| Searching for the Rowlands A Research Project |
| Introduction
The following represents an on-going research project containing bits and pieces of information found from various sources which may or may not be proven pertinent to our search for the ancestors of Robert Rowland, his wife and four sons --George, James, Thomas and William-- arrived in Augusta/ County, Virginia sometime before 1742. All serious researchers are invited to offer suggestions and corrections or contribute information. (Credit glady given.) Rowlands in Pennsylvania:- W.W.H.Davis, A.M.;THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, (1682 from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time), Doylestown, PA, (1876). CHAPTER IV. William Penn Sails for America-. 1682 (excerpt) William Penn sailed for Pennsylvania, in the ship Welcome, [the Quaker Mayflower*] of 300 tons, Captain Robert Greenway, about September 1, 1682 [1683*], accompanied by one hundred immigrants, mostly Friends. They had a long and tedious passage, and their sufferings were aggravated by the small-pox breaking out on board, of which thirty died. Penn was assiduous in his attentions to the sick, and greatly endeared himself to all on board. The vessel entered the capes of Delaware the 24th of October, and arrived before New Castle, the 27th, of which he received possession and the submission of the inhabitants. Of the one hundred immigrants the Welcome brought to the wilderness west of the Delaware, the heads of families were generally persons of standing and intelligence. About one-half of all who arrived with Penn settled in this county, and their descendants are found here to this day, many of them bearing the same names and some living on the ancestral homesteads. Of the Welcome passengers, who settled in Bucks, we are able to name the following: THOMAS ROWLAND, of Billinghurst, in Sussex, husbandman, with his wife Priscilla, and servant Hannah Mogeridge, who settled in Falls and died in 1705. JOHN ROWLAND, probably a brother, came at the same time.... Note: Documents from early Quaker records would seem to prove Priscilla Shephard m. John Rowland and not Thomas Rowland, his brother John. Registry of Arrivals for Bucks Co., PA "John Rowland, wife Priscilla, brother Thomas, of Sussex". MINUTE BOOK "H" MINUTES OF PROPERTY BEGINNING 9TH DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH, 1712. THIS IS BOOK "H." IN THE SECRETARIES OFFICE. The 13th 6 mo., 1714.... "Signed a War'rt to Jeremia Langhorne for 500 a's in Right of John Rowland and Priscilla his Wife (formerly Shepherd), and of Tho. Rowland, being the Remainder of all their Three Purchases, besides an addition purchased of the Comm'rs by the s'd Jno. Rowland to make up the said 500 a's, he having sold so much more than the said Purchase; dated this day (dat. 26, 5 mo)." Passengers on the Welcome, pg. 249. John Rowland and Priscilla,his wife, of Billinghurst, Sussex, first purchaser. Thomas Rowland, Billinghurst, Sussex, first purchaser. (Back to Davis' History of Bucks County: ) CHAPTER XV Newtown In 1684 its lands were pretty well apportioned among proprietors, some to actual settlers, and others to non-residents. Richard Price owned a tract that ran the whole length of the Middletown line. THOMAS and JOHN ROWLAND, and Edward Braber (probably a misspelling) along the Neshaminy... The 500 acres of THOMAS ROWLAND, extending from Newtown creek to Neshaminy, probably included the ground the Presbyterian church stands upon. It was owned by Henry Baker in 1691, who conveyed 248 acres to Job Bunting in June 1692, and in October 1697 the remainder, 252 acres, to Stephen Wilson. In 1695 Bunting conveyed his acres to Stephen Twining, and in 1698 Wilson did the same, and Twining now owned THOMAS ROWLAND's whole tract...The following are the names of the owners of cattle in Bucks county in 1684, according to the entry in the original record: ...THOMAS ROWLAND...JOHN ROWLAND. BEAN'S HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER XXIII NEW BRITAIN 1723 [abstract] Between 1700 and 1715, a number of Welsh families settled in the upper part of Philadelphia about Gwynedd and North Wales and naturally enough they soon found their way across the county line into the fertile territory of New Britain, and Hilltown, which then bore the name of Perkasie, or Perquasy. Among the early settlers on the west branch of Neshaminy and its affluents, were the families of Butler, Griffith, James, Lewis, Evans, Pugh, Williams, Owen, Davis, Meredith, Jenkins, Phillips, Mathews, Morris, Thomas, Jones, Mathias, Rowland and others, whose descendants still inhabit this and neighboring townships in large numbers. Owen Rowland (6), with his first wife, Jane, four sons and one daughter, immigrated from Pembrokeshire, Wales, about 1725, settling first on the Welsh tract, in Delaware county. He removed to Bucks county in 1727 or 1728, and settled on the North Branch of Neshaminy. The majority of his descendants removed to the west many years ago, a grandson being among the first settlers at Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Chapter XXXVII - Part IV : Manufacturing Industries: THOMAS ROWLAND'S SONS. -One of the most extensive