On this day, January 25.

January 25, 1533 - Henry VIII of England secretly marries Anne Boleyn.
The second wife of King Henry VIII of England and mother of Queen Elizabeth I.
The events surrounding the annulment of Henry's marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and his marriage to Anne led him to break with the Roman Catholic church and brought about the English Reformation.
Anne's father was Sir Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde. After spending part of her childhood in France, she returned to England in 1522 and lived at Henry's court and drew many admirers. A desired marriage with Lord Henry Percy was prevented on Henry's order by Cardinal Wolsey, and at some undetermined point the king himself fell in love with her. In 1527 Henry initiated secret proceedings to obtain an annulment from his wife, the aging Catherine of Aragon; his ultimate aim was to father a legitimate male heir to the throne. For six years Pope Clement VII, under pressure from Henry's rival Charles V, refused to grant the annulment, but all the while Henry's passion for Anne was strengthening his determination to rid himself of his queen. On January 25, 1533, Henry and Anne were secretly married. She soon became pregnant and, to legalise the first wedding considered to be unlawful at the time, there was a second wedding service, also private in accordance with The Royal Book. The union was made public on Easter of that year, and on May 23 Henry had the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, pronounce the marriage to Catherine null and void. In September Anne gave birth to a daughter, the future queen Elizabeth I. Anne's arrogant behaviour soon made her unpopular at court. Although Henry lost interest in her and began liaisons with other women, the birth of a son might have saved the marriage. Anne had a miscarriage in 1534, and in January 1536 she gave birth to a stillborn male child. On May 2, 1536, Henry had her committed to the Tower of London on a charge of adultery with various men and even incest with her own brother. She was tried by a court of peers, unanimously convicted, and beheaded on May 19. On May 30 Henry married Jane Seymour. That Anne was guilty as charged is unlikely; she was the apparent victim of a temporary court faction supported by Thomas Cromwell.

January 25, 1648- My tenth great granduncle, George Lawton, is granted 40 acres near his brother Thomas in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island.

January 25, 1680- My seventh great granduncle, Matthias Conard, is born to Thones Kunders & Elin Magadelen Tyson in Krefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

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• Catherine of Aragon.
• Catherine of Aragon
• Europe's Greatest Womanizer: The Reign of Henry VIII
• The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bordo, review

On This Day in the Colonies: December 7

English: John Rogers House, Branford CT on National Register of Historic Places (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

December 7, 1645- My eighth great granduncle, Daniel Hubbard, is born to George Hubbard & Elizabeth Watts in Hartford, Connecticut.

December 7, 1664- My ninth great grandmother, Sarah Hall, wife of Deacon Thomas Wetmore, dies at the age of 42 in Middletown, Middlesex County,Connecticut.
Born in England, she was the daughter of John Hall & Esther Willoche.

December 7, 1696- Connecticut Route 108, third oldest highway in Connecticut, is laid out to Trumbull.

December 7, 1703- A daughter, Mary, is born to Daniel Maltby & Esther Moss in Branford, New Haven, Connecticut.
Mary is my second cousin 9 times removed.

December 7, 1708- A daughter, Margaret, is born to Matthias Tyson & Mary Potts in Abington, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Margaret is my second cousin 8 times removed.

December 7, 1724- My ninth great grandmother, Deborah Allen Buckland, wife of Hugh Cole, dies at the age of 64 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of Joseph Buckland & Deborah Allen.
She is buried in Kickemuit Cemetery, Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island.

December 7, 1732- A son, James, is born to Robert Harlow & Susannah Cole in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, British America.
James is my second cousin 9 times removed.
William Penn, son of William Penn & Mary Jones, marries Christiana Forbes, daughter of Alexander Forbes, a merchant, in London, England.
William Penn is my fourth cousin 8 times removed.
The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London, England.

December 7, 1747- A daughter, Mary, is born to Thomas Adamson & Mary Burson in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Mary is my second cousin 6 times removed.

December 7, 1749- Peleg Sisson, son of George Sisson & Elizabeth Sherman, marries Ruth Sherman, daughter of John Sherman & Grizzel Fish, in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island. They are married by William Sanford, Justice.
Peleg is my second cousin 8 times removed.

December 7, 1751- A son, Samuel, is born to Benjamin Tallman & Elizabeth Gorton in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island.
Samuel is my third cousin 8 times removed.

December 7, 1755- A son, John, is born to Jarvis Brown & Ann Kinnicut in Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts.
John is my third cousin 7 times removed.

