PASCHAL-PASCHALL genealogy

A brief history of Paschal-Paschall genealogical research. File is in .txt format. here

HERE is the evidence you need to show that the grandson of Thomas of Phila. was NOT William of the NC Land Grants. The grandson married, lived and died in Phila. This is from the Notes Of John Parker written in 1885 in Phila. The notes are on Family History Library(FHL) microfilm #348. here

*** Since the PAF program will not let me export as web pages the ID code with the persons and the RIN numbers are useless, I have used Basic to add the ID codes as the first line in the notes for each person surnamed Paschal(l). This code is more than a number; please read ID Code document found above in my write-up section. ***

NOTICE: Some of you have asked about my connection to the Paschall line. Here are some photos, my ggfather: David L Paschall, I45 here my gfather:George M Dallas Paschallhere my mother: Ivory Grace Paschall with 3 dau's & my baby bro, c1921here

WARNING: Some genealogy programs(options) drop the prefixes, BEF, ABT and AFT before vital dates. This causes the death date of AFT 1980 to be read as 1980; a very bad ERROR! BEWARE!

There are two major lines of the PASCHAL-PASCHALL family to be found today in America. In the 1920-1930's these lines were given the designations:

 A   English lines(for ref  only- not in Anerica)

 B   Philadelphia line of Thomas Paschall(1634-1718) (the T2 line has been added as a part of this line and is the major portion)

 C    North Carolina line of William(Willm) Paschal(c1704-1774) (about 95 % of all Paschals located in America today)

                                                            THOMAS PASCHALL, B-line

                                                       by Clarence McDaniel October 2006

It has been said that Thomas Paschall was the first of his name in Pennsylvania; that is a pretty concept but may not be true. It may be said that Thomas was the first of his line in America. Thomas was a tradesman from of the city of Bristol. His lineage is traceable in England to about 1541. Thomas was born in Bristol, England, on 3, 8th month, 1634. He was baptized in the Anglican Church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, on 29 December, 1634. He married Joanna Sloper there about 1664. In 1682 Thomas purchased of William Penn 500 acres of land in Pennsylvania. Most authorities agree that Thomas embarked for America in that year in the ship, "Society". Thomas & wife were not Quakers.

Thomas arrived in Philadelphia, settled down a bit, and soon wrote back to his former home. His singular letter, dated February, 1683, to J.J. of Chippingham?, England, told an account of the conditions of Philadelphia from a tradesmans viewpoint. The letter was copied, translated into French, Dutch and German and found its way before the eyes of those Europeans that were thinking of migration. The letter related how, that first winter, Thomas had ordered suitable quarters for his servants to be built on his 500 acres and said that he had obtained adequate housing for himself and family. This shows us that Thomas was far from poor, and he was in a relatively built-up area. He warns would be immigrants to bring their wants for six months with them and he gave the prices of the local vendors and stated that the price was not "too dear".

The land that Thomas had bought from William Penn was located in the country, was west of the Schuylkill River and bounded on the west by Cobb's Creek, the dividing line between Philadelphia and Delaware counties. This land was set off in the famous Holmes map of 1685. The land designated to Thomas in that map was bounded by natural and artifical means. The natural boundaries were: Swedes Mill Creek(Cobb's Cr) and a branch flowing south into the creek. The artifical boundaries were:

A line beginning north of the junction of the branch and the creek which ran north. At a certain distance north, a second line bearing norteasterly(greater than 90 degrees from the first line) was struck. The second line ran to its intersection with the northern extreme of the branch. The property circuit was completed by going down(south) the branch to its junction with Swedes Mill Creek, then up the creek to the beginning.

The land thus inscribed does not approach the Schuylkill River at any of its boundaries. This second line is probably where some prior investigators have gone astray as the line coninues on to strike a branch which feeds into the Schuylkill. This land is clearly shown to belong to Neels and Morris Johnson and further south to Lawrance Hedding and Peter Yocomb. The first natural boundary should not be disregarded. Thomas apparently devised the southern 200 acres of his land to his son, Thomas. Thomas, B2, then built a fence between his father's land and his which encroached on his father's land. In his will, Thomas,B, required that his son remove the fence so that he could devise a full 300 acres to be sold for his grandchildrens benifit.

