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This page is not intended to be the definitive Plumley webpage. It is trying to tell as complete a story as possible about the ancestors of Ann Plumley (ca. 1168-1728) who married Henry Paxson in 1707.
If you have corrections or additions, I would be delighted to hear from you via e mail at .
Immigrant Generation
Charles1 Plumley is the earliest member of this family we can identify with any certainty. He was born in Somerset and died in 1683 in Pennsylvania. Charles was identified as being of Wells Parish, Somersetshire, when he married Marjorie PAGE of Butcomb Parish, same county, on the 11th of Twelfth month [February], 1665/6.[1] For an explanation of the Quaker and Old Style way of dating, see a Note on Dates. An expanation of the numbering system used on this web page can also be seen.
The Plumleys lived in Wells at least until 1674.[2] I have not yet discovered what occupation Charles pursued in the city. They moved to Priddy parish a little over four miles from Wells, some time before the birth of their fifth child in 1677. Priddy lies in a small hollow on the summit of the Mendip range at nearly 1000 feet, and 14 miles from the sea. These are ancient limestone hills with thin poor soils, suitable for sheep. There used to be a breed of Mendip sheep, known for their fine wool and finely flavored meat. In the area there are traces of ancient lead and silver mines worked by Britons and Romans. In 1348 the annual fair for cattle, horses and sheep was moved from Wells to Priddy because of the Black Death. It remained there, as one of the largest fairs in the County.[3]
I have not yet discovered when the family became Friends, or if other members of their families had also joined the persecuted group (known derisively as "Quakers") that grew rapidly in the 1650s and 1660s. In 1681 Charles II discharged an old debt owed to the late Admiral Sir William PENN by granting his son, William, a colony in the new world. Charles insisted that it be called Pennsylvania. Penn was reluctant for fear people would think he was naming it after himself, but he acquiesed to the King's demands. Penn and his agents sold tracts of land, inviting Friends and others to move to Pennsylvania.[4]
The Plumley family emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1682 with their five surviving sons, sailing on the Society of Bristol, Thomas JORDAN, Master. They arrived in the Delaware River in August 1682. They brought with them some dutiable goods to sell or trade, as Penn had suggested for those who could afford it. The idea was to sell or barter these things upon arrival in order to obtain locally things they would need such as livestock, labor, and food. The goods the Plumleys brought with them give a glimpse of the economy of the day in terms of what was felt to be needed that may not have been produced in the colonies, under the British mercantile system. The Plumleys had 1/2 cwt (hundred weight) wrought pewter, 3 cwt cut nails, 5 cwt wrought iron, 3 cwt lead shot, 50 lbs. shoes, 2 cwt cheese, 4 bushels pease, 2 pcs. kersey (a coarse narrow cloth woven from long wool and usually ribbed), 50 els English linen, 5 cwt English soap, 1/4 chalder grindle stones, 6 shod shovels, 1 chest window glass, 1/4 cwt cordage, 10 lbs. serges (durable woolen fabric), 1 1/2 doz. felt hats and 5 parcels of wares for a total value of £2.12.6.[5] The kersey and serge fabrics may have been made of local wool from Mendip sheep.
