The Robert Heaton Family of Wharfe, Yorkshire, England, and Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

The Robert Heaton Family of Wharfe, Yorkshire, England, and Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania John Insley Coddington, F.G.S.P., F.A.S.G., F.N.G.S., F.S.G.* T HAS BEEN KNOWN that Robert Heaton, who settled in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1682, had come to Penn's colony from Yorkshire, England, but until recently a more specific location for his English home remained conjectural. Research in English records has now yielded both Heaton's family home, at Wharfe, in the parish of Clapham, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and the date of his baptism. Additionally, Heaton's father and siblings have been identified, and the time of the family's conversion to Quakerism has been more accurately pinpointed. In June 1682, Robert "Eaton" shipped "1 pack qty. 350 ells English linen" aboard the Lamb of Liverpool, which arrived in Philadelphia on or about 22 October 1682. This Robert is believed to have been Robert Heaton, who, with his wife Mice, was issued a certificate of removal from the Settle Monthly Meeting of Friends in Yorkshire on 7th of 4th month [June] 1682, three weeks before the loading of the linen on the Lamb) All that has been known about Robert Heaton and his family up to this time was presented in George E. McCracken's The Welcome Claimants: Proved, Disproved *Editor's Note: Born in France in 1902 to American parents, the author has published and lectured widely, and his career has included teaching positions at Harvard, Olivet, Swarthmore, and Haverford colleges. He was elected a life member of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania in 1941 and is also a founding member of the American Society of Genealogists. Details of his life and accomplishments, with a bibliography of his work, are found in Neil D. Thompson and Robert Charles Anderson, eds., A Tribute to John Insley Coddington (Association for the Promotion of Scholarship in Genealogy, Ltd., 1980). The author wishes to thank Roger D. Joslyn, C.G., F.A.S. G., for his assistance in preparing this article for publication. 1 00 The Robert Heaton Family 10 1 and Doubiful. 2 As shown in that work, the births of five children of Robert and Alice Heaton were recorded by the Settle Monthly Meeting, and it was assumed Robert was born about 1635-1645 in Yorkshire, "very probably at Settle in the parish of Giggleswick," where Heatons were recorded as early as 1560.3 Unfortunately, a search of the extracted baptisms and marriages from the registers of Giggleswick and nearby parishes included in the 1988 edition of the International Genealogical Index yielded no information about the immigrant Heatons. At the suggestion of genealogist Brian Loomes, F.S.G., of Harrogate, Yorkshire,' the published parish registers of Clapham, which adjoins Giggleswick on the northwest, were examined. Here was found the baptism of Grace, daughter of Robert Heaton, jr., of Wharfe, on 5 April 1667.5 The birth of Grace, daughter of Robert and Alice Heaton, on 14th of 1st month 1667 114 March 1666/71, was also recorded by Settle Monthly Meeting. Taken together, these two records clearly establish the family of Robert Heaton of Wharfe as that of the early settler of Bucks County. Thus, the home of the immigrant family has been discovered. Additionally, the comparison of the Clapham baptismal records with the Settle Quaker records shows that the Heatons joined the Society of Friends sometime between Grace's baptism in April 1667 and the birth, on 3 6th month 1671,7 of her brother Robert, for whom no baptism has been found. The baptism of Robert' Heaton the immigrant, on 25 March 1642, was also discovered in the Clapham registers.8 The