Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 28

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II > Part 28

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

It is through Geoffrey, son of Sir Thomas Assheton, who married the daughter and heiress of Thomas Manners, of Shepley, that the Ashtons of Philadelphia descend from the Asshetons of Ashton-under-Lyne.

JONATHAN ASSHETON, a scion of this family, came to Philadelphia about 1683. He was born in county Lancaster, England, and was a relative of Robert Assheton, who came to Philadelphia in 1699, father of Ralph Assheton, the prominent Pro- vincial Councillor, etc., said to have been a cousin of William Penn.

Jonathan Assheton was admitted a freeman of the city of Philadelphia, July 13, 1795, as shown by the "Minutes of the Common Council of Philadelphia," in the writing of Robert Assheton, as clerk of the Council. Jonathan Assheton was one of the early members of Christ Church, and the book containing the earliest records of that church has on its title page this inscription, "Jonathan Assheton, his Book," and these early records are in his handwriting. His official designation was "Clerk of the Church of England in America." His signature appears among others. to a letter to the Bishop of London, of March 31, 1715, testifying to the character of Rev. Francis Phillips, then rector of Christ Church. He was buried at Christ Church, January 23, 1727-8. His wife, Hannah, died August 22, 1726. and is also buried at Christ Church.

ISAAC ASHTON, son of Jonathan and Hannah Assheton, born in Philadelphia, April 19, 1709, was baptized at Christ Church, by the name of "Ashton," in which form the name has since been spelled by the family. He died in Philadelphia, November 15, 1751. He married Sarah Fordham, who died January 29, 1735-6.

WILLIAM ASHTON, son of Isaac and Sarah ( Fordham) Ashton, was baptized at

I132

ASHTON

Christ Church, Philadelphia, December 21, 1736. He was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War, died in Philadelphia, September 24, 1800, and was buried at Christ Church. He married at Christ Church, November 4, 1758, Marion Catharine Easterly, born June 13, 1736, died December 17, 1800, also buried at Christ Church.

GEORGE ASHTON, son of William and Marion Catharine ( Easterly ) Ashton, born in Philadelphia, December 14, 1774, was engaged in shipbuilding in his native city during the active years of his life, being many years senior member of the firm of Ashton & Rambo. On September 1, 1794, he was commissioned by Gov- ernor Thomas Mifflin, Second Lieutenant of the Ninth Company of Artillery, in the Artillery Regiment of the City of Philadelphia, his name being spelled in the commission, "Asheton." He married Elizabeth Hughes, who died March 2, 1844. George Ashton died April 18, 1838, and was buried beside his paternal ancestors in Christ churchyard.

George and Elisabeth (Hughes) Ashton had issue:

WILLIAM EASTERLY ASHION, of whom presently ; DANIEL, RAMBO ASHTON, of whom later.

REV. WILLIAM EASTERLY ASHTON, son of George and Elizabeth (Hughes ) Ashton, was born in Philadelphia, May 18, 1793, and was baptized at Christ Church, of which his ancestors had been members for several generations. He, however, was converted to the Baptist faith by Rev. William White, pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Philadelphia, and was licensed to preach March 23, 1814; in the following year was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church at Hope- well, New Jersey, where he served one year, and then resigned to accept the pastorate of the Baptist Church in Blockley, Philadelphia, where, during the next eight years, he established a reputation as an eloquent and forceful preacher. During this period he founded and became the head of a seminary for girls, in which he lectured on the natural sciences. On March 7, 1833, he accepted a call to the Third Baptist Church of Philadelphia, to which he continued to minister until February 23, 1835, when he resigned, owing to ill health. He was a member of the Theological Institution of the Baptist General Convention of Philadelphia, which became Columbian College, Washington, D. C., in 1821, later Columbian University. He was the first president of the Baptist General Association of Pennsylvania, and chairman of its executive committee. . He was elected the first head of Haddington College, but declined, accepting, however, the professorship of natural science in that institution. The degree of M. A. was conferred upon him by the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University.

