USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 60
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Besides being one of the Council, he was a member of Assembly and some- times speaker of that body ; was a jus- tice of the Court and frequently pre- sided ; was a Commissioner to settle a difficulty with Lord Baltimore, and deputy president of the Free Society of Traders. In England he had been a severe sufferer on account of his devo- tion to the principles and practices of the Quakers. At one time he was im- prisoned fifteen months, and at different times his persecutors distrained from him property to the amount of several hundred pounds. The various secular employments in which he was engaged after his arrival in this country had no effect in lessening his zeal in "the cause of truth." He was here "a nursing father in Israel, tender over the seed of God, and wherever he saw it in the least appearance, he was a cher- isher of it without respect to persons ; but he abhorred deceit and hypocrisy." As a preacher in the Society, few in his time had a better standing. In very early times meetings were held at his house, and though his time was much ocenpied with business, his religious duties were not neglected. He found opportunities to pay religious visits to the neighboring provinces of Maryland and Virginia, and even to New England. He was active in visiting George Keith with a view of restoring him to the true faith, but after all efforts had fail- ed, he joined in the testimony against him. He died on 7th of the 1st month, (March,) 1703, aged 73 years, having on the day before his death expressed to those around him his firm confidence in the faith that he had kept, and in its sufficiency to secure a life eternal.
SIMCOCK, JOHN, JR., son of the above, arrived in Pennsylvania with his father. He at one time held the office of Deputy Recorder for Chester County by ap- pointment of Thomas Story, but in the latter part of his time became intem- perate and did not prosper.
SIMCOCK, JACOB, son of John the
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elder, immigrated to this country with him and settled in Ridley. Early in the year 1685, he was married to Alice, daughter of George Maris of the " Home House" in Springfield town- ship. He, also, like his father was a public Friend ; travelled as a minister, and held public trusts. He was ap- pointed Deputy Register General under James Claypole in 1686, and probably for a short time resided in Philadelphia. He died about the year 1716. His wife survived him ten years. Their chil- dren were John, Jacob, Benjamin, Hannah and Mary.
SIMCOCK, GEORGE, one of the original purchasers of land in England, lived in Darby (now Upper Darby) township in 1691, but when he immigrated, is not known. He was from Ridley in Cheshire, and may have been a brother of the elder John Simcock, but it is not certain that he was, or that he was a member of the Society of Friends.
SMEDLEY, GEORGE, migrated from / Derbyshire, England, in 1682 or 1683 in company with several of the Friends who settled at Darby, and for some years after his arrival, he resided in Philadelphia. In 1687, he was married to Sarah Goodwin whose maiden name was Kitchen, the widow of his intimate friend, John Goodwin. The marriage was accomplished "at the meeting- house upon the front of the Delaware." His wife had one child by her first marriage, but it died in its minority. Shortly after his marriage, George Smedley removed to a tract of land he had purchased from the Proprietary, and which was surveyed to him in 1684, in the township of Middletown. Here he erected his dwelling-house on the west bank of Ridley Creek about one mile northwest of the present town of Media. The mansion farm is still in possession of his descend- ants. His wife Sarah died in 1709. About the year 172], after having settled his son George on the man- sion farm, he removed to Willis- town, where he resided with his son Thomas till his death in 1723. He had five children: Thomas, who married Sarah the daughter of Joseph Baker of Edgmont, in 1710; Mary, who first in- termarried with John Edge, Jr., and afterwards with John Yarnall of Willis-
town; George, (a minister among Friends,) who married Jane Sharpless in 1717, and after her death, Mary the daughter of William Hammons ; Sarah, who intermarried with John William- son of Newtown, and Alice whose first husband was John Allen of Newtown, and the second, Edward Woodward of Middletown.
George Smedley did not incline to be active in public affairs, but was fre- quently appointed to various services by the meeting in which he uniformly maintained a good standing. With the exception of a German named Frede- riek William Smedley who settled in Brownsville about the time of the Revo- lutionary war, and a few English families who have recently settled in Philadelphia, it is believed that all of the name of Smedley in Pennsylvania, have a common ancestor in the subject of this notice.
SMITH, JOHN, emigrated from Harby, County of Leicester, England, and set- tled in Darby in 1684. He was born in that County in 1645, and at the early age of fourteen, became convinced of the truth of the doctrine of the Society of Friends, and sometime afterwards appeared in the ministry. He lived in high esteem among his neighbors, and died in great peace of mind in 1714, aged sixty-nine years. He left a son William, and three daughters, Mary, the wife of William Garrett; Sarah, the wife of Samuel Sellers, Jr., and Martha, the wife of Richard Parker.
