Heald

'Leek'Heald'Leek'

compiled and copyright by MJP Grundy, 2008
"Leek", pen and ink sketch by Anne E. G. Nydam, used by permission

The leek, Ceninen in Welsh, is a traditional emblem of Wales.
It is used here to symbolize this branch of the Heald family that connects to the Griffith family that originated in Wales.
See a chart of the Collateral Lines that marry into this branch (featured on this web site) of the much larger Griffith Line.



This page does not try to be a definitive genealogy for the Heald family. It seeks only to provide as much information as I can find (and, I hope, document) on the immigrant Samuel Heald, his English ancestors, and his daugher Sarah Heald who married Aaron Harlan in 1713. It also tracks Samuel's and Sarah's siblings and children (but no farther). If you have additions, or discover an error, I would be grateful to hear from you via e mail at .

Some data still needs to be checked with primary sources. Most of the Sources and Notes are together at the bottom of this page, or they can be accessed individually by clicking on the number in brackets.



English Ancestors


We can start with William HealdC, although the only thing I know about him is that he and Alice STRETTELL were the parents of a son named ThomasB. [See the explanation of the National Genealogical Society's Numbering System used on this web page.] I copied the information about William and Thomas from the "Descendants of William Heald" web page, August 4, 2009.


Thomas HealdB, son of William and Alice, was born in 1619 in Mobberly, Cheshire, and died 21 January 1702/3 in the same parish. He married Elizabeth HOBSON in about 1641. were the parents of a son named William. [See the explanation of Old Style Dating. A Quaker Thomas Heald Senr died in Mobberley 26 Eleventh Month [February] 1699/1700, but I do not yet have proof that he is the same man who was the father of William.[1]

Children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Hobson) Heald, all born in Mobberly:

i. ThomasA, b. ca. 1643; d. 23 Nov 1699;
ii. William, b. 10 Jan 1646/47; d. 20 Aug 1677, Mobberley;
iii. Mary, b. ca. 1650; d. 10 Sep 1677, Mobberley;
iv. Anne, b. 1 Dec. 1653;
v. Elizabeth, b. 2 May 1655;
vi. James, b. 2 Feb. 1657/8; d. 3 Jan. 1735/6, Mobberley; m. 11 Aug. 1688 in Mobberly Elizabeth STEWARD; 3 children: James, Elizabeth, and Mary.
vii. Sarah, b. ca 1660; d. 16 Feb. 1670/71, Mobberley;



William HealdA was born 10 Eleventh Month [January] 1646/7 in Eccleston, Parish of Mobberley, Cheshire, Old England.[2] He died in 20 August 1677 in Kennett Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. William married 17 Seventh Month [September] 1667 at a meeting of Friends Jane Dunbabin or Donbobbin of Great Sankey in Lancashire.[3] Jane died 8 Eighth Month [October] 1677 in Mobberly, followed by William less than two weeks later, on 20 Eighth Month. Both were buried "in the burying place of the people of god [sic] in Mobberley".[4] William was only thirty years old.

At some point William Heald became a Friend, a member of Morley Monthly Meeting. It is possible that he joined shortly before he married Jane, as they were both Friends when they married, or perhaps he joined much earlier along with his father. William and Jane's first child, Samuel, born 12 Ninth Month [November] 1668 was listed in chronological order (i.e. not added later) in Friends records.[5] I could not find any Healds in Besse's Sufferings.

There continued to be a close relationship between the Heald and Dunbabbin families as revealed in the will of John DUNBABIN of Aston Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He signed his will 10 November 1715; it was proved four days later. In it he left things to his brother in Overwalton (southwest of Bolton), Cheshire, and to his sister Norton of the same place. He bequeathed £8 to his cousin Samuel Heald of Kennett, and £2 to his cousin John CROSBY of Ridley.[6]

Children of William and Jane (Donbabbin) Heald:[7]

i. Samuel1, b. 12 Sep 1668, Mobberley, Cheshire, Eng.; d. 1736, Kennett Twp, Chester Co., Penna.
ii. William, Jr., b. 18 Sep 1671, Mobberley; d. 2 July 1731, Mobberley;
iii. Mary, b. 5 June 1675.