Rev. William Easterly Ashton married (first) Harriet, daughter of Hudson and Hannah (Woolston) Burr, of New Jersey, granddaughter of Joseph and Mary Burr, and great-granddaughter of John Burr, and his wife, Susanna, widow of Robert Owen, of Merion, Philadelphia, and daughter of William Hudson, of Philadelphia, an account of whose ancestry and descendants is given elsewhere in these volumes. Rev. William Easterly Ashton married ( second) Sarah Keen, born in Philadelphia, October 1, 1797, died June 17, 1875, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Knowles) Keen, of Philadelphia, and seventh in descent from Joran Kyn, one of the chief Swedish proprietors at Upland, now Chester, Pennsylvania,

1133

ASHTON

long before the grant of the Province to William Penn, and who is referred to in these volumes as an ancestor of the Yeates, Brinton, McCall, Swift and other prominent Colonial families of Philadelphia and vicinity.

Joran Kyn (the Swedish form of the name, later anglicized into Keen), came to America with Governor John Printz, in the ship "Fama," which sailed from Stockholm, August 16, 1642, and arrived at Fort Christina, New Sweden, on the Delaware, February 15, 1643. In a "Rulla" issued by Printz at "Kirrstina," June 20, 1644, and still preserved in the royal archives at Stockholm, he is mentioned as a soldier in the Governor's Life Guard, and in a "List of Persons living in New Sweden, March 1, 1648," he is similarly described. He acquired an un- usually large tract of land in New Sweden, extending along a great part of the eastern bank of Upland Kill, now Chester Creek, for a mile and a half above its mouth, at the northwestern portion, upon which Crozer Theological Seminary is now located; it was three-quarters of a mile in width, and reached to the east along the river as far as Ridley Creek.

Hans (Jolın) Keen, son of Joran Kyn, is supposed to have been born on the Delaware soon after the arrival of his parents; he at least became the possessor of two hundred acres of the land granted to his father as early as 1678. He died prior to 1693, and his widow, Willemka, several years later married Casper Fisck, of Gloucester county, New Jersey, and survived him many years; her maiden name and parentage are unknown.

Matthias, eldest son of Hans and Willemka Keen, born at Upland, removed in his youth farther up the Delaware and became a considerable landowner in Oxford township and vicinity, in Philadelphia county. He took a deep interest in religious matters, and was one of the largest contributors to the support and ad- vancement of the Swedish churches in and around Philadelphia, particularly to the fund for building Gloria Dei Church in 1700. He was chairman of the build- ing committee, having in charge its erection, and was a trustee and vestryman there until his death in Oxford township, July 13, 1714. He was returned as a member of the Provincial Assembly, October 8, 1713, qualified as such and par- ticipated in the proceedings of the session of 1713-14, but died before the time for his re-election.

Matthias Keen married Henricka Clausen, or Johnson, daughter of Jan Claus- sen, an early settler on the Neshaminy, in Bristol township, Bucks county, where he had obtained a grant of a large tract of land from Edmond Andross, under the jurisdiction of the Duke of York, later confirmed by patent from William Penn. All the children of Jan Claussen, according to Dutch custom, took the name of Johnson. Matthias Keen and his wife participated with the other heirs of Jan Claussen in the distribution of the real estate in Bristol township, Bucks county, part of which descended to their children. Matthias Keen married (second) Sarah -- , who survived him. He had six children, at least five of whom were by his first wife.

Jolin, son of Matthias and Henrietta (Claussen) Keen, was born in Oxford township, Philadelphia county, in 1695, and inherited from his father four hundred acres of land there and in Lower Dublin township, as well as an interest in his mother's real estate in Bucks county. He took an active part in public affairs, and was one of the petitioners to the Assembly for the passage of an act confirm- ing the title of the early Swedish settlers to the land taken up by them, and which

II34

ASHTON

had descended to the present holders, thus ending the controversy between his compatriots and the Proprietary Land Office ; through his efforts a bill was intro- duced but failed of passage. He was a member and warden of Gloria Dei Church, and one of the largest contributors towards rebuilding the parsonage of that church, destroyed by fire in 1717. He died February 22, 1758.

