John Bezer

JOHN BEZER A Commissioner of William Penn1 TOHN BEZER, a maltster of Bishops Canning in Wiltshire, is little j known today; but his appointment in 1681 to be one of three commissioners to carry into effect William Penn's plans for his future Commonwealth, would have occasioned little surprise. For more than a quarter of a century, he and his family were ardent Quakers and leaders among the "Publishers of Truth" in Wiltshire and the surrounding counties in England. As stated by Alan Ryerson in his introductory article to this series William Penn's Commissioners, the Proprietor selected men prominent in the Quaker community who were available to migrate to his colony with sufficient means to purchase land and establish homesteads. He also recounts Bezer's business dealings as a small merchant shipping cargoes to Virginia, and his solid family connections among the yeomanry of Wiltshire.2 As early as 1656, John Bezer was a publisher of Truth in Bristol, where according to Besse:3 "Christopher Birkhead, Benjamin Maynard, John Ware, and John Bezer, of whom the first had been struck on the Head with a Stick by the Priest himself, and the two last put into the Stocks, and Whipt, were kept close Prisoners four Months, and none of their Friends admitted to visit them." This event occurred the same year that George Fox brought Quakerism personally to Wiltshire:4 For several decades before this, Wilts was fertile ground for Protestant dissent. Presbyterians arriving from the continent and Scotland, the Baptists with their missionaries out of Holland, and a few remaining Ranters and even Lollards from the time of Wycliffe flourished there. John Story and John Wilkinson (the two future separatists) brought Fox's message to Wilts in 1655. They remained in the area for several years, their labors convincing a number of Baptists.5 Numbered among their converts were John Bezer's father, Edward Bezer, Sr., his wife Jean, and their five children including John, the 283 284 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Commissioner, intermarried with Susanna Withers, William and wife Sarah Coole, Edward who married Ann Fry, Frances the wife of Edward Brown, and Elizabeth the wife of John Mason. William Withers of Bishops Canning, and members of his family also were converts. None was more forward in Quaker ministry than were his sons, Ralph and Thomas, the brothers of Susanna Bezer. By the time of Penn's visits in Wiltshire, Ralph and Thomas Withers were the Quaker leaders in Devizes, and Ralph assumed leadership in the County.° Ralph signed the Epistles from London Yearly Meeting in 1675 and 1681 and he signed as a witness William Penn's Instructions to his commissioners dated 30 9th mo. 1681. 7 The Fry family of Backlands, Wiltshire, of which John Bezer's sister-in-law Ann was a member, entertained George Fox as he testifies in his Journal. On his way from Bristol to London in 1662, Fox records "having great meetings among Friends as I went" In the Following year after having ridden 20 miles on horseback from the direction of Hampshire, Fox arrived at Fry's house in Wiltshire where a meeting was appointed for the next day.8 it is probable that Fox again met the Frys, Withers and Bezers when in 1666 and 1667 he was in Wilts to set up men's monthly meetings. He returned to Wilts after his American journey in 1677 and again in 1681. 9 Recounting the beginnings of Quakerism, William C. Braithwaite records that Wiltshire had few groups of Friends and there was little persecution from the County magistrates owing perhaps to the influence of Justices Edward Stokes, in whose house Fox held a great meeting, and Nathaniel Cripps of Tetbury. However, authorities in the town of Marlborough committed several cruelties; and he further adds, "in the Restoration year (1660) Friends' Wiltshire meetings were dispersed and members abused by soldiers of the militia."1° Nonconformists, nevertheless, paid a toll as may be seen from the following instances recorded by Besse dealing with John Bezar and his relativesein 1658 two years after his imprisonment in Bristol, John Bezer was again in prison for speaking in the steeple house in Marlborough." In 1660, his father Edward Bezer was among a number of Friends taken, some from their religious meetings, others from their habitations and employments, and for refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance committed to Fisherton prison. i2 "This same year John Bezer, Samuel Noye, Edward Lauffe and Ralph Withers met at the house of William Moxham to arbitrate a difference arising among some Friends. The parish priest hearing of their meeting came with his son attended by an officer and others armed with pikes, bills and John Bezel-, A Commissioner of William Penn 285 staves, entered the house, and violently haled them away to a Justice of the Peace. The latter required of them sureties for their