Emigrant Generation


Samuel Heald1, who was born 12 Ninth Month [November] 1668 in Mobberly. He died in Kennett Township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1736. Samuel married 16 February 1691 Mary BANCROFT, the daughter of John and Mary (Janney) Bancroft. Mary was born 13 Fifth Month [July] 1673 at Eccleston, Cheshire.[8]On the marriage certificate Samuel is identified as the son of William Heald.[9]

At the time of his marriage, Samuel was a shoemaker in Moberley. He and Mary promised themselves to one another in the presence of a number of relatives and Friends, according to the good order of Friends.

. . . Samuel Heald taking the said Mary Bancroft by the hand did openly declare as followeth: ffriends in the feare of god and in the presence of you his people who are my witnesses that this day I take mary Bancroft to bee my wife promising to bee to her a faithfull and loving husband so long as it shall please the Lord that we shall both live: And then and there in the same assembly the said Mary Bancroft did in like maner declare as followeth: ffriends in the feare of the Lord and in the presence of you his people I take this my friend Samuel Heald ffor to bee my husband promising to thewere the Lords assistance to bee unto him a faithful and loving wife as long as it shall please the Lord wee shall both live: And the said Samuel Heald and Mary Bancroft now according to the Law and custom in marriage Mary Heald: as a ffurther confirmation thereof did then and there to theize presents set theire hands . . .
They both signed the certificate. Those present also signed, and among them were six Healds, five Bancrofts (including Mary's parents), seven Dunbobins, and a number of other Friends.[10]

A word about these two small villages in Cheshire might be helpful. Mobberley is one of England's oldest and largest parishes. It appears in the Domesday Book, under its Saxon name of Motburlege (village or town meeting place in the open country), and at that time was held by Bigot of Loges from Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester. Although nearly two hundred acres were taxed, the Domesday Book recorded Motburlege as "found waste". Apparently woodland covered at least nine square miles. It is a township and parish in the Hundred of Bucklow, 3 1/2 miles (E. N. E.) from Knutsford, 16 miles south of the center of Manchester, now in the northern green belt of Cheshire almost halfway between Macclesfield and Warrington. The parish church was dedicated to St. Wilfrid and St. Mary in the eighth century, although it was not mentioned in the Domesday Book. About 1245 the present church was built. As usual, it has been modified over the centuries (the tower was rebuilt of stone in 1533, replacing the original detached tower) but fortunately has never lost its medieval character. It still has a rich screen, two sedilia, and a beautiful piscina. A free school was founded in 1659 by the Rev. William Griffin. Mobberley has a long tradition of non-conformity, and Friends were active there in the second half of the seventeenth century. The Friends' burial ground is still identifiable in Graveyard Lane. The old village center, by-passed in the 1930s, lies just below the Old Hall along Mill Lane; as befits its ancient status, it boasts two pubs.[11]

Eccleston, a parish in the union of Great Boughton, Lower division of the hundred of Broxton, is 2 3/4 miles south of Chester on the River Dee. The old Roman Watling-street passes through the parish; and near the church is a pre-historic tumulus. The village was occupied by Sir William Brereton's army, during the siege of Chester, in 1645. The church of St. Mary is "an elegant structure of red stone, with an embattled tower crowned by pinnacles; over the altar was a painting of the Nativity by Caravaggio, which has been replaced by a painting of the Taking down from the Cross by Westall."[12] Eccleston, "together with Aldford, Saighton and Waverton, are villages on the estate of the Duke of Westminster, whose home is Eaton Hall. Eccleston, several times voted one of Cheshire's best kept villages, has riverside walks along the meadows to Chester and by the wilder wooded banks upstream through an atmospheric and historic landscape."[13]

The births of their first six children, recorded in Friends records, indicate the family's movement from Mobberley (in 1692), to Eccleston (by 1694), to Aldford (by 1696), back to Mobberley (by 1700).[14]

Samuel, Mary, and their five children emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1703, bringing a certificate from Morley Monthly Meeting dated 3 Tenth Month (December) 1702.[15] Their certificate was received by Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and it was noted that "SAMUEL HELD [Heald] and wife Mary, both born of believing parents, from Mo. Mtg. held at Morley, Co. of Chester, England, dated 10 mo. 3, 1702." Joan Held [Heald], was one of those a signing it, who could conceivably be a sister. Received 5 mo. 30, 1703.[16] Their new meeting was Newark/Kennett.

