Dr. Hodgson's Wife: An Addendum to Hinshaw

Dr. Hodgson's Wife: An Addendum to Hinshaw Jeffrey L. Scheib A MONG THE RECORDS OF THE PHILADELPHIA Monthly Meeting of Friends included in William Wade Hinshaw's comfrpendium of American Quaker genealogy is that of the burial, on 26/4th month [i.e., June] 1690, of the wife of Dr. Hodgson of Philadelphia.' This otherwise unidentified woman was Hannah Holme, who married Daniel Hodgson, "practitioner of physick," on 4 April 1689.2 Very little is known about Hannah Holme Hodgson other than the facts of her marriage and death. Evidently she was under age at the time she married, for the registration of the marriage notes that the wedding took place with the "full Sc free assent and Consent" of her father.3 Her mother's name has not been discovered, but her father was John Holme (who died in Salem County, New jersey, in January 1703/4), who had arrived in Pennsylvania in June 1686. 4 The date of Hannah's own arrival in the province is not certainly known. The record of her father's arrival lists his three servants but not Hannah or her four brothers, John, Ebenezer, Samuel, and Benjamin; both the families and the servants of other passengers on the same ship, the Desire of Plymouth, are listed.5 Her bridegroom had been practicing medicine in Philadelphia since at least the fall of 1688. Daniel Hodgson died, apparently after a lingering illness, in March 1708/9, leaving a personal estate of £230.6 At the remove of three centuries it would be impertinent to accuse Daniel Hodgson of mercenary motives in his choice of a bride, but it is difficult to escape the conclusion that he thought he was marrying very welt. His new father-in-law controlled a large estate. Within two years of his arrival in Pennsylvania, John Holme had married Mary Hedge More (who died 17 November 1694), the widow of Dr. Nicholas More, the former president of the Free Society of Traders, Speaker of the Assembly in 1684, and the impeached first chief justice of the Provincial Court, who had died in May 1687.7 More 39 40 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine had bought 10,000 acres of land from William Penn, who had erected the tract into the manor of Moreland, including a grant to More of the right to hold manorial courts. Moreover, More had also developed a plantation, Green Spring, on 80 acres in the liberties of Philadelphia that he had bought from Surveyor General Thomas Holme. Additionally, More's 10,000.-acre purchase entitled him to seven city lots in Philadelphia. Through his marriage to More's widow, John Holme controlled this vast amount of property.8 Evidently for John Halm the prominence consequent on his marriage to Widow More and control of the More estate led to political office. In January 1689/90 he was appointed to the commission of the peace for Philadelphia County, in 1691 he was named an alderman in the first Philadelphia city charter, and in 1692 he was elected to the Assembly as a delegate from Philadelphia County.9 As a justice of the peace, Holme distinguished himself, in August 1692, by refusing to join in prosecuting George Keith on charges that Holme knew originated not in any criminal activity but in the religious divisions among the Quakers that Keith's teachings had provoked." Indeed, the registration of Hannah Holme's marriage provides an interesting glimpse of the social and political circles in which her father traveled." The group of guests who witnessed the marriage is notable for containing a number of individuals who were not part of the dominant Quaker "in group" in the colony, including some who were major political opponents of the Quaker leadership.12 The most prominent politician among the witnesses to the marriage was unquestionably the incumbent governor, John Blackwell (1624-1701), whose stormy administration lasted little more than a year before William Penn caved in to complaints from the Pennsylvania Quakers and removed him from office. A Puritan and a former Cromwellian soldier, Blackwell was a singularly poor choice on Penn's part to govern a Quaker commonwealth." The three justices of the peace who witnessed the marriage were William Markham (died 12 June 1704), Griffith Jones (died 15 October 1712), and William Solway (died 15 November 1694).14 Markham, William Penn's cousin, the former deputy governor, future lieutenant governor, and incumbent provincial secretary, had been named by Governor Blackwell to the commission of the peace for all six counties of Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties (Delaware). At this time he was a member of the Provincial Council representing Kent County, Delaware. During the incessant political wrangling that Dr. Hodgson's Wife 41 marked Blackwell's tenure as governor, Markham, out of loyalty to Penn, supported him as the proprietor's appointee.15 Griffith Jones, who had first been elected to the Provincial Council in 1686 and later became mayor of Philadelphia, was one of Governor Blackwell's most important supporters against the Quaker leaders in the Council. Although