Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 26

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978

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Catharine Conyngham Peters, b. Feb. 11, 1853; unm .;

Joseph Thompson Peters, b. June 24, 1861, d. Sept. 6, 1862;

Stephen Elliot Peters, b. July 27, 1863, d. June 25, 1864;

Charles Quintard Peters, b. July 16, 1866, d. unm., Aug. 2, 1894;

Anna Mary Peters, b. Atlanta, March 16, 1868; m. April 5, 1888, Henry Morrell Atkin- son, b. Nov. 13, 1862, son of George and Elizabeth (Staigg) Atkinson, of Brookline, Mass .; a leading capitalist of Atlanta, Georgia, prominent in social and church affairs there.

FORTITER

LEVICK ARMS.

LEVICK FAMILY.

The Pennsylvania family of Levick was of French origin, the name being originally written in France, Leveque or Levesque, but the Huguenot ancestor of the American family, having sought relief from religious persecution, settled in England, and the name became Anglicized, having been spelled Levick, the same as the French name of Leveque was pronounced.

The Lord Mayor of London, at the time of the Spanish Armada, married Eliza- beth Leveque. There was a tradition in the Levick family, transmitted from father to son to the present date, that there was a Lord Mayor of London by the name of Levick living at that time, but recent investigations show that the Lord Mayor married a Levick, as above stated, a fact which was doubtless the founda- tion for the tradition.

RICHARD LEVICK, the first of the name to emigrate to America, was supposed to have come from Derbyshire, from the fact that it is recorded in "Besse's Suffer- ings," that one Robert Levick and - Brugh had property seized for military fines, which they had refused to pay from motives of conscience, and Richard Levick, being a Quaker, it was supposed he came of the same family. The Levick family, however, had been long settled in Sheffield, England, and a member of the family still residing there recently wrote as follows :

"My branch of the family comes from Sheffield. My mother tells me it was our family that first introduced the manufacture of cutlery there, and down to my grandfather's time there was in every generation at least one Levick, a Master Cutler of Sheffield; my grandfather himself being Master Cutler three times."

This same correspondent forwarded to a member of the American family a copy of the coat-of-arms of the Sheffield Levicks, of which he says :

"I have been told that the cross-cutlet shows that it was originated in the time of the Crusaders. It is my knowledge that it has been in the family at least sev- eral generations and I believe that it is only of late years that people have been allowed to adopt coats-of-arms. It seems to be probable that one of our ancestors was a Crusader."

RICHARD LEVICK, the ancestor of the American branch of the Levick family, was a resident on the Delaware, in what is now Kent county, state of Delaware, in the year 1680, and probably earlier. The territory now comprising the state of Delaware was then under the jurisdiction of the Duke of York, and what be- came Kent county, November 25, 1682, after coming under the jurisdiction of William Penn, was known as the county of St. Jones, and Sussex county was known as Deal; the three counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex, then became "Territories of the Province of Pennsylvania," and so remained until 1776, at first sending representatives to a general assembly of the province, but later main- taining a separate assembly.

Richard Levick purchased of an Indian, named Christian Heteloke, six hundred acres of land in Kent county, and settled thereon with Mary, his wife, probably prior to the date of the quaint old deed from the Indian, recorded at Dover, in liber B, vol. 1, page 139, which is as follows :

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February the twenty-fourth one thousand Six hundred eighty.

Know all me by these present I, Christian Heteloke have received full Satisfaction for the Indian purchase of Six Hundred Acres of Land of Richard Levetts and doe warrant and Defend itt from any person or persons whatsoever unto Richard Levett him his heirs and assigns as

Witness my hand this Day and yeare above Written.

Testes, George Martin,

Will: Rodney.

Witnesseth my hand, Cheristo Wess ye Indian.

This was probably the same tract of land surveyed to Richard Levick by Ephraim Herman, Surveyor, November 30, 1680, "By vertue of a Warrant from St. Jones Cort," and called "Shoulder of Mutton," for which the grant from Ed- mond Andross, Captain, General, etc., for the Duke of York, bore date prior to the Indian deed, above quoted. It was situated on "the West syde of Dellaware Bay and next adjoyning John Brinckloo's Land called 'Lisbon' beginning att a corner & marked re-oake of John Richardson's Land called Northampton stand- ing by the syde of a small Branch, etc.," the "small branch," later known as Little Creek, bounding one entire side of the tract.