SMITHI, ELEANOR, wife of the above named John, came to this country with her husband. She was born at Harborough, in Leicestershire, her maiden name being Dolby. She was convinced of religious truth as held by Friends, at thirteen years of age, but did not appear in the ministry till towards the close of her life. An affectionate epistle, addressed by her to the Darby Monthly Meeting of women Friends, during her last illness, and the tender admonitions that she de- livered to her family during the same period, are a like evidence of intel- lectual training and of the sincerity of her faith. She died in 1708, aged fifty- five years.
SMITH, JOHN, a clergyman of the
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Presbyterian church, who resided in this county about forty years ago, and who, though a man of not more than ordinary ability, effected much good by his zeal and industry He was an Irishman by birth, and it is said his early religious education was under the auspices of the Episcopal Church. He was a great advocate for temperance, and was instrumental in establishing a Bible Society in Delaware County. It was through his instrumentality that funds were collected for building the first erected Presbyterian Church in Ridley, and the old Blue Church in Aston. Though his sermons were often tiresome from their length he made many converts to the church, and improved the morals of the people of the neighborhoods in which he offici- ated. His death was occasioned by his horse treading on him as he fell in leading him to water. He lived but a few days after the accident.
SMITH, THOMAS, migrated from Crox- ton, in the County of Leicester, England, in 1684, with his wife Sarah and two danghters, Ann and Dorothy, and settled in Darby. They were all in membership with Friends. Ann intermarried with Robert Smith. Thomas died in 1705.
SMITH, ROBERT, from Sawley, in the County of Derby, England, settled in Darby, now Upper Darby township, in 1691, and was married to Ann the daughter of Thomas Smith of Darby, in 1692. They continued to be mem- bers of Friends' Meeting, until they re- moved from the County in 1708, previous to which they had seven chil- dren, viz: Thomas, Richard, Sarah, Robert, Elizabeth, Mary and William.
SPRY, THOMAS, was a lawyer, and there are no records to show that any of that .profession practiced earlier on the Delaware River. The following is the manner of his admission to the bar of New Castle County: "Uppon the Petition of Thomas Spry that he might bee admitted to pleade some people's Causes, etc :- The Worpp" Court have granted him liberty so long as the Petitioner Behaves himselfe well and Carrys himselfe answerable thereunto." The next year an order was made by the Justices that, "the Cryer of the
Court is to have for every Attorney that shall bee admitted & sworne in Court, twelve gilders or halfe a bever." By his early admission to the bar, Thomas escaped this imposition in favor of the- Cryer, but it was soon afterwards de- termined "that pleading Attorneys bee no Longer allowed to practize in ye governmt but for ye depending causes." Thomas was therefore obliged to change his business, at least in part, for very soon after the prohibition against lawyers, we find him engaged in the practice of the healing art ; still he managed to be concerned in a few cases at the bar, being substituted for the plaintiff by the assignment of his claim. He was not unfrequently a party or a witness in Court, and on one occasion we find him acting as a Juror in Upland Court. But the practice of Medicine became the most lucrative part of his business, though he occa- sionally was obliged to make use of the law in the collection of his claims for " Physiq." Thus in New Castle Court in 1679, we have "Thomas Spry prfering in Court a peticon and acct against the Estate of Walter Wharton, deceased for Physiq administered unto him the said Walter Wharton, the sume of 262 gilders ; desiering an order agst ye sd Estate for sd sume-The sd Spry haveing made oath to ye Justness thereof. The Court doe grant him an order agst ye sd Estate for ye sd sume accordingly." He was also successful in the prosecution of a claim against " the Church Deacons or Poormasters for 300 Gilders for curing Evert Bran- ches Legge &c." In this case, how- ever, he only received 100 gilders in money, but it was ordered by the Court " that ye sd Deakons shall deliver unto sd Doctor Spry, ye Corne belonging to ye Poore at present upon half Increase with hans Schner after ye tyme shall bee expired." Thus this early Doctor of Law and of Medicine, harmonized the two professions, to the manifest benefit of his own pocket.