appearance at the next Sessions, which they not being conscious of any evil they had done, refused and were committed to prison where they lay many weeks."13 The marriage of John Bezer's brother-in-law Ralph Withers, of Bishops Canning to Mary Wilkinson, daughter of Anthony Wilkinson, of Salisbury on 27th 3rd Mo. 1678 created a unique instance of suffering. According to Besse: "yet for that he was not married according to the will and pleasure of the Priests and spiritual court (so called) it was deemed a clandestine Marriage, And without any presentation or due citation as ever he saw or heard of, he was excommunicated, and although he offered to appear at their Court yet he was denied it, and by means of George Fromm, proctor, or some of ye aforesaid Court, he was cast into prison."14 In 1680 it was the turn of Thomas Withers, another brother-inlaw, to be in trouble with the law. For many years Thomas was a tenant in a manor belonging to the Bishop of Sarum and he farmed it out to one John Mathwin, Esq., who as lord of the manor had somewhat favored Friends and suffered several to enjoy their estate without swearing or any trouble, as we learn from the Wiltshire records. "But this friend's estate (probably) seeming to him as convenient to him as Naboth's vineyard did to Ahab, he takes occasion (because for conscience sake he cannot swear fealty, as they call it) to take it away, & to that end hash proceeded and sent a declaration of ejectment to which the Friend is to appear this Term and to have a Tryall next Assizes at Sarum as they say."15 Those who attested for Thomas were John Bezer, Isaac Self, Edward Luff, John Gibbons, William Isaac, John Clark, and Ralph Withers. The outcome of the trial is not recorded, but in all probability the Bishop's manager was upheld. 16 One result of these persecutions in Wiltshire was the emigration of many Co Pennsylvania immediately on learning of Penn's offer of land. Many of those figuring in presentments were among the "first purchasers," including the brothers Bezer and Withers, of Bishops Canning, the Gardner and Harmer families of Purton, Gibbons of keVarminster, Hillier of Alderbury, Clark and Noyes of Devizes, Selfe, Luffe, Fue, and Brothers all of Market Levington, and Brown, Smith, and Harding of Marlborough." The parents of the Commissioner were Edward Bezer Sr. and his second wife Jean. In the parish register of Alderton, Wilts, is found the marriage of one Edward Bezer and Mary Osborne on 21 Nov. 1631, 286 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine thought to be John's father.18 From his presentment in 1660, Besse lists his address as Street, Wilts. He is termed "mason, of Marlborough" in his will dated 3 Sept. 1664 and probated in London 9 Nov. 1664 (P.C.C. Bruce 116). His death occurred 8 7th Mo. (Sept.) 1564. As a nonconformist his life had been subject to many vicissitudes. He was old, tired and perhaps ill when he dictated a will wherein he gives his wife Jane (jean) £10 and "all household goods except that feather Bed and bedstead whereon I now lay with one bolster, two pillows, one paire of sheets, one paire of blanketts, one white rugge which I give to my Executor." The abstract then lists: "to daughter-in-law Elizabeth Sloper £10 of the money due from William Paradise for the house bought of me; to daughter-in-law Mary Lawrence £10 of the same money; to the two children of William Paradise by Rebecca his first wife 20 shillings (?) each; to sonn Edward Bezer three score and tenne pounds and that part of the house now in my possession after the decease of my wife; to daughter ffrances Bezer £30; to daughter Elizabeth Bezer that part of the house now in possession of Daniel Smith and £5 and the yearly rent of said house to be improved by the executor to the best advantage until she is twenty years of age; to sonne William £5, the house now in possession of Samuel! Alexander, the rent to be improved to best advantage until he is twenty-one years of age; to John Bezer, my sonne all my money, goods, and chattels herein not exprest, whom I make my sole Executor. Overseers Thomas Lawrence, William Hitchcock, Thomas Crabb; Witnesses, Isaac Cole and Ruth (x) Alexander.19 The family name of Edward's second wife Jean is not given, but as widow she married secondly Thomas Lawrence, of Marlborough, on 18 4th Mo. 1671." He was an eminent tradesman in Marlborough and early became a Friend. He was probably a widower and father of the husband of Edward's daughter listed in the will as Mary Lawrence. From Besse we learn that Thomas Lawrence of Manchester "had employed the Poor of that town many years, and had laid out much money in improving the publick work-house there: Upon his becoming a Quaker, and publickly professing their Principles, and entertaining some of their Preachers, the bigoted Magistrates and Rulers of the Place, turned him out of his business (1657) of employing