Deborah Woodward Strode Harlan

Deborah Woodward was the youngest child of Richard & Deborah Stansfield Woodward of England and Chester County, Pennsylvania. She was aunt of Abraham Woodward the subject of this Web Site. Deborah married first William Strode, and second Stephen Harlan, Jr.

William Strode was the son of George & Lydia Vernon Strode of England and Chester County. The name is also sometimes seen as Stroud. Land records and immigration information for George and his father George are given on our Strode Families page.

William Strode
born Chester Co, Pa
died bef 3/19/1756 Chester Co, Pa

Deborah Woodward
born Chester Co, Pa
died bef 1808 Chester Co, Pa

Married: 12/28/1749 at Old Swede's Church, Wilmington on the Delaware. Deborah acknowledged her fault in marriage by a priest on 7/10/1750 at Bradford Monthly Meeting.

Children:
Richard Strode born Chester County, Pennsylvania bet 1750 and 1756; married Hannah Battin before 6/19/1777.
William Strode born Chester County, Pennsylvania bet 1750 and 1756

Death of William Strode, Sr.

"To the Honourable Justices of the Orphans Court held at Chester the 21st day of March Anno Dom 1758:
The petition of Deborah Stroud widow and administratrix of William Stroud late of East Bradford deceased, who died intestate,
Humbly sheweth
That the said William Stroud sometime agoe died intestate leaving your petitioner his widow, and issue two sons named Richard & William to survive him, who are both under the age of 14 years; and as the said intestate left a considerable estate to be divided between your petitioner and her said children as the law directs,
Your petitioner therefore prays that your Honours will be pleased to appoint a proper person or persons to be guardians over the persons and estates of the said two minor children, and your petitioner shall proxy viz.
/s/ Deborah Strode" (The signature is awkwardly and painfully done - Deborah knew how to write her name by 1758 but that is all the writing she did). As a female, Deborah could not be guardian of her own children.

An administrative bond on the estate of the late William Strode deceased, dated 19 March 1756, was filed by Deborah and her brothers-in-law Evan Jones & George Entrikin. At that time Deborah could not sign her name but her mark was "Deborah." It is possible that her brothers-in-law were to be guardians of the children and hence their names on the bond.

The estate was indeed large, totaling 334 pounds. William's occupation was listed as "tanner" on the estate inventory taken 4/14/1756. The list of goods included apparel, a feather bed & furniture, a case of drawers, an wallnut oval table, a spice box, a trunk & dressing box, a looking glass, earthen ware & china on the mantel piece, glasses and bottles, a large hackle, three table cloths, four pair of sheets, a small pair of hand irons, nine pewter dishes & nineteen plates, two tankards, a cason, five porringers & eighteen spoons, a feather bed & furniture, nineteen yds of blankets from the loom, twelve yds of woolen from the loom, eighteen yards of linsey from the loom, six baggs, an old saddle, a chest, three spinning wheels & a reel & other old lumber, four iron pots & three pair of pot hooks, a tea kettle, a brass kettle, earthen ware & wooden ware, a pair of steelyards, a gridiron frying pan and irons, fire shovels & tongs & racks, a chest, a dough trough & two tables, seven old chairs, a ladle & skimmer, skillet, flesh fork & brass candlestick, a barrel of oyl, 32 lbs of tallow and three barrels, a side of harness leather, a cart, a plough and iron, 2 pair of chains backboard & 2 collars & 2 pair of heims (haines), a cart paddle & breechband, a spade mawl & wedges an ax & mattock, tanners & curriers tools, 2 drawing knives a hammer two pitchforks a rake a gimble & handsaw, a wheel barrow, a stack & a piece of bark, a cow & calf, a cow, a yearling heifer, a box iron & lantern, hides & skins in the pitts & leather in the shop (95 pounds value), a sow & pigs, 20 (acres?) wheat in the ground, 3 ewes & 3 lambs, book debts of 143 pounds. The young couple was apparently industrious and had amassed wealth. One or the other was a weaver.