STACKET, MOENS, a native of Sweden, was the owner, and occupied a tract of land in Calken Hook, as early as 1677, and was alive in 1693. He was one of the first supervisors of the highways under the Government of William Penn, and served in other public capacities under his government, though rather
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given to litigation previous to its es- tablishment.
STANFIELD, FRANCIS, with his wife Grace and family, were among the earliest settlers of Marple township, (1683.) They were Friends, and proba- bly advanced in years at the time of their arrival from England. Francis died in 1692, and his wife one year earlier. James Stanfield, the son of Francis, in- termarried with Mary Hutchinson of Buriington, N. J., in 1689. His daugh- ters were Mary, who intermarried with William Huntly of Birmingham ; Eliza- beth, with Thomas Hoops ; Grace, with Francis Chadds, and Hannah, with Isaac Few. Francis Stanfield repre- sented Chester County in the Provincial Assembly in 1685. One or more meet- ings of Friends was held at his house before a meeting was established at Bartholomew Coppock's.
STEEDMAN, JOSEPH, with his wife Margaret, had migrated from England, and settled in Springfield township as early as 1684. They were Friends in good standing. Joseph died in 1698, but it does not appear that he left any children. The next year his widow married John Blunston of Darby.
STILLE, OLOFF or OELE, one of the earliest of the Swedish Colonists " came from the lordship of Penningby and Nyanes, in the dutchy of Lodermania, about 30 miles south of Stockholm," which at his birth was in possession of the noble family of Bielke. He may have accompanied the first Swedish expedition to the Delaware, though there is no certain evidence of his presence on the River, till after the arrival of Governor Printz. He brought with him a passport or certificate of character bearing date December 2, 1634. This would seem to indicate that he had intended to join an expedi- tion projected earlier than that which arrived nnder Minuit. Still it is quite probable that he came with Governor Printz. In 1646, we find him employed by that functionary in carrying an official protest to Andreas Hudde, against the encroachments of the Dutch West India Company upon the rights of the Swedes. From this period for many years, he was one of the princi- pal men of the Colony ; and even while
the Dutch held the ascendancy on the river, in 1658, he was appointed one of four Commissioners to administer jus- tice among the inhabitants embraced in the Upper Settlements. His planta- tion within the limits of this County, was at the mouth of Ridley Creek, and on Lindstrom's map is marked " Stilles land." By the Indians it was called Techorussi, who styled Oloff, " the man with the black beard." In 1661, he became dissatisfied with the Dutch rule on the river, and, with a few Finns visited Maryland, for the purpose of taking up land and emigrating there; but not finding his friends, settled on the Sassafras River in a satisfactory condition, he abandoned the project. He may have parted with Stille's land at this time. At all events, that property passed into the hands of Laurentius Carolus, the Swedish clergyman, and we next find Oloff a resident of Moya- mensing- a taxable and purchaser of land there. In 1673, he served by ap- pointment of Upland Court as an arbi- trator in determining a dispute about land in Kingsessing. To the award of the arbitrators, he signs his name " Oluff Stilla," When his death occur- red is not known, but he was certainly- alive in 1678, when he resided in Moya- mensing, and made application to the Court to take up Marsh lands near that place. He was the ancestor of the present Stillé family.
STILLE, JOHN, son of the above named Oloff, was born near Tinicum in 1646, and died on the 24th of April, 1722. His remains were interred in the burying ground of the Wicaco Church, where his tombstone still remains. He was one of the original trustees of that church, and the pastor in recording his death adds: "He lived a godly life in this world." It is not known, that Oloff Stille had any other child.
SWAFFER, WILLIAM, arrived in the country, and settled in Nether Provi- dence about the year 1684. He was unmarried, and like his brother James Swaffer, and nearly every other im- migrant at this period, he was in mem- bership with Friends. There is reason to believe that he migrated with his brother from Cheshire, England. In 1694, he was married to Mary Cald- well. Their children were, Rebecca,
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Jacob, Joseph, Mary and Hannah. William died in 1720.
SWAFFER JAMES, emigrated from Newton, Cheshire, England, as early as 1684, and settled in Upper Provi- dence. He was unmarried at the time of his arrival, but in 1685 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Houl- ston, a neighboring colonist; the mar- riage being accomplished according to the usages of the Society of Friends, of which he was a member. After hav- ing resided for some time in Provi- dence, he removed to Philadelphia, and subsequently to Caln, in Chester County, where he died in 1714. His children, so far as is known, were Elizabeth, Mary, James and William. He was a brother of William Swaffer, the colonist, who probably immigrated with him.