the Poor, and would not allow him any Part of what he had expended on their Account" In January 1660 he was among those Friends committed to prison on account of adhering to their religious principles.21 He probably died before 1684. John Bezer, A Commissioner of William Penn 287 Jean Lawrence was living and well in 1684 and seems to have been a widow a second time. William Coole, of Devizes, Wilts, in writing to his sister Sarah Bezer, widow of William Bezer, declared under date of 13 5th Mo. 1684 "They mother-in-law, Jean Lawrence, was well lately & Remembers her love to thee being a Widdow also." Edward and Jean Bezer's children were: i John, the Commissioner, eldest son and largest inheritor, and executor under his father's will, b. ca. 1641. ii Edward Bezer, b. ca. 1643; m. 28 8 Mo. 1664 Ann Fry, of Blackland. He followed his father's trade as mason, and was set-up in Bishops Canning at the time of his marriaF. There were born his four children: Elizabeth on 21 4th Mo. 1666; Edward Jr. on 1 1st Mo, 1666/7; Sarah on 17 5th Mo. 1674, and Ruth on 5 7th Mo. 1676. The family then removed to Rowde in the same shire where his you daughters, Lydia Frances and Ann were born.23 Edward, his family and several other Wiltshire first purchasers embarked on the ship, Bristol Comfort for Pennsylvania early in 1682.14 He had a releases 2 8th Mo. 1681 for 500 acres from Penn, surveyed and laid out in Bethel Township, Chester Counry; and here Ile built his messuage and made a plantation.25 Edward was a member of the Assembly in 1683 and died in 1688. His will names his widow Ann and children: Elizabeth Clayton, wife of William; Sarah Hewes, Ruth Chandler, Lydia Taylor, wife ofjoseph of Philadelphia; Frances Pennock, wife of John; Ann Griste, wife of George, and Edward jr., of Bethel, mason, with wife Margaret.26 iii Frances Bezer, b. Marlborough, Wilts ca. 1645; m. Bishops Canning 25 1st Mo. 1667, Edward Brown, yeoman, of Marlborough. Although he is listed as a first purchaser of 300 acres from Penn; they remained in England. iv Elizabeth Bezer, b. ca. 1646/7 was a minor when her father died in 1664. Friends records show that she m. 9 5th Mo. 1682 John Mason, of Painswick, Gloucestershire. They also remained in England. v William Bezer, the youngest son, was b. ca. 1650 in Marlborough. He too was a minor when his father died, and was to possess a property at age 21. John went to live with his brothers in Bishops Canning, and was listed there as "husbandman." He married about 1675 Sarah Cook, sister of William Cook, of Devizes, Wilts. There is contradictory evidence pointing to his arrival in Pennsylvania on the ship bistol Factor in 1681 with his brother John, or the following year on the Bristol Comfort, with his brother Edward.? At any event, he died here soon after his arrival in 1683 leaving a widow Sarah, and children: Sarah, William and Mary. His widow married in 1684 Philip Roman of Chichester. Sarah their daughter was born Bishops Canning 25 Feb. 1677, and married at Chichester Meeting 4th Mo. 1702 Samuel Greave, of Christiana Hundred, New Castle,Co., Del. She died 15 Aug. 1751, leaving four children. The son il jr. born Bishops liam Canning 12 June 1679, died young and unmarried soon after arrival in Pennsylvania. The youngest child, Mary born 10 July 1682 Bishops Canning married 1700/1 Ezekiel Harlan and left many descendants. When John Bezer with Penn's Instructions in hand set sail from Bristol, England for Pennsylvania with fellow Commissioner Nathaniel Allen and other co-religionists in Sept. of 1681, he was no longer 288 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine young. He could look back over more than a quarter of a century as an accomplished "public Friend" (Quaker minister) and a successful yeoman whose Wiltshire acres had yielded a successful living despite his many distraints. He had subscribed with alacrity to the purchase of 1000 acres offered by Penn in his new Province. He no doubt looked forward to the new duties and opportunities opening up before him in a new land, little realizing that he had but a few months to live. The Bristol Factor arrived safely at Upland, now Chester, Pa. in December 1681 carrying the Commissioner, his wife Susanna and their four children together with at least six servants. Port records reveal he stowed aboard ship the following goods: ecwrought iron, serges, wearing apparel, gun-powder, cheese, stockings, soap, shot, &, and also paid duty of 6d for two firkins of butter, presumably for use on the voyage."29 The commissioners were authorized to treat with the Indians and purchase their lands. However their prinicpal purpose was to select a site for the city which Penn had envisioned near Upland. Their accomplishments, although given scant notice by historians, are recorded in the early plans adopted for Philadelphia and the allotment of land and city lots among the early