These dates being old style it would seem that the survey ante-dated the Indian grant, indicating that he was already settled thereon at the time of receiving the recorded grant from Heteloke. As a further confirmation of this theory, Richard Levick was one of the signers of a petition to Edmond Andross, bearing the same date as the Indian deed, for the establishment of a more convenient place of hold- ing court.

Richard Levick also purchased, or had surveyed to him, by Thomas William, a tract called "Tidbury," "on the south side of Dover River," which he and his wife. Mary, in open court, in 1684, did "freely & vallentaryly give for the Countiyes use, all theire right and titell of one hundred ackers," upon which to erect a court- house and other public buildings.

Richard Levick's career as a public-spirited pioneer of the new country in whose upbuilding and development he bid fair to become a prominent factor, was cut short by his death in or about the year 1686, leaving a widow, Mary Levick, and an infant son, Richard Levick, born May 20, 1680.

Prior to 2mo. 7, 1687, Mary Levick had married John Richardson, Senior, one of the earliest English settlers of Kent county, he having obtained a grant of land there from Edmond Andross in 1676. He was one of the most prominent men of that section and was a member of William Penn's Council in 1683, and a mem- ber of Provincial Assembly. On the date above noted, "John Richardson Senior orders to be recorded yt he nor his heyrs Executors Admrs nor assigns will nor shall Ever Charge any Thing for victualls Cloathing Washing nor Lodgeing to ye acct of Richard Levvitt his wife's son,-Dureing his meanority." (See Kent County Deeds, liber B, vol. I, page 28).

On February 28, 1687-88, John Richardson, Senior, enters into articles of agreement for the lease of the plantation late of Richard Levick, deceased, to Francis Wett, for the term of five years.

On June 14, 1698, he conveys to his "son-in-law Richd Levite of ye sd County of Kent," "all that tract called Cardiffe, being part of a tract called York contain- ing 600 acres situated on the north side of Little Creek, formerly in tenure of William Stephens & laid out for 200 acres," ".for divers good causes & Considera- tions & more especially for ye love good will & affection wch I ye sd John Richeson haue & always doe beare unto my sd son-in-law, Richd Levitt."

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John Richardson entered into a further agreement, dated January 30, 1691-92, duly recorded in Kent county deeds, by which he obligated himself, "his heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns to be att all the Charge Requisitt and necessary for dyetting, and Cloathing, Lodgeing and Scooleing of the said Rich- ard Levitt until hee shall bee at the age of Twenty one yeares and the said Rich- ard Levitt shall not at the age of Twenty one yeares or ever after for ant Charge before Specified be accountable to me my heirs etc."

John Richardson, at his death, devised to his widow, Mary, a tract called Will- ing Brook, in Little Creek Hundred, a part of which, one hundred acres, Mary Richardson, on February 10, 1725-26, conveyed to her grandson, John Levick, son of Richard Levick (2), which descended to John's son, Clayton Levick. The re- mainder of the tract of Willing Brook Mary Richardson, by her will dated No- vember 6, 1739, devised to her son, Richard Levick, for life, and then to her three grandsons, Richard, William and Robert Levick, and it continued the home of the Levick family for several generations.

RICHARD LEVICK (2), son of Richard and Mary Levick, was born in Kent county, 3mo. (May) 29, 1680, as shown by the following certificate of record in that county :

John Richardson Senr Doth request mee by ye account of ye midwife and his mother now ye wife of ye said John Richardson ye pre deceased of Richard Levett yt ye son of Richard Levett deceased is now at ye age of seven years onely Lacking from this date untill ye 20th day of this instant month. Witness William Berry, Clerk of Kent County, this 5th day of ye 3d Moth 1687 : as Orst of ye said John Richardson and ye mother of ye said Child.

Richard Levick, the second, married Mary -, maiden name unknown. As previously shown he received by deed of gift from his stepfather, John Richard- son, June 14, 1698, the plantation of two hundred acres, called "Cardiffe," where he probably resided until 1720, when he conveyed it to Charles Maram. On Feb- ruary 1, 1718, Richard Levick, of Kent county, yeoman, conveyed to Stephen Paradee a plantation situated in Dover Hundred on the north and south sides of a branch called by the name of Pipe Elm Branch, containing five hundred and fifty-seven acres, which was probably the greater part of the six hundred acres originally taken up by his father, Richard Levick, Sr., and represented by the Indian deed before recited. The later years of his life were probably spent on his mother's plantation of Willing Brook, in Little Creek Hundred, which by her will was devised to him for life.