record of that event provided the name of his father, also Robert Heaton, and led to the identification of his siblings. The surname Heaton appears quite frequently in various parts of England, perhaps most commonly in Yorkshire and in the adjoining county of Lancaster. Bartholomew's Peoples' Atlas of the Counties of England, 1875 edition, shows ten places with the principal name of Heaton: Heaton in northern Lancashire, Heaton in northern Staffordshire, Heaton and Heaton Lodge in southwestern Yorkshire, Heaton House in northwestern Yorkshire, Heaton Moor and Villa and Heaton Norris in southeastern Lancashire, North Heaton in northern Northumberland, Old Heaton in Northumberland, and Heaton Station in southern Northumberland. Most, if not all, English surnames which have the ending "-ton" (from the AngloSaxon tun, meaning "town"), such as, for example, Heaton and Coddington, are derived from place-names.9 It is quite likely, therefore, that the Heaton family of the parish of Clapham in the West 1 D2 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Riding of Yorkshire obtained its surname from one or another of the places named Heaton cited above, most probably either Heaton Lodge or the plain Heaton, both situated in southwestern Yorkshire near the town of Bradford. Although Bradford is about 35 miles southeast of Clapham and 30 miles southeast of Settle, it was the closest and most accessible market town in the remote moorland area in which both Clapham and Settle are located. Wharfe, where the Heatons lived, is actually closer to the parish church of Clapham than to Settle, where the Friends meeting was held. Anyone interested in the Heatons or other families from the Clapham and Settle area can gain some idea of the conditions that molded these seventeenth-century immigrants from the novels of the Bronte sisters, especially Wuthering Heights, which contains a vivid description of the rough and wild moorland regions of Yorkshire's West Riding before the Industrial Revolution brought some modern amenities. 1. Robert Heaton, although his baptism does not appear in the registers of Clapham, may quite possibly have been born at Wharfe and baptized at Clapham shortly before 1595, when the existing registers commence.") He was a yeoman and married (1) (not recorded at Clapham) about 1614, Anne to whose maiden surname there is at present no clue. Anne, wife of Robert Heaton of Wharfe, was buried at Clapham 18 March 1626/7.11 Robert married (2) probably in the fall of 1627, but not recorded at Clapham, Elizabeth to whose maiden surname there is also lack of a clue. Elizabeth, wife of Robert Heaton of Wharfe, was buried at Clapham 5 July 1632.12 Robert Heaton of Wharfe married (3) probably between 1633 and 1638, perhaps closer to 1638, , for whom we have no clue at all to her maiden surname, her given name, or her former husband's name if she were a widow. There are no burial records at Clapham for either Robert or his third wife. They may have become Quakers before their deaths, although their deaths do not appear in the Settle Monthly Meeting records. Robert Heaton was probably still living in April 1667 when his son Robert was styled "junior."13 Children, recorded at Clapham, by first wife, Anne: i. Margaret, bp. 16 April 1615; bur. at Clapham 18 Sept. 1622.'4 The Robert Heaton Family ii. 103 Elizabeth, bp. 30 Nov. 1621; bur. at Clapham Sept. 1651, spinster.'5 Child by either first wife, Anne, or second wife, Elizabeth: iii. John, bp. not recorded; bur. at Clapham 12 Dec. 1629.'6 Children by second wife, Elizabeth: iv. Richard, bp. 21 Sept. 1628.17 v. John, bp. 9 Jan. 1630/1; bur. at Clapham 6 June 1633.18 vi. Isabella, bp. not recorded; bur. at Clapham 22 Oct 1634.19 Children by third wife, name unknown: vii. Thomas, bp. 31 July 1639.2° 2. viii. Robert', bp. 25 March 1642. 