December 7, 1760- A daughter, Sarah, is born to Giles Sanford & Elizabeth Smith in Middletown, Newport County, Rhode Island.
Sarah is my third cousin 7 times removed.

December 7, 1763- A daughter, Ann, is born to Jeremiah Walton & Margaret Tyson in Moreland Township, Montgomery, Pennsylvania.
Ann is my third cousin 7 times removed.

December 7, 1767- A son, Seth, is born to Joseph Blake & Marnara Grant in Torrington, Litchfield, Connecticut.
Seth is my third cousin 7 times removed.

December 7, 1768- Stephen Brownell, son of Joseph Brownell & Rebecca Tripp, marries Susanna Fish, daughter of David Fish & Jemima Tallman, in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island.
Stephen and Susanna are my third cousins 8 times removed.

December 7, 1771- A daughter, Tabatha, is born to Joseph Hoxie & Abigail Sherman in Dutchess County, New York.
Tabatha is my fourth cousin 7 times removed.

December 7, 1773- A daugher, Elizabeth, is born to Squire Seamans & Elizabeth Lee in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
Elizabeth is my third cousin 6 times removed.

December 7, 1776- David Potts and his wife Alice Schull, moved to York County, Pennsylvania, He, along with his wife and children Jonathan, Ann, Hannah, Rachel, Joseph and Stephen, made a request to be received into Friends Meeting. Their request was granted February 8, 1777. They were members of Menallen Particular Meeting, (now included in Adams County,) then under the care of the Warrington Monthly Meeting.
David Potts is my second cousin 7 times removed.
Marquis de Lafayette attempts to enter the American military as a major general.

December 7, 1780- Josiah Seymour marries Dinah Doolittle, daughter of James Doolittle & Sarah Andrews, in Watertown, Litchfield, Connecticut.
Dinah is my third cousin 7 times removed.
Ebenezer Cole, son of Ebenezer Cole & Prudence Miller, marries Martha Ingraham, daughter of Joshua.
Ebenezer is my second cousin 8 times removed.

December 7, 1782-  A son, Robert, is born to Reverend Robert Hubbard & Lucy Hubbard in Shelburne, Franklin, Massachusetts.
Robert is my third cousin 6 times removed.

December 7, 1787- Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution.
 

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November 1742, Massachusetts

  

November 15, 1742-A son, Tisdale, is born to Salisbury Sherman & Abigail Tisdale in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts.

(Tisdale Sherman is my third cousin 8 times removed. Our common ancestors are Thomas Lawton & Elizabeth Salisbury.)

 Life in New England

A majority of New England residents were small farmers. Within these small farm families, and English families as well, a man had complete power over the property and his wife. When married, an English woman lost her maiden name and personal identity, meaning she could not own property, file lawsuits, or participate in political life, even when widowed. The role of wives was to raise and nurture healthy children and support their husbands. Most women carried out these duties.
During the 18th century, couples usually married between the ages of 20-24 and 6-8 children were typical of a family, with three on average surviving to adulthood. Farm women provided most of the materials needed by the rest of the family by spinning yarn from wool and knitting sweaters and stockings, making candles and soap from ashes, and churning milk into butter.

New England farming families generally lived in wooden houses because of the abundance of trees. A typical New England farmhouse was one-and-a-half stories tall and had a strong frame (usually made of large square timbers) that was covered by wooden clapboard siding. A large chimney stood in the middle of the house that provided cooking facilities and warmth during the winter. One side of the ground floor contained a hall, a general-purpose room where the family worked and ate meals. Adjacent to the hall was the parlor, a room used to entertain guests that contained the family's best furnishings and the parent's bed. Children slept in a loft above, while the kitchen was either part of the hall or was located in a shed along the back of the house. Because colonial families were large, these small dwellings had much activity and there was little privacy.