TANTEN, HENDRICK, (sometimes Thaden,) doubtless became a settler at Amesland, under the Dutch Govern- ment. His land "on which he re- sided," was surveyed and confirmed to him in 1675. He died in 1703, having in his will, executed shortly before his death, given directions for his burial, "in the burial place at Chester alias Upland." Hence it may be inferred that he was a Dutch Episcopalian, and not a Swede.
TAYLOR, CHRISTOPHER, supposed to have been born near Skipton, in York- shire-officiated for a time as a Puritan preacher until in 1652, he was con- vinced of the truth of Quaker doctrine, by George Fox. Soon after his con- vincement, he became eminent as a minister among Friends ; traveled much as a preacher, and was subjected to a full share of the persecution against Quakers that was usual in that age of bigotry ; was imprisoned several times, and on one occasion, under much cruel treatment, for the space of two years. In the exercise of his profession, as the teacher of a classical school, he met with much opposition, and was obliged to remove from place to place ; his last school being at Edmonton, in Middlesex. On leaving this school, in 1682, to emigrate to Pennsylvania, he was succeeded by the noted George Keith. Upon his arrival here he first settled in Bucks County, which he re-
presented in the first Assembly at Chester. He was likewise a member of the first Provincial Council after the arrival of Penn, and was continued in that offiee till his death, in 1686. He also held the office of Register-general of the Province for some time, and was one of the commissioners appointed by William Penn to treat with the govern- ment of West Jersey.
In July, 1684, he appears as one of the Justices of Chester Court, when he had probably established himself on Tinicum Island, which was conveyed to him shortly afterwards. He had a son Israel, who was a surgeon, (chir- urgeon,) and to whom, in 1685, he granted 500 acres of land at Neshaminy and 1000 acres elsewhere. In this grant he speaks of himself as a school- master, and of his residence as being on " Tinicum, alias College Island."
" His literary qualifications were con- siderable, and he frequently exercised his pen in the cause of truth." He was well acquainted with Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and in 1679 published his " Compendium Trium Linguarum" of those languages. He was unquestion- ably one of the best scholars who arrived with the first settlers. Besides his son Israel he had a son Joseph and a daughter Mary, who, in 1690, mar- ried John Buzby, of Philadelphia. Israel succeeded his father on Tinicum, and continued to own and occupy the whole island till his death, in 1726. He had eleven children, but devised the island to his three sons, Christo- pher, Benjamin and Israel.
TAYLOR, JOHN. Soon after the settle- ment of Christopher Taylor on Tinicum, we find him concerned in leasing a small piece of land on that island to John Taylor, to be used as a garden or nursery. After the death of Chris- topher Taylor, the family of John Tay- lor, with Hugh Durborow, removed to Thornbury, and in 1687 presented a joint certificate to Concord Monthly Meeting, which was accepted. The name of this John Taylor does not ap- pear afterwards, and it is presumed that he was deceased at the time the certificate was presented to the meet- ing. The family mentioned doubtless consisted, at least in part, of his two sons, Jacob and Isaac. Two certificates from Wiltshire, England, were present-
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ed to the Philadelphia Meeting of Friends in 1684, recommending a John Taylor, but it is not certain that they were presented by the subject of this notice.
TAYLOR, JACOB, son of the above named John, was a mathematician, and in his younger days a practical sur- veyor. He made astronomy a par- ticular study, and during many years published an Almanac, in which he gave place to scraps of poetry com- posed by himself. About the com- mencement of the past century he was appointed Surveyor-General of Penn- sylvania, which office he held till the time of his death, the exact period of which is not known. He was alive, but evidently very infirm, at the death of his brother Isaac, in 1728. He never married. He was in membership with Friends.
