporter of the cause of independence. He was representative in the Provincial convention held at Annapolis, December 7, 1775, and later a member of the convention held August 14, 1776, to frame a constitution for the state of Delaware. He was also a member of the Maryland convention called for the ratification of the United States constitution, in 1787; was a delegate to the Provincial convention of 1777, a member of the Maryland Assembly, 1777, and presiding justice of the first court of Cecil county under the new government. In 1780 he was appointed one of the commissioners from Maryland to the con- ference at Philadelphia held to consider measures to restore the public credit ; was again commissioned presiding justice of the courts of Cecil county, in 1784, and held that office until his death, March 26, 1790. He was one of the largest contributors to the fund for erecting a court house in 1783 and one of the commissioners in charge of its erection. Joseph Gilpin married, November 8, 1764, Elizabeth Read, who was born 1742, and died 1802. They had nine children.
JOHN GILPIN, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Read) Gilpin, was born Sep- tember 17, 1765, and died April 19, 1808. He inherited Gilpin Manor and spent his whole life there, taking an active interest in public affairs, and filling a number of public offices in his native county. He succeeded his father as presiding judge of the Cecil county courts, February 14, 1788, was a presiden- tial elector for John Adams in 1797, and for Thomas Jefferson in 1801 and 1805. He was also a member of the House of Delegates in 1800. He married, September 28, 1797, Mary Husbands (b. Apr. 26, 1772, d. Nov. 21, 1850) daugh- ter of Colonel Henry Hollingsworth, one of the most prominent figures during the Revolutionary war, in his section, and a descendant of a family long prom- inent in that section.
Valentine Hollingsworth, the founder of the family in America, was born "about the Sixth Month in the Year 1632," as shown by the ancient records of the Society of Friends, in County Armagh, Ireland. He was a son of Henry and Catherine (Cornish) Hollingsworth, of Ballineskcrannell, parish of Segoe, County Armagh, Ireland, who it is believed emigrated to Ireland from Ches- hire, where the family was long seated. Valentine was an early convert to Quakerism, and suffered severe persecutions for his faith in 1671 and 1672. He married (first), June 7, 1655, Ann Ree, or Rea, (b. 1628, d. Apr. 1, 1671), daughter of Nicholas Ree, of Tanderagee, County Armagh. He married (sec- ond) June 12, 1672, at a Friends meeting in the house of Mark Wright, parish of Shenkell, County Armagh, Ann, daughter of Thomas Calvert of Drogora, parish of Segoe, and with her, their three eldest children, his daughter Ann, by his first marriage, and her husband Thomas Conway, came to America in 1682, it is said with William Penn, in the "Welcome." They settled on a plantation of 1000 acres on Shelpot creek, Brandywine Hundred, New Castle county, now
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in Delaware, about five miles northwestwardly from the present city of Wil- mington, where Valentine died in 1710. The early meetings of Friends were held at his house, and later a meeting house erected on his land and a monthly meeting established, known as "New Worke Meeting," which later became Kennett Monthly Meeting, Chester county. In 1687, Valentine Hollingsworth donated "unto friends for a burying place halfe an acre of land for yt purpose," as shown by the records of said meeting. Valentine Hollingsworth was a repre- sentative from New Castle county in the first Provincial Assembly of Pennsyl- vania, 1682-3, and in the subsequent assemblies of 1685, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1695 and 1700, and was also a justice of the county from February 7, 1685 to his death. His wife Ann died October 17, 1697. Two sons, Henry and Thomas, and another daughter, Catharine, with her husband George Robinson, all by the first wife, followed him to the Delaware; and he had seven children by his second wife Ann Calvert.
Henry Hollingsworth, eldest son of Valentine and Ann (Ree) Hollingsworth, was born at Ballineskcrannell, parish of Segoe, County Armagh, Ireland, No- vember 7, 1658. He did not accompany his father and stepmother to the Dela- ware in 1682, but followed them in the "Lion, of Liverpoole," which arrived in the Delaware river, October 14, 1683. He came with Robert Turner, the Dub- lin merchant, who was an intimate friend of William Penn, and a large pur- chaser of land in Pennsylvania. With him, Henry Hollingsworth served two years, and then took up his residence with his father in New Castle county. He, however, returned to Ireland, as soon as he was comfortably established and married, in his native parish of Segoe, August 22, 1688, Lydia Atkinson, the sweetheart of his youth, and returned immediately with her to the Delaware and located near his father in New Castle county, which county he represented in the Provincial Assembly in 1695. At about this date, however, he seems to have located in Chester county, Pennsylvania, of which he was elected sheriff in the autumn of 1695. He was deputy-master of rolls there in 1700, and filled the offices of coroner, clerk of courts and deputy surveyor, being directed in 1699, in the latter capacity, by William Penn to survey a large tract of land, some 30,000 acres, for his daughter Letitia, later known as Letitia's Manor, located in Chester and New Castle counties. He removed to Elkton, Cecil county, Mary- land, prior to May 9, 1712, on which date he was appointed by Lord Baltimore, surveyor for Cecil county. His book of surveys, containing a medley, of poetry, receipts, notes on astrology, alchemy and chemistry, in addition to his notes of surveys made, is still in existence, being lately owned by Ex-Governor Sam- uel Pennypacker. It indicates that he was a man of high scholastic attainments both in the sciences and classics, much of the miscellaneous matter being written in Latin. He died at Elkton, April or May, 1721, leaving six children, two sons, Stephen, long a magistrate of Cecil county, later removing to the Shenandoah valley, Virginia; Zebulon, of whom presently; and four daughters, Catharine, Ruth, Abigail and Mary.