By the mid-18th century in New England, shipbuilding was a staple, particularly as the North American wilderness offered a seemingly endless supply of timber (by comparison, Europe's forests had been depleted and most timber had to be purchased from Scandinavia) The British crown often turned to the cheap, yet strongly built American ships. There was a shipyard at the mouth of almost every river in New England.
By 1750, a variety of artisans, shopkeepers, and merchants provided services to the growing farming population. Blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and furniture makers set up shops in rural villages. There they built and repaired goods needed by farm families. Stores selling English manufactures such as cloth, iron utensils, and window glass as well as West Indian products like sugar and molasses were set up by traders. The storekeepers of these shops sold their imported goods in exchange for crops and other local products including roof shingles, potash, and barrel staves. These local goods were shipped to towns and cities all along the Atlantic Coast. Enterprising men set up stables and taverns along wagon roads to service this transportation system.
After these products had been delivered to port towns such as Boston and Salem in Massachusetts, New Haven in Connecticut, and Newport and Providence in Rhode Island, merchants then exported them to the West Indies where they were traded for molasses, sugar, gold coins, and bills of exchange (credit slips). They carried the West Indian products to New England factories where the raw sugar was turned into granulated sugar and the molasses distilled into rum. The gold and credit slips were sent to England where they were exchanged for manufactures, which were shipped back to the colonies and sold along with the sugar and rum to farmers.

Other New England merchants took advantage of the rich fishing areas along the Atlantic Coast and financed a large fishing fleet, transporting its catch of mackerel and cod to the West Indies and Europe. Some merchants exploited the vast amounts of timber along the coasts and rivers of northern New England. They funded sawmills that supplied cheap wood for houses and shipbuilding. Hundreds of New England shipwrights built oceangoing ships, which they sold to British and American merchants.

Many merchants became very wealthy by providing their goods to the agricultural population and ended up dominating the society of sea port cities. Unlike yeoman farmhouses, these merchants resembled the lifestyle of that of the upper class of England living in elegant 2 ¹⁄₂-story houses designed the new Georgian style. These Georgian houses had a symmetrical façade with equal numbers of windows on both sides of the central door. The interior consisted of a passageway down the middle of the house with specialized rooms such as a library, dining room, formal parlor, and master bedroom off the sides. Unlike the multi-purpose space of the yeoman houses, each of these rooms served a separate purpose. In a Georgian house, men mainly used certain rooms, such as the library, while women mostly used the kitchen. These houses contained bedrooms on the second floor that provided privacy to parents and children. -Wikipedia

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July 1741, Massachusetts

English: Preserved Gardner House, Swansea Massachusetts, May 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

July 16, 1741-  James Round, son of George Round & Susannah Cole, marries Susannah Seamans, daughter of John Seamans & Priscilla Wood, in Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay.
James Round was a yoeman from Foster, Providence County,Rhode Island. The intention of marriage was filed on 13 Jun 1741 at Rehoboth.

(Susannah Seamans is my first cousin 8 times removed. Our common ancestors are Thomas Seamans & Susannah Salisbury and Doctor William Wood and Susannah Beckwith.
James Round is my second cousin 9 times removed. Our common ancestors are Hugh Cole & Mary Foxwell.)

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Washington's Birthday Giveaway!

Pilgrim Costume Giveaway!

Win a Pilgrim Girl Costume!

To celebrate George Washington's Birthday on February 22, CostumeDiscounters.com has generously donated this colonial costume to be given to one of my lucky readers. I have enjoyed their large selection of Patriotic and Historic costumes for men, women and children. The  costumes are exceptional quality for the excellent price.

Remember the colonial days of the pilgrims in this Colonial Girl Costume. With this great floor-length dress which comes with an apron and bonnet, your little girl will feel like a colonial child -- direct from the pilgrim's ships. This colonial costume is wonderful not only for Halloween but for historical reenactments and school productions too!

I have one girl's costume to give away in size medium (8-10). It comes unopened and sealed.

I will choose a winner on Washington's Birthday, February 22, 2011, 11:59 p.m. PST., by random number generator. I will contact the winner and they will have 72 hours to respond.

Mandatory Entry- Visit CostumeDiscounters.com and comment on your favorite costume. It doesn't have to be historical, have fun looking around! Make sure you leave me a way to contact you if your email is not public in your profile.

Extra Entries-

• Follow this blog publicly with Google Friend Connect.

• Share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook and leave me the link.

• Follow my jewelry blog, Gem Trails, with Google Friend Connect.

Make sure to add an additional comment for each additional entry. Good luck!

The Winner is Nichole C.! Congratulations!

1728 Leonardtown

Leonardtown is located in St. Mary's County, Maryland. It was originally named Seymour Town in honor of Governor John Seymour. In 1708 it was designated the county seat. In 1728 the town was renamed Leonardtown in honor of Leonard Calvert, first colonial governor of Maryland.