immigrants. Certainly Bezer was busy establishing a home for his family, looking after those who accompanied him as servants for whom he was responsible, participating in Quaker activities and affairs of government, as well as carrying out the assignments of the Proprietor." He appears as a justice at the first court, 14 February 1682,31 and as a member of the Assembly 12 March 1682/3.32 Also he was recorded as attending the first monthly meeting at Chichester, 17 1st Mo. 1684.33 He settled on a tract of 500 acres at Chichester (Marcus Hook) and owned a city lot, viz: "Draughts of several Squares of Ground within the City of Philadelphia being those that have been wholly or in part Surveyed and laid out in Lots to the Purchasers" —or "Parson's Plan of Philadelphia—shows John Bezer as the owner of the lot at the southwest corner of High (Market) and Fifth Streets: 26" x 3061.34 Penn's treaty with the Delaware tribe, based on mutual trust, made shortly after his arrival, is depicted in the imaginative painting by Benjamin West now at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The commissioners may well have been 'present. The famous treaty promoted long lasting good will. A variation of the painted scene is the appropriate subject of the mural on the rear wall of the banking building at 1518 Walnut Street, originally built for the Mutual Trust Company. From the diary of Thomas Cope35 we learn that the vener- John A Commissioner of William Penn 289 able Treaty Elm whose branches extended sixty feet stood until 5 March 1810. The site in Shackamaxon (Kensington) is now a public park. The treaty is described in Historical Collections of Stale of Pennsylvania, Sherman and Day, Phila. 1843.36 We learn next of John in a letter written by William Haig another of Penn's Commissioners from Tinicum 7 6th Mo. 1683. "Deare Goverr (Penn). Very neere two a'clocke in ye afternoone Ralph Withers peaceably departed his brother John Bezer being present."37 Ten days later he again writes Penn: "William Clarke is taken very sicke here at tinicum. I am afeard W.C. is taken with ye same distemper as R. W. had."38 Probably the same fever may have caused the death this year of John's brother William Bezer. John did not have long to enjoy his American plantation situate on the Delaware River at Marcus Hook. His death occurred in 7th Month (Sept) 1684. His will dated 13 7th Mo. 1684 was proved 25 7th Mo. 1684.39 He bequeathed his entire estate in Pennsylvania and in England to his wife Susanna during her life, and at her death to his two sons and two daughters (not named). William Hitchcock of Wiltshire and John Hardin of Chichester were concerned with the collection of rents in England for Susanna Bezer who appears to have died in 1693 when guardians were appointed for their son, Richard, who appears to have become of age in 1697. The old Bezer Bible printed in 1551 and thought to be one of the oldest in America, is in the possession of family members." It lists the four children who arrived with their parents in Pennsylvania. The children of John and Susanna Bezer were: 1. John, "the first," .buried Devizes, Wiltshire 27 7th Mo. 1668. 2.-1- Susanna, b. 1669/70, m. 1686 Nathaniel Lamplugh.41 3.+ Frances, b. ca. 1671, m. John Hendrickson. 4. John, h. ca. 1673, m 1st 1695 Esther Whitehead; m2nd Jane Cummings, daughter of Enoch, who as a widow became the third wife of Nathan Yarnall. In 1710 John Bezer acquired 500 acres of land in Upper Chichester, Chester Co., Pa. for which he was assessed in 1715. He was a Chester County assessor in 1708, 1710, and 1724. He was named in the minutes of Chester Quarterly Meeting in connection with the establishment of the meeting at Kennett 7 3rd Mo. 1711. John was a shopkeeper in the Borough of Chester. He had no children but his remarkable will dated 9 7th Mo. 1749 and proved 26 3rd Mo. 1751 leaves generous legacies to relatives and friends, identified as follows: "to Judith Hollingsworth my sister Susannah's daughter £40; to the children of Tobias Hendricks, son of my sister Frances £40; to cousin Sarah Grove £10; and to her daughter Martha £8; to Ruth, widow of George Chandler £10; and to her daughter Ruth Chandler The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 290 5. £8; to the children of my former wife's sister Elizabeth Devonish in Kent Co., Md. £40; to brother Richard Bezer £5; to Jacob, son of Nathaniel Lamplugh of Chichester £25; and to his brother John £25; and to their two sisters £5 each; to Samuel, son of Jacob Lamplaugh late of Chichester £25; and to his brother William £25; to the two sons of cousin Edward Bezer £20 each; to friend Joseph Pyle and his children by Sarah daughter of John and Mary Pennell E40; to friend Thomas Cummings of Chester £20; and to his wife Alice £10; and to their two children Thomas and Elizabeth £10 each; to Ann Meres, Mary Cummings, Elizabeth Cummings and Hannah Cummings my