21 ix. x. xi. xii. xiii. John, bp. 13 April 1645. 22 Alice [twin], bp. 2 Aug. 1649; bur. at Clapham Nov. 1649. 23 Agnes [twin], bp. 2 Aug. 1649. 24 James, bp. 27 June 1652. 25 Ellen, b. ca. 1655, bp. not as an infant 9 July 1663. She had a son by Thomas Clapham named John Clapham, bp. at Clapham 22 Aug. 1675, and she m. at Clapham 29 April 1676, Simon Tunsta11.26 2. Robert' Heaton (RobertA) was born at Wharfe in the parish of Clapham about March 1641/2 and baptized at Clapham 25 March 1642.27 Probably in 1666 he maried Alice , perhaps in a Church of England near Clapham, quite possibly at Giggleswick. As indicated above, the family joined the Society of Friends about 1667-1670; as a member of the Settle meeting, Robert Heaton was fined in 1670 and 1671.28 In the summer of 1682 the Heatons immigrated to Pennsylvania on the Lamb from Liverpoo1.29 They 1 04 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine settled on Neshaminy Creek in Middletown Township, Bucks County, becoming members of Middletown Monthly Meeting of Friends; in 1683 the monthly meeting was held in their home." It has been claimed, probably erroneously, that about 1683 Robert built the first mill in Bucks County31; he did, however, represent the county in the provincial assembly in 1698, 1700, and 1701. 32 At various times he bought almost 4000 acres of land, as evidenced by the several deeds he recorded in Bucks and Philadelphia counties." Robert Heaton of Middletown Township, yeoman, died between 16 April 1716 and 16 July 1717, the dates of his will and its probate.34 Alice Heaton was buried in Middletown Friends Graveyard 7 of 2d mo. [April] 1717.35 Children, born at Wharfe in the parish of Clapham, Yorkshire: i. Grace2 , b. 14 1st mo., 1667 [14 March 1666/7], birth entered in Friends records,36 evidently after the family became Quaker and after Grace had been baptized at Clapham 5 April 166737; bur. probably at Middletown Twp. 8 8th mo. [Oct.] 1708; m. at Middletown Mtg. 27 7th rno. [Sept.] 1688, Thomas Stackhouse of Neshami~ ny, b. Yorkshire, Eng., ca. 1661, d. probably at Middletown Twp. 26 4th mo. [June] 1744, son of John Stackhouse, and a member of the Pennsylvania provincial assembly in 1711, 1713, 1715, and 1716; 9 children, surname Stackhouse: Samuel, John, Robert, Henry, Isaac, Alice, Thomas, Joseph, and Benjamin. Thomas [Sr.] m. (2) at Middletown Twp. 1 1st mo. [March] 1711/2, Ann, widow of Edward Mayes, by whom Thomas had five more children, and (3) 8 3d mo. [May] 1725, Dorothy, widow of Zebulon Heston, who survived him." it. Robert2 , jr., b. 3 6th mo. [Aug.] 1671,39 probably after the family had become Quaker, as he was not baptized at Clapham; d. in Northampton Twp., Bucks Co., between 20 March and 23 July 1743, the dates of the codicil to his will and its probate40; a member of the provincial assembly from Bucks Co. in 1709 and 1710.4' Robert m. (1) at Middletown Mtg. 8 3d mo. [May] 1700, Grace Pearson of Philadelphia,42 b. at Keighley, Yorkshire, Eng., 31 3d mo. Nay] 1680,43 d. in Middletown Twp. 30 9th !no. [Nov.] 1719, daughter The Robert Heaton Family iii. iv. v. 105 of Thomas and Grace (Veepon) Pearson; 8 children: Sarah, Grace, Elizabeth, Alice, Robert, Mary, Thomas, and Isaac; m. (2) 3 9th mo. [Novi 1720, Susanna (Griffith) Carter,44 who d. in Northampton Twp., Bucks Co., 30 12th mo. 1770,45 daughter of John Griffith of Woodbridge, NJ., and Bucks Co., Pa.,46 widow of James Carter (by whom she had children), and sister of Ann who m. Robert's brother James Heaton; 3 children: Robert, Alice, and Anne.47 jarnes2, b. 25 12th mo. [Feb.] 1674/54$; living in Middletown Twp., Bucks Co., 2 Nov. 1709, when deeded land there by his father49; rn. out of meeting before 7 5th mo. (July] 1696, Ann Griffith,5° daughter of John of Woodbridge, N.J., and