USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 51
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BONSALL, RICHARD, with his wife Mary and family, came from Mould- ridge, in Derbyshire, England, and set- tled in Darby (now Upper Darby) in 1683. They had not been very long married at the time of their arrival here, as a number of their children were born in this country. They were both members of the Society of Friends. Richard died in 1699, and his wife one
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year earlier. Their son Obadiah, born in England, was married to Sarah Be- thell ; their daughter Rebecca to Daniel Hibberd, and their daughter Ann to Josiah Hibberd. Their descendants are very numerous.
BOOTH, ROBERT, came from Knares- borough, in the North Riding of York- shire, England, in 1713, and settled in Bethel township. He was in member- ship with Friends, and brought a cer- tificate to Concord Meeting. In 1715, he married Betty Caston. Their chil- dren were Joseph, Mercy, Robert, John, Mary, Ann, and Elizabeth. He died in 1727, leaving his wife to survive him. A Charles Booth, a member of the Society of Friends, was settled within the bounds of Chester Meeting earlier than Robert settled within the bounds of Concord. So far as is known he had three children, viz. : Mary, Ly- dia and Jonathan.
BOWATER, JOHN, before he became a settler within our limits, had visited New England, Maryland and Virginia as a publie Friend. This was about the year 1677 or 1678. In the year 1684, he, with his wife Frances, arrived in Philadelphia, and after remaining there a short time, removed to Middle- town township, in this County. As early as 1687, meetings were held at his house, which in due time became " Middletown Meeting." The consist- ency of this couple as exemplary mem- bers of the Society of Friends, was fully maintained at their new home. Their children were, Mary, William, Eliza- beth, John and Alice. John, the elder, died before 1705, his wife surviving him till 1720. It is believed that his place of residence in England was Bromesgrove, in Worcestershire, where he had suffered persecution on account of his religion.
BOWATER, THOMAS, was an early set- tler within the limits of Chester Month- ly Meeting of Friends. In 1686, he married Sarah Edge, when he probably settled in Edgmont township. Their children were, Sarah and Thomas. His wife died in 1692, but in 1701 he was again married to Frances Barnet, a wi- dow of Chichester, and in 1720 he re- moved to New Garden.
BRACEY, THOMAS, from Wilaston, Cheshire, England, arrived at Chester (Upland) in 1682. He appears to have been a man of means and of reliable integrity-was a member of the So- ciety of Free Traders, and at a meeting of that society held at London on the 29th of May, he was placed at the head of a committee of twelve to reside in Pennsylvania and manage the affairs of the society here. He was a member of the first Provincial Assembly held in Philadelphia in 1683, and doubtless took a part in that held at Chester pre- viously. But notwithstanding the pub- lic trusts with which he was charged, he found time to give constant atten- tion to the meetings of the Friends, of which he appears to have been a highly respected member and an esteemed minister. He made a settlement in the upper part of Chester township, but in his latter years lived in the bor- ough. He died in 1691, leaving two daughters to survive him, Rebecca, who was married to Thomas Thomson of New Jersey, and Mary, who became the wife of Francis Worley.
Thomas Bracey had suffered distress of his goods in his native country for preaching the gospel and for absenting himself from the national worship.
BRADSHAW, SAMUEL, an original pur- chaser of land in England, came from Oxton, County of Nottingham, and set- tled in Darby township in 1682. In 1686 he was married to Mary Duckett "at the house of Thomas Duckett of Skoolkill." This house was then a regular place of meeting, and was con- nected in forming a monthly meeting with Haverford and Merion. He did not take a very active part in meeting affairs.
BRADSHAW, THOMAS, was from the same place as the above named Sam- uel, and was probably his brother. He arrived the next year after Samuel, and settled on an adjoining traet of land in Darby township. He was married to Sarah, the daughter of Samuel Levis, in 1687. She died in 1701, he sur- viving her till 1727. As a Friend, he was more active in business matters than Samuel. Ile left four children, Hannah, John, Mary, and Sarah.