John Keen married, November, 1713, Susanna, eldest daughter and second child of James Steelman, of Great Egg Harbor, Gloucester county, New Jersey, by his wife Susanna, daughter of Christian Stoy, an early Swedish settler on the Delaware, mentioned as a member of Wiccacoe congregation in 1693. Susanna (Steelman ) Keen died November 9, 1753. John and Susannah Keen were the parents of seven sons and four daughters ; Mary, eldest daughter, married Toby Leech; Matthias, second son, married (first) Mary Swift, 1743, sister of John and Joseph Swift, the progenitors of the Swift family of Philadelphia, an account of which is given in these volumes.

James, eldest son of John and Susannah (Steelman) Keen, born in Oxford, Philadelphia county, married there Mercy Ashton, daughter of Joseph Ashton, of Lower Dublin township, and granddaughter of Joseph and Jane Ashton. James Keen died intestate at an early age, and letters of administration were granted on his estate to his widow, Mercy, December 14, 1742. On March 29, 1745, she married Isaac Williard, whom she also survived, and died in 1760.

John, son of James and Mercy (Ashton) Keen, born in Oxford township, March 4, 1738-9, inherited land in Oxford township, but sold out there in 1762 and removed to Lower Dublin township, and later to Northern Liberties, Phila- delphia. In 1782 he purchased a portion of the old Keen homestead devised by his grandfather to Jacob Keen, in Lower Dublin township, and settled thereon. He was one of the original trustees of Lower Dublin Academy at its incorpora- tion in 1794, and served until his death in 1808. He was also a vestryman of Trinity Church, Oxford, but both he and his two wives are buried at Pennepack Church.

John Keen married ( first ) May 6, 1762, Sarah Swift, born November 28, 1743, died September 6, 1782, daughter of Dr. Samuel Swift, for thirty years a vestry- man and warden of Trinity Church, Oxford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Duffield, of "Benfield," in the Manor of Moreland. Dr. Samuel Swift was a grandson of John Swift, many years a Colonial Justice and member of Assembly from Bucks county. John Keen married (second) in 1785, Mary, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Fisher ) Hall. She was born September 29, 1742, and died February 14, 1816, having survived three husbands-Jacob Laughlin, Simeon Cornell and John Keen, respectively. John Keen died May 17, 1808. His will, cited January 28, 1802, proved May 23, 1808, devised his estate to his wife, Mary ; sons, John and Jacob; children of his son, Samuel, and daughter, Sarah; to to his daughter, Esther Kenteen. In Poulson's Daily Advertiser, of May 30, 1808, appears the following obituary notice of John Keen :

"Died at his farm in the County of Philadelphia, the 17th instant, deeply lamented by his relatives and friends, Mr. John Keen, in the 70th year of his age. He was an affectionate father and husband, and a kind and social neighbor. During his long and painful illness, a Christian fortitude and pious resignation were strongly evinced. A long train of friends and acquaintances who followed his remains to the grave manifested the esteem in which he was held."

II35

ASHTON

Samuel, son of John and Sarah (Swift) Keen, married Sarah, daughter of John Knowles, of Oxford township, and they were the parents of Sarah Keen, wife of William Easterly Ashton.

As before stated, many of the descendants of Joran Kyn intermarried with prominent Colonial families of Philadelphia. His granddaughter, Catharine Sandelands, born January 26, 1671, married Jasper Yeates, and was the ancestress of that distinguished family. Anne Yeates, daughter of Jasper and Catharine, became the wife of George McCall, the progenitor of that family in Philadelphia.