wife's four sisters £10 each; to wife Jane all remainder of real and personal property. Ears. wife Jane and Thomas Cummings. Witnesses: William Pennell, Jacob Howell and Joseph Hoskins." Richard, born about 1676 and died 1757; unmarried. John was a resident in Chichester and is termed "a yeoman" in his will dated 31 Jan. 1757 and proved 7 Feb. 1757. (D:71) His legacies to sixteen nieces and nephews are helpful in identifying the descendants of his two sisters. It provides: "to Jacob, son of Nathaniel Lamplugh, deceased, £5; to William, son of Jacob Lamplugh, deceased £80; his household goods, etc.; to Samuel, son of Jacob Lamplugh £30; to John, son of Nathaniel Lamplugh £40; to the three daughters of said Mattel viz; Mary, Susanna and Martha £20 to be divided; to two sons and two daughters of Tobias Hendricks late of York County, deed, £100 to be divided; to Thomas and Isaac, the two eldest sons of Thomas Hollingsworth of Christiana Hd., New Cistie Co., Del. £50 each; to his sons £40 each; to Judith, his daughter, £40; to Abigail, two you widow of Nathaniel and her son William and Mary widow of Jacob Lamplugh and her youngest son John (one shilling) each; to John and %%7H-ham, sons of Edward Bezer £20 each; to Ruth, widow of George Chandler and her daughter Ruth £15 to be divided; to Friends of Chichester Meeting £5; to William, son of Jacob Lamplugh the messuage, etc. whereon I live and remainder of real estate to be sold. Exrs: Cousin Judith Hollingsworth and her sons Thomas and Isaac (letters to Thomas and Isaac, the mother renouncing). Witnesses: John Cloud, John Hewes, John Powers." SECOND GENERATION Susanna Bezer was born in Wiltshire about 1669 or 1670 and 2. accompanied her parents to Pennsylvania. She married at Chichester Meeting (Concord), Chester Co., Nathaniel Lamplugh after having declared their 2nd intentions at a meeting held 9 6th Mo. 1686. Nathaniel was a boat builder who in 1691-2 acquired a 51-foot bank lot in Philadelphia. He sold one-half to John Hendrickson, of Philadelphia, husband of Susanna's sister Frances; and then disposed of the remaining half in 1699 to James Parrack. His name appeared on the petition to Penn for a charter for Marcus Hook in 1700. A Nathaniel Lamplew was an assessor in Chester County in 1700. The 1701 survey by Taylor and Person of the area forming the northerly boundary of the State of Delaware "came to the Delaware River on the upper side of Nathaniel Lampley's old house at Chichester." John Bezer, A Commissioner of William Penn 291 Nathaniel died intestate and Letters of Administration were granted 7 Dec. 1715 to his son Nathaniel. Children (Lamplugh): 6.+ Nathaniel. 7.+ Judith, b. 1700; m. Thomas Hollingsworth. 8.+ Jacob, b. ca. 1701. 3. Frances Bezer was born in Wiltshire, England about 1671; and died in Philadelphia 1702 (Phila. Mo Mtg.). She married John (Johannes) Hendrickson, son of Albert (Albertus) of an old Dutch or Swedish family on the Delaware. Following recital of a conveyance to John Bezar, of Chichester, there appears the following: "Albert Hendrickson by Instrum't, dat. 30 6th Mo. '83, Grant'd a Certain Piece of Marsh in Harwick, to the s'd Jno. Bezor, his Heirs, etc., Jno. Hendrickson, of Philad'a Shipwright, and Frances, his wife, Daughter of the said Jno. Bezor, deceased, in Consid'n of £30, Granted the said Parcells of Land, Meadow, Marsh, and swamp, reputed to Contain 100 acres, to jno. Child, of the County of Chester, Yeoman, his Heirs, etc, as by Deed Poll, the last of Sept '94 ." (Pa. Archives, 2nd Series, Vol. XIX, p. 448) Frances was survived by her husband and an only son. ,John Hendrickson married secondly in Philadelphia Mo. Mtg., 13 2nd Mo. 1704 Rebecca Wells, widow. Child (Hendrickson): 9. Tobias, b. Philadelphia between 1695 and 1702.42 THIRD GENERATION 6. Nathaniel Lamplugh was born about 1688. Like his father he appears to have been a ship builder. In 1713 he married at Marcus Hook, Elizabeth Sharp. She died shortly after their marriage and on 17 7th Mo. 1718 Nathaniel married Abigail Paxon at Duck Creek Meeting. When Nathaniel was appointed administrator of his father's estate in 1715 he was listed as residing at Duck Creek, Kent Co., Del.; but on 1 3rd Mo. 1729 he was granted a certificate from Duck Creek to Concord Meeting. He died intestate in Chester County and Letters of Administration were granted to his son Jacob on 12 Oct. 1742. His widow Abigail married secondly Anthony Whitely, and thirdly John Passmore. Her will dated 21 Mar. 1778 and proved New Castle County, Del. 31 July 1778 named the Lamplugh children. Children of Nathaniel and Abigail Lamplugh were: 10.-F Jacob. 1E+ William. 12.+ John. The Pennsylvania Gcnealogical Magazine 292 13_ 14. 