The Plumleys settled in what became Northampton township, Bucks County. A triangle of land with its shortest side butting on the Neshaminy, and bordering Nicholas WALN on the north east, with the GROWDENs and John GILBERT along most of the hypotenuse, is labelled "Widdow Plumley" on Thomas Holme's map. Margery was given a patent dated 6 First Month [March] 1683/4 for 250 acres "beginning at the line of Joseph GROWDEN's land standing by Neshaminy Creek ... to a corner of Nicholas WALLN [sic] land, west".[5a]
Charles died in 1683 and Marjorie married as her second husband Henry PAXSON. His wife had died at sea on the voyage to Pennsylvania two years earlier. The couple brought their intention to be married to Middletown Monthly Meeting, as was the proper order among Friends. They were found clear of impediments and at the monthly meeting held on 4 Sixth Month [August] 1684 were given liberty to marry. The marriage took place in a meeting for worship on the 13th, the first marriage under the care of Middletown Meeting.[6]
In 1688, shortly after her eldest son William married, there was a shuffling of land in order to give him a farm. All of the property of Margery Paxson, of course, immediately upon her marriage, had become Henry's. So Henry Paxson gave his step-son William 100 acres fronting on the Neshaminy Creek and adjoining the land of James BOYDEN, which land had been conveyed by Samuel ALLEN to Charles PLUMLEY, William's father, on 13 October 1682, along with 100 acres "in the wood as yet untaken up or unlaid out". In return William gave Henry 125 acres, which was the "upper moity" of 250 acres granted to Margery adjoining the Neshaminy and land of Nicholas Waln. This is the tract marked on Holmes's map.[6a]
On the first of Eleventh Month [January] a complaint was brought to the men's meeting by Samuel ALLEN against Marjory Paxson. The minutes do not specify what it was about, but ordered that both of them appear at the following monthly meeting. In Second Month [April] it was noted that the matter had been disposed of. It was probably financial.[7]
Marjorie was moderately active in the Women's Meeting at Middletown. She served on five marriage clearness committees and one committee to labor with a Friend who had failed to uphold Friends' principles. Then she and Henry, along with the BUDD family into which two of her sons married, became involved with the Keithian schism. Middletown Friends noted she had "fallen away".[8]
Marjorie died 8 Sixth Month [August] 1721. Although the Women's minutes record no formal reconciliation, she was buried in the Middletown Friends cemetery. Her son John requested that her second husband, also never formally reconciled with the Meeting, be buried beside her. Henry died 19 Fifth Month [July] 1723. The Meeting record reads: "Henry Paxson at the time of his death was not in unity with Friends but at the request of his son-in-law John Plumly, friends consented to record it as above."[9]
Children of Charles and Marjorie (Page) Plumley:[10]
i. William2, b. 7 Dec. 1666 in Wells parish, Somersetshire; m. 7 Jan. 1687/8 Elizabeth THOMPSON. ii. James, b. 22 Aug. 1668 in Wells, Somersetshire; died young, 1669.
iii. James, b. 3 Apr. 1669 or 1670 in Wells, Somersetshire; d. Feb. 1702/3; m. Mary BUDD; m. Mary BUDD; res. Southampton; in his will written 16 Nov. 1702, pr. 14 Oct. 1702, he was "of Middletown", left his estate to his wife Mary and son John, and mentioned his uncle William Budd and brother Charles Plumley. He was probably not yet married in 1693 when he paid a flat tax of 6 shillings. James served on a petit jury.[11]
iv. Joseph, b. 31 Oct. 1671; died young.
v. Charles, b. 9 Feb. 1674 in Wells, Somerset; d. 1708; m. Rose BUDD, the daughter of Thomas and Susanna of New Jersey; he was a joiner (i.e. cabinetmaker) in Philadelphia; his will written 30 Nov. 1708, pr. 17 Dec. 1708: mentions his wife Rose, children Charles and Sarah, brothers George and John, and father-in-law Henry Paxson; Henry Paxson and John Plumley were named executors.[12] Rose m(2) John McWILLIAMS; and then m(3) Joseph SHIPPEN, father of Edward Shippen, Mayor of Philadelphia.[13]
v. John, b. 8 July or Sept. 1677 in Priddy parish, Somersetshire; d. 1732; m. Apr. 1707 or 1708 Mary BAINBRIDGE, daughter of John and Sarah of New Jersey; settled in Middletown, d. 1732. John requested permission from Middletown Friends for his step-father to be buried beside John's mother in the Meeting's cemetery. 6 children in Middletown Mtg. records. His will dated 24 Mar. 1731/2 and proved 27 Apr. 1732 names children: Charles, William, Sarah Carter, and John (b. 28 Jan. 1715/6; d. 12 Mar. 1784; m. 1739 Alice HEATON), and "cousin" William Paxson.[14]
vi. George, b. 14 June 1680 in Priddy parish, Somersetshire; m. Sarah____; she d. 1759; he d. in Philadelphia 1754; no issue.
