USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Volume II > Part 53
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of William and Isabel Miller were William, Jr., Robert and Hugh, and possi- bly another who died before his father, since the will of the latter mentions a grandson, John Miller, who cannot be accounted for as a son of either of his surviving sons. At least five grandsons of William and Isabel Miller were soldiers in the Revolutionary war, Robert, son of William, Jr .; Robert, son of Robert; and William, Andrew and Hugh Long, sons of Andrew and Isabel (Miller) Long. Andrew Long, son of Andrew Long, Jr., was a captain in Magaw's regiment of the Flying Camp.
Hugh Long, third son of Andrew and Isabel (Miller) Long, also a lineal an- cestor of William S. Wallace through the marriage of his daughter Mary with Robert Wallace, son of James Wallace, was a lieutenant in the Flying Camp, participating in the Long Island and Jersey campaign of 1776, dying in 1777 of camp fever contracted in the service.
Isabel (Miller) Wallace, widow of James Wallace, of Warwick, survived him many years, living to an advanced age, with her sons, Robert and William, on the homestead plantation adjoining Neshaminy Church. Her father, Robert Miller, was the second son of William Sr. and Isabel Miller. He married Margaret Graham, a niece and legatee of John Gray, the eccentric elder of Neshaminy Church before referred to, and settled as early at least as 1735 on a plantation in Warrington near the Montgomery county line, where he died prior to 1750, leaving three sons, William, Hugh, and Robert, and one daughter Isabel, above mentioned.
James and Isabel (Miller) Wallace had six children: John, died young; Wil- liam, lived to old age unmarried; Jean, married John Carr; Robert, of whom presently ; Margaret, married Samuel Polk; Isabel, died unmarried.
ROBERT WALLACE, third son of James and Isabel (Miller) Wallace, was born in Warwick township, Bucks county, and spent his whole life there, dy- ing in 1850 at an advanced age. He was reared on the old homestead farm settled by his great-grandfather, William Miller. He was captain of a Com- pany of militia and later Paymaster during the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794, and was again out with his company in the war of 1812. Robert Wallace mar- ried, November 2, 1792, his cousin, Mary, daughter of Lieutenant Hugh Long, of Captain William Hart's company, Colonel Joseph Hart's Bucks county bat- talion of the Flying Camp, by his wife Mary Corbit. Robert and Mary (Long) Wallace had eight children, viz: Priscilla married William Hart; Eliza, mar- ried James Polk; Isabel, married Joseph Ford; Mary, married Mark Evans; James, of whom presently; Jane, married Charles Shewell; Margaret, died in infancy ; Rebecca, married William Ward.
JAMES WALLACE, only son of Robert and Mary (Long) Wallace, born in Warwick township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 29, 1800, lived on the old homestead where he was born until 1850, when he sold the farm that had been the home of his ancestors for one hundred and twenty-five years and removed to Montgomery county, where he resided for several years, subse- quently removing to Philadelphia, where he died January 27, 1886. He mar- ried February 14, 1833, Mary Ford, born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, April 4, 1807, died in Philadelphia, December 14, 1864, daughter of James Ford, of Monmouth county, New Jersey, of the family of Ford, originally Foord, of Hamilton Square, now in Mercer county, New Jersey, where he lies buried.
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and a descendant of John Foord, who with other Scotch Covenanters came over in the "Henry and Frances" in an expedition organized by George Scot, Laird of Pitlochie, landing at Perth Amboy in 1685. The wife of James Ford was Mary Power, of an ante-Revolutionary New Jersey family, living near Allen- town, New Jersey. The British troops destroyed her father's orchard. James and Mary (Ford) Wallace had issue, six children, viz: Mary Jane Wallace, born De- cember 5, 1833, married John Temple; John Bower Wallace, of whom present- ly ; William Wallace, born 1838, died 1840; Charles Irvin Wallace, born Decem- ber 15, 1840, died 1903, married, July 22, 1861, Anna H. Curlis; Rebecca Wal- lace, born 1844, died 1862; James, born 1849, died in infancy.
