Emigration & Migration of
the Rowlands
A Research Project
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Introduction
The notes and tidbits of information below have been collected from
various sources and may or may not prove pertinent
in our search for the ancestors of Robert Rowland, his wife
and four sons --George, James, Thomas and William-- who
arrived in Augusta/ County, Virginia sometime before 1742.
Q:
Who are the descendants of Thomas and John Rowland who
arrived
in America on the ship Welcome with
William Penn in 1682?
Q:
Who are the descendants of Rowlands who immigrant from Wales?
Q:
What evidence can be found to support various opinions found in
online reports?
All serious researchers are invited to offer suggestions and
corrections or contribute information.
(Credit glady given.)
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Immigration
The Welcome sailed
from Deal, England on 31 August 1682,
and arrived at New Castle) at the mouth of the Delaware River
on 27
October 1682. The following day, it
anchored at Chester, Pennsylvania (28 October)..
The list of passengers did not survive, but using other
evidence, researchers have been able to suggest a Passengers
on the Welcome of those
who were "probably" passengers. Included in the
list are John
and Thomas Rowland.
Sources:
Penn's Colony, Vol I, Passengers and Ships Prior
to 1684, compiled by Walter Lee Sheppard.
Penn's Colony, Vol II,
The Welcome Claimants Proved, Disproved and
Doubtful with an Account of Some of their Descendants,
McCracken,
George E, (Baltimore: 1970);
Note: Mary Rowland, makes a good case for Robert of Augusta
Co. VA being the son of George Rowland of Chester Co. PA, who
was a son of Thomas Rowland of Wales.
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
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."
Connections
Martha
Rowland (d/o Thos and Mary Mason Rowland of Chester Co.
PA.) was the wife of Joshua Hadley. They had
a son named Thomas. The deed books of Augusta Co.
VA include several sales and land grants between the Hadleys
and James Rowland of August Co. VA.
Augusta
CO. Deed Book 9. Additional Memebers
of the Exec.
Committee, pg
364 18th
August, 1760. Joshua
Hadley (Hedley) and Patience, of Orange County,
North Carolina, to Robert Kyle, of Albemarle, £90, 345 acres
on
Catawba of James River, part of 2,880 acres granted to Benj.
Borden, 9th March, 1740. Teste: James
Rowland, Joshua
Hadley, Jr.,
David Irvine. Livery of seisin. Delivered: Rev.
Alex. Miller,
21st May, 1770.
13
November 1764-
Augusta
County Records Deed book 11, pg 731
Thomas
Hadley to James Rowland, L130, 549 ac on Catawbo
Ck.
. . . to be
continued. This is a report of ongoing research. If
you have suggestions or information you would like included in this
report, please contact
me Credit given of course, for
any contributions.
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