Richard Levick died intestate, and letters of administration were granted on his estate to his son, William Levick, and Jonathan Griffin, on April 6, 1735. His first wife, Mary, the mother of his children, having died, he married (second) Ellen Harrison, of Kent county, whom he seems also to have survived.

Issue of Richard and Mary Levick:

John Levick, m. Hannah and settled on the 100 acres of the "Willingbrook" plantation, conveyed to him by his grandmother, Feb. 10, 1725-6, and d. there in 1730. his will being probated Dec. I, 1730. It devises his plantation to his wife, Hannah, for life, then to his sons, John and Clayton. Hannah d. about 1751, and in Oct., 1751, John Levick, the son, then a resident of Little Creek Hundred, enters into bond to convey the plantation, late his father's, to his brother, Clayton, who is then occupying it. The deed in pursuance of this bond is dated Feb. 13, 1652.

John Levick, the son, m .- Hunn, and had several daughters and a son, Caleb Levick, who emigrated to near Sheppardstown, Va., and m. there, Rachel Bed- inger, of a prominent family of that section. This Caleb Levick was a Captain

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in the Revolutionary War, and received for his services at the close of the war a grant of large tracts of land further south, to which he removed, and we have no further record of him or his descendants.

Richard Levick (3), was living at the date of his mother's will, Nov. 30, 1730, but did not long survive her, letters of administration on his estate being granted Feb. 21, 1733, to Honour and Richard Levick, probably his widow, and father; if he left any issue we have no knowledge thereof ;

WILLIAM LEVICK, of whom presently ;

Robert Levick, mentioned in his grandmother's will as joint legatee of the real estate devised to his father for life, with his brothers, Richard and William, and since Will- iam seems to have come into possession of the entire plantation, it is presumed Robert died without issue.

Note .- The sons are given above in the order mentioned by their grandmother, but we have no knowledge of their proper order in respect to age, and Mary Levick was probably the eldest child;

Mary Levick, probably d. unm. prior to the date of her grandmother's will, dated Nov. 30, 1730, as she is not mentioned therein; on Jan. 11, 1721, Mary Richardson, the grandmother, "for natural love and affection for her grandchildren, Mary Levitt, William Levitt, and John Levitt, sons and daughter of Richard Levitt and Mary, his wife," gives and grants unto Mary Levitt, "my Negro Girl called Hannah, aged four years; to grandson William Levitt, a Negro Girl called Phillis, aged 2 years; grand- child John Levitt, Negro Dirk, aged 17 years;"

Sarah Levick, a legatee under the will of her grandmother, of whom we have no further record.

WILLIAM LEVICK, son of Richard and Mary Levick, and grandson of Richard and Mary Levick, of Kent county, Delaware, was the ancestor of the branch of the family with which this narrative is concerned. He married Sarah, daughter of John and Elizabeth Crippen, of Kent county; her father being a considerable landowner there. The marriage certificate of William and Sarah (Crippen) Levick, as well as those of each succeeding generations of his descendants, with one exception, in the direct line of descent to Lewis Jones Levick, of Philadelphia, are in possession of the Levick family.

WILLIAM LEVICK (second), son of William and Sarah (Crippen) Levick, was born in Little Creek Hundred, Kent county, now Delaware, December 12, 1738, died on his plantation in that Hundred, October 23, 1803. He was an elder of Duck Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends, and a memorial of him is entered on the records of that meeting, a copy of which is in the collections of the Penn- sylvania Historical Society. He married, somewhat late in life, Susanna Man- love, born 3mo. (May) 26, 1752, died 2mo. (February) 9, 1802, daughter of Mark Manlove, of Kent county, by his wife, Anne Hall, daughter of John Hall, a Colonial Justice of Kent county, and a large landowner there. The Manlove family were very prominent in the affairs of the three lower counties, and were descended from Mark Manlove, an early settler on the eastern shore of Maryland, who died in 1660. His son, Mark Manlove, received a grant of land in Kent county, in 1680, and he and William Manlove were both commissioned Justices of that county, January 2, 1689-90, recommissioned a year later and several times subsequently ; and William and George Manlove were members of the Colonial Assembly from Kent county, 1689-92-93.

A memorial of Susanna (Manlove) Levick, written by her friend, Sarah Cow- gill, describes her as a woman "of great sweetness of disposition and marked Christian humility of Character."

William and Susanna (Manlove) Levick had a large family of sons and daugh- ters; but two of the former survived childhood, William Levick, 3d., and Eben- ezer, of whom presently. William Levick, 3d., married and left several children,

....