JOHN BOWER WALLACE, second child and eldest son of James and Mary (Ford) Wallace, was born in Warwick township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1836, died in Philadelphia, March 9, 1877. He was educated at the Hilltop Academy of Rev. Samuel Aaron, at Norristown, Pennsylvania, and came to Philadelphia when a young man. He was for many years one of the real estate assessors of the city, and at the time of his death president of the Asses- sors Association. At a meeting of the Board of Revision of Taxes, held March 10, 1877, the following resolution was adopted-"Resolved, that in the death of John B. Wallace, the public lose an officer of rare ability, integrity and useful- ness, and his colleagues and friends an associate and companion whose deport- ment and character as a Christian gentleman leave abiding traces on their memories, and commanded their respect and love".
John Bower Wallace married Maria Louisa Le Page, born July 25, 1834, died August 23, 1870, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Susanna (Gill) Le Page. Her father, Peter Le Page, was a son of Peter and Mary Le Page, of the Island of Guernsey, who with Philip and Mary (Baker) Gill, the parents of her mother, Elizabeth S. (Gill) Le Page, of the Island of Sark, another of the Channel Islands, all French Protestants, came to America, in 1818, landing at Baltimore, Maryland. Peter Le Page, Jr. died in Philadelphia in 1839, and his wife Elizabeth S. in 1892, at the advanced age of ninety years. They were married in Philadelphia, November 24, 1824, and were the parents of five chil- dren, viz: Peter Le Page, the only son, who went south and was a captain in the Confederate army during the Civil War, and died later in Savannah, Georgia; and three daughters, Mary Sophia, Selina and Maria Louisa.
John Bower and Maria Louisa (Le Page) Wallace had four children, viz: William Stewart Wallace, see forward; John Le Page Wallace, died at the age of eight years; Mary Jane Wallace, born March 18, 1866; James Wallace, born December 14, 1869, living.
WILLIAM STEWART WALLACE, eldest child of John Bower and Maria Louisa (Le Page) Wallace, was born in the city of Philadelphia, May 30, 1862. He acquired his education in that city. He studied law in the office of James W. M. Newlin, Esq., and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in April, 1883, since which he has been in active practice of his profession in that city. He is a member of the Law Academy, of which he was secretary in 1886; of the Penn- sylvania Bar Association. He has for a number of years devoted much of his leisure time to historical research, and is a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Bucks County Historical Society, the Site and Relic Society of Germantown and the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society. He is an elder of
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Summit Presbyterian Church, Germantown, and a member of the Board of Trustees. He married, June 8, 1888, Mollie Comfort, daughter of Jacob S. and Mary (Flack) Brand, of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
RICHARDS FAMILY
JOSEPH RICHARDS, of Newgate, parish of Whitney, Oxfordshire, England, pur- chased from William Penn, Lord Proprietary of Pennsylvania, 500 acres of land in that province. He removed to Pennsylvania at an early date, and was a juror. at the first court held for Chester county, February 14, 1682-83. Hazard ( Annals, p. 604) intimates that he was one of the nine persons elected to the first Assembly, but as none of the four known members are in the list there given, the latter were probably only the signers to the certificate of elections. Joseph Richards' land was taken up in Aston township, and is shown on Benjamin H. Smith's map of early grants and patents.
He was foreman of the grand jury, which, 8mo. 4, 1689-90, presented a bill of complaint, respecting public affairs, demanding that an account should be given of public moneys, and that a fee bill should be hung up in the courthouse.
Joseph Richards, Iomo. 5, 1688, conveyed to his son, Joseph, 300 acres of his original tract in Aston township. There being two of the same name, father and son, it is difficult to identify them in some cases, but the following deeds, undoubtedly, refer to the father.