Children of William and Deborah Woodward Strode

The children are proven in the abstract of the will of George Strode: "George Strode, Yeoman. Being ancient. May 9, 1756, January 16, 1758. D:101. To son William�s two children Richard and William 20 pounds each at 14. To daughter-in-law Deborah Strode my negro girl, Hannah, during widowhood, afterward to be sold for benefit of her 2 children. To son George all other estate real and personal. Testator signed. Executor: Son George."

There is little information on sons Richard & William Strode in Quaker records. On 6/19/1777 they attended the wedding of Marshall Battin, son of John Battin of West Bradford, at Bradford Monthly Meeting. Son Richard Strode & wife Hannah Battin Strode signed as relatives, so Marshall Battinwas likely her brother. This is not proven as John Battin in his will written 1786 names John, Jr. and Marshall Battin only and does not name any daughters. Son William Strode also attended the wedding but as a guest, not a relative. So we do know he was still alive at that time. On 2/13/1778 Hannah Battin Strode was noted as "marrying out" so she and Richard apparently did not have a Quaker wedding. Researching Richard is difficult as there is another Richard Strode who was son of John Strode and Mary Woodward, daughter of Richard and Mary Nayle Woodward and grandson of Robert Woodward. This Richard was born 1742 and died 1814. There is an administration granted for a Richard Strode 13 April 1795 but administration was granted to Joshua Vaughan, Ruth Strode and John Powel so we do not know if he is the correct one to be son of William and Deborah.

Deborah Woodward Strode�s Marriage to Stephen Harlan, Jr.

Deborah Woodward Strode married next Stephen Harlan, Jr., son of Stephen & Hannah Carter Harlan,and grandson of Michael & Dinah Dixon Harlan, 12/22/1759. The Woodward and Harlan families were early neighbors. Michael & Dinah Harlan conveyed land to their son, Stephen , Sr. on 3 September 1723 in Bradford Township. The land adjoined land of Richard Woodward, Deborah's father. This land was apparently sold by 1732 but Stephen Harlan, Jr. was received back to Bradford Monthly Meeting in 1755 from Philadelphia. He and Deborah were married sometime before 11/14/1760.

On 11/14/1760 Stephen Harlan acknowledged his fault to Bradford Monthly Meeting for marriage by a priest. On 10/11/1762 Deborah Harlan was disowned from Bradford Monthly Meeting for marriage by a priest so apparently had not acknowledged her fault. Settlement of William Strode's sizable estate had probably held up Quaker approval of Deborah's marriage since estates had to be settled before Quaker's could remarry. Another issue may have been Deborah�s ownership of slave Hannah left to her by George Strode in his will above. Among Bradford Monthly Meeting Records: "8th month 18th day 1775 Stephen Harlan manumits a negro Hannah and her children Sampson, London, Daniel & Phillis." Note that George�s will had instructed that Hannah be sold for the benefit of the Strode children but instead we find Stephen Harlan giving her manumission.

Children of Stephen & Deborah Woodward Strode Harlan

The children of Stephen and Deborah are enumerated in Stephen Harlan�s will abstract: "Stephen Harlan, West Fallowfield Aug. 27, 1808: Sept 7, 1810. Real estate to be sold and proceeds divided between grandchildren, William and Sarah Harlan, children of son Stephen, deceased, and Stephen, Lewis, and Moses Windle, children of daughter Deborah Windle. Personal estate to be sold and the interest thereof to daughter Deborah during life, and principal to her children. To son Solomon 5 shillings he having had his share. Executors: Friends Samuel Butler and Abraham Romans. Letters to Butler, Romans being deceased." Note that wife Deborah is not mentioned and thus probably deceased.

Son Solomon H. Harlan born about 1760, died 1827; married Abigail Clayton.

Son Stephen Harlan born 1762, died 6/12/1795; married Elizabeth Clark; Widow Elizabeth Clark Harlan then married Stephen's cousin Abner Woodward, son of Joseph and Rebecca Martin Woodward, in 1799.

Daughter Deborah Harlan born about 1764, died about 1832; married (1) William Windle, (2) Moses Windle 8/4/1781.