The family settled in Kennett Township, Chester County. In 1715, 28 of 35 heads of household in the township were Friends, or about 80% Quaker.[17] That year Samuel was taxed 2 shillings. The 35 heads of household owed taxes of between 1/ and 12/. Single men were taxed at a flat rate of 4 shillings.[18] So it is clear that at least that year Samuel was financially less well situated than most of his neighbors.

There was another Heald family living in Kennett who were also Friends, John and Martha Heald. But thus far their relationship to Samuel Heald—if any—is not proved. Of John and Martha's six children, Thomas married Joanna PRIOR, daughter of Silas. Joanna had been born in 1706 in Kennett, and died in 1783.

Samuel and Mary are buried at "Old" Kennett. Samuel signed his will 30 March 1736, and it was proved 1 October that year. He left all his wearing apparel to his sons William and Samuel, and gave his saddle to his son Joseph. All the rest went to his wife Mary. He stipulated that after her death it was to be divided among all their children.[19]

Children of Samuel and Mary (Bancroft) Heald:[20]

  1. Sarah HealdA, b. 19/5m [July] 1692 in Mobberley, Cheshire; d. Dec. 1747 in Kennett Twp., Chester Co., Penna.; m. 1713 Aaron HARLAN.

  2. William Heald, b. 20/2m [Apr.] 1694 in Eccleston, Cheshire; m. 15 Aug. 1719 at Pocopson Cr., Elizabeth POTTS, daughter of Jonas and Mary. Had a son, Nathan Heald, b. 6 Mar. 1734/35, in West Caln Twp, Chester Co., Pa.; d. 14 Dec. 1826, in Columbiana Co, Ohio.[21]

  3. Samuel Heald, b. 31 Aug. 1696 in Aldford, Cheshire; d. 10 Twelfth Mo. [Feb.] 1696/7 in Mobberley, Cheshire; bur. next day in Mobberley, Cheshire.[22]

  4. Mary Heald, b. 15/10m 1697 in Aldford, Cheshire; d. July 1744 in Kennett Twp., Chester Co., Penna.; m. 1719 Joshua HARLAN, son of George, brother of Aaron who m. Mary's older sister, Sarah.

  5. Jane Heald, b. 9/5m [July] 1700 in Mobberley, Cheshire; m. 1726 Edward WAY.

  6. Samuel Heald, Jr., b. 22/7m [Sept.] 1702 in Mobberley, Cheshire; d. June 1748 in Chester Co., Pa.; m. Rachel __. She d. 1772.

  7. Bancroft Heald, b. 24 Sept. 1704 in Kennett Twp., Chester Co., Penna.; d. 24 July 1704 [sic] something wrong here, no doubt having to do with misinterpreting Quaker Dates. The original records need to be checked.

  8. Dinah Heald, b. 15/12m [Feb.] 1708/9 in Chester, Penna.; m. 16/2m/1734/5 Martin WILCOX;

  9. Jacob Heald, b. 27/10m [Oct.] 1711 in Chester, Penna., presumably the twin of Joseph; m. ca. 1737;

  10. Joseph Heald, b. 27 Oct. 1711 in Chester, Penna., presumably the twin of Jacob; m. at Old Swede's Church in Wilmington Sept. 1746 Hannah HILD; he was disowned by Kennett 1/6m/1747 for marriage with a priest.[23] They had 10 children, including a son, Jacob, who was b. 25/3m/1748 and accepted into membership at Kennett MM 17/12m/1772, and m. 18/3m/1773 Mary LEONARD; 6 children listed in Bi-Centennial of Old Kennett Meeting House, 52.

Second Generation in the New World


Sarah Heald2 was born 19 May 1692 in Mobberly and emigrated to Pennsylvania with her parents, Samuel and Mary (Bancroft) Heald. She married on 5 November 1713 at the Newark Meeting, in New Castle County, Aaron HARLAN. Aaron was born 24 Tenth Month [December] 1685, the son of George and Elizabeth (Duck) Harlan. Aaron died in Ninth Month [November] 1732 in Kennett.[24]

According to the usual good order of Friends, on 5 Tenth Month [December] 1713 Aaron Harlan and Sarah Heald appeared before the monthly meeting to make known their intentions of marriage. At the next meeting, held 2 Eleventh Month [January] 1713/4 Aaron Harlan and Sarah Heald came for the second time before Friends, and "there appearing nothing to hinder they are left at their liberty to accomplish their intentions according to ye good order of truth." The following month, 6 Twelfth Month 1713/4, it was reported that the marriage had been accomplished on the 5th of the previous month in an orderly way.[25]