originally a Quaker, Jones died out of unity with Friends.'6 William Solway, who served in the Assembly in 1687, 1690, and 1692, was a Quaker, but in 1693-94 he willingly served in the appointed Provincial Council of the royal governor, Benjamin Fletcher, where he signed a statement accusing the Assembly of failing to provide for the defense of the province." The roll of witnesses to the marriage also included some of the more colorful, not to say scandalous, individuals of early Pennsylvania. Charles Pickering (died 1694), a Philadelphia goldsmith and merchant who served in the Assembly in 1690, had been convicted of counterfeiting in October 1683 despite his plea that his coins were "as good Silver as any Spanish money." He got off with a fine of £40.18 Also present was Patrick Robinson (died 1701). A volatile, hot-tempered Scot, he had been imprisoned and voted "a publick Enemy" by the 1685 Assembly when, as clerk of the Provincial Court, he complained that the impeachment charges against his friend Nicholas More had been drawn up "Hob Nob at a Venture."19 He was dismissed as clerk of both the Provincial and Philadelphia County courts in October 1686, but evidently his legal clerical skills were indispensable, as he was appointed deputy register general a few months later." The only witness to be identified as "Esqr." was John Tatham (also known as John Gray), who attended with his wife Elizabeth. Tatham was a runaway monk from a Benedictine community near St. James's Palace, London, that provided chaplains to Charles II's Portuguese Catholic wife, Catherine of Braganza. Gossip in Philadelphia had it that his wife (or, as William Markham put it, "that woman . . he Calls his Wife") was really the wife of a London coachman. Both the Tathams died quite wealthy at Burlington, New Jersey, in 1700, the foundation of their fortune possibly being church funds with which Tatham was alleged to have absconded.21 Needless to say, all of these individuals were outside the mainstream of Quaker Pennsylvania. It is somewhat surprising to find the notice of Hannah Holme Hodgson's death among the Quaker records, as she was not from a Quaker family. Of Hannah's own religious sympathies nothing is known, and it is possible that she was a Quaker even if her relatives 42 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine were not. Her father, however, was the most prominent Baptist in Pennsylvania at this time.22 Nor is there any proof that her husband was a Quaker. Daniel Hodgson does not appear in the minutes of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, nor were either of his marriages authorized by that body." Apparently, Hannah's death appears in the Quaker records because, although Friends began to keep "An Account of the deceased Buried in the Buring ground in Philadelphia" in January 1688/9 , the deaths of non-Quakers were not recorded separately until William Hudson was appointed by Philadelphia Monthly Meeting to keep "An account of the Burialls of such as are not Friends within this Town of Philadelphia" in 1692. 24 It is also notable that whereas Hinshaw gives the date, 26/4mo., as that of Hannah's burial, the transcript of the original record in the collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania reads, "Doctor Hodgsons wife departed this life the 26th 4/mo[.] 1690."25 As a coda to the life of Hannah Holum Hodgson, when, some time after her death, a daughter was born to John and Mary Hedge More Holme, the child was named Hannah for her deceased half-sister.26 Notes 1, William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1938), 2:375, hereafter cited as Hinshaw. The entry reads, [Hodgsons] w Dr. Hodgsons, bur 4-26-1690[J" 2. Marriage Register of Pennsylvania, 1684-1689, fol. 68r, AM 3045, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, hereafter cited as Marriage Register. The marriage was extracted in Pennsylvania Archives, 2d ser., 8:viii. Hannah Benner Roach ("Philadelphia Business Directory, 1690," Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, 23 (196364]:125,125n) noted Daniel Hodgson's marriage to Hannah Holme, and also that the executor of Hodgson's will was his wife Sarah (italics in the original), but her use of italics suggests that she did not notice Hannah Holme Hodgson's death record. The complete Marriage Register is currently being transcribed for publication by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. 3. Marriage Register, fol. 68r. 4. "A Partial List of the Families Who Arrived at Philadelphia Between 1682 and 1687," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 8 (1884):338-39; Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Vol. I, 1670-1730, New Jersey Archives, 1st ser., 23:234-35. 5. "List of Families," PMHB, S (1880338-39; NJA, 1st ser., 23:234-35. Holmes servants were William Hayes, Richard Bestitraser, and George Gwinop. 6. Roach, "Business Directory," PGM, 23 (1963-64):124-25,125n; Philadelphia Will Book C, #121, City Hall Archives, Philadelphia (Phil A:13, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania). Hodgson drafted his will 1 Sept. 1747; it was probated 23 March 1708/9. 