The son, Thomas, B2, in his will devised the parcel of land upon which he resided to his son, Stephen. The description of which reads:

In Blockley township; beginning at Swedes Mill Creek, N by the old bounds, 148 perches to a corner, then S 63 deg E 250 perches to a small run(branch), which divides my land from that of Neal Jones, then down the run to its mouth (junction) running into Swedes Mill Creek, up the creek to the beginning, containing 200 acres.

Reference to a 1712 map of Philadelphia County shows that Baltimore Ave was the east-west dividing line between Blockley and Kingsessing townships. The land west of the branch was in Blockley to its junction with Cobb's Creek. Thus all the 500 acre grant was located in Blockley township. An 1890 map shows this area developed into Angora Station and that the branch had the name, "Thomas Run".

In order to obtain 500 acres from this land as so far defined, the northern boundary must go to the vicinity of Winchester Rd(1890). This would be Market St as later extended.

The above quite lengthly description was due to the many "tales" of where the original land was located that the author has occasioned to find. It could be better defined by the even more lengthly task of deed tracing, but I feel the above is sufficient to acquaint the reader with the misconceptions he will encounter.

The executors of the will of Thomas sold 100a of the 300a in 1719. The deed is located in Book H1 p685. This deed describes the original 500a and gives many additional references and descriptions. This deed was recorded in 1751.

 When Thomas arrived in America, Philadelphia was a "planned" city, the dream of William Penn. It was at first mostly a dream and not a reality. The purchase of 500 acres had entitled Thomas to a city lot and he set up his shop and became one of the legions of Philadelphia merchants. Thomas was a "pewterer" which means he fabricated household utensils of metal, usually tin and cast lead-tin alloys. His lot with shop and house was situated near the small central "market" which ran along the center of todays Market St. from the dock area to 2nd St.

There is found in Deed Book E1 p233, the deed of Anna Lee to Thomas. She was the widow of Charles Lee as shown by this and other deeds in the same book. Her husband must have died in 1685 as indicated by another of her deeds where she completes a contract made by him. There seems to be another Anna Lee making a deed to Thomas who is the daughter of Charles Lee.

Thomas made his will in 1716 and it was probated in 1718. He made his surviving son, Thomas, his chief heir but ordered 300 acres of his grant sold and divided among his 21 grandchildren and 1 greatgrandchild. An earlier attempt (ref: W H Jinks) to ascertain the names of these children came up with 17.

 Here is a later rendition, those living 1716:

1. by dau, Mary(m. Wm Say).........           Joanna Say
2.                                                                    Mary Say  
3.                                                                    Paschal Say
4.                                                                    Elizabeth Say  
5.                                                                    Thomas Say(famous)
6. by son, Wm(m. Susanna Budd)...         William
7. by son,Thomas(m.Margaret Jenkins)  Thomas 
8.                                                                    Joanna
9.                                                                    William
10.                                                                    Joseph 
11.                                                                    Elizabeth
12.                                                                    John
13.                                                                    Benjamin
14.                                                                    Samuel
15.                                                                    Stephen
16. by dau, Eliz(m. Henry Flower)               John Flower
17.                                                                    Thomas Flower
18.                                                                    Seth Flower
19.                                                                    Henry Flower, Jr.
20.                                                                    Enoch Flower
21.                                                                    Joanna Flower

Dau. Mary and her 2nd husband, Benj., A246, had no children. Wm Say, Jr, was the son of Wm Say's first wife. Henry and Elizabeth had seven children. The order given above may not be correct by birth. Dau. Elizabeth died before her father and Henry Flower remarried.