George Bush's Remarks

Vice President George Bush's Remarks at Tricentennial Ceremony of German Immigration to America, Krefeld, June 25, 1983

Three centuries ago, after a 75-day voyage across the Atlantic in a cramped ship, 32 Mennonites and Quakers from Krefeld and two infants that had been born during the passage landed on the East Coast of the New World. It was October, the air had grown crisp and the autumn rains had begun. Exhausted and sick after their voyage, the Germans trudged from Philadelphia, then a settlement with two dirt roads, through six miles of dense forest to found a settlement of their own.

As winter approached they chopped down scores of trees and built their first homes of logs. "It may neither be described nor believed," wrote Franz Daniel Pastorius, the Krefelders' leader, "under what conditions of need and poverty...this German township was founded."

Yet the Germans had found what they came for, freedom of worship, and in a modest way their settlement soon began to thrive, the people grew flax, raised sheep for wool, and became known in the American colonies for their weaving. News of their success encouraged other Germans to leave the Old World for the New...

...Three hundred years ago, when that first ship set sail for the New World from Krefeld, one of those on board was named Thones Kunders. Eight generations later the family name had changed from Kunders to Conrad, and Charles Conrad, Jr., a direct descendant of Thones, became an astronaut and walked on the moon...

Quaker Offense of "Disorderly Walking"

The phrase "disorderly walking" dates back to some of the earliest Quakers writing of the late 1600's. The concept is that a true member of the Society of Friends walks a path throughout their lives whose proper bounds are prescribed by the Discipline. If they follow this path they remain a member in good standing. The phrase "disorderly walking" implies straying from the path required by Discipline and places the member in imminent danger of disownment.
An epistle from a general meeting in June 1676 discusses the principle of collective discipline and the responsibility of each meeting to admonish its own members:

"God hath taught us to deny the Customs, Fashions, & Words of the World, which are evil, & to bear a Testimony against it...to stir up the pure mind in one another, that the Principles of the blessed Truth, be allways Stood in..."

It goes on to state the duty of each meeting to admonish its members for "disorderly walking," and lists these offences:

not to keep the form of sound words
or use or wear needless Attire
or to oppress or defraud any man in his dealings
Not endeavor to bring up Children in the fear of the Lord

The phrase "disorderly walking" was sometimes used to conceal the real nature of the offense to protect confidentiality, or deflect outside criticisms. Event violent offenses could be cloaked in this way.

Quaker Ancestors Group

Virginia Memory: This Day in Virginia History

This is a fun distraction, might even learn something.

Virginia Memory: This Day in Virginia History

Posted using ShareThis

1736- Ben Franklin, Fireman

The first volunteer fire company in America, "The Union Fire Company," was founded by Benjamin Franklin and four associates on December 7, 1736. Franklin served on it as America’s first volunteer fire chief.

It lasted for eighty-four years.

After an extensive fire in Philadelphia in 1736, Franklin created a fire brigade called The Union Fire company with 30 volunteers.

 So many men wanted to join Franklin's Union Company that he suggested it would be more beneficial to the salubrity of the city if they formed their own fire brigades. In the next several years, Philadelphians witnessed the birth of the Heart-in-Hand, the Britannia, the Fellowship, as well as several other fire companies.

In the 1884 book History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, John Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott described the organization of the company:

The Union Fire Company was an association for mutual assistance. Each member agreed to furnish, at his own expense, six leather buckets and two stout linen bags, each marked with his name and the name of the company, which he was to bring to every fire. The buckets were for carrying water to extinguish the flames, and the bags were to receive and hold property which was in danger, to save it from risk of theft. The members pledged themselves to repair to any place in danger upon an alarm of fire with their apparatus. Some were to superintend the use of the water, others were to stand at the doors of houses in danger, and to protect the property from theft. On an alarm of fire at night it was agreed that lights should be placed in the windows of houses of members near the fire "in order to prevent confusion, and to enable their friends to give them more speedy and effectual assistance.'

According to Scharf and Westcott, the company was limited to 30 members who met eight times a year and were fined if they were late to or missed a meeting. The company had no president, but a treasurer and a clerk, take in turns from the general membership, who not only managed communications with other members but also inspected the gear.

With respect to the equipment, Scharf and Westcott note the following:

At this time engines and buckets were the only available apparatus, as pumps were few, and the supply of water scant. The engine of the Union Company, it is believed, was imported from England, as were also those of the other companies formed down to 1768.

The engine of the Union Company was probably kept in a house in Grindstone Alley, which runs north from Market Street to Church Alley, west of Second Street.

1740 To the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia...Concerning their Negroes

REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD To the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, North and South-Carolina,  Concerning their Negroes.