15. Mary, named in Richard Bezer's will; mist Michael Israel; and (2) John Ross. Susanna, likewise named in Richard Bezer's will; married (1) Henry Copp, (2) Henry Grubb. Martha, identified by Richard Bezer, married (1) James Steel Thompson, (2) Samson Levy. 7. Judith Lamplugh was born in Chester Co. in 1700 and married 28 Dec. 1722 at Center Meeting, Thomas Hollingsworth, son of Thomas and Grace (Cook) and grandson of Valentine Hollingsworth. He was born 23 Dec. 1698 and died I Sept. 1753 in Frederick, Md. where they had settled somewhat earlier. Judith Hollingsworth is named in the will of John Bezer as "my sister Susanna's daughter," and Richard Bezer named her cousin and appointed Judith and sons Thomas and Isaac his executors in 1757. Her death occurred in 1766 and she was buried with her husband in William Farquard's Burying place, Pipe Creek, Md. Children of Thomas and Judith Hollingsworth were:43 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. Susanna, b. 13 Feb. 1724 and d. 1754. She is said to have travelled for the Society of Friends." No issue. Grace, 11 27 Dec. 1726 and died 1729. (There may have been another daughter named Grace and also d. inf.) Thomas, b. and d. 1727. Thomas, b. 13 Dec. 1729, d. 1 May 1799. Isaac, b. 13 June 1731 Nathaniel b. 29 Aug. 1733, d. 1754 unm. Rachel, b. 29 Aug. 1733 (twin to Nathaniel). Amor (Emmor) b. 29 May 1739, d. 18 Feb. 1826. Christopher, b. 15 Mar. 1742. Judith, b. 14 May 1744. 8. Jacob Lamplugh was born about 1701 and his death is recorded in the Bezer Bible as occurring 3 Jan. 1740. He married about 1720 Mary Molly who died 12 Aug. 1768. Jacob's will dated 27 Dec. 1739; proved 21 Jan. 1739/40 (Ch. Co. Bk. 2:52) names Mary and son Samuel his executors, the latter "paying the sum of £100 for which Richard Bezer is bound when he arrives at the age of 21 years." Mary and her three sons received generous legacies from John and Richard Bezer: William inheriting the home property of Richard in Chichester. Children of Jacob and Mary (Molly) Lamplugh were: 26.+ Samuel, b. ca. 1721; d. 1774. 27.-1- William, b. 24 Sept. 1723; d. 1788. 28.+ John, b. ca. 1725; d. 1761. FOURTH GENERATION 10. Jacob Lamplugh, the son of Nathaniel and wife Abigail Paxson, probably resided at times both in Chester County, Pa. and New Castle John Bezer, A Commissioner of William Penn 293 County, Del., but little else is known. He married Rachel, daughter of Israel Henderson and wife Susannah. He was alive in 1775 when he was living in Upper Chichester and was called upon to administer the estate of his brother, William 20 Jan. 1775. His mother Abigail, the widow of John Passmore in her will dated 21 Mar. 1778 and proved in New Castle County, Del. 31 July 1778 (L:47) does not mention Jacob or his brother William in her estate and it is possible that both as well as wife Rachel were deceased at this time. 11. William Lamplugh probably was unmarried and resided with his mother up until his death in 1774 or 1775. His uncle, Richard Bezer lists William with mother Abigail in his will. No issue. 12. John Lamplugh likewise appears in the wills of John and Richard Bezer as son of Nathaniel. His wife is unnamed, but four of his children appear in the will of his mother, the widow Abigail Passmore, and she adds "names of two others unknown to testator." (CO 9:49, p. 57) Children: 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. Jacob. Nathaniel. Susanna. Martha. child. child. 26. Samuel Lamplugh, son of Jacob and Mary (Molly), was born about 1721 and died in 1774, when Letters of Administration were granted 15 Feb. 1774 to wife Elizabeth and Isaac Dutton. His wife Elizabeth Johnson was the daughter of Humphrey and Elizabeth Johnson of Chester County. She was remembered in her father's will dated 27 Sept. 1748. Their children were: 39. 40. 41. Mary, m. Andrew McIntyre. Elizabeth, b. ca. 1770, in. Isaac Dutton, s. John and Prudence (Reynolds) Dutton, He was disowned by Concord Meeting for marrying out. According to the D.A.R. Patriots Index he was a private in the Pa. forces, b. ca. 1750; d. 31 Mar. 1795. They had issue: i Prudence, m. 20 Feb. 1806 Charles Chaney; ii Mary, m. Joseph Worrell; iii Isaac, m. 26 Nov. 1803 Susan Price, resided in Philadelphia where he d. 22 Nov. 1838; iv Benjamin, day.; v Elizabeth, b. 1781; d. 4 Oct. 1824; m. 5 June 1804 William Hannum of Concord who d. 13 Jan. 1852; vi Joseph L., b. 27 July 1787, of Philadelphia; vii Rachel, m. Frederick Shull, of Marcus Hook. Bezer Lamplugh, a yeoman of Upper Chichester, was born in 1753 or 1754 and died 20 April 1816, aged 63 years. His wilt dated 10 Jan. 1814 and probated 1 May 1816 in Delaware County names his children. He married 25 Nov. 1795 Lydia Read, daughter of Elias 294 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine and Barbara, born 17 Aug. 1764 and died 13 Oct. 1799. They were Presbyterians but are buried at St. Martins P.E. Church, Marcus Hook, Pa. Evidently he took as a second wife Phebe Seeds on 8 Dec. 1802 who was then disowned by Concord Meeting in 1803 but reinstated in 1817, after her husband's death. Children by Lydia