Thomas, B2, the son of Thomas and Joanna was a member of the Friends and it is with the well kept birth, death and quaint marriage and removal records of this group that we owe quite a bit of the knowledge of his family. The Quakers required strict attendance to their marriage requirements. These marriage ceremonies were attended by the entire meeting which then signed, as witnesses, the marriage certificate, some of these containing fifty or more signatures. When a member left the local area of one congregation for that of another he obtained a certificate of removal which was again normally signed by the group. The certificate was surrendered to the receiving meeting which kept it on file. Many thousands of these certificates are among the surviving records. We note here, while on the subject of these records, that Joanna, the wife of Thomas, was buried with the notation, "burials of such as are not Friends". This notation indicates that Joanna and presumably, Thomas, were not members of the Friends but were buried by them anyway. This true also for son, William, B1, and his son, Wm, B11.

The surviving two sons and daughters married and raised families. From the records we can see the numerous births and early deaths of a large number of their children. Life was no picnic in early Phillie; it was chancey at best.

The two sons of Thomas, B, William and Thomas, had different aspirations in life. William became one of Philadelphia's first silversmiths while Thomas took up the life of the gentleman country farmer in Blockley township. William very likely had his shop with his father using the same forges and tools, whereas Thomas started with 200 acres of his father's land. He was designated, "Maltster of Blockley" in records.

The following is a short description of  the descendants of  Thomas and Joanna:

                                                                        William, B1

From a tax list of 1684 we find William was born about 1666. William had by 1693 married Susannah Budd, the daughter of Thomas (not John) Budd.( her deed to her son - of his inheritance - names her father).

William and Susannah had a son after which William soon died (1696) leaving a will. In his will, William, silversmith, left a legacy of L150 to his son, William. The money was to remain in the custody of Susannah. She then obtained from her father a building and lot known as the 4th building in "Budds Row" on Front St. This was an investment for her son William during his minority. In 1718 when William reached his majority Susannah (now Susannah Cropp) transferred this property to her son, sole heir of his father. An unfortunate misreading (in print) has caused some confusion but the above story is abundantly supported by the deed records.

                                                                        William, B11

William, B11, has sometimes been regarded as "William of the Land Grants" of North Carolina. This unforunate idea was begun in 1937 by the Rev. Jacob C Paschal, when he received a list of Paschals born in Philadelphia. He later realized his mistake but it forever plagues us now. It it is positive now that William, B11, died in Philadelphia on September 28, 1751(probate). William did not follow his father's trade but instead became a "sadler" or maker of saddles. It was a very common thing in these early days to append a persons trade to their name, as a further means of identification. William like his father and grandfather, had a shop on High St. between Front and 2nd streets. His next door neighbor in 1741 was George Miffin.

In 1717, William married Sarah England and they had about 12 children. The Friends death records list their deaths and those of a number of their children. These early records did not show the age at death but when the person was a child the parents first names were also listed. No parents names were included for the death of an adult. Since these are usually burial dates they do not always exactly correspond to other records. William, Sarah, and their listed children were buried in the Friends graveyard in Philadelphia. As a curious thing, some of these children were baptised at Christ Church where the records show William and Sarah as parents. Also William's name is found on a brass plaque on the door as vestryman from 1726-1745.

The Friends Society informs me he could not have been a member of both groups but that they did bury non-menbers. His wife's family (Thomas England) were members.

William, sadler, was well known and several records are found with his occupation attached. Notable is the 1731 will of his aunt, Mary, B5. She named four of William's daughters. William signed her will as a witness. He also signed the will of the silversmith, Cesar Ghiselin, in 1729. The published record has confused him with his father in a self-evident error. In 1733 we find William a member of the first Masonic Lodge installed in America. William and Sarah sold some property to the estate of his deceased cousin, Joseph, B24, in 1742. This identifies and shows they were living at this time.

The administration of William, sadler, was granted on December 2, 1751, to John Knight, his son-in-law, Sarah, the widow, having declined. Sarah died in 1768 at 68 years of age. There was no will but some of the surviving children may be found in various records. It is unknown at this time whether or not a son had children but this is very doubtful. The male line of William, B11, is belived to be extinct. The children B111-B115 died young.