I must inform you in the meekness and Gentleness of Christ that I think God has a Quarrel with you for your Abuse of and Cruelty to the poor Negroes. Whether it be lawful for Christians to buy Slaves, and thereby encourage the Nations from whom they are bought to be at perpetual War with each other, I shall not take upon me to determine. Sure I am it is sinful, when bought, to use them as bad, nay worse, than as though they were Brutes, and whatever particular Exceptions there may be (as I would charitably hope there are some) I fear the Generality of you that own Negroes are liable to such a Charge; for your Slaves, I believe, work as hard if not harder than the Horses whereon you ride. . . .

 . . [God] does not reject the Prayer of the poor and destitute, nor disregard the Cry of the meanest Negroes! The Blood of them spilt for these many Years in your respective Provinces will ascend up to Heaven against you. I wish I could say it would speak better Things than the Blood of Abel. But this is not all ⎯ Enslaving or misusing their Bodies would, comparatively speaking, be an inconsiderable Evil, was proper Care taken of their Souls. But I have great reason to believe that most of you, on Purpose, keep your Negroes ignorant of Christianity; or otherwise, why are they permitted thro’ your provinces openly to profane the Lord’s Day by their Dancing, Piping and such like? I know the general Pretense for this Neglect of their Souls is That teaching them Christianity would make them proud, and consequently unwilling to submit to Slavery: But what a dreadful Reflection is this in your Holy Religion? What blasphemous Notions must those that make such an Objection have of the Precepts of Christianity? . .

But I challenge the whole World to produce a single Instance of a Negro’s being made a thorough Christian, and thereby made a worse Servant. It cannot be. ⎯ But farther, if teaching Slaves Christianity has such a bad Influence upon their Lives, why are you generally desirous of having your Children taught? Think you they are any way better by Nature than the poor Negroes? No, in no wise. Blacks are just as much, and no more, conceived and born in Sin, as White Men are. Both, if born and bred up here, I am persuaded, are naturally capable of the same Improvement. ⎯ And as for the grown Negroes, I am apt to think, whenever the Gospel is preach’d with Power amongst them, that many will be brought effectually home to God.

1740 Pennsylvania

1740- Jonathan Conard born to Anthony Conard and Sarah Hatfield in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

(Jonathan Conard is my 5th great grand uncle.)

1740- The Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania petition colonial officials to address the "Great Wrong We Receive in Our Lands" by the Walking Purchase of 1737 that had tricked them into ceding more land than they had anticipated.


The descendants of John Conard of Loudoun county, Virginia,

1744 Words of an Onondaga Chief

You who are so wise must know that different nations have different conception of things. You will not therefore take it amiss if our ideas of the white man's kind of education happens not to be the same as yours. We have had some experience of it.

Several of our young people were brought up in your colleges. They were instructed in all your sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were all bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger. They didn't know how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy. They spoke our language imperfectly.

They were therefore unfit to be hunters, warriors, or counsellors; they were good for nothing.
We are, however, not the less obliged for your kind offer, though we decline accepting it. To show our gratefulness, if the gentleman of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care with their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them.

Canassatego - Treaty of Lancaster

Lancaster Treaty of 1744

June 1744- Native-American chiefs of the Six Nations relinquish by treaty all claims to land in Maryland colony. Assembly purchases last Indian land claims in Maryland.

Lancaster, June 29, 1744

 Chief Canassatego spoke as follows:

Brethren,

YESTERDAY you spoke to us concerning the Lands on this Side Potowmack River, and as we have deliberately considered what you said to us on that Matter, we are now very ready to settle the Bounds of such Lands, and release our Right and Claim thereto.


WE are willing to renounce all Right to Lord Baltimore of all those Lands lying two Miles above the uppermost Fort of Potowmack or Cohongoruton River, near which Thomas Cressap has a hunting or trading Cabin, by a Northline, to the Bounds of Pennsylvania. But in case such Limits shall not include every Settlement or Inhabitant of Maryland, then such other Lines and Courses, from the said two Miles above the Forks, to the outermost Inhabitants or Settlements, as shall include every Settlement and Inhabitant in Maryland, and from thence, by a North-line, to the Bounds of Pennsylvania, shall be the Limits. And further, If any People already have, or shall settle beyond the Lands now described and bounded, they shall enjoy the same free from any Disturbance whatever, and we do, and shall accept these People for our Brethren, and as such always treat them.


WE earnestly desire to live with you as Brethren, and hope you will show us all Brotherly Kindness; in Token whereof, we present you with a Belt of Wampum.