However, that was not the end of it. At a monthly meeting held 20 Fourth Month [June] 1714 it was reported that the wife of Aaron Harlan "is delivered of a child about five months and some few days after marriage, . . ."[26] This was from the men's meeting minutes; similar action would have been taken by the women's meeting and minuted accordingly. In time they were both disowned for behavior that dishonored the witness Friends were trying to make to the world. Disownment meant they were no longer considered members, although they could continue to attend worship and be part of the Quaker sub-culture of their community.

Eventually Aaron and Sarah wanted to be officially reconciled with Friends and rejoin the meeting. On 4 Eighth Month 1728 the men's meeting minuted that "Aaron Harlan and his wife produced a testimony against their outgoings to this meeting which is read as satisfaction and appoints Joseph Mendenhall to read it in Kennett first day next and make report next month." The ink is too faded to read it in its entirely, but the main points are clear. The couple admitted they

. . . commit such folly as to be unlawfully concerned with each other before marriage and thereby brought trouble and disgrace upon ourselves and trouble upon our friends and also given occasion for the way of truth to be evil spoken of which we have been deeply affected with sorrow and trouble of mind for these several years and cannot be easy without giving this forth as a testimony against our outgoings and for the clearing the truth and friends[,] hoping for the future to walk more circumspectly and not to doe any thing that may bring reproach upon the gospel truth, witness our hands,
                  Aaron Harlan, Sarah Harlan.[27]

Sarah made her will, which she signed with her mark, on 5 February 1747/8. She described herself as weak in body, of Kennett township. She left each of her three sons 5/ to be paid within a year after her death. To each of her three daughters she left £20. Her cousin Martha WAY was left £4 when she became 18 years old. The residue of her estate was to be divided equally among her grandchildren then living. Her daughter Mary EVANS was named executrix. Sarah died in December 1747 in Kennett, and the will was proven 3 March 1747/8. The estate inventory was valued at £119.10.3.[28] Something screwy with these dates. Her death in "December" was probably "Twelfth Month" which would have been February.

Children of Sarah and her husband Aaron Harlan:[29]

  1. Charity Harlan3, b. 1714, m(1) 1731 Joseph HACKNEY m(2) 1746 Francis BALDWIN.

  2. George Harlan, b. 1716, d. 1749, m. 27/3m/1736 Elizabeth HOPE;

  3. Mary Harlan, b. 1718, m. 1734 Owen EVANS

  4. Elizabeth Harlan, b. 1720, d. in Union District, South Carolina; m. 1743 Valentine HOLLINGSWORTH

  5. Samuel Harlan, b. 1722, m. 1745 Elizabeth HOLLINGSWORTH; overseer of the poor, 1751 and 1761.[30]

  6. Aaron Harlan, b. 1724, d. 1798, m. 3m/1746 Sarah HOLLINGSWORTH;

  7. Jacob Harlan, b. 1726; d.y., bur. Kennett.

To continue the story of this family, go to the Harlan page.


View a chart of the Collateral Lines that marry into the part of the Griffith Line that is featured on this web site. These are the other collateral lines that will eventually be included here in connection with the Griffith family (not all of them have been posted as yet): Balderston, Bancroft, David, Davis, Duck, Faulkner, Ferrée, Griffith, Hackney, Harlan, Janney, John, Jones, Lewis, McCool, Smith, Warembauer, and Wright.


If you have additions or corrections to this web page, I would be delighted to hear from you. Contact me via e mail at .

Go to the index of other lines that are included in this website (not all of them have been posted yet).

Go to the Paxson home page.

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This page was posted 1/17/2008, and updated most recently on 8m/31/2010.


'Leek'

Notes and Sources

The full bibliographical citation is given the first time a source is mentioned, but is not repeated each time that source is cited. Scroll up til you find the first mention and there you will find the complete citation.



  1. "Register of Burials Belonging to the Quarterly Meeting of Cheshire, 1648-1783" RG6/1037/38. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008.