By deed, dated September 8, 1693, David Lloyd granted, inter alia, to "Jo- seph Richards of the Town and County of Chester, Physician," a piece of meadow, or cripple, containing three acres, next to James Lownes's meadow, Urin Keen's meadow, etc. Joseph Richards, January 16, 1702-03, granted the same to John Bristow, who conveyed it to Jasper Yeates, December 20, 1705. David Lloyd, by deed, dated Imo. 1, 1696-97, conveyed to Jasper Yeates, a lot in Chester, which on June 12, 1699, Yeates conveyed to Joseph Richards, for six- teen pounds.
At a Quarterly Meeting of Friends, held at Chester, 6mo. 4, 1684, it was "concluded & agreed between Joseph Richards & Charles Ashcom about ye admeasuring of Land yt ye said Joseph shall pay Charles for ye same, without any further disturbance. The same is ended betwixt them the money is paid in p'sence of ye Meeting."
At a Monthly Meeting held at Chester, 10mo. 6, 1686, "the difference be- tweene Joseph Richards & Will™ Woodmansey offered to ye Meeting in order to a composure of ye same, Willm Woodmansey did acknowledge he spoke fool- ishly in comparing him to a London pick pocket & ye like & that he was grieved & sorry for ye same, wch Joseph Richards did accept desiring & intending here- by yt there be an end of strife from ye beginning to this day." At the same Meeting, 4mo. 6, 1692, it was "ordered by this Monthly Meeting that the exec- utors of Tho: Brassey deliver Joseph Richards his bill and that he pay the ex- ecutors the rent according to their demand, or els to appear the next months meeting, and show cause to the contrary, and that John Hodgkins and Robert Barber give him to understand hereof and that John Hodgkins deliver the aboesaid bill, upon the receiving a receipt of £4 5s. in part of £7 5s. given by John Bristow."
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Joseph Richards was one of the earliest physicians practising in Chester county, but where he obtained his medical knowledge is unknown. He died in 1710-II, in Chichester township. His will was dated 7mo. 6, 1705, and proved February 16, 1710-II. He left his son, Joseph, five shillings, and said Joseph's two eldest children, Susanna and Joseph, five shillings each; his son Nathaniel's three children, William, Nathaniel and Elizabeth, five pounds each; and made bequests to his son-in-law, Humphrey Scarlett; daughter, Anne Scarlett, and daughter, Susanna Lownes, and her four children, Joseph, James, Hannah and Susanna. The name of Joseph Richard's wife was Jane; she being mentioned at a court, held in the 4mo., 1689, as the mother of Anne Weaver.
Issue of Joseph and Jane Richards:
JOSEPH RICHARDS, JR., of whom later ;
Nathaniel Richards, lived in Aston twp .; d. 1700; m., about 1689, Mary, dau. of Richard Mason ; issue :
William Richards, d. young ;
Elizabeth Richards, m., about 1716, Roger Kirk;
Nathaniel Richards, of New Garden twp., Chester co .; d. 1730; m. Margaret Wiley, who m. (second) Thomas Rowland, (third) Evan Powell; Mary Richards, d. young.
Anne Richards, m. (first), 1686, Anthony Weaver; they declared their intentions of marriage before Chester Monthly Meeting, 4mo. 7, and 5mo. 5, 1686. Anthony "owned himself to be none of us," but was permitted to marry amongst Friends; he probably d. 1687, and Anne m. (second), before 1692, Humphrey Scarlett, who purchased the land of his predecessor, in Aston twp., and resided there for a time;
Susanna Richards, m., 1692, James Lownes, and had at least four children: Joseph Lownes, James Lownes, Hannah Lownes, Susanna Lownes.
JOSEPH RICHARDS, JR., was born in England, and came to Pennsylvania some time after his father, but from the same place, Newgate, parish of Whitney, county Oxon. He obtained a lease for 999 years, from February 25, 1685, from Ann Cesill and Thomas Cesill, widow and son of William Cesill (Cecil?), late . of Longcomb, county Oxon, for one moiety of 250 acres of land in Pennsyl- vania, purchased from William Penn. On 4mo. 9, 1691, this 125 acres, having by that time been laid out in Aston township, adjoining Carter's and Richard Mason's lands, Joseph Richards sold it to Joseph Carter, of Aston.