In payment, the Iroquois Nation received: Four Pieces of Strowds, Two Hundred Shirts, Three Pieces Half-Thicks, Three Pieces Duffle Blankets, Forty Seven Guns, One Pound Vermillion, One Thousand Flints, Four Dozen Jews Harps, One Dozen Boxes, One Hundred Two Quarters Bar-Lead, Two Quarters Shot, and Two Half Barrels of Gun-Powder.

"We know our lands have now become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone."
-Canassatego


The proceedings of the treaty can be read here, Lancaster Treaty. It is fascinating reading as you watch the cultures collide.

Gwynedd and North Wales, Pennsylvania

North Wales is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is one of the three historic population centers that make up the North Penn Valley. The population was 3,342 at the 2000 census.
As its name suggests, North Wales was settled by Welsh immigrants who named it after North Wales in Wales. Part of a 1702 William Penn land grant, this rich farming country was given the name "Gwynedd" for the homeland of the earliest settlers and it began as a pastoral village in agricultural Gwynedd Township. In 1741, Gwynedd contained 93 taxables, and Montgomery township 54.

The Welsh Tract, also called the Welsh Barony, was a portion of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania settled largely by Welsh-speaking Quakers. It covers 40,000 acres to the west of Philadelphia. The original settlers, led by John Roberts, negotiated with William Penn in 1684 to constitute the Tract as a separate county whose local government would use the Welsh language, since many of the settlers spoke no English. Notwithstanding this agreement, by the 1690s the land had already been partitioned into different counties, despite appeals from the Welsh settlers, and the Tract never gained self-government.

The area is now part of Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware counties. Many towns in the area still bear Welsh names. Some, such as Lower Merion, Upper Merion, Bala Cynwyd, Radnor and Haverford Township, are named after places in Wales. Others, such as Tredyffrin or Uwchlan, have independent Welsh names. Some communities in the area that formerly comprised the Welsh Tract were subsequently given Welsh names. Among these were Gladwyne, formerly "Merion Square" (which was given its new name in 1891 in order to imitate the stylish Welsh names of adjoining towns, although the name is meaningless in Welsh), and Bryn Mawr, formerly "Humphreysville" (which was renamed in 1869).

Catesby Cocke, Land Speculation and George Washington

1725-1742: Prominent Tidewater Virginia politicians and businessmen buy huge tracts in this era of land speculation. William Fairfax, uncle of Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, amasses more than 35,000 acres; Francis Awbrey, 29,000 acres; Catesby Cocke, 23,000; John Colvill, 22,000; Robert Carter, Lord Fairfax's real estate agent, 21,000. These five own 40 percent of future Loudoun's 330,800 acres. The land is often leased in 100- to 200-acre tracts or after a few years is sold; many double their money.

William Cocke and son, Catesby
Dr. William Cocke, of Suffolk, England, came over to Virginia in June, 1710 and settled at Williamsburg. He came over in the Deptford with Alexander Spotswood, and lived there prior to about 1720.

It is known that Dr. Cocke came as private physician to Lt. Governor Spotswood. Then, in June, 1712, Dr. Cocke was sworn in as Secretary of the Colony of Virginia. He had been recommended to this office by Spotswood and Edmund Jenings, former Secretary of State and former acting Governor. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Cocke had sent for his wife, Elizabeth Catesby Cocke, sister of Mark Catesby, the naturalist; and his two children who were in England. They arrived in the Hanover in April, 1712. Apparently, Catesby was with them for a few days after they had been met and taken to Williamsburg in the Governor's coach. Soon Dr. Cocke, his family and Catesby were visiting at "Westover." Cocke had been a classmate of William Byrd in England.

By 1713 Dr. Cocke had been appointed to the Council. From 1716-1718 he was in England on business for the Colony. On October 22, 1720 he "was struck with a fit of apoplexy in the Capitol and died immediately and fell on me," so reported Byrd. Dr. Cocke left a widow and six children: Mrs. Elizabeth Cocke Pratt (widow), Catesby (born 1702), William, Anne, Susanna and Lucy.

He was a member of the Council, Secretary of the Province and a Judge of the General Court.