Captain Zebulon Hollingsworth, second son of Henry and Lydia (Atkinson) Hollingsworth, born in 1696, presumably in Chester county, Pennsylvania, was prominent in the affairs of Cecil county, serving many years as a justice of her courts, filling the position of presiding justice in 1742 and for several subsequent years. He was appointed in 1743 to lay out the town of Charlestown. He was
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one of the prominent members of the church in St. Mary Ann's parish, erected at North East in 1740, by Samuel Gilpin, and was one of the vestry thereof from 1742 to his death, August 8, 1763. He was a large landowner as well as a mil- ler, manufacturing large quantities of flour, which was shipped to Philadelphia and other points, his sons Levi and Colonel Henry being later associated with him in this business, the former locating in Philadelphia, where the firm carried on an extensive business, which on the death of the father devolved upon Levi, who continued to reside in Philadelphia, and was prominently identified with public affairs there during the Revolution. Zebulon Hollingworth was buried in the old family burying ground, near the Episcopal church at Elkton, on the banks of the river Elk, but in 1883 his remains were removed to Elkton Cemetery. He married (first) June 18, 1727, Ann, daughter of Colonel Francis Maulden, of Cecil county. She died in 1740, leaving five children, and he married (second) Mary Jacobs, by whom he had six children.
Colonel Henry Hollingsworth, son of Captain Zebulon and Ann (Maulden) Hollingsworth, and father of Mary (Hollingsworth) Gilpin, was born at Elk- ton, Maryland, September 17, 1737. Well educated and of fine business ability and training, and in the prime of his life of usefulness and activity, at the begin- ning of the struggle for independence, he was called upon to take an active part in that struggle. His name appears on the records of the Committee of Safety of his native state as one who was relied upon in all its urgent emergencies. He was commissioned January 3, 1776, as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Elk battalion, of Cecil county militia, and was commissioned Colonel, June 7, 1781. His useful- ness however lay more particularly, in the commissary department, and in the or- ganizing, equipping and forwarding much needed recruits, looking after the for- warding and furnishing supplies for the troops in the field, and the general su- pervision of affairs pertaining to the army for his section. His voluminous cor- respondence, much of which remains in the Hollingsworth mansion erected by him, and still occupied by his descendants, shows that he was in constant com- munication with the heads of the various departments both state and national, and was relied upon to fill many important commissions. This correspondence includes letters to and from Timothy Pickering, by order of the War Office, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, president of the Council of Maryland, who, on July 13, 1776, writes to him to secure 400 bayonets and other equipment for the Maryland troops, from Patrick Henry who in 1779 sends him fifteen Highland prisoners of war, from Generals Lafayette, Lord Stirling, Nathaniel Greene, and Horatio Gates, and other prominent commanders, principally on the pro- viding of munitions of war, of which Colonel Hollingsworth was one of the first manufacturers. He was commissary-general for the Eastern Shore of Maryland during the greater part of the war, and had charge of the purchase and forwarding of flour and other provisions for the army in Virginia and Maryland, which by a letter from Timothy Pickering in 1778 he is directed to collect at the Head of the Elk and in Harford county. September 24, 1781, he was directed to make a tour through the Eastern Shore to see that the several requisitions of the board of war for supplying the army were put into execu- tion, and the flour and other provisions collected at points on the navigable wat- ers and shipped as soon as practicable for the use of Washington's army on its southern expedition against Cornwallis in Virginia.
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The Hollingsworth mansion, erected by Colonel Henry Hollingsworth early in the eighteenth century, was one of the first houses erected on the site of Elkton, the present county seat of Cecil county, Maryland. It is a venerable pile, in a remarkable state of preservation, picturesquely situated upon a natural- ly terraced hill near the centre of the town, of ample proportions and built in the sedate colonial style. Its lofty porch is supported by round columns; its gabbled roof and keystone lintels bespeak its colonial origin; the interior retains much of its original design; the ceilings are high, the woodwork heavy and of antique design, and carved corner cupboards with circular shelves and brass- hasped hinges and knobs of the doors add unique ornamentation.