Joseph Richards, "the younger," of the town of Aston, gave a bond, 10 mo. 4, 1688, to Richard Crosby, of Middletown, in the sum of £400, to indemnify by deed or deeds, for land in Aston, "soe that it save harmless the abovesaid . Richard Crosby of and from all bonds, that the aforesaid Joseph Richards and Richard Crosby have Given unto Joseph Richards, ye Elder, bearing even date with these presents." As mentioned above, Joseph Richards, Sr., of Aston, on IOmo. 5, 1688, conveyed to his son, Joseph Richards, Jr., of same town, 300 acres; this adjoined lands of William Weaver, John Beal, Thomas Mercer, Ed- ward Walter, John Kinsman, and other lands of Joseph Richards, Sr. No doubt the bonds mentioned in previous deed were to secure the payment for this land. On February 24, 1712-13, John Wade and wife, and Thomas Bright and wife, Elizabeth, made a deed to Joseph Richards, of Chester township, for three lots in Chester. This recites that Philip Eilbeck and his wife, Lydia, June 18, 1702, conveyed to John Wade, the Essex House and plantation in Chester, formerly of his uncle, Robert Wade. John Wade, having laid out a part in lots, sold, but not conveyed, one lot to Thomas Bright, and two more to Joseph Richards, who built a messuage thereon. Wade and Bright now
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convey to Richards the three lots on north side of Bridge street, from the easterly side of Essex street, or King street, southward 176 feet.
Joseph Richards had apparently removed from Aston to Chester township, about 1712, and afterwards seems to have lived in the town of Chester. By the assessment lists, it appears that he returned to his Aston property in 1721, and continued to reside there until his death. Unlike his father, he does not seem to have been a member of the Society of Friends. His will is dated January 28, 1732-33, and proven January 5, 1735-36, in which he gave to his daughter, Sus- anna Barber, five pounds; to son, Edward Richards, one shilling; to daughter Dinah Linville, one shilling; to daughter, Elizabeth Johnson, five pounds; to daughter, Ruth Worrell, five pounds; and to son, Joseph, all the land, appoint- ing him executor.
Joseph Richards probably married in England, before coming to Pennsyl- vania ; his wife's name is unknown; she died before he made his will.
Issue of Joseph Richards :
Susanna Richards, m. James Barber, of Chester, and had a dau., Mary, m. John Young; Joseph Richards, eldest son, inherited his father's lands, and lived in Aston twp .; d. 1756; m. Lydia, dau. of James and Demaris Chick, of Phila., who d. in 1766; EDWARD RICHARDS, of whom presently ;
Dinah Richards, m., Feb. 9, 1713-14, Thomas Linville ;
Elizabeth Richards, m. (first) Francis Johnson, (second) Francis Simonson ; Ruth Richards, m. John Worrell, of Ridley twp.
EDWARD RICHARDS, second son of Joseph Richards, Jr., bought from his eld- er brother, Joseph, some of the land their father had left to the latter; a sur- vey of 100 acres, part of this was made for him March 2, 1721-22, and a draft of it shows fifty acres, adjoining, also bought by Edward from Joseph; so he must have bought from his brother just one-half of their father's 300 acres.
He also appears to have bought from Thomas Linville, a tract of seventy-one acres in Chichester, yet from the neglect to record the deed it is difficult to obtain full particulars of his land transactions.
He lived on his property in Aston township. His will is dated January 12, 1764, proven April 22, 1765. He desired to be buried at St. Paul's Church, Chester, by the side of his deceased wife, Elizabeth. To his present wife, Margaret, he devised a horse, two cows, six sheep, two hogs, with pasture, etc., for same with his son Jacob's creatures; also a home during widowhood and various articles of furniture, etc., and a mulatto girl, Maria, during her natural life. His little plantation, adjoining Daniel Brown, is directed to be sold, and the money divided between his seven daughters, Sarah, Rachel, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Susanna, Catharine and Martha. His plantation at the Hook is also to be sold, unless his son, Jacob, will pay one hundred and ten pounds for it, the proceeds also to be divided among the daughters. To the church wardens of St. Paul's Church, Chester, he devises three pounds, towards the purchase of a pall for the use of the church; to son, Jacob, "the whole of the plantation which I lived on and occupied in my lifetime;" to daughter, Sarah, his gold ring ; executors, John Fairlamb, Esq., and the testator's son, Jacob.