BRINTON, WILLIAM, with his wife Ann, son William, and daughters Elizabeth
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and Esther, emigrated from Nether Gournall, parish of Sedgeley, Stafford- shire, (near Birmingham), England, in the year 1684. He arrived in Phila- delphia, and while detained there in making arrangements for a permanent settlement, he presented two certifi- cates to a Friends meeting, "held at the governor's house" on the 4th of the 9th mo. (November) 1684. One of these certificates is from the monthly meeting of Dudley, and is dated the 15th of the 11th mo. 1683. The other is from " his dealers & Correspondents," and is dated January 14th, 1683. They were accepted by the meeting. Having made two separate purchases of two hundred and two hundred and fifty acres of land, he, in 1685, had them located adjoining each other in what is now Birmingham township; the lo- cation which was then a little outside of the bonnds of civilization, having been selected on account of the supe- rior quality of the ground. Here he erected his cabin, and during the first winter, which was a severe one, suf- fered great privations, the Indians min- istering to his necessities by bringing timely supplies of game. William Brin- ton was born in 1630, and was fifty- four years of age when he arrived in this country. His wife, who was the daughter of Edward Bagley, was five years younger. The year before his arrival William had suffered religious persecution in having goods distrained to the value of £5 11s. to satisfy a fine of 26s. imposed under the non-con- formity act. After other settlements had been made in his neighborhood, meet- ings were sometimes held in his primi- tive dwelling, generally designated " the Cabin." William for a time sided with the Keithites, but upon reflection resumed his former position with Friends. He was a man of a religious turn of mind, but withal managed his affairs so well, that at the time of his decease in 1700, he was possessed of a large estate, particularly in lands. His wife died one year before him. In a narrative of her life drawn up by himself, he says " she was much respected in old England as well as in these parts of the world." They were both buried on the mansion farm. Besides their children mentioned, he had a daughter Ann, who intermarried with John Ben- nett in England in 1684. They immi-
grated shortly afterwards and settled on a part of her father's purchase. Of the other two daughters, Elizabeth married Hugh Harris, and Esther, John Willis. William, the only son, married Jane Thatcher. The descendants of William Brinton are very numerous, and very many of them occupy highly respectable positions in society. It is believed that all bearing the name of Brinton in Pennsylvania are descended from him. For more than a century the name was pronounced Branton.
BRINTON, WILLIAM, the only son of the above William, was born about the year 1667, emigrated with his father, and in 1690 was married to Jane, the daughter of Richard Thatcher, a neighboring set- tler of Thornbury, in accordance with the good order of the Society of Friends. In 1704 he built a stone house on the mansion farm to supply the place of the cabin of his father, which is still standing and in a good state of preser- vation; he was also one of the pro- jectors and owners of a company mill, the first built in Concord township. In 1713 he represented Chester County in the Provincial Assembly. Both William and his wife were children at the time of their immigration ; both saw the country an unbroken wilder- ness, and both lived to see it well set- tled, cultivated, and improved. Will- iam died in 1751, aged 84 years, and Jane in 1755, aged 85 years. Their children were Joseph, William, Edward, Mary, Ann, and John. Joseph was a man of more than ordinary ability, and was frequently employed in public trusts-was a Justice of the Courts of Chester County from 1730 to 1751, the time of his death, and frequently repre- sented the County in the Provincial As- sembly. Though born in this country, it is said he possessed the appearance, disposition, and character of an Eng- lishman. Edward, the third son, born in 1704, succeeded his brother as a Justice of the Court, and also repre- sented the County in the Provincial Assembly. He died in 1799.
BRISTOW, JOHN, was settled in Chester township as early as 1686. He pur- chased and resided on a tract of land next below the Wade tract on the river. His occupation was that of an edge- tool manufacturer, and as there was a
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malt-house on his premises, he probably carried on the business of malting also. He was a Friend, but took no very active part in the meetings of that So- ciety. He was a Justice of the Court, was a member of Council from 1687 to 1690, and also represented Chester County in the Provincial Assembly one year. His death occurred in 1694. By his will, dated the same year, he gives all his property to his three chil- dren, John, William, and Hester, who were all minors; and in the event of their death, his brother Richard of Bristol, England, was to be his heir. He, with Caleb Pusey, was appointed to superintend the building of the first meeting-house at Chester, towards the finishing of which he bequeathed £6. He owned three negroes at the time of his decease. John Salkeld subse- quently became the owner of and occu- pied the Bristow estate. John Bristow migrated from Bristol in England or from the neighborhood of that city.