Elizabeth W. Levick

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two of whom, Robert R. and Richard Levick, became prominent merchants of Philadelphia. The former was an influential and prominent member of the Society of Friends. He married and has left a number of descendants.

EBENEZER LEVICK, son of William and Susanna ( Manlove) Levick (named for his uncle, Ebenezer Manlove), was born in Little Creek Hundred, Kent county, Delaware, 7mo. (July) 16, 1791, and was reared and educated in the simple faith of the Society of Friends, of which during his whole life he remained a consistent member. Left doubly an orphan at the age of twelve years, the next four years were spent among relatives in Kent county, and at the age of sixteen he came to Philadelphia to prepare himself for a mercantile career, and took up his residence with a cousin, Sarah Fisher, also a native of Kent county, Delaware, where he continued to reside until his marriage in 1816.

Ebenezer Levick became a prominent merchant and business man in other lines in Philadelphia. He was one of a company who erected large tanneries at Pocono mountains, in Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and frequently made trips to that section in his exercise of supervision of the work there. He was a man of much kindness of heart and great force of character, and was highly esteemed in busi- ness circles, as well as by those with whom he was associated in charitable and philanthropic work in which he took a deep interest. His many good qualities drew about him a host of friends, among whom he was known as a generous, genial, kindly-hearted man, and a useful and public-spirited citizen. He early manifested a deep interest in the public charities and philanthropic enterprises of his neighborhood. He was one of the earliest members of the Northern Dis- pensary of Philadelphia, and of the Northern Soup Society, of which he was for some years the treasurer. In his own family he was not only affectionate and tender, but very indulgent, both as husband and father. His widow says of him, "My children all remember their father, and what a bright cheerful disposition his was; how fond he was of them, and how thoughtful for their best welfare; how happy he strove to make all at his home, and how that home was indeed a happy one. Our married life of thirty-three and a half years was very happy, although we knew many vicissitudes and our cup was not an unmixed one. But, I repeat, the love and tender care of my husband never failed me, and He who permitted in best wisdom, trials to come upon us never left us without some pres- ent sense of his loving kindness and tender mercy toward us."

Ebenezer Levick died suddenly of apoplexy, on October 1I, 1849, in his fifty- ninth year, mourned by all who knew him.

Ebenezer Levick married May 1, 1816, Elizabeth Wetherill Jones, born in Phil- adelphia, June 5, 1789, daughter of Isaac Jones, of Philadelphia, born in Block- ley township, Philadelphia county, November 25, 1743, died at his residence at Second and Pine streets, Philadelphia, 1807. He married at Burlington Monthly Meeting of Friends, New Jersey, November 26, 1778, Mary Wetherill, born in Burlington, New Jersey, 1745-6, died at the residence of her son-in-law, Ebenezer Levick, in Philadelphia, December 11, 1829, daughter of Samuel Wetherill, of Philadelphia, and Burlington, New Jersey, by his wife Mary Noble, born May 31, 1722, daughter of Joseph Noble, by his wife, Mary Smith, daughter of Samuel Smith, of Burlington, New Jersey, by his wife Elizabeth Lovett, and granddaugh- ter of Richard Smith, of Brahan, Yorkshire, the ancestor of the "Burlington Smiths," some account of whom is given in our sketch of the Logan family, in

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these volumes. Joseph Noble was a son of Abel Noble, of Bucks county, by his wife, Mary Garrett, daughter of William Garrett, who came from Leicestershire, England, in 1684, and settled in Chester county, an account of whom and some of his descendants is also given elsewhere in these volumes; and a grandson of Will- iam Noble, who came from Bristol, England. Samuel Wetherill, the grandfather of Elizabeth Wetherill (Jones) Levick, was a son of Thomas, grandson of Chris- topher, and great-grandson of John Wetherill, who lived at Lancaster, England. Christopher settled in Burlington county, New Jersey. Both he and his son, Thomas, were Provincial Councillors of New Jersey. (See Wetherill Family). James Jones, the paternal grandfather of Elizabeth W. Levick, was born in Merionethishire, Wales, August 31, 1699, and when an infant accompanied his parents, David and Katharine Jones, to Merion, Philadelphia county, where he married, at Haverford Meeting, October 8, 1727, Hannah Hayes, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Lewis) Hayes, and granddaughter of Richard and Izatt Hayes, who emigrated from Ilminton, Pembrokeshire, Wales, and settled in Haverford, about 1697. All the ancestors of Elizabeth Levick were members of the Society of Friends, before their settlement in America, and she was reared, lived and died in that faith.