"Separate and to the east of the mansion proper stands a quaint two-storied, two- roomed building-the office. About the walls of the lower apartment are book shelves, while in both rooms are deep fireplaces and inglenooks suggesting quiet comfort. Here indeed was a retreat for the book lover, a haven of rest for the weary."
It was from this historic residence that the theodolite belonging to Colonel Hollingsworth's grandfather, Henry Hollingsworth, the noted surveyor appoint- ed by Lord Baltimore and used in laying out the city of Philadelphia, was taken by the British soldiers when marching from the Chesapeake to attack Philadel- phia just before the battle of Brandywine. Here remained intact until 1898, all the beautiful old furnishings of the period of its construction, including the family silver, cut-glass, and monogramed china handed down for generations. Tarnished coins, musty papers of historical value, implements of antique design long since dulled by rust, and the cradle that rocked the heroes to be, now gath- ered to their fathers, laurel-crowned. The house was occupied by Colonel Hol- lingsworth until his death, September 29, 1803, when it passed to his descendants of the Partridge family. At the death of their last representative in 1898, it was sold and purchased by a descendant of his daughter Mary Husbands (Hol- lingsworth) Gilpin, and is still retained in the family. Among the papers ac- cumulated there, were the original proceedings of the first Maryland state assem- bly ; a copy of the proceedings of the Maryland convention held at Annapolis, August 14, 1776, to which both Joseph Gilpin and Colonel Henry Hollingsworth were delegates, printed in 1778. One of these was the property of Joseph Gilpin and is now in possession of his great-great-grandson, William P. Gilpin, the subject of this sketch. There were also a great number of other papers of re- markable historic interest, most of which are still in the possession of the family.
Colonel Henry Hollingsworth married (first) in 1769, Sarah (b. Sept. 21, 1748, d. Dec. 27, 1775), daughter of William and Mary Husbands of Cecil county, Maryland, by whom he had three children :- Mary Husbands Hollingsworth, (b. Apr. 26, 1772, d. Nov. 21, 1850), married (first) John Gilpin, above mentioned, and (second) March 31, 1819. Frisby Henderson, of Frenchtown, Cecil county, Maryland; William Hollingsworth, and a child that died in infancy. He mar- ried (second) February 14, 1776, Jane Evans, (1749-1835) by whom he had four children, none of whom left issue except, the eldest, Hannah, (1782-1844) who married James Partridge, (1775-1835), whose heirs occupied the Hollings- worth mansion until 1898.
HENRY HOLLINGSWORTH GILPIN, son of John and Mary Husbands (Hol- lingsworth) Gilpin, was born at Elkton, Maryland, March 23, 1804, and died
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there April 7, 1857. He married Margaret Whann (b. Mar. 17, 1812, d. Aug. 7, 1881), daughter of William Ricketts, of "Union Mills," Cecil county, Mary- land, (b. 1778, d. 1838), and his wife, Mary Whann, (b. 1783, d. 1852) ; grand- daughter of Benjamin Ricketts, (1749-1795), and his wife Susanna; great- granddaughter of Thomas Ricketts and Mary, of Hunt Hill, Cecil county, Mary- land, (1703-1773).
WILLIAM RICKETTS GILPIN, second son of Henry H. and Margaret W., (Ric- ketts) Gilpin, was born at Elkton, Maryland, November II, 1834. He married September II, 1856, Anna Eliza (b. Nov. 6, 1839, d. Oct. 8, 1899), daughter of Aaron C. and Eliza Engle of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE GILPIN, the subject of this sketch is a son of William R. and Anna Eliza (Engle) Gilpin, and was born at Elkton, Maryland, April 29, 1869. He was educated in public and private schools at Elkton, and came to Philadelphia in 1886, and engaged in the jewelry business, which he has since followed. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution in right of descent from Col. Henry Hollingsworth, and Joseph Gilpin, of the Maryland Committee of Safety, Judge, etc. He is also a mem- ber of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; of the White Marsh Valley Country Club, and other social organizations.
Mr. Gilpin married (first) September 30, 1897, Nannie Haddock (b. Apr. 21, 1869, d. Nov. 2, 1898), daughter of Rear Admiral W. G. Buehler, U. S. N., of Philadelphia, and has one son, William Buehler Gilpin, born October 14, 1898, now being educated at Washington, D. C. He married (second) March 29, 1910, Maude Alma, daughter of George and Isabella Morris, of Philadelphia.