Mary, daughter of Jonas and Sarah (Dahlbo) Keen, and a great-granddaughter of Joran Kyn, born September 29, 1728, married Jonathan Crathorne, and their daughter, Mary, born August 4, 1765, married John Montgomery, of Philadelphia, son of James Montgomery, of Eglinton, Monmouth county, New Jersey, and great-grandson of William Montgomery, of Brigend, Ayreshire, Scotland.

Dorothy, another daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Keen) Crathorne, born April 24, 1767, married September 15, 1791, Richard Dale, the distinguished American Naval Officer.

Margaret, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Keen) Stout, born 1764. married General William MacPherson.

Margaret McCall, born April 6, 1721, married February 3, 1759, Joseph Swift, a brother of Mary Swift, the first wife of Matthias Keen, before mentioned.

Anne. daughter of Samuel and Anne (Searle) McCall, born March 30, 1745, married June 8, 1763, Thomas Willing, son of Charles and Anne (Shippen) Willing.

SAMUEL KEEN ASHTON, son of Rev. William Easterly and Sarah (Keen) Ash- ton, born April 6, 1822, died February 11, 1895; received his early education at Germantown Academy, and from there entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1837, and received his degree of A. B. in 1841, and later the degree of A. M. Entering the Medical Department of the same University he received his degree of M. D. in 1843, and engaged in active practice of his profession, which con- tinued during a long and active career. He was a member of the Philadelphia County Medical Society, and of the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania. He was the author of a "Memoir of the Rev. William Easterly Ashton, A. M.," his father, published in annals of the American Baptist Pulpit 1860.

Dr. Ashton married November 7, 1844, Caroline Melinda, daughter of Thomas Tucker Smiley, M. D., by his wife, Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Esther (Hawkins) Loud, of a family long associated with the affairs of New Castle county and the eastern shore of Maryland.

Dr. Samuel Keen Ashton was buried in the churchyard of St. James the Less, the funeral services being held in Christ Church, with which parish his ancestors had been prominently identified for six generations.

Dr. Samuel Keen and Caroline M. (Smiley) Ashton had issue:

Caroline M. Ashton, b. Oct. 6, 1845, d. Dec. 14, 1846;

Sarah E. Ashton, b. Dec. 6, 1846, d. Nov. 15, 1851 :

Kate Ashton, b. May 20, 1849; m. Newcomb B. Thompson, and had issue : Edith Thompson, m. James Alan Montgomery;

Ellen B. Thompson, m. Walter Pyle; Katharine Ashton.

William Easterly Ashton, b. Oct. 12, 1851, d. Oct. 28, 1851 ;

1136

ASHTON

Harriet M. Ashton, b. March 28, 1853;

Emma L. Ashton, b. Aug. 21, 1855, d. Dec. 16, 1895; m. Dalton, son of Rev. Benjamin Dalton Dorr, rector of Christ Church, Phila., by his wife, Esther Odin, and had issue : Odin Dorr, Ashton Dorr, Emma Ashton Dorr;

William Easterly Ashton, b. June 5, 1859, received early education at private schools of Phila .; entered the Univ. of Pa. 1875, class of 1879; later entered Medical Dept. of same institution and received degree of M. D. 1881; received same degree at Jefferson Medical College 1884; received degree of LL. D. from Ursinus College 1904; was Demonstrator of Clinical Obstetrics and Chief of Clinic Diseases of Women at Jeffer- son Medical College; is Professor of Gynecology to the Medico Chirurgical College, and Gynecologist to the Medico Chirurgical Hospital, Phila., having previously filled same position at Phila. Hospital. He is member of Philadelphia County Medical Society, the Obstetrical Society. of Phila., the Medical Jurisprudence Society of Phila., the American Medical Association; fellow of the American Gynecological Association, one of founders of Congress Internationale de Gynecologie et D'Obstetrique, and con- nected with number of other medical and scientific organizations; he is author of "Compendium on Essentials of Obstetrics," which has been translated into Chinese, of work on gynecology (1905), as well as of frequent contributions to journals on sub- jects appertaining to surgery. He is vestryman of Christ Church and secretary of vestry; a member of Society of Colonial Wars, of Pennsylvania Society Sons of the . Revolution, and member of University and Racquet Clubs of Phila .; m. Oct. 5. 1891, Alice Elizabeth, dau. of Mitchell G. Rosengarten, and they had issue :

Dorothy Ashton, b. July 27, 1892, d. April 2, 1893.