7. Marriage Register, fol. 58r; "Philadelphia Administration Book 'A,' 1683— Dr. Hodgson's Wife 43 1702," PGM., 19 (1952-54}:252; Hinshaw, 2:444. For More's role as president of the Free Society of Traders, see Gary B. Nash, "The Free Society of Traders and the Early Politics of Pennsylvania," PMHB, 89 (1965):147-73. More's three terms in the Assembly can be followed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia, 1752), 1 (part 1):1-6, 24-36. His impeachment (also in the minutes of the 1685 Assembly), is in Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania [frequently identified by its binder's title, Colonial Records] (Philadelphia, 1852), 1:135-41. A more complete biography of Nicholas More will appear in the forthcoming Biographical Dictionary of Early Pennsylvania Legislators, along with biographies of John Holme, William Markham, Griffith Jones, William Salway, Charles Pickering, and Patrick Robinson (see below). 8. The grant of Moreland, including the right to hold "courts baron, courts feet, and view of frankpledge," is in Lease 84 Release Bk. A, 1:17-20, Bureau of Land Records, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg (microfilm XR/914:1, GSP). The deed from Holme to More for the land that became Green Spring (where the Holme-Hodgson nuptials subsequently were celebrated) is in Philadelphia Co. Deed .Bk. El, 5:134-35, Recorder of Deeds, Philadelphia (microfilm XD/Pa. Ph91, HSP). More's city lots are in Warrants & Surveys of the Province of Pennsylvania, 3:281, City Hall Archives, Philadelphia (microfilm XR/919:1, GSP). John Holme was not related to Thomas Holme. 9. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:320; "The First Charter of the City of Philadelphia, 1691," PMHB, 18 (1890:504-509; Votes and Proceedings, 1 (part 1):60. 10. J. William Frost, The Keithian Controversy in Early Pennsylvania (Norwood, Pa., 1980), 169. 11. Marriage Register, fol. 68r. 12. For the politics of Pennsylvania in this period, see Gary B. Nash, Quakers and Politics: Pennsylvania, 1681-1726 (Princeton, 1968), 113-25,141-44. 13. Blackwell's administration can be followed in Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:229-317. For more on his life and career, see Nicholas B. Wainwright, "Governor John Blackwell," PMHB, 74 (1950):457-72, and W. F. L. Nuttall, "Governor John Blackwell: His Life in England and Ireland," PMHB, 88 (1964):121-41. 14. James Logan described Markham's death to Jonathan Dickinson thus: "Poor honest Colonel Markham this Morning ended a miserable Life by a Seasonable Release in a fit of his old Distemper that Seized his vitals." Logan Papers, 1:49, HSP. The deaths of Jones and Solway are found in Hinshaw 2:416,445. 15. John Simcock, et. al., to William Penn, 9 April 1689, in Marianne S. Wokeck, Joy Wiltenburg, Alison Duncan Hirsch, and Craig W. Honk, eds., The Papers of William Penn, Vol. Three, 1685-1700 (Philadelphia, 1986), 239; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:212. Markham's wife Joanna, who had a reputation for "pride, and hautiness," also attended the wedding. Marriage Register, fol. 68r; William Markham to William Penn, 16 Feb. 1687/8, Cliveden Mss., Chew Family Papers, HSP, published in Gary B. Nash, ed., "The First Decade in Pennsylvania: Letters of William Markham and Thomas Holme to William Penn," PMHB, 90 (1960:496501. 16. Minutes of the Provincial Council,1:196,229-317; Anthony A. Roth, comp., Mayors of Philadelphia, 1691-1972, Some Genealogical Notes, 4:17-97 (Y/Misc. 31:4, GSP); Hinshaw, 2:445. 44 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 17. Votes and Proceedings, 1 (part 1):40, 56, 60; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:365, 423. 18. Roach, "Business Directory," PGM, 23 (1963-64):101; Voles and Proceedings, 1 (part 1):56; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:85-88. 19. Votes and Proceedings, 1 (part 1):34-35. 20. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:191-93; Papers of William Penn, 3:130n. The registration of the Holme-Hodgson marriage is in Robinson's hand. 21. Marriage Register, fol. 68r; Henry H. Bisbee, "John Tatham, Alias Gray," PMHB, 83 (1959):253-64; Lois V. Given, "'The Great and Stately Palace:' Inventories of the Estate of John and Elizabeth Tatham," PMHB, 83 (1959):26570; William Markham to William Penn, 22 Aug. 1686, Cliveden Mss., Chew Family Papers, HSP, published in Nash, "The First Decade in Pennsylvania," PMHB, 90 (1966):319-36, and in Papers of William Penn, 3:99-109. 22. Charles P. Keith, Chronicles of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1917), 1:136, 344, 23. Abstracts of the minutes of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting are in Phil F:7 and Ph/1F:8, GSP. 24. Records of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Phil F:1, 267, 412, GSP. 25. Hinshaw, 2:375; Records of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Ph/1F:1, 272, GSP. 26. Calendar of New Jersey Wills, New Jersey Archives, 1st ser., 23:234-35.