SAMUEL MARSHALL
JOHN MARSHALL, the pioneer ancestor of the subject of this sketch, came to Pennsylvania from the parish of Elton, County Derby, England, about 1686, and settled in Blockley township, Philadelphia county. He was a member of the Society of Friends and one of the early members of Darby Meeting, where he proposed intentions of marriage with Sarah Smith, who had come to Darby with her brother, Thomas Smith, from Croxton, County Leicester, England. Their marriage, December 19, 1688, was the first one solemnized in the Darby Meeting House after its erection. On his marriage John Marshall located in Darby township, then Chester, now Delaware county. He purchased a farm on Cobb's Creek, in Upper Darby in 1689 and added to it an additional plantation of 150 acres in 1692. He continued to own to his death IIO acres in Blockley, which he devised to his widow. He was an overseer of Darby Monthly Meeting, and active in local affairs, holding a number of township offices. He died November 13, 1729, and his wife Sarah survived until July 16, 1749. His will refers to Abraham Marshall, of West Bradford, Chester county, as "Cousin." This Abraham Marshall, the father of Humphrey Marshall, the famous botanist, came from Gratton, parish of Youlgreave, Derbyshire, in 1700. John and Sarah (Smith) Marshall, had three children, John, (1690-1749) married (first) Joanna Paschall and (second) Elinor Shenton; William, (1692-1727) married Mary Sellers; Thomas, of whom presently.
THOMAS MARSHALL, the youngest son of John and Sarah (Smith) Marshall, was born in Darby township, Chester county, February 10, 1694-5. About the time of attaining his majority he removed to Concord township, Chester county, and located on a farm near the present village of Concordville, where he erected later, in 1727, a house that has since been continuously occupied by his descend- ants. He died there about the year 1741. Thomas Marshall married, at Con- cord Friends Meeting, April 24, 1718, Hannah Mendenhall, who was born in Chester county, August 11, 1696, and died about 1770. She was a daughter of Benjamin Mendenhall, of Concord township, who with his brothers John and Moses, and a sister Mary Mendenhall, who became the wife of Nathaniel New- lin, came from Mildenhall, County Suffolk, England, in 1686. Benjamin Men- denhall, died in 1740, at an advanced age. He was many years prominent in lo- cal affairs, religious and civil, and was held in high repute. He was a member of the Provincial assembly in 1714, and held a number of minor offices. He married, April 17, 1689, Ann, daughter of Robert and Hannah Pennell, who had settled in Middletown township, Chester county in 1686. Ann Mendenhall, a sister to Hannah (Mendenhall) Marshall, became the wife of John Bartram, the famous founder of "Bartram's Gardens," the well known botanist and horticulturist. Hannah Marshall married (second) Peter Grubb the eminent ironmaster.
Thomas and Hannah (Mendenhall) Marshall, had nine children, two of whom died young. The three surviving sons were Benjamin, Thomas and John.
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The latter located in Birmingham township and later in Kennett where he be- came an extensive landowner, established mills, etc. He was the ancestor of the Marshalls, who were for a long time prominent paper manufacturers in Kennett,. and the iron manufacturers of Marshallton, New Castle county, Delaware.
THOMAS MARSHALL, second surviving son and fifth child of Thomas and' Hannah (Mendenhall) Marshall, was born in Concord township, Chester coun- ty, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1727. He inherited one-half of his father's; lands in Concord, and settled thereon, but died comparatively a young man in 1759. He married, August 19, 1752, at Concord Friends Meeting, Edith, daugh- ter of Nathaniel Newlin, one of the most prominent public men of his time in Pennsylvania, and his wife Esther Metcalf, and great-great-granddaughter of Nicholas Newlin, and his wife Elizabeth.
Nicholas Newlin, who was a member of the Provincial council of Pennsyl- vania, 1685 to 1688, and a Justice of the courts of Chester county, 1685-91, was long a resident of Mount Mellick, Queens county, Ireland. He was a man of considerable wealth for that period, and a devout member of the Society of Friends long before his emigration to America and suffered many distraints of goods for participating in the Meetings of Friends. This determined him to re- move with his family to Penn's colony in America, and Mount Mellick Meeting granted him a certificate dated 12mo. (February) 25, 1682-3, to remove with his family "Out of this Nation into New Jersey or Pennsylvania in America," in which they give him a high recommendation but add,
"But our Meeting is generally dissatisfied with his removing with his family, and hav- ing sufficient substance for food and raiment, which all that possess godliness in Christ Jesus ought to be contented with for we have brought nothing into this world and we are sure to take nothing out. And he hath given us no satisfactory reason for his removing, but our godly jealousy is that his chief ground is fearfulness of suffering here for the testimony of Jesus or courting worldly liberty."
He was accompanied to Pennsylvania by his wife Elizabeth, his sons Nathan- iel and John and daughter Rachel, sailing in the "Levee" of Liverpool. They settled on a tract of land in Concord township, Chester (now Delaware) county, where he built and operated a mill and was an important man of affairs. The early Meetings of the Society of Friends were held at his house as early as 1687, and continued after his death which occurred in May, 1699. Elizabeth Newlin the widow died in 1717.
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