were: i Samuel R., b. 1796; d. 1869; m. Mary Russell and had issue: Lydia Smith, Sarah Russell, Phebe McCall, Mary Lockhart, and Jesse. ii Lydia Ann, b. 1799. Lamplugh's birth and death are recorded in the old 27. Bezer Bible as 24 Sept. 1723 and 15 Feb. 1788. He married Rebecca Wilson at Old Swedes Church, Wilmington, Del. 1741/2. She was born 24 July 1725 and as a widow married secondly 14 May 1789 at Chichester Meeting, Joseph Brown of Chichester. William inherited the messuage of Richard Bezer where the latter lived. William's will was dated 1 Feb. 1788 and was probated 23 Feb. 1789 (Ch. Co. Bk. 8:187) . He had issue: 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. Jacob, b. 18 Nov. 1745, d. before 18 June 17716 when his wife, Rachel Lamplugh petitioned the court for appointment of guardian for their three children: William, Jacob and Daniel. Rachel m. (2) Coburn. Elizabeth, m. Nathaniel Brown, fanner, of Upper Chichester; d. 1775. Her husband m. (2) Esther, who was named executor of his will dated 29 June 1812 and pr. 20 July 1812. Issue by Elizabeth: Nathaniel, Collett, Jeremiah, Rebekah, Enoch, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Susannah Truman. Susannah, b. 6 Apr. 1750, m. Isaac Talley who is named in her father's will. According to the Bezer Bible their children were: Abinezer, b. 10 Apr. 1773; Samuel, b. 4 Mar. 1776 and d.y.; Sarah, b. 30 Max. 1777; Prudence, b. 28 Mar. 1781; Isaac, b. 15 Aug. 1784; William, b. 28 July 1787; Josiah, b. 13 Dec. 1790. William was born 12 Oct. 1752 and died 1 Dec. 1774, m. Sarah Barrett. Mary, b. 25 Feb. 1755, m. Rebecca, d.y. Samuel. Sarah, b. 30 Jan. 1763; d. 3 Jan. 1775. Josiah, b. 1 April 1767, d. 12 Dec. 1790, m. Mary Russell, daughter of William. He inherited the homestead of his father, originally the 'property of Richard Bezer in Upper Chichester. They had children: Jesse R., and Lydia Lamplugh who are named in the will of uncle, William Russell, Jr. 28, John Lamplugh, son of Jacob and Mary (Molly) was born about 1725. He was a shipwright in Chichester, Chester Co. He died intestate and Letters of Administration were granted to his brother William Lamplugh 5 Oct. 1761, the widow Elizabeth renouncing. William as administrator was allowed to sell the messuage and lot at Mardis Hook by the Chester County Orphans Court 15 Mar. 1763. His widow Elizabeth probably married secondly John Curts; for on 20 Sept. 1768 the Chester County Orphan's Court upon petition of John John Bezer, A Commissioner of William Penn 295 Curts and Elizabeth, his wife, appointed Jacob Dingee guardian of Richard, only child of John Lamplugh, under 14 years of age. Child: 51. Richard, b. ca 1755. FOOTNOTES 1. '6 John Bezer, a Commissioner of William Penn" is the third of four articles dealing with Penn and his Commissioners appearing in the Tercentenary issues of The Pennsylvania Genealogical MagaZine. It was co-authored by Winfield S. Weer and Aubrey H. Baldwin. A concluding article on Commissioner William Haig is being prepared by Conrad Wilson. 2. It is unfortunate that no personal correspondence between Penn and Commissioner Bezer is known to exist. His name appears only among Penn's official papers: the "Instructions 30 Sept. 1681," hisappointment as Commissioner 25 Oct. 1681, in Penn s "Additional instructions 28 Oct. 1681," a Penn land warrant 31 April 1681, and William Ford's "Account Book" (see Penn Papers 3:310; 3:359; 3:360; 3:500; and 4:649). .3. Joseph Besse, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers, London 1753 (hereinafter Besse) Vol. 1, p. 42. 4. Wiltshire Notes and Queries (an illustrated an and genealogical magazine) Devizes, (Wilts, Eng.) (hereinafter WN&Q) Vol. II, p. 42. 5. R. B. Pugh and Elizabeth Crittall, A Histog of Wiltshire, Oxford Univ. Press, 1956; Vol. III, pp 99 et seq. 6. ibid, I11:116. 7. WN&Q, Vol. V, p. 22, see also Penn Papers 3:310. 8. same as note 4. 9. same as note 4. 10. William C. Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakeism, London, 1912, p. 474. see also Fox's journal and Besse. H. Besse, Vol. II, pp 3940, 12. ibid. 13. ibid. 14. WN&Q, Vol. II, p. 178. 13. WN&Q, Vol. II, p. 180. 16. The result of these harrassments and presentments in Wiltshire was the emigration of many to Pennsylvania immediately on learning of Penn's offer of land. It is interesting to find these names among the Proprietor's first purchasers on List XXV dated 12 Sept. 1682 as follows : Ralph Withers, of Bishop's Canning, yeoman, two sales each for 500 acres John Bezer, Bishop's Canning, rnaltster, 500 acres John Clark, jr., of Devizes, baker, _ acres Isaac Selfe, of Market Levington and Edward Guy, of the same place, 500 acres Edward Luffe, of Market Levington; shoemaker and John Luffe, his son, shoemaker, 300,acres Richard Fue Sr., of Market Levington and Richard Fue Jr., of Weadhampton, his son, 500 acres John Brothers, of Market Levington, and Robert