BROOKE, WILLIAM, one of the active participants and a Captain in the Revo- lutionary war, was born in Limeric, Montgomery County, about the year 1750. He was very active in the mili- tary operations in the neighborhood while the British army was in Phila- delphia and its neighborhood. One of his daring exploits is detailed in the general narrative contained in this volume. He resided in Haverford township, and while in service his dwelling was plundered of nearly every article of food and furniture, so that his wife with two young children was obliged to turn out in the snow and seek a shelter elsewhere.
BROWN, JAMES, with his wife Hannah, was among the earliest English set- tlers within our limits, having fixed their rsidence in Marcus Hook, before William Penn obtained his grant from King Charles. Their son, James, was born at that place on the 17th of the first mo. (March) 1681. In 1684 he purchased part of Walter Martin's " house and settlement" called Middle- town in Chichester on Naaman's Creek, where he subsequently resided. He was a member of the Society of Friends, but was not very zealous. His name occurs on the list of jurors, summoned to attend the first two courts under the
Proprietary government. In 1688, he conveyed two acres of land to Friends, for the use of the Society, upon which Chichester meeting-house was subse- quently erected.
BROWN, WILLIAM, born in North- ampton County, England, in 1656, was convinced of the truth of Friend's doctrines by the preaching of Wm. Dewsbury. It is probable he arrived about the same time as the Proprietary, and having settled in Chichester, was in 1684 married to Ann Mercer of Chester meeting. After some time he removed to Nottingham, where meet- ings were held at his house till 1709, when, by order of the Quarterly meet- ing, they were held in the new meeting- house that had been erected there. " He was of a loving disposition, a serviceable member and elder in the church, being a pattern of plainness, and bore the marks of a true Christian." By trade he was a maltster. He died in 1746, in the ninety-first year of his age.
BROWN, JOHN, was a resident and taxable of Marcus Hook or vicinity as early as 1677. He served on the first jury empanneled in Pennsylvania, of which there is any record. There is no evidence that he was a Quaker.
BUFFINGTON, RICHARD, was residing in Upland as early as 1677. In 1679 he purchased, in conjunction with John Grubb, a tract of land west of Chester Creek, above Chester which they called " Hopewell of Kent." In 1688 Richard Buffington resided in Aston, and served the office of constable for that town- ship. In 1739 at the age of eighty-five, it is said, that he assembled at his own house at Chester, one hundred and fif- teen decendants, his eldest son then present being aged sixty years. The same tradition mentions this son as the first born of English parents in Penn- sylvania. The records of Chester Monthly Meeting, testify to an earlier " first born," and the fact that Richard Buffington had removed to Bradford as early as 1708, where he continued to reside, renders it very probable that he had no honse at Chester. There is, however, reason to believe that he was married more than once, and that his descendants were very numerous. In
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religion he was a Baptist, and was present when the first Baptist organi- zation was effected in 1715. By his will, made in January, 1748, shortly be- fore his death, he bequeathed "to Owen Thomas, minister of the Anna- baptists' Society held at Jolin Bentley's in Newlin," five pounds, and to the Society, twenty pounds. Many of his numerous descendants became Friends.
V
BUNTING, SAMUEL, the first of the family of that name who settled with- in our limits, did not arrive till 1722, when, being a Friend, he presented his certificate to Darby Meeting. In 1727, he married Martha the daughter of Josiah Fearne. Samuel, though a very pious man, was addicted to making verses. He left a poetic account of his voyage to America, from which we learn that it was a very unpleasant one. He was detained five weeks waiting for the vessel, the Neptune, to proceed to sea, was sixty-five days on the water, and running out of provisions was obliged to land at Hampton, in Virginia. From that place the passengers walked to Pennsylvania.
BUSHELL, JOSEPH, with his wife Sarah, and two daughters, Jane and Abigail, emigrated from England in 1683, and settled in Bethel township the next year. The family were Quakers, but Jane, the daughter, inter- married with Walter Martin, & man who appears to have had a particular dislike to the doctrines of that sect. Abigail became the wife of Nicholas Pyle of Concord, and maintained her standing with Friends. Joseph Bushell was one of the trustees to take the conveyance of the ground upon which Chichester meeting-honse was erected. He died in 1708. He, with Enoch Flower, brought a joint certificate from Brinkworte Monthly Meeting in Eng- land, which was presented to the meet- ing at Philadelphia.