  2. FamilySearch.org (AFN: 3ZW5-5F) gives his birthplace as "Eccleston, Mobberly, Cheshire", which are two quite separate villages. Eccleston is just south of Chester, while Mobberly is a good deal father east of Chester, due south from Manchester. It also says he was christened three and a half years before he was born, on 11 July 1643 in Mobberly.[Seen 1/16/2008.] Could be an older brother who died? Serves as a warning not to take any secondary sources without checking them more thoroughly. I have not yet had an opportunity to check British parish records myself.


  3. "Marriages" PRO RG6/1616/ image sent to me 11m/7/2008 by Chris Farrand.


  4. PRO RG6/1037/20; RG6/1603/.


  5. "Register of Births Belonging to the Quarterly Meeting of Cheshire and Staffordshire, 1648-1783" RG6/1035/11. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008.


  6. Chester County Wills, A:26.


  7. "Descendants of William Heald"web page, www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/1643/heald.html seen August 4, 2009.


  8. "Register of Marriages Belonging to the Monthly Meeting of Cheshire, 1658-1668 with a Register of Births from 1654 to 1776" RG6/1398/18. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008.


  9. "Register of Marriages Belonging to the Monthly Meeting of Wilmslow, Stockport, & Longleton, Cheshire, 1655-1741" RG6/1036/48. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008.


  10. "Register of Marriages Belonging to the Monthly Meeting of Wilmslow, Stockport, & Longleton, Cheshire, 1655-1741" RG6/1036/48. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008.


  11. Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England, 5th ed. (London: 1842); and, http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/cheshire-towns4.html seen 1/16/2008; and Cllr. Terry Mitchell, A Brief History of Mobberley, http://www.mobberley.info/Site_Index/Topical/Official_Guide__Copy_/Page_2/page_2.htm, as seen 1/16/2008.


  12. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England


  13. http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/towns/townaf.htm , seen 1/16/2008.


  14. "Register of Births Belonging to the Monthly Meeting of Cheshire, 1658-1668, with a Register of Births from 1654 to 1776" RG6/1398/25-28. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008.


  15. Alpheus H. Harlan, comp., History and Genealogy of the Harlan Family and Particularly of the Descendants of George and Michael Harlan Who Settled in Chester County, Pa., 1687 (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1987) reprint of 1914 original, 16. I have since discovered that some of the book is available on line at http://www.harlanfamily.org/alph.htm; and, Bi-Centennial of Old Kennett Meeting House (Philadelphia: Walter H. Jenkins, 1910), 51.


  16. Albert Cook Myers, Quaker Arrivals at Philadelphia, 1682-1750: Being a List of Certificates of Removal Received at Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends (Philadelphia: Ferris & Leach, 1902), 32-33, as seen on http://books.google.com/, 1/21/2008.


  17. Bi-Centennial of Old Kennett Meeting House, 80-81.


  18. Bi-Centennial of Old Kennett Meeting House, 80-81.


  19. Chester County Wills, B:9.


  20. Births in England are from "Register of Births Belonging to the Monthly Meeting of Cheshire, 1658-1668, with a Register of Births from 1654 to 1776" RG6/1398/25-28. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008. Other data from, Harlan, Harlan Family, 17; Bi-Centennial of Old Kennett Meeting House, 51.


  21. Information on William Heald from "Descendants of William Heald"web page, www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/1643/heald.html seen August 4, 2009. There is confusion over months (Old Style and New Style) between this web page and the Friends Register of Births.


  22. "Register of Burial Belonging to the Quarterly Meeting of Cheshire, 1648 to 1783" RG6/1037/35. My thanks to Chris Farrand for sending me a facsimile image of this record, 11m/4/2008.


  23. Bi-Centennial of Old Kennett Meeting House, 52.


  24. History and Genealogy of the Harlan Family Tricentennial Reprint Edition (Balt.: Gateway Press, 1987) reprint of 1914 original, 2.


  25. Newark (Kennett) MM minutes 1686-1739, Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College.


  26. Newark (Kennett) MM minutes 1686-1739, FHL, Swarthmore.


  27. Newark (Kennett) MM minutes 1686-1739.


  28. Harlan, Harlan Family, 17.


  29. Harlan, Harlan Family, 16.


  30. Bi-Centennial of Old Kennett Meeting House, 83.


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If you have additions or corrections to this web page, I would be delighted to hear from you. Contact me via e mail at .

     



leek
The leek, Ceninen in Welsh, is a traditional emblem of Wales, from whence came the Griffith family,
to which my branch of the Healds—in time— connects.