                                                                          Hannah, B116

Hannah was born after 1725 and before 1732. She married John Stow on April 6, 1751, at Christ Church in Philadelphia, PA. This was not a Quaker approved marriage so she was dismissed from the Quaker association. John Stow died about 1754 and Hannah was administrator of the estate. She lived until 1793 and had rejoined the Quaker Society as evidenced by the Quaker records. No children are known.

                                                                           Sarah, B118

Sarah was born January 1, 1732. She obtained a Quaker certificate of removal with her sister, Rebecca, in 1778 to relocate in Burlington, NJ. She married George Wells, April 3, 1787, in Burlington. This was not a Quaker marriage. She was also named in her cousin's will (Thomas, B211) in 1787. A Quaker record shows her dismissal for marriage outside the society.

                                                                           Rebecca, B119

Rebecca was born after 1732 (not named by Mary, B5 in will) and obtained a Quaker certificate of removal with her sister to Burlington, NJ. She married a Mr. Powell outside of the Quaker society about 1780 as evidenced by a Quaker record expelling her from the association. The record states she had married her late niece's husband.

                                                                             William, B11b

William seems to have died 1766, in Philadelphia. He signed a deed of Samuel Miffin in 1763. No other records have been found.

End of B1 line

                                                                               Thomas, B2

Thomas was born in Bristol, England, in the year 1667. He is regarded as a country gentleman, appearing on tax lists of Chester County from 1715 to 1727. He seems to have been in the real estate business, was styled, "maltster" and in his will of 1743 stated he was "of Blockley". Blockley is a township in west Philadelphia county. Darby township was to the south, across Cobb's Creek, in Chester county.

Thomas married Margaret Jenkins in Haverford township of Chester County. They lived on his property in Blockley, but he also owned land in Chester County. He seems to have preferred the nearer Darby Meeting and the records of that meeting record the vital statistics of the family. Thus the "removal" records show a change of membership from Darby to Goshen, etc, for his sons upon their marriages.

As the sons reached maturity, Thomas gave the two oldest, Thomas and William, land in Goshen and Whiteland districts, whence they removed and married in the Friends way, 1716 and 1720. These two oldest sons both died before their father, leaving issue. William had married twice before he died in 1732. The surviving widows then remarried, one having been a widow before she became the second wife of William. Most of the Friends removal and marriage certificates or copies of them are still existent. Some birth records of their children can also be found.

In his will of 1741, Thomas, named his two deceased sons, Thomas and William, and indicated that they had sons. The wording is a bit confusing and prior investigators have assumed that Thomas had one son, Thomas, and that William had one son, William. This may be so but it is not an exact requirement. Thomas gave his other heirs tokens but left his estate and land to his son, Stephen. This likely means the others had previously obtained their share of the estate.

Even though Thomas had his will in Philadelphia county he seems to have been buried in the Friends graveyard in Chester County. Thomas had married, as his second wife, Mrs. Abigail Golding in 1729. She signed with Thomas on marriage certificates and is listed in the death records of Darby Meeting, she dying before Thomas. Further evidence of the children of Thomas is found in the will of William Jenkins, the maternal grandfather.

The descendants of the children of Thomas and Margaret lived in Philadelphia and the surrounding countryside and a small number later fanned out generally towards the west moving to Ohio and then on through Indiana to Missouri and Iowa. Not one case has yet been identified of this line moving into the southern part of the United States.

The lines of John, B27, Benjamin, B28, and Stephen, B2a, are the best known and developed. The male lines of Thomas, B21, William, B23, Joseph, B24, Benjamin, B26, Samuel, B29, and Jonathan, B2b, are believed extinct.