manufacturing establishments in the lower portion of Montgomery County is the shovel-works of T. Rowland's Sons. The family hearing this name has been identified with the interests of the county, both as residents and manufacturers, for more than a century. John Rowland, the progenitor, of the American branch of the family, was a farmer of Sussex, England, and came to this country in the ship "Welcome," with William Penn, in 1682. In the direct line of descent was Benjamin, born September 29, 1777, who, after receiving very limited education advantages, entered upon a career of mechanical industry, and in 1795 laid the foundation of the present shovel business at Cheltenham. At his death, which occurred September 9, 1824, Thomas Rowland, his eldest son born January 20, 1801, succeeded to the business, associating with him a few years later his brother Benjamin. Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Wills, 1682-1819 - available at www.ancestry.com Name: Rowland, Hugh Description: Witness Date: 1 2 1700 Prove Date: 20 2 1700 BookPage: B Remarks: Graisberry, James. Philadelphia. Mariner. February 1, 1700. Proved in Barbados. Wife Elizabeth and unborn child. Children Joseph and Mary. Land in West Jersey. Brother Joseph Graisberry. Sister Catherine Graisberry. Nephews Benjamin and Francis Graisberry. Nieces Mary and Elizabeth Name: Rowland, John Description: Executor Date: 16 12 1703 Prove Date: 4 1 1703 BookPage: B:335 Remarks: John White of New Bristol, Bucks Co. December 16, 1703. Wife Mary. Children George and Elizabeth. Executors: John Rowland and John Balden. Name: Rowland, John Description: Witness Date: 2 8 1708 Prove Date: 15 10 1708 BookPage: C:137 Remarks: Jacob Janney of Bristol, Bucks Co. Yeoman. 8/2/1708. Son Thomas. Executrix: Wife Mary. Name: Rowland, Thomas Residence: Chester Co. Description: Decedent Date: 3 3 1708 Prove Date: 16 11 1708 Title: Yeoman BookPage: C:143 Remarks: Thomas Rowland of Chester Co. Yeoman. 3/3/1708. Daughter Mary's children's names not given. Friends John Robeson and Elizabeth Idings. Executors: Wife Mary and friend John Dutton of Aston. Overseers: George Harland and John Baldwin. Name: Rowland, John Description: Witness Date: 14 8 1711 Prove Date: 16 11 1711 BookPage: C:276 Remarks: Edwards, Robert. New Bristol, Bucks County. Cooper. August 14, 1711. Children John, Elizabeth and Rebecca. Executrix: Wife Sarah Name: Rowland, Richard Description: Mentioned Date: 29 4 1720 Prove Date: 4 5 1720 Title: Sr. BookPage: D:155 Remarks: Edward Mathias of Trer Duffryn Twnp, Chester Co. April 29, 1720 .Brothers - Thomas and Lewis. John Griffith, Jr. and his wife Catherine. Edward Richard and Richard Rowland, Senior, mentioned. Executor: Henry David. Name: Rowland, John Description: Cousin Date: 15 3 1728 Prove Date: 29 7 1728 BookPage: E:84 Remarks: Thomas Denham. City of Philadelphia. Merchant. March 15, 1728/8. July 29, 1728. E.84. Cousins: John, Robert and Grace Rowland. Friends: John Baker, Abraham Strong, Grace and Mary Breintnall Name: Rowland, Mary Bowlby Description: Daughter Date: 14 3 1789 Prove Date: 23 9 1789 BookPage: U:359 Remarks: Bowlby, Thomas. Richmond. N. Liberties. City of Phila. Yeoman. March 14, 1789. Sept 23, 1789. U.359. Wife: Mary. Children: Martha Harrison, Rachel Wigfall, Mary Rowland. Grandchildren: Catherine Wigfall, Priscilla and Mary Harrison, Priscilla and Thomas Rowland. Exec: Martha Harrison, Rachel Wigfall. Codicil: Signed Aug 4, 1789. Wife: Mary, Revoking a Negro Slave Pennsylvania to Virginia:- Charles H. Hanna, THE SCOTCH-IRISH FAMILIES OF AMERICA , v.2, pp.44-50.] "John and Isaac VANMETER, of Pennsylvania, obtained a grant of forty thousand acres from Governor GOOCH in 1730, to be located in the lower Shenandoah Valley, within the present counties of Frederick, Clarke, and Jefferson.... This warrant was sold by the grantees in 1731 to Joist HITE, a Hollander, who removed from Pennsylvania in 1732 with his own and fifteen other families, most of them Scotch-Irish. They settled along Opequon, Cedar and Crooked creeks, in what is now Frederick County. Most of the settlements in the Shenandoah Valley were made up of people who, like John LEWIS, had lived for a season in Pennsylvania, or who had been born there. "They came from Chester, Lancaster, Dauphin, York, Cumberland, Adams, and Franklin Counties in Pennsylvania; from Newcastle county, Delaware; and from Cecil, Harford, Washington, Montgomery, and Frederick counties in Maryland." John Walter Wayland, "The Germans of the Valley," THE VIRGINIA MAGAZINE (April 1902), v.IX, No.4, p.338-352; v.X, pp.33-48.]1732 - "In 1732 Yost HEIT (Joist HITE) came from York, Penna. bringing with him his three sons-in-law and others, and settled on the Opequon river, five miles south of where Winchester now stands. His homestead was upon the great Indian highway to the upper parts of the Valley, which highway was afterwards widened, macadamized and otherwise improved, and is now the well known Valley Turnpike." NOTE: The "others" who came with Joist Hite and his family were described as "mostly Scotch-Irish." . . . to be continued. This is a report of ongoing research. |
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