TAYLOR, ISAAC, son of the above John, and brother of Jacob, was also a sur- veyor, and likewise a " practitioner of Physick." Ile was appointed Deputy Surveyor for Chester County about the year 1701, by his brother Jacob, and continued to hold that office, and to perform its arduous duties till the time of his death, in 1728. He also prac- ticed the healing art during this period. In 1694 he married Martha, the dangh- ter of Philip Roman, by whom he had five children, viz., Jolın, Philip, Jacob, Ann and Mary. Isaac Taylor was em- ployed on behalf of Pennsylvania in running the circular line which sepa- rates the State from Delaware, a ser- vice for which he was well fitted by his superior mathematical knowledge. The question is presented-how did the brothers, Jacob and Isaac Taylor, ob- tain their mathematical knowledge ? The answer to this query is readily suggested in the fact that they resided some years at Tinicum, where Chris- topher Taylor, doubtless a relative, taught a school specially for the instruc- tion of youth in the higher branches of knowledge, a task for which he was eminently qualified. I am indebted to Professor John F. Frazer, of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, who is a lineal descendant of Isaac Taylor, for an op- portunity to examine the Taylor papers. Many of these papers are still in a good state of preservation.
TAYLOR, JOHN. the oldest son of Isaac Taylor, was a prominent man. He was born in 1695, and in 1718 was married to Mary Baker, a widow. He was a physician and a surveyor, and established iron works at or near the site of Glen Mills, on Chester Creek, which he conducted with ener- gy till the time of his death, in 1756. He served the office of Sheriff of Chester County ten years, and represented the County in the Provincial Assembly several terms.
TAYLOR, PETER, with his brother William, came from Sutton in Cheshire, England, and arrived at Chester as carly as 1682. The brothers settled on adjoining tracts of land near the present site of Media. Peter being un- married at the time of his arrival was united in matrimony with Sarah, the daughter of his neighbor, John Houl- ston, in the early part of 1685, agrec- ably to the good order of the Society of Friends, of which he was a consis- tent member. As is usual in the set- tlement of new countries, the immigra- tion of young men to our favored land at first greatly exceeded that of young women, and such respectable spin- sters as arrived, did not remain in that condition very long. As evidence of this, three daughters of John Houlston passed meeting and were probably married on the same day, 1st mo. 2d., 1685, Sarah with Peter Tay- lor, Elizabeth with James Swaffer and Rebecca with William Gregory, while a fourth daughter, Martha, was married to David Ogden before the close of the same year. The children of Peter and Sarah Taylor were Peter, John, Sarah, William and Samuel. He removed to East Caln and died in 1720, probably at the residence of his son, William.
TAYLOR, WILLIAM, was a brother of Peter Taylor, came from the same place and settled on an adjoining tract of land in Upper Providence, but he had scarcely become established at his new home in the wilderness, when he was, on the 6th of the 1st mo., 1683, called upon to pay the inevitable debt of nature, his wife, Margaretta, having died three days previously. He left one son, Joseph, who died without issue, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary.
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TAYLOR, ROBERT, emigrated from / Little Leigh, County of Chester, Eng- land, and was settled in Springfield township as early as 1684. His wife, Mary, there is reason to believe was a sister to Justice Jonathan Hayes, who settled about the same time in Marple. Robert died in 1695, leaving his wife and a number of children to survive him. His widow married Joseph Selsby in 1701. Of his children, Isaac inter- married with Sarah Broadwell, of Dub- lin Meeting; Josiah with Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Pennell ; Mary with Henry Lewis, of Haverford ; Phebe with Thomas Massey, of Marple, and after his death, with Bartholomew Coppock, of Marple; Thomas with Hannah -, and Jonathan with Mar- tha Hugh. He also had a son Jacob and other children. During the short time Robert Taylor was permitted to enjoy his new home in America, he gained the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens, and as a member of the Society of Friends he was highly esteemed. His widow died in 1728.
TAYLOR, THOMAS, with his wife, Frances, resided in Worthenby, in Flintshire, and purchased land in Pennsylvania, but whether Thomas emigrated before his death, which happened in 1682, is not certain. At all events, early in 1684, his widow, Frances, was here, and became the wife of John Worrall. Thomas Taylor had two sons, Thomas and Philip. Philip married Ann, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Conway, in 1705, and settled in Thornbury. He died in 1732. His descendants are very nu- merous.
TAYLOR, ISAAC, was the eldest son of Robert Taylor of Springfield, and doubtless immigrated with his father. In 1689, he was married to Sarah Broadwell of Dublin Monthly Meeting, Philadelphia County, according to the usages of Friends. Their children were Isaac, John, Joseph, Mary, Benja- min, Sarah, Elizabeth and Josiah.
TEST, JOHN, emigrated from London, and was a resident of Upland as early as 1677. Here he engaged in the mer- cantile business, but upon the establish- ment of Penn's Government in 1681, he was appointed Sheriff of Upland
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