Edward Richards married (first) Elizabeth --- , (second), September 26, 1751, at Swedes' Church, Wilmington, Margaret Hogan; his children, all by his first wife, were:
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JACOB RICHARDS, of whom presently ;
Sarah Richards ; Rachel Richards; Rebecca Richards ; Elizabeth Richards; Susanna Richards ; Catharine Richards ; Martha Richards.
JACOB RICHARDS, only son of Edward and Elizabeth Richards, inherited his father's plantation in Aston township, Chester (now Delaware) county, and lived thereon all his life. By deed of April 13, 1772, he purchased from William Grubb, of Brandywine Hundred, New Castle county, 142 acres in Chichester township, Chester county, it being part of the Withers tract, shown on Smith's map. He also purchased, from different members of the Coburn family, land in Lower Chichester township, which they had inherited from Robert Langham.
By his will, dated January 8, 1789, codicil dated January 15, proved February 26, 1789, he bequeathed to his wife, Susanna, £50, furniture, two horses and four cows, ten sheep, and the use of the plantation, until his son, Jacob, should be twenty-one years old; to son, Edward, messuage lands, etc., in Chichester, for- merly of the Coburn's, he paying the testator's estate £450; to son, Jacob, the homestead, 250 acres, bounded by lands of Samuel Evans, James Barnard, Joseph Talbot, Joseph Askew, Mordecai Cloud and James Twaddel, according to a speci- fied line of division from the remainder ; to his five daughters, Anne Price, Eliza- beth Grantham, Susanna, Christiana and Sarah Richards, the residue of the real estate; wife and son, Edward, to be executors. The codicil provides for the wife's maintenance after Jacob came into possession of the homestead; she renounced the executorship, and letters were granted to Edward.
Jacob Richards married, January 6, 1757, at Holy Trinity (Old Swedes') Church, Wilmington, Susanna, who died August 10, 1794, daughter of Thomas and Ann Wills, of Middletown township, Chester (now Delaware) county. Per- haps this was not his first marriage, as we find in the records of Swedes' Church aforesaid, that a Jacob Richards and Rachel Ruth were married May 9, 1754. The children of Jacob Richards (supposed to all be by Susanna Wills, if indeed the other marriage were his) were:
Anne Richards; Edward Richards; Elizabeth Richards ; Susanna Richards ; Christiana Richards ; Jacob Richards ; Sarah Richards.
ANNE RICHARDS, eldest daughter of Jacob Richards, married (first) Samuel Price, (second), March 24, 1814, Joseph Marshall, Esq. By her first husband, Samuel Price, she was mother of Maj. Samuel A. Price, of Chester, a prominent politician, who was elected High Sheriff of Delaware county, 1834. He died at his residence, in Chester, March 22, 1868, in his sixty-fourth year. An obituary in the Republican said of him, in part :
"The deceased was extensively known, had conferred upon him several military distinc- tions, and had filled the office of High Sheriff of this County. During the last six or eight years he had retired from business and had confined himself very much to the society of his family. Major Price married Sarah Bickham, of Philadelphia, and died leaving a widow and a large family; of his daughters Sarah married Harry Lindsey, of Philadelphia, and
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Annie married, first, J. Gifford Johnson, of Delaware County, and second, Hiram Saunders. The Major's sons were: Samuel A., Jr .; Thomas Bickham; Henry Clay; Edward A., of Media, a member of the Bar, and local politician; William G .; John G .; and Joseph Wade, who served in the 5th Penna. Vol. Cavalry during the Civil War, and died in Media about 1872."