Second Generation in Pennsylvania
William2 Plumley, eldest son of Charles and Marjory (Page) Plumley, was born 7 December 1666 in England. He emigrated to Pennsylvania with his parents and four brothers in 1682. He married in March 1687/8 at Middletown Meeting Elizabeth Thompson. Their wedding certificate was signed with the marks of Jane, Mary, Marjory, Henry, James, William, and Mary Paxson, John Wharton, Jane Waln, and Margaret Davis (indicating they were unable to write) and the signatures of James Plumley, Nicholas WALN, Ann and James DILWORTH, Thomas STACHKOUSE Sr., Robert DURE (Duer), Joseph TAYLOR, Joseph TOWNE, Edward CARTER, John PINDER, Jonathan SCAIFFE, Jeremiah and Sarah LANGHORNE, and Sarah THOMPSON. Although it is tempting to assume that Sarah Thompson was Elizabeth's mother, I have not yet found proof of her parents, or when and how she arrived in Pennsylvania. There are 1,736 entries for the birth or christening of Elizabeth Thompson in England between 1645 and 1685 in the Mormon IGI. Of course many of them will be duplicates. If any reader can send me documentation, I would be very grateful.
William had signed the wedding certificate of his mother and Henry Paxson in July 1684. He also signed the wedding certificate of Stephen SANDS and Jane COWGILL on 25/8m/1685 and of Samuel ALLEN the younger and Jane WALN on 27/3m/1691. However, he did not sign the certificate of his step-cousin William Paxson Jr. and Abigail POWNALL on 20/12m/1695/6, indicating that he probably was not present rather than that he disapproved.[15]
William served as a witness in the court case involving his step-father's charge that the Carters burned Henry Paxson's hayrick. Since the Carters were caught in the act, they were found guilty and fined 5 shillings and court costs. William's name does not appear on any of the 1693 Bucks County tax lists.[16]
William did not participate much in the ongoing business of the Meeting, and his name rarely appears in the meeting minutes. However, he did sign the 1687 Testament pledging not to sell rum or brandy to the Indians.[17]
Among the children of William and Elizabeth (Thompson) Plumley (list presumably incomplete):
i. Ann3 b. 15 Jan. 1667/8; d. 10 or 12 Dec. (or 10 Feb.) 1728; m. Apr. 1707 Henry Paxson.
ii. Sarah, b. 1690; d. 1751; m. 26 Aug. 1711 Thomas KNIGHT, b. 9 June 1685, son of Giles and Elizabeth (WILLIAMS) Knight; 4 children.[17a]
Third Generation in Pennsylvania
Ann Plumley3, was born ca. 1668 and died in 1728. She married Henry Paxson2 in April 1707. He was granted a certificate of clearness from Falls to Middletown Meeting to marry her.[18] Henry was born 20 July 1683, the first birth recorded by Middletown Monthly Meeting; he died 5 September, 1756, aged 73 years, one month, and fifteen days.
There is a fair amount of confusion in the records, and even more so in the secondary sources, between Henry and his uncle, Henry PAXSON1, the immigrant. One of them, probably this Henry2 the-first-born, purchased 250 acres in Solebury from William CROASDALE on 15 Ninth Month [November] 1704. It was described as "Northwest 115 perches, by land of Stephen BEAKES, afterward S. ARMITAGE. Northeast 349 perches, by land then vacant, afterward Jeremiah LANGHORNE. Southeast 120 perches, by land of Richard BURGESS. Southwest 337 perches, by land afterward conveyed to Samuel EASTBURN."[18a] See map of Solebury.
Henry purchased 200 acres in Solebury from John SCARBOROUGH in 1711 and settled there with his family. Henry purchased more land, for when he deeded his plantation to his son Thomas Jr. on 26 April 1748, it consisted of 300 acres.[20]
Typical of other settlers, Henry participated in the affairs of his community, taking his share of civic responsibilities. Twice neighbors asked Henry to witness their wills.[21] He was appointed to the grand jury that laid out the road between Solebury and Buckingham.[22]
Ann and Henry were members of Buckingham Monthly Meeting from 1720 when it was set off from Falls Monthly Meeting, of which it had previously been a part. But Henry did not take an active role in meeting activities. In 1721 he was asked to assist three men in settling a quarrel between two Friends. His name does not appear in the minutes again until 1738 when the Meeting disciplined him for taking "drink to excess".[23]