Bucks Co., Pa.,5' and sister of Susanna who m. James's brother Robert Heaton. In 1695 James was fined for having an illegitimate child by Mary Scaife, daughter of Jonathan Scaife.52 Agnes2, b. 12 9th mo. [Nova] 1677"; d. at Moreland Twp., Philadelphia Co., Pa., 30 I Oth mo. [Dec.] 1743; m. at Middletown Mtg. 17 8th MO. [Oct.] 1695, Henry Comly of Byberry, Pa., b. at Bedminster, Somersetshire, Eng., ca. 1673-74, d. at Moreland Twp. 16 1st mo. [March] 1726/7, son of Henry and Joan (Tyler) Comly of Bedminster and Middletown Twp., Bucks Co., Pa.; 11 children, surname Comly: Alice, Mary, Henry, Robert, John, Joseph, Walter, Agnes, James, Isaac, and Grace.54 Ephraim2, b. 17 6th mo. [Aug.] 167955; living Upper Dublin Twp., Philadelphia Co., Pa., 1743; rn. in Bucks Co. 13 11th mo. (Jan.] 1703 [74?], Sarah Parker, daughter of Humphrey Parker of Dublin Twp., Philadelphia Co.56 Notes 1. Walter Lee Sheppard, jr., comp. and ed., Passengers and Ships Prior to 1684, Publications of the Welcome Society of Pennsylvania Number 1 (Baltimore, 1970), 53, hereafter cited as Passengers and Ships. A transcription of the Settle Monthly Meeting certificate issued to Robert Heaton and his wife Alice appears on p. 101 of 106 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine George Norwood Comly, comp., Supplement to Comly Family in America (Philadelphia, 1952). 2. George E. McCracken, The Welcome Claimants: Proved, Disproved and Doubtful, Publications of the Welcome Society of Pennsylvania Number 2 (Baltimore, 1970), 238-41. See also pp. 19-25 regarding the "Settle Certificate." 3. Ibid., 239. 4. Letter to John Insley Coddington, 15 April 1971. 5. John Charlesworth, transcr., The Parish Register of Clapham, Co. York, Part I. 1595-1683, Publications of the Yorkshire Parish Register Society, 67 (1920:83, hereafter cited as Register of Clapham. 6. Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting, Digests of Births, Friends' Library, London. 7. Ibid. 8. Register of Clapham, 46. 9. See, for example, Eisdon C. Smith, American Surnames (Philadelphia, 1969), 229. 10. One possible clue to the family of Robert" Heaton is the will of Robert Heaton of "Sete" in the parish of "Gigleswek," singleman, dated 25 Feb. 1635 (original will, York Probate Registry, Bundle for July 1636-7). He desired to be buried in the Giggleswick Churchyard and left bequests to his mother Isabell Luptonn (i6), sister "Margrat" Luptonn (40s), Catherine Procter and Alie Procter ("either of them" 20s for their use at the discretion of Leonard Procter and Thomas Lealome), sister Ann (40s), brother Thomas Lealome's children Richard and Margaret ("either of them" 20s), and residue to brother Thomas Lealome, who was to be executor. Witnesses were John Carr, "dark" and Richard (his mark) Harrison. 11. Register of Clapham, 58. 12. Ibid., 61. 13. Ibid., 83. 14. ibid., 24,55. 15. Ibid., 30,71. 16. ibid., 59. 17. Ibid., 34. 18. Ibid., 36,62. 19. Ibid., 62. 20. Ibid., 43. 21. Ibid., 46. 22. Ibid., 48. 23. Ibid., 50,70. 24. Ibid., 50. 25. Ibid., 51. 26. Ibid., 80,90,126. 27. Ibid., 46. 28. Joseph Besse, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers, 2 vols. (London, 1753), 2:130,131. 29. Sheppard, ed., Passengers and Ships, 53. The Robert Heaton Family 1 07 30. George Norwood Comly, comp., Comly Family in America (Philadelphia, 1939), 885. 31. William W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, (Doylestown, Pa., 1876), 163. While this claim cannot be documented, Robert's son Robert, jr., and son-in-law Thomas Stackhouse did build a mill, but it was not the first in Bucks County (Bucks Co. Deed Bk. 3:254, 4:20). 32_ Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1752-76), I (part 1):101, 123, 140, hereafter cited as Votes and Proceedings; see also Pennsylvania Archives, 2d ser., 9:753; 8th ser., 1:201, 206, 207, 212, 243, 265, 277. 