Catesby Cocke, his son, lived at Belmont, Fairfax County. Catesby Cocke lived next door to George Mason's Gunston Hall and across the Potomac River from Nathaniel Chapman. He was the first Clerk of the Court for both Prince William County and Fairfax County. Like many wealthy men of the day, Catesby was a land speculator. In 1731, 292 acres of land on both sides of Broad Run in Thoroughfare Gap were patented to him by permission of Lord Fairfax. Since he never made any improvements of the land, he had to relinquish it to Lord Fairfax in 1737. Subsequently, Godfrey Ridge bought the land and flipped it to Jonathan Chapman for 10 pounds in 1741. In 1742 Jonathan Chapman bought a sliver of land that would enable the Chapman Mill head race to reach Broad Run above the 87 feet it descends. This information suggests the mill could have been built any time after 1737 and before 1742.

Catesby Cocke and George Washington, Tax Evaders

In making a schedule of his property, an owner took an oath that the list recorded everything subject to taxation. If a man omitted one carriage or slave, he perjured himself.
As inscribed in the hand-written, leather-bound book of the court, the following is the report of the Grand Jury of Fairfax County, Colony of Virginia, rendered to the court on May 21, 1760. The names of the 15  defendants add some color and character, humor and historical interest, to the proceedings.
"We present George William Fairfax, George Washington, John Carlyle, Daniel French, Robert Bogges, Catesby Cocke, Townshend Dade, Sylbill West, Garrard Alexander, J. Emima Minor, William Ramsay, Benjamin Grayson, George Mason, John Plummer, Daniel McCarty and Abraham Barnes for (not) entering their wheeled carriages agreeable to law, as appears to us by the list delivered to the clerk of the county."

The Maryland Tobacco Inspection Act of 1747

The Maryland Tobacco Inspection Act of 1747 established that all tobacco had to be inspected by colonial inspectors. Once the tobacco was inspected, tobacco "notes" were issued that certified the quality. Whoever held these tobacco notes owned the tobacco. A grower could pay a merchant 100 pounds of tobacco by simply signing over the notes to him. That way, he could go to the warehouse with the notes in hand and claim the tobacco as his. He could also give the merchant an I.O.U. that promised to pay him 100 pounds of tobacco in the future, when his crop came in. Before the Inspection Act, the merchant would be less willing to accept this I.O.U., since he would not be sure of the quality of tobacco. After the Inspection Act, the I.O.U. could promise to pay in "certified" tobacco.

Paper tobacco notes more easily functioned as money because bulk tobacco was hard to transport and the quality of tobacco was assured.

1751 Maryland

1751- Sarah Newton is born to Thomas Newton and Susannah Howard in St. Mary's, Maryland.

(Sarah Newton and I are 1st cousins 6 times removed.)

June 11, 1751- Arnold Livers dies at Prince George's, Maryland.
 Arnold Livers was born about 1669 in Flanders, Belgium, of English parentage, and was reared in the royal household of the Stuarts. At age 22, he was a "page of the backstairs".
Soon after the Catholic King James II was deposed in 1688, Arnold is said to have fled, landing in Maryland with only his uniform, buckles & buttons (which are still preserved by his family), leaving his two children by his first wife behind.
 These sons were reportedly brought to America by his first American wife who went to Flanders to get them as Arnold was afraid to go himself.
 Arnold served as an indentured servant to Colonel Henry Darnall, a tailor. He settled on the Charles River near Upper Marlborough in Prince George's County as a planter.
 He died in 1751 at Prince George's County, Maryland.

(Arnold Livers is my 5th great grandfather.)

August 28, 1751- Will of Arnold Livers


My land: one tract called Duke's Wood," lying in Prince George's Co., but now in Frederick Co., on Linganore, of 500 A.; other called "Arnold's Chance," lying on Little Pipe Creek, containing about 500 A; one lot in Nottingham; one in Marlborough, Prince George's Co., which 2 lots I give to extx, hereafter named, to be sold and money used to pay debts.

Tract called "Arnold's Delight," in Frederick Co., 1,074 A., to children: Anthony, Arnold, Mary and Rachel, to be equally divided bet. them.

To son Robert Livers, all those several tracts I formerly bought of Col. Henry Darnall and John Miller, and all that pt. formerly given me by Henry Darnall, Esquire, lately dec'd., of about: 330 A. known as the plantation where I live.

To grand-son Arnold Elder, 100 A. called "Cole's Good Will," adjoining Wm. Elder's plantation.

To grand-dau. Ann Livers, dau. of son James Livers, 50 pounds money at age 21, by my children: Anthony, Arnold, Robert, Mary and Rachel Livers, each to pay 10 pounds.

My will and intention is that my dear wife Helena Livers, have same during widowhood.