Ann died at the age of 40 on 12 December 1728 or 10 February 1728/9 after the birth of her twelfth and last child. Henry then married Mary (BUDD) SHINN, a widow from Burlington, New Jersey, on 7 Twelfth Month [February] 1739/40 at the Mt. Holly Meeting house.[19]
In his will dated 20 March 1752 and proved 18 September 1756, Henry called himself a yeoman of Solebury. Henry left something to each of his surviving children and to the children of his deceased daughters Sarah DUER and Jane PRESTON. His son Thomas Jr. inherited the residue.[24]
Children of Henry and Ann (Plumley) Paxson:
i. William4 Paxson, b. 31 Jan. 1708/9 (or 1707/8?); d. 7 July 1731; unmarried. ii. Elizabeth Paxson, b. 11 June 1709; d. 4 Dec. 1786; m. Mar. 1725/6 Thomas HARTLEY, son of Edward Hartley. Thomas requested to join Friends and was accepted into membership 2 Dec. 1724. They had 12 children.[25]
iii. Mary Paxson, b. 24 Apr. 1711; m. 1729 Henry ROBERTS.[26]
iv. Sarah Paxson, b. 25 Jan. 1712/3; d. ca. 1747 in Lower Makefield; m. May 1730 Joseph DUER, a carpenter, who sold 259 acres to Sarah's brother-in-law Thomas HARTLEY in Jan. 1739. They had 7 children. He m(2) Martha GILLINGHAM of Solebury, youngest daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Jarvis) CANBY, and widow of James. They had 1 child: Rachel, who was Phineas PICKERING's paternal grandmother.[27]
v. Jane Paxson, b. 14 Jan. 1714/5; d. 1749; m. June 1732 Jonas PRESTON, son of William and Jane Preston, who emigrated from the parish of Huthersfield, Eng. He was b. 19 Eleventh Month [Jan.] 1710/1. Jane and Jonas's daughter Sarah married her cousin Joshua RICHARDSON, the son of Mary (PAXSON) Richardson. Their granddaughter Sarah Richardson married Samuel H. Paxson. Jonas and Jane removed to Gwynedd Monthly Meeting in 1739.[28]
vi. Margery Paxson, b. 24 Nov. 1716; m. 1734 Matthew BEANS, son of William who emigrated in 1686 with his parents Matthew and Margaret (Hatton) Baines/BEANS. In his will probated 3 May 1791 Matthew Beans mentioned his (presumably second) wife Elizabeth and 6 children.[29]
vii. Ann Paxson, b. 8 Jan. 1718/9; d. 10 Feb. 1783; m. 1737/8 cousin Thomas PAXSON, son of William and Mary (Watson) Paxson. Their first child was conceived before marriage, which probably led them to seek a more prompt ceremony than provided by Friends' procedures. However, they acknowledged and condemned their action and were reinstated in the Meeting. Ann transferred her membership to Middletown from Buckingham Monthly Meeting, and gradually assumed a very active role in the Women's Meeting. She was, in addition to the ordinary small committee assignments, a representative to Quarterly Meeting, appointed to "see that the poor are taken care of," an Overseer from 7 July 1757 until she requested release in 1766, and Treasurer until her death.[30] Thomas was active in the Men's Meeting. Neither Thomas or Ann left wills. They outlived most of their 13 children, half of whom died between the ages of 29 and 34. Only 2 lived past middle age.
viii. Rebecca Paxson, b. 5 Nov. 1720; m. 2 Sept. 1739 Timothy BEANS, brother of Matthew. Timothy and Rebecca removed to Fairfax, Virginia.[31]
ix. Henry Paxson, Jr., b. 28 Aug. 1722; d. 2 Aug. 1799; m. 28 May 1745 Elizabeth LUPTON; res. on his father's farm in Solebury. Moderately active in Buckingham Monthly Meeting. Suffered distraint of goods 5 times for upholding the peace testimony during the Revolution. His will, written 12 Aug. 1790, pr. 16 Aug. 1799, mentions wife Elizabeth and all 12 children.
x. James Paxson, b. 8 Aug. 1724; d. 1 Nov. 1743; unmarried.
xi. Thomas Paxson, b. 17 June 1726; d. 13 Mar. 1764; m. under the care of Falls Meeting on 17 May 1748 Sarah HARVEY. She died 16 June 1762. Thomas married secondly on 21 February 1764, Hannah BLACKFAN.
xii. Martha Paxson, b. 4 Feb. 1728/9; unmar. in 1752 when she was mentioned in her father's will. She may be the Martha who transferred from Buckingham Mo. Mtg. to Middletown Mtg. in 1757.[32]
"Dandelion", block print by Anne EG Nydam
copyright 1996, used with kind permissionSee all the citations for the Plumley family.
Return to the Index of Collateral Lines.
Go to the Paxson family home page.This page was updated on 12m/25/2014.
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