CALVERT, JOHN, with Judith his wife and family, emigrated from England, and settled in Upper Providence town- ship as early as 1685. Two of their children-Daniel and Mary-were born in Providence, but how many, besides one named Joshua, were born in Eng- land, is not known. They were Quakers.
CALDWELL, VINCENT, came from Der- byshire, England, about the year 1699, and brought a certificate to Darby Monthly Meeting, of which, for a time, he was a member. Though a young unmarried man he was a preacher of some note, and during his sojourn at Darby, made a religious visit to Mary- land with the approbation of the meet- ing. In 1703 he was married to Betty Pierce, daughter of George Pierce, of Thornbury, and soon after settled in Marlborough, Chester County, where he died in 1720, aged 45 years. Ile con- tinued to be an approved minister till his death. His wife did not marry again, though she survived him thirty- seven years, having removed to Wil- mington a short time before her death, which happened in 1757, in the seventy- seventh year of her age. She lived an exemplary life, attending strictly to her religious duties, and towards its close appeared in the ministry. She was a native of Gloucestershire, England, having immigrated with her father in 1683.
CAMPANIUS, JOHN, or John Campa- nius Holm, accompanied Governor Printz as chaplain to the Swedish co- lonists brought over by him in 1642, and remained here until 1648. His place of residence was doubtless at Tinicum, at which place, on the 4th of September, 1646, he consecrated a Swedish church-the first house of worship erected within the limits of Pennsylvania. Campanius was born at Stockholm in 1601, and having passed through his school studies with credit was, for a long time, employed as the teacher of an orphans' seminary in his native city. After his return to Sweden he was made first preacher of the admiralty, and became rector of an important parish. He died in 1683, aged eighty-two years. While he re- mained here he made himself acquaint- ed with the language of the Indian tribes, and translated Luther's Cate- chism into the idiom of the Delawares; copies of which are still extant. The work that bears his name was written by his grandson, Thomas Campanius Holm, partly from memoranda left by his grandfather. The work is so little reliable that, for the credit of all con- cerned, it would have been well if it never had been written.
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CARTER, EDWARD, migrated from Aston, in the parish of Bampton, Ox- fordshire, England, and by trade was a carpenter. In 1682 he purchased 250 acres of land while in England, which, in 1684, was located in Aston town- ship. He arrived here as early as the Proprietary, and was a member of the first jury empanneled for the county of Chester. At first he resided in Chi- chester but subsequently removed to his land that had been located in Aston, where he was living in 1691. He was a member of the Society of Friends, but was never very active as such and probably left the Society.
CARTER, ROBERT, only son and heir of the above Edward. In 1688 he married Lydia Wally, probably a niece of Robert Wade, or of his wife. They had a son John to whom the Aston property was deeded in 1717. They also had two daughters, Prudence and Hannah. They were Friends; and Ro- bert was one of a committee appointed by the Quarterly Meeting to fix the site on which Providence Meeting-house was afterwards erected.
CARTLIDGE, EDMUND, came from " Ridings, in the county of Darby," Eng- land, and settled in Darby, now Upper Darby township, in 1683, with his wife Mary. As a member of the Society of Friends, the records of Darby Meeting show that he was faithful and atten- tive, while as a citizen he was prompt in the performance of his duty. He was a purchaser in England of 250 acres. At the time of his death, be- sides his mansion tract, he held land in Plymouth township. His children were John, Mary and Edmund. An elabo- rately carved tombstone, represented by a cut on page 385, was erected to his memory in the Friends' burying ground at Darby. When the Society deter- mined to exclude gravestones, this one was doubtless buried. It was found in digging a grave some years since.
CHADSEY or CHADDS, FRANCIS, as early as 1684, lived in Chichester, as the court records show that he was ap- pointed constable for that township the following year. How early he removed to Birmingham and settled near the well known ford on the Brandywine that bears his name, is not certainly
known. He was a member of the So- ciety of Friends, and in ]695 was mar- ried to Grace Stanfield according to the usages of that Society. Their children were Elizabeth, John, Grace, Betty, one other daughter, and son Francis. He erected a " corn mill" on his property in Birmingham, but its exact location is not now known. In society he held a high position, was in easy circum- stances, and was frequently called upon to transact public business. He served two years in the Provincial Assembly. He died in 1713 after having made his son John his principal heir. His widow not very long after his death married Gaiwen Stephenson.