To grand-dau. Eliza. Elder, some slaves.

To dau. Jacoba Clementina Elder, furnishings.

Friend Didley Digges, trustee and overseer, and give him for sd. services, 5 pounds money.

Wit: Charles Beavers (or Beavens), Charles Beavers Blanford, Robert Soper, Frances Early. 28. 166

Certificate of Clearness

The Quakers believed that a marital union should be acceptable to the immediate families as well as to the entire Quaker congregation. When a Quaker man and woman wanted to marry, the parents were first consulted and, if they approved, the couples intentions were announced at the women's meeting and a note regarding their proposal was sent to the men's meeting. A committee was appointed to ascertain the couples "clearness" for marriage. If approval was given, a special Meeting for Worship was appointed, within which the marriage took place.

Colonial Life- Childhood

In Colonial times, American childhood, as we know it today, did not exist. Children were important to their families, but were valued for their economic worth to their family and community. They were expected to take on adult responsibilities as soon as possible. At six years of age, boys were "breeched": their dresses and stays were removed and they put on adult clothes. Depending on their social status, they might have gotten their heads shaven and been fitted with powdered periwigs. Either way, from that point on, they were young adults and were expected to behave as such.

Childrearing varied somewhat from colony to colony. More women and children migrated to the New England colonies, and they were more able to maintain a strict family structure and patriarchal authority. They had large families and life expectancy was high.

In Maryland, a high percentage of immigrants were men who came over as indentured servants. They married later, and due to the malarial environment, life spans were short and the death rate was high. This often resulted in smaller families, sometimes of only two or three children. These children were greatly treasured, and there were less work responsibilies and less religious instruction. However, due to the reality of early parental death, many boys entered apprenticeship quite young or were left as heirs to manage properties and estates.

In Pennsylvania, the Quakers believed that children were born innocent. They had small families with strong emotional ties. They saw children as equals, and they were treated gently as they were guided to independence. This model greatly influenced childhood as we see it today.

As small children, both girls and boys wore dresses. This was partially related to toilet-training, as children did not wear underwear.  Around 16 months old, they began wearing "stays" (think of corsets) to help force correct posture, and girls would remain in them for the rest of their lives.

 

Between infancy and age eleven, chores included chopping wood, tending to livestock, gathering vegetables, picking worms off tobacco plants and dung out of fleece, hunting and butchering, prepping flax and thread for spinning, washing clothes in the iron kettle and working in the kitchen.

Boys learned early how to use guns for hunting and defense. They even served in military conflicts as "powder monkeys," carrying powder from magazines to guns on ships or in forts.

Since every member of a family or community was expected to contribute to the general welfare, formal education - for those fortunate enough to get it - focused on preparing children for life's practical needs. At the closest public school, boys were taught basic math and reading. They learned their ABCs through the use of a horn book, a thin piece of wood affixed to a sheet of paper on which was printed the alphabet; a transparent sheet of animal horn covered the paper. Some schools also taught penmanship, principles of religion, laws and good manners.

Girls were instructed at home. As early as age six, they began learning embroidery, which also served to teach letters and numbers. One would create a "sampler" piece, on which were stitched the alphabet, simple numbers, phrases and designs. After that, she practiced reading skills using whatever printed material was in the house but especially the Bible.

Upper class children had private tutors who taught them Latin, Greek, rhetoric, logic, geometry and dancing. Musical instruction usually included learning to play an instrument such as violin or harpsichord.

Even with all those responsibilities, children did make time for play. Some forms of recreation back then would be recognizable today in both name and content, such as ice skating, kite flying, jump rope, marbles and bobbing for apples. But some familiar activities had different names, and other games have since been transformed or totally died off. These include:

• Quoits - Wooden or rope circlets were thrown over a post, similar to horse shoes.

• Draughts - Another name for checkers.

• Hoop and Stick - Boys would run, driving a wooden hoop (two and a half feet across) with a nine-inch stick. Two girls would use their sticks to pass the hoop between them.

• Skittles - Also called ninepins. One ball was used to bowl over nine pins with the goal of bowling exactly 31 pins.

• Witch in a Bottle - Similar to Freeze Tag.

Fun and Games in Colonial America (Colonial America)



Usually beginning at fourteen, though often as young as seven, boys could be apprenticed to a master craftsman who would, over the next two to four years, teach him a trade. That could have been anything from shoemaking, metal working or weaving to paper working, glassblowing or surveying.

For girls, adulthood meant marriage and children of their own.