 Thomas, B2, died April 7, 1743. Some information for each child of Thomas and Margaret follows:

                                                                      Thomas, B21

Thomas, B21, and his brother William, B23, were members of the Quakers and were given certificates of "removal" and "marriage examinations". These records show they moved to Goshen and Whiteland districts of Chester County, PA. The tax lists of Chester County show their presence. The Chester Quaker marriage records indicate their marriages in 1716 and 1720 respectively. Thomas had four children, a son and three daughters. The son, Thomas, B211, had children but his will, probated 1796, fails to mention any surviving children or grandchildren. He was very rich.

                                                                      Joanna, B22

Joanna married John Marshall and she died about 1731.

                                                                      William, B23

William had a daughter by his first wife and five daughters and a son by his second wife. The son married but no descendants have been determined as yet.

                                                                        Joseph, B24

Joseph married Elizabeth Coates and they had nine children, most of whom died young or without issue. A son, Isaac, married but had only two daughters. Cedar Grove mansion was built by descendants.

                                                                         Elizabeth, B25

Elizabeth married Jacob Jones about 1730.

                                                                         Benjamin, B26

Benjamin died at the age of four and another son was subsequently named Benjamin.

                                                                           John, B27

John married and had nine children. His son, Henry is the best known of this line today.

                                                                        Benjamin, B28

Benjamin was the second of the name. He has been confused in the past. One genealogy lists him as having married Elizabeth Horne in 1758 and another believes he married Margaret Price about 1734. The latter is now known correct due to the supporting evidence that has been found. Benjamin was a cutler (maker of knives) and had a shop in the city on 2nd St. Margaret was a member of the Haverford Meeting but Benjamin was not so she was dismissed from that group. Benjamin died in 1745 and Margaret applied for readmission, which was granted, as shown by a letter of removal, dated 1750. Margaret then married William Montgomery within the society in 1750. Benjamin and Margaret had 3 sons, John, Joseph and Benjamin. The evidence shows that Benjamin died a minor, without issue. At least one of the older sons is thought to have married and is the apparent father for some of the prior unknown lines that lived in NJ and northern VA. Benjamin may have been the father of Benjamin, T21, but only circumstanial evidence has been found to support the idea. See Bible extracts below, B28-T21.

                                                                          Samuel, B29

Samuel died at the age of 17 without issue.

                                                                         Stephen, B2a

Stephen married and had eight children, his namesake evidently carried the line down. However the son, Stephen, B2a8, died before the father just prior to the 1790 census. This family had an occupation described as "ironmonger" or "cutler" and had a shop at High and 31st streets, but lived at 19 N 5th St. Stephen is credited with being one of the first Americans to manufacture steel(illegally) in this country.

                                                                         Jonathan, B2b

 Jonathan married the widow, Mary (hodge) Fisher, but did not leave issue. He did not name any children in his will. He had the rank of Colonel in the PA Militia during the Revolutionary War. His farm was the scene of a confused tale of the Revolutionary War. His heirs had an issue that went to the US Suppreme court.

End of B2 line 

The other children of Thomas and Joanna Sloper were:

                                                                         Elizabeth, B3

Elizabeth was born May 28, 1671, in Bristol. She married Henry Flower in 1689 and they had seven children. She died the 19th of July, 1706, per the Say Bible (as Elizabeth Flower).

                                                                          Joseph, B4

Joseph was born 1672 in Bristol and died young without issue.

                                                                           Mary, B5

Mary was born July 27, 1674, in Bristol and married William Say in Philadelphia and had issue. Her Bible(Say) has been published and has many interesting entries of several generations. Mary next married, c1716, her cousin, Benjamin Paschall, A246. Mary died 1734 in Philadelphia. In her will she named four of William, B11's(identifying him with his occupation as "sadler")daughters. William signed Mary's will as a witness. Mary and Benjamin lived, at their deaths, around 2nd and 3rd streets. They were buried in the, "3rd St burial ground" which later became the Say cemetery.

                                                                            Joseph, B6

Joseph, the second of the name, was born November 16, 1676, and is thought to have died August 9, 1679.

                                                                            Frances, B7

Frances, was born March 18, 1678 and if female died August 9, 1680.

End of B-line

Today the B-line has descendants from the B27, B2a and T21 lines. Only the T21 line is numerous.