EDWARD RICHARDS, eldest son of Jacob, died unmarried. His tombstone, in St. Peter's Church graveyard, Chester, Pennsylvania, has the inscription: "Edward Richards, Esq., died April 13, 1794, aged 33 years, 5 months, 3 days."
ELIZABETH RICHARDS, second daughter, married, January 22, 1784, Charles Grantham, son of Charles Grantham, or Grantum, who was commissioned a Jus- tice of the Chester County Courts, as early as 1741, and married Catharine, daughter of Andrew and Margaret Morton, of Ridley township, by whom he had three sons, George, Jacob and Charles; the latter the husband of Elizabeth Rich- ards. Edward Stalker Sayres, Esq., furnished the following account of their family for J. Hill Martin's "History of Chester" (1877) : "Charles Grantham owned a farm of 128 acres adjoining the old Effinger property. The estate ex- tended from the Delaware River to the Chester road. He married Elizabeth Richards, daughter of Jacob Richards the elder, and had three sons, Isaac, George Richards, and Charles E., and one daughter Susan. None of them ever married. Isaac attended to his father's estate, George Richards Grantham studied law with Samuel Edwards, Esq., and was admitted to practice. Charles was engaged in business in Philadelphia and died in that city. The Granthams got into pecuniary difficulties about forty-five years ago, and were compelled to dispose of their farm; they all removed to Doylestown, and from thence to Illinois, where they died, as I have said unmarried. Isaac was the survivor; he died in the year 1858, and left his estate to Mrs. Samuel Anderson, of Chester. Charles E. Grantham died August 20, 1815, aged 17 years and 6 months, and is buried in old Chester churchyard.
"In company with my father, Edward Smith Sayres, I visited the old Grantham prop- erty on Oct. 26, 1873. We had quite a chat with the person who lives in the old Grantham house, which is situated about 200 yards from the river. The walls are two feet six inches in thickness, and the whole building is in excellent condition. The late owner, a Mr. Dennis, plastered the whole of the edifice fronting the railroad, and the two ends. I cannot imagine what it is done for, as the house was built of cut stone, and the side fronting the river still remains in its original state, looking far prettier than the portions covered with showy white plaster. * * * The Granthams were known through the country as Grants, and the rocks in the river opposite their house were called 'Grant's Rocks.' Our informant told us that they are to this day called by the same name. * * * My father says he recollects the Grantham family living in their new house on Chester road in a direct line back from the old one that still stands by the river-side and before described. The site is now occupied by the house of the late owner, Mr. N. F. X. Dennis, who has ingeniously turned the old Grantham quarry, which is situated near the house, into a fish pond. This quarry produced a stone from which Mr. Grantham manufactured scythe stones. They were extensively sold in Philadelphia, and branded as 'Crum Creek Scythe Stones.' * * * I cannot find who bought the property from the Granthams, I was told that the Bank of Delaware County sold it about 16 years ago to Mr. Dennis, of Philadelphia, a Frenchman, and an extensive manufacturer of quinine. This Mr. D. also bought the adjoining property, I think the Trimble property, which joined the Grantham's on the east. I do not know who the Granthams bought the property from. My father thinks it had been in the family a long time. I believe the Granthams were orig- inally of English descent, from the name, which is purely English."
CHRISTIANA RICHARDS, fourth daughter of Jacob Richards, married Pierce Crosby, of Crosby's Mills, Delaware county, son of Judge John Crosby (3d), a Captain in the Revolution, and Judge of the Delaware County Court, by his sec- ond wife, Ann Pierce. Judge Crosby was a son of John Crosby (2d), member of Provincial Assembly from 1768 to 1771, and Coroner of Chester county in 1771-
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72, by his wife, Eleanor Graham. John Crosby (2d) was a son of John and Sus- annah Crosby, early settlers on Ridley creek.
Pierce Crosby, born November 25, 1771, died July 26, 1853, was many years president of the Bank of Delaware County. Christiana Richards was his first wife, and they had issue:
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