Esther Ashton, b. Oct. 10, 1860;

Sarah Keen Ashton, b. May 2, 1862; m. Dec. 29, 1898, Charles Edouard Qnbil;

Samuel Keen Ashton, b. June 4, 1863, d. June, 1898;

THOMAS GEORGE ASHTON, M. D., b. April 6, 1866; m. Mary Lincoln Henszey; of whom presently;

Sophie M. Ashton, b. May 18, 1868; m. Henry, son of John and Elizabeth (Evans) Tucker, and had issue :

William Ashton Tucker, b. Oct. 2, 1900;

Elizabeth Russell Tucker, b. Aug. 14, 1902.

THOMAS GEORGE ASHTON, son of Samuel Keen and Caroline M. (Smiley) Ashton, born April 6, 1866, received his early education in the Germantown Acad- emy and the Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia, and was graduated a Doctor of Medicine by the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 1888. After serv- ing a term as interne in the Philadelphia General Hospital, he became actively attached to the teaching corps of his alma mater in the branch of Clinical Medi- cine, having been appointed Demonstrator on that subject and Assistant Visiting Physician to the Jefferson Medical College Hospital. In 1903 he was elected Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine by the Trustees of Jefferson Medical College. In 1904 he was elected by the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at that institution. He has held the position of Visiting Physician to St. Mary's Hospital, and the Philadelphia Polyclinic Hospital. He is a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania : a Fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, and a member of various other medical societies. Is visiting physician to the Philadelphia General Hos- pital, and the author of various articles appertaining to the subject of internal medicine. He is a member of the Markham Club, the Racquet Club, and of the Society of Colonial Wars.

Dr. Thomas George Ashton married November 7, 1900, Mary Lincoln, daugh- ter of William P. Henszey, Sc. D. (Univ. of Penna.) and a member of the firm of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, by his wife Anne B. Hitchcock.

Mary Lincoln (Henszey) Ashton is ninth in descent from John Howland, a passenger on the "Mayflower," landing at Plymouth, Mass., in 1620, through his daughter Hope; fifth in descent from Benjamin Lincoln of Hingham, Massachu-

1137

ASHTON

setts, a member of Provincial Council of Massachusetts, from 1753-70; and fourth in descent from Benjamin Lincoln, his son, born in Hingham, Massachu- setts, January 24, 1733. He was chosen in 1762, Justice of the Peace for the county, and one year later Justice for the Province. In 1770, he represented Hingham in the Provincial Legislature, and in 1774 was made the representative of the town of Hingham, in the General Court, ordered by Governor Gage to convene at Salem in the following month. Governor Gage postponing the Court, it resolved itself into a Provincial Congress, with John Hancock as president, and Benjamin Lincoln as secretary. He was elected to the second Provincial Congress, which met at Cambridge in February, 1775, and was a member of the Third Provincial Congress from May to July, 1775, and during the last week of its session, acted as its President, in the absence of James Warren. In 1771. Benjamin Lincoln was appointed Major of the Third Regiment of Suffolk, then commanded by Josiah Quincy, and one year later was made its Lieutenant Colo- nel. In February, 1776, he was commissioned by the Council, Brigadier General, and the following May promoted to the rank of Major General, with general direction over the military affairs in Massachusetts. He was severely wounded. October, 1777, during the operations of General Gates against Burgoyne before Saratoga. He was commissioned by Congress February 19, 1777, a Major- General of the Continental Line, and in September, 1778, was appointed to com- mand of the American Army in the Southern Department. At the surrender at Yorktown, he conducted the vanquished army of Lord Cornwallis to the field where they were to lay down their arms. On October 30, 1781, General Lincoln was appointed Secretary of War by Congress, and he retained that position until the close of the Revolutionary War. In January, 1787, he was placed in command of the State Troops of Massachusetts to put down the Shay Rebellion, and in 1788 was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts. In 1789 he was appointed Collector of the Port of Boston by President Washington, and during the autumn of the same year was appointed with Cyrus Griffin and David Hum- phreys, a commissioner to treat with the Creek Indians on the borders of the Southern States, and in April, 1793, a commissioner to treat with the Indians north of the Ohio, his colleagues in the latter commission being Beverly Ran- dolph, of Virginia, and Timothy Pickering. He was one of the founders of the Society of the Cincinnati, and was its president until his death on May 9, 1810, at the age of seventy-seven years. In 1780 Harvard University conferred upon General Lincoln the honorary degree of Master of Arts.