 Source notes for Thomas Paschall

                                                    NOTE ON REFERENCE SOURCES

There was a concerted effort to collect data and information concerning the early families of the Philadelphia area in the late 1800's. Several of these men gathered up considerable Paschall information and recorded it in their notebooks. Some of these notebooks have found their way into the collections of the Chester County Historical Society of PA. These records were also microfilmed by the LDS library. The author has been able to access three of these original manuscripts. These three were:

John J. Parker, notes of c1885

Gilbert Cope, notes of c1894

Dr. George Smith, notes copied by Painter in 1863

These men had access to the collection of Phillip P. Sharples of West Chester, PA, who had possession of the Bible and papers of Thomas, B2. The Morris family had also inherited through the children of Thomas, B2, some of the original papers. Several biographical works have been published that used these notes and documents with various copying errors. The author has attempted, where possible to bypass these published works and to find as many original references as possible. For this reason the individual source lines will often not reference a published work but will refer to the manuscripts. The published books will be found listed among the reference sources. The author has not been able to access an earlier collection than those named.

                                                 GENERAL REFERENCE SOURCES, B-Line

1. The John Lea Family History, by John Lea, 1906 (English records); error
2. Bible of Thomas Paschall, 154x, in possession of Morris family, 1925
3. Lloyd Manuscripts, by Howard W Lloyd , 1912: Gen. Merrill notes(errors)
4. Gene. of the Morris Family, by Robert Moon, 1898 PA Mag. of Hist. and Bio., Hist Society of PA, 1877+
5. Genealogies of PA Families, PA Gene. Magazine, reprint, 1982
6. Colonial and Rev. Families of PA, by John W Jordan, 1911
7. History of Delaware Co, PA, by John W Jordan, 1914
8. Some Colonial Mansions, by Thomas Glenn, Vol 1, 1899
9. The American Genealogist, Vol 39, p79
10. Sharpless Family Genealogy, by Gilbert Cope, 1887
11. Smedley Family Genealogy, by Gilbert Cope, 1901
12. Darlington Family Genealogy, by Gilbert Cope, 1900
13. Chester Monthly Meetings, Marriages, by Gilbert Cope, 1873
14. History of Chester & Delaware counties, PA, by Gilbert Cope, 1904
15. PA Vital Records, Vol II,1983, Indexed by Elizabeth P Bentley
16. Ency. of American Quaker Genealogy, by William Hinshaw, 1938
17. Compendium of American Genealogy, by Frederick Virkus, 1925  not to good
18. PA Chronicle by Kenneth Scott, Nat. Gene Society, Publ. #37, 1971
19. Official Army Register, Sec of War, Part III, 1865
20. Passengers/Ships Prior to 1684, Welcome Society of PA, 1985
21. Welcome Claiments by George McCracken, Welcome Society, reprint, 1970
22. Welsh Settlement of PA by C Browning, 1912
23. American Prisoners of the Rev., by D Dandridge, reprint, 1967
24. PA in the War of the Rev., by William Egle, 1896 PA
25. PA Archives, by Mathew Quay, Second Series, 1878
26. Merion in the Welsh Tract by Thomas A Glenn, reprint, 1970
27. Colonial Records of PA Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
28. Quaker records Bristol Quaker records by Gilbert Cope, LDS Library films

                                                                           * * * * * *

                                                               WILLIAM PASCHAL, C1

                                                          by Clarence McDaniel October 2006

William was born about 1704, perhaps a little earlier. He apparently lived at home in Woodbridge, NJ, prior to his marriage about 1725/26. In 1729, at Woodbridge, a William signed as witness to the will of Thomas Pike. The original will exists and a photocopy of Williams signature has been obtained. The copy is faint but the signature shows 2 final L's and the name William is fully written out and no final florish is used. These differences compared to the signatures of Willm Paschal, C1, lead us to conclude that this was the father, William Paschall, C.