33. Abstracts appear in Comly, Comly Family, 885-887; for original records, see Patent Bk. A, 3:10; Lease and Release Bk. B, 2:11, 13, Bureau of Land Records, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg; Bucks Co. Deed Bk. 1:22, 2:178-79, 194, 219, 3:29, 103, 116, 127, 152, 217, 224, 256, 272, 4:97. Heaton eventually sold most of this land 34. Bucks Co. estate file 173, recorded in Will Bk. 1:33-34. There is a photograph of Robert Heaton's original will between pages 888 and 889 in Comly, Coml.)) Family. 35. McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 238-39. 36. Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting, Digests of Births, Friends' Library, London. 37. Register of Clapham, 83. • 38. Comly, Coml.), Family, 888-889, and Comly, Supplement to Comly Family, 101; Arthur Edwin Bye, A Friendly Heritage Along the Delaware (New York, 1959), 199; Votes and Proceedings, 2:105, 137, 184, 193. 39. Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting, Digests of Births, Friends' Library, London. 40. Bucks Co. Will Bk. 2:26. 41. Votes and Proceedings, 2:60, 105; see also Pennsylvania Archives, 2d ser., 9:754; 8th ser., 2:921, 924, 925, 1003, 1004, 1010, 1011. For more information about Robert Heaton, Jr., see Comfy, Comly Family, 889-90. 42. McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 240. 43. Keighley Friends Records, Yorkshire Notes and Queries, 2 (1888-90):89. 44. McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 240. 45. Isaac Comly's Notes of Byberry, 2:69, MS, AM701, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 46. McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 240, and earlier works have listed the mother of Susanna (Griffith) (Carter) Heaton and Ann (Griffith) Heaton as Elizabeth. This is probably because John Griffith of Woodbridge Twp., East Jersey, in his will of 27 June 1713, named, in addition to his daughters Susanna Carter and Ann Heaton, his wife Elizabeth (Bucks Co. Will Bk. 1:3). The author is grateful to Lloyd D. Bockstruck of Dallas, Texas, for pointing out that the mother of Susanna and Ann Griffith may not have been Elizabeth. Citing volume 2, pages 277 and 280 of 0. E. Monette, Firs! Settlers of Ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodbridge Olde East New Jersey 1664-1714,7 vols. (Los Angeles, 1930-35), admittedly an unreliable source, Mr. Bockstruck points out that on 20 8th mo. I 709 permission was granted for the marriage between John Griffith, who brought a certificate from Bucks Co., and Elizabeth Gage or Gach, who is identified in a note as the mother of John Vail and Thomas Gach. This marriage occured too late for this Elizabeth to have been the 108 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine mother of Susanna and Ann. If this is correct, John Griffith was her third husband. As Mr. Bockstruck notes, however, John Griffith could have had two wives named Elizabeth. 47. McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 240. 48. Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting, Digests of Births, Friends' Library, London. 49. Bucks Co. Deed Bk. 4:97. 50. McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 240. 51. See note 46. 52. Records of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1684-1700 (Meadville, Pa, 1943), 285-92. 53 Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting, Digests of Births, Friends' Library, London. The Middletown Monthly Meeting records, probably in error, show her birth as 22 9th mo. 1677 (see Comly, Supplement to Comly Family, 101). 54. Cornly, Comly Family, 17-30. 55. Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting, Digests of Births, Friends' Library, London. 56. McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 241.