CHANDLER, JACOB, came from Eng- land prior to 1685, and settled in Chi- chester. He was a Friend, and the Monthly Meetings of Chichester were sometimes held at his place of resi- dence, which he called " Jacob's Well." Having united with the Keithites, he was disowned by the Quakers. He was alive in 1704.
CHANDLER, JOHN, an early colonist and landholder of Chichester, died in 1704, leaving no children. He does not appear to have been a Quaker.
CHURCHMAN, JOHN, came from Saffron Waldron, Essex county, England, in 1682, in the seventeenth year of his age. In 1696 he married Hannah, daughter of Thomas Ceery of Aston, and settled in Chester township. In 1704 he removed to Nottingham, where he died in 1724, aged 57. Three of his children-George, Dinah and Susanna-were born in Chester town- ship. He had a son, John, born at Nottingham, who became a man of some note as a surveyor. They were all Friends.
CLAYTON, WILLIAM, with his family, arrived in the ship Kent from London, in company with certain commission- ers sent out by the proprietors of New Jersey, to purchase lands from the In- dians, &c. In 1678-9 (March) he pur- chased the share of Hans Oelson, one of the original grantees of Marcus Hook, and settled at that place. As a Quaker, he was an active and consis- tent member, and likewise took a part in political affairs. He was a member
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of Governor Markham's Council, and also of that of the Proprietary after his arrival ; while, at the same time, he served as one of the justices of the Court of Upland county, and subse- quently for that of Chester County; presiding at the first Court held in Pennsylvania under the Proprietary government. His daughter, Mary, was married to John Beales in 1682, and his son, William, to Elizabeth, daugh- ter of John Bezer, the same year. The declaration of intention of this couple to marry in accordance with Friends' discipline, is the earliest on record in Pennsylvania; but some delay having occurred, by reason of the absence of the bride's parents, they were not the earliest to marry in that way. His daughter, Prudence, married Henry Reynolds, not a member of Friends' meeting. There is reason to believe that the death of the elder William occurred about the year 1691.
CLAYTON, WILLIAM, JR., soon after his marriage as above, became the pur- chaser and occupant of a tract of about one hundred acres, embracing the site of Maylandville, now included within the City of Philadelphia, whereon a mill had been erected. This mill was doubt- less the same that the Upland Court, in 1678, ordered to be built at "the faal called Captn Hans moenses faals." [ Sce Upland Court Records, p. 115.] While residing here, the newly married couple became attached to Haverford Meeting, in the records of which, be- fore the close of 1686, the births of two children-Elizabeth and William-are registered. It is believed that this family returned to the neighborhood of Chichester, after the death of the elder William Clayton.
CLIFFE, ROBERT, came from Harby, in the County of Leicester, in com- pany with Samuel Levis and William Garrett, and settled in Darby, (pro- bably in the town,) in 1684. He died in 1694-ten years after his arrival. He. with twenty-four others, had suf- fered imprisonment in Leicester jail, for refusing to be sworn, as early as 1660.
CLIFFE, BENJAMIN, was probably the son of the above named Robert, immi- grated with him, and also resided in the town of Darby. He appears to have
been a man willing to make himself generally useful. In his younger days he was employed in teaching a school supported by the Society of Friends, of which he was a member; and in later years attended to many concerns of the meeting and of the neighborhood that fitted him. He also kept a shop in Darby till the time of his decease, in 1749. It is not known that he was married, and he certainly left no chil- dren. By industry and economy he had acquired means that enabled him to purchase " a plantation," which he devised to Benjamin Lobb, his sister's son.
CLOUD, JEREMIAH, was of age when his father, William Cloud, immigrated to Pennsylvania. In 1686 he was mar- ried to Elizabeth Bailey. He resided in Concord, but his son, Jeremiah, in 1710, removed within the limits of Newark Meeting, where he married Ann Bailey. The elder Jeremiah was a member of the Society of Friends at the time of his marriage.
CLOUD, WILLIAM, from "Seene," in the County of Wilts, was one of the very earliest of the colonists who ven- tured as far " into the woods" as Con- cord to make a settlement. He brought his family with him, and it is probable that some of his children were married in England. He was an early member of Chichester Friends Meeting, and was a contributor towards the erection of the first "Chichester Meeting-house." So far as is known his children were William, Jeremiah, Joseph and Robert. He died in 1702.
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