Serghill, of Weadhampton, yeoman, 500 acres Edward Bezer, of Rowde, mason, 500 acres Anthony Elton, of Yatesbury, yeoman, 500 acres Edward Brown, of Marlborough, yeoman, 500 acres Daniel Smith, of Marlborough, distiller, 500 acres ohn Hardin, of Marlborough, maltster, 500 acres John Gibbon, of Warminster, shoemaker, 500 acres William Smith, of Broornhamhouse (Bromham), yeoman, 1250 acres Samuel Noyes, of Devizes, sergemaker, 500 acres Thomas Saga r, of Foxham in Christian el ford, yeoman, and Susannah Bayley, of Catcomb in the parish of Hill Marton, widow, 500 acres John Buckley Jr,. of Melkysham, husbandman, 250 acres William Withers of Bishop's Canning, yeoman, 500 acres. Eighteen additional first purchasers from Wiltshire appear on 'Penns List XXVI (including Francis Smith, William Cloud, Enoch Flower, William Bezer, and James Hill); and an additional nine persons on List XXVII. 296 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 17. Pugh & Crittall, Vol. 111, p. 118. 18. WN&Q, Vol. 5, p. 224. 19. Abstract quoted in Cope Collection (CO 9:6, p. 255). 20. Wiltshire Friends Records (Cope abstracts) inGSP Coil. E 15F. 21. Besse, Vol. II, p. 37. 22. In Cope (CO 9:6, p. 255 seq) see reprint from Th. Maxwell Pott's "The Bezer Family" p. 125. 23, same as note 19. 24. Walter Lee Sheppard, jr., Passengers and Ships, Baltimore, 1970, pp 32-33. 25. I Smith Fu they and Gilbert Cope, Histog of Chester Couny, Pennsylvania (hereinafter F C), p. 19. 26. Philadelphia Will Book A, p. 18. 27. Friends Meeting Records Chester (Chichester) and Cope Coil. CO 9:6, in bond Bezer gave William Cloude dated October 7, 1682 wherein he is described "of Parish of Bishop's Canning, Wiltshire." 28. In Penruyivania Archives, Second Series, Vol. XIX we find the names of those who received warrants for 50 acres of "head-lands" for having come into the Province as servants to John Bezer: James Cloud (who)"having proved himself to have come into the country a Servant to John Bezer with the first Settlers, Ordered a warrant for his 50 acres of bead land." (p. 361); R'd (Richard) Farr and Mary his wife "both came in Servants ro Jno Bezer in the year '81 by which they claim their headland." (p. 411); Jas. Widows "came in Servant to Jno. Bezer-right to head land (50 A.)" (p. 470); Edward Guthridge "(-proved to come into the Country a Servant to John Bezer and duly served his time, granted 50 Acres Head land." (page 517); Eliz'th Clayton, "came Serv't to Jno Bezer in ye year 1682, 50 acres head land." (p. 589) (Note: Elizabeth Bezer, the niece of John and the daughter of Edward Bezer, married William Clayton, the younger, (allsd.) 5th 12mo 1682/3 Chester Monthly Meeting. In Passengers and Skips, Elizabeth Bezer erroneously is listed as the daughter of John. He had only two daughtersSusanna and Frances. 29. Sheppard, pp. 32-33. 30. F C, pp. 19, 147. 31. F & C, p. 24. 32. F C, pp. 8-9. 33. F & C, p. 232. 34. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (hereinafter PMHB) Vol. LXXX, No. 2 (April 1956), p. 201. 35. Quaker Collection, Haverford College Library, "Philadelphia Merchant, Diary of Thomas Cope," ed. by Eliza Cope Harrison, Gateway Editions, South Bend, Ind. 1979. 36. Coilection of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol_ III, p. 275. 37. Penn Papers under date of 7 Aug (6th Mo) 1683, 38. Penn Papers under date of 17 Aug (6th Mo) 1683. 39. Philadelphia, Will Book A, p. 18, #14. 40. Cope, CO 9:6, p. 255 et seq. 41. Susann.ah's Larnplugh descendants are traced by Jesse R. Lamplugh in a typescript, 1961 entitled A Genealogy of Certain of the Lamplugh Family and a Partial Genealogy of the Family of John Bezer, One of the American Commissioners for William Penn, to be found in the Gen. Soc. Collections La 6. It and other references hereinafter can be found in the records of Friends Meetings; in family wills (abstracts to be found in the Gen. Collections) and in original Quaker records at Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore, Pa. See also Cope Coll. CO 9:49 p. 57. 42. Tobias Hendrickson (Hendricks), grandson of John Bezer and only child of John and Frances (Bezel-) Hendrickson was born in Philadelphia probably a little before 1700. He is said to have gone to Chester County and later to York County. He married and had four children (two sons and two daughters according to the will of Uncle Richard Bezer). Uncle John's will leaves £40 .to be distributed to the children of Tobias and would seem to back up the number of children. There are several Tobias Hendricks in Chester, Lancaster, York and Cumberland Counties, but none fit this known pattern. The Tobias who died 1739 in York Co. and commonly identified as John Bezer's grandson, left only [ daughter and 7 sons. 43. The descendants of Judith (Lamplugh) Hollingsworth appear in Some Descendant of Valentine Hollingsworth Jr., by J. Adger Stewart, Louisville, Ky., 1925 at HSP H752.2.