James Jones died at his residence in Blockley at the age of ninety-two years, and this instance of longevity was duplicated in the case of his grandson, Samuel Wetherill Jones, the only brother of Elizabeth Wetherill (Jones) Levick, a well- known and highly respected citizen of Philadelphia, who died November 21, 1870, in the ninety-third year of his age. He and his wife, Mary (Coe) Jones, having celebrated the sixty-eighth anniversary of their marriage, on April 7, 1870. He was thirty-five years a director of the Philadelphia Bank, and thirty-seven years a director of North American Insurance Company. He was a lifelong resident of the city of Philadelphia; an obituary notice in the Philadelphia Press, has this to say of him, "It is not our purpose unduly to eulogize the dead and yet it is but just to say that after a long business career, after a very long private life, there remains of our friend and fellow townsman, the grateful memory of a spotless reputation, and an integrity of character which knew no decay in a life extending over nearly a century.'

For one year after their marriage, Ebenezer and Elizabeth W. (Jones) Levick resided with her mother. After the death of her husband in 1849, she lived at their old home, near the old Northern District Friends Meeting House, with her children, William M. and Hannah ( Moore) Levick, for ten years. In 1859 she took up her home with her son, Dr. James J. Levick, and her daughter, Mary J. Levick, at the southwest corner of Twelfth and Arch streets, where she spent the remainder of her long life, dying November 21, 1886, aged ninety-seven years, six months and sixteen days. She was a lifelong member of the Society of Friends ; for the first twenty-eight years of her life of the Monthly Meeting of the Southern District of Philadelphia, then for forty-two years of the Northern Dis- trict and the last twenty-seven years of her life of the Western District, on Twelfth street.

In both intellect and character Elizabeth W. Levick occupied a high place, though not prominent in public or organized work she was beloved, respected and honored by a very large circle of friends. Conservative and throughly English in her ideas of the sphere of woman ; a Quaker by descent and conviction; thorough-

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ly American in her in-born patriotism, and love of and respect for the institutions of her native country ; "her catholicity embraced all who came fairly within the circle of her acquaintance, and who were worthy of her regard and friendship. As a hostess, though dignified and graceful, she was nevertheless, genial, and pleasant, and her cordial welcome and polite attention made the most diffident feel at ease in her presence, while those who were much accustomed to society felt it an honor as well as a pleasure, to be her guests."

When, in early manhood her eldest son took an active interest in anti-slavery, non-resistance and other reforms, and was in close touch with the leaders of these movements, it was his custom to bring them to his parents' home, during their visits to the city ; and while his mother did not share the ultra views of her son and his friends, nevertheless leading Abolitionists and other reform leaders found a kindly welcome at her hands and cherished a lifelong respect and admiration of the queenly woman. Again when her youngest son, a physician, brought to his fire- side, men of science and letters from distant states and countries, they received a like welcome and impression. Men of other faiths and nationalities, became her fast friends and admirers. Among her English friends were men of high standing in their native country, and clergymen of different denominations sought and enjoyed her companionship. Among her favorites was General Taffini, com- mander of the Army of Southern Italy, who having married a Philadelphia lady, spent a winter in the city and was a frequent visitor at her house, and became greatly attached to her. This friendship led to a kind message being received by her from King Humbert of Italy. Having read in the papers of King Humbert's visit to his subjects in Naples when that city was suffering from the scourge of cholera, to look after their welfare, she said with emphasis, "That is the right kind of a king. I hope he may have long and prosperous reign, and that he may be blessed in every way." One of her family, writing to the wife of General Taffini, mentioned the expression of Mrs. Levick, and her husband, appreciating the earnestness of her appreciation of the king's act, from his knowledge of the woman, mentioned it to King Humbert, and he said to the General, in a very earnest manner. "Say to that lady that I thank her very much and although I did very little at Naples and deserve no credit whatever, the kindness and sincerity of her admiration and prayers, coming as they do, from such a noble woman, are most grateful to me." For a number of years she was totally blind, but at the age of eighty-four years an operation was performed under the direction of her son and her sight was entirely restored and until her death thirteen years later she was able to see perfectly. It is impossible in this brief sketch to do justice to the character of this noble woman, suffice it to say, that it is to such American mothers that we owe the perpetuation of the best of our American institutions

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Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 26

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 978

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978