Mary Lincoln (Henszey) Ashton is also sixth in descent from Captain Eben- ezer Hitchcock, born August 24, 1694, a soldier in the French and Indian wars, who received his commission as Lieutenant from Governor Shirley, at Louisburg, June 28, 1745; seventh in descent from Joseph Sheldon, of Sheffield, a represen- tative from that town in the General Court of Massachusetts in 1708, and a direct descendant of Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury; tenth in descent from George Wyllys, second Governor of Connecticut, born in Fenny Compton, county Warwick, England, 1570, died Hartford, Connecticut, March 9, 1645, who ardently espoused the cause of the Puritans, and in 1636 sent his steward, William Gib- bons, with twenty men, "to purchase and prepare for him an estate suitable to his rank" in Hartford Connecticut, on which Gibbons was to erect a house and pre- pare for the reception of his master and his family. Governor Wyllys arrived in

1138

ASHTON

1638, and at once became an important member of the Connecticut Colony. He was one of the framers of the Constitution in 1639, and was chosen one of the six magistrates of the colony at the first election, holding that office until his death. He was chosen Deputy Governor in 1641, and Governor in 1642.

Mrs. Ashton is ninth in descent from John Pynchon, Governor of Springfield, Massachusetts, born in England in 1621, who accompanied his father William Pynchon, named by Charles I, in March, 1629, as one of the original patentees in the Charter of the Colony of Massachusetts, who came over with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and was selected one of his eighteen assistants, but returned to England in 1652, and died at Wraysburg, Buckinghamshire, October 29, 1662.

John Pynchon, the son, was Colonel of the First Regiment of Hampshire county and was in active service during King Philip's War, and the first French war. He was appointed one of the commissioners to receive the surrender of New York by the Dutch in 1664; was a deputy to the General Court of Massa- chusetts, 1659-65; assistant magistrate under the first Charter, 1665-86; coun- cillor under the presidency of Dudley, 1686, under Sir Edmond Andros, 1688-9, and under the new charter from 1693 to his death on January 7, 1703. He mar- ried October 30, 1644, Amy, daughter of Governor George Wyllys, above men- tioned, and their daughter Mary, married August 6, 1670, Captain Joseph Whit- ing, Treasurer of Connecticut for thirty-nine years, having succeeded his father who had held the same office for thirty-seven years ; Mrs. Ashton being eighth and ninth in descent, respectively, from these two worthy officials.

She is also ninth in descent from William Ames, D. D., "of famous memory ;" Fellow of Christ College, Cambridge, and driven from England for non-conform- ity ; sent by the States General of Holland to the Synod of Dort to "aid the Presi- dent of the Synod by his suggestions;" and author of the "Medulla Theologiae" and other works, whose portrait, painted in 1633, hangs in Memorial Hall, Cam- bridge. Eighth in descent from Urian Oakes, fourth president of Harvard Col- lege, of whom Cotton Mather says, "as a theologian deservedly famous, a truly charming orator, a learned and orthodox pastor of a church at Cambridge, a most sagacious president of Harvard College, a recipient of the highest commenda- tions for piety, learning and eloquence."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 28

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