This same William wrote his signature twice in 1730 in the Bible of Jana English Parker Paine also of Woodbridge. He then, that same year, bought 100 acres of land in Essex Co, NJ(elizabethtown), from Joseph Al(lin). This is the same William as one of the deed witnesses, Nathaniel Paine, was later the 2nd husband of Jana. In the Bible Jana states it is her Bible. Jana and Nathaniel are buried in the Presbyterian cemetery in Woodbridge. The Parkers lived next door to Samuel Dennis and Thomas Pike lived next to Samuel as found in the deed records. 

Samuel Dennis(the son of the more famous one) of Woodbridge, in his will of 1719, named an unmarried daughter as Reliance. Willm named his 7th son, Dennis, no doubt but to honor her line. Subsequent descendants used Reliance(relly) Dennis and Samuel Dennis as given names for their children. The subsequent marriage c1725 of Reliance Dennis to Willm Paschal as found by Mrs Betsy West, Mrs Betty Jo Paschall and myself is today a widely accepted  even though no marriage document has been found. 

In the 1735-1737 period Willm had 3 occasions to visit the NJ Supreme Court sitting in Perth Amboy or Burlington. These were civil cases, one for which Willm obtained a jury trial. He had bail for appearence provided by Samuel Dennis(his brother-in-law). This court handled cases in excess of 40S(shilling). Reliance's father, Samuel Dennis or Dennes and his father before him (also named Samuel) were well-known personages of Woodbridge. The elder Samuel had served in several civil capacities in the town. Reliance's grandfather and his brothers, John and Jonathan along with their father, Robert Dennis, were pioneers in New Jersey. Records indicate that Robert came from Yarmouth, MA, about 1667. John and Samuel arrived on a ship in 1664, embarking from Cork, Ireland. They may have completed their schooling in Britain before leaving to join their father in Woodbridge.

In 1739, a record of the court of New York city indicates that a runaway servant, Richard Glover, was being held until William Paschall, of Woodbridge, should come to get him. During these critical  years we can show Willm living in Woodbridge. Obviously neither him nor his father were the William (saddler) grandson of Thomas Paschall of Philadelphia. This old absurd claim still is found rooted in most of the listings found on the internet. There is no basis to the claim other than the name William. These claims are made solely because of the desirable known ancestry of Thomas Paschall.

An examination of the town book, called Liber B, may show more evidence but this book(now dust?) can't be located.

 About the year 1744, Willm and likely his two older sons, went to North Carolina, perhaps in a group along the Quaker Trail that led from Philadelphia to Baltimore to Richmond to Petersburg, VA. It may be that the entire family went to Virginia and stayed there while the three men went on south. My own guess(this is a guess, not fact) is that Reliance had died and Willm remarried. The names of the daughters, Rachel, Dianna, Sarah and Ruth are names used in the Woodbridge Pike family, especially Dianna and Ruth.

Our particular thread can be picked up in the 1744 North Carolina petitions for land.

A petitioner had to meet certain requirements. These were: he had to be a loyal subject of the Crown, not bound or criminal, and he had to pledge support to the Church of England. These were laws passed by the colonial government at New Bern, the capital. From about 1720 land in North Carolina had been given by the Lord Proprietor's in England at the rate of 50 acres for each person present in the family, including servants/slaves. Our petitioner asked for the modest sum of 150 acres which would indicate that only William and possibly two sons were present in 1744.

This petition and a cattle mark registration of 1745 are our first records of Willm in North Carolina. The 1744 petitions were never granted due to policy changes in England. My thought is that he next brought the entire family to North Carolina by 1748 as the survey for his first grant was made that year. This survey most likely included the 150 acres he had previously claimed. In any event, Willm had a survey run on Mar 11, 1748, and received his first land grant on Mar 25, 1749, in the county of Granville for 625 acres.

Willm's grant of 1749 is a beautiful document. Copies may be obtained from the North Carolina Archives. The document is large and contains Willm's signature to attest his agreement to the terms of the grant. Those granting the land were the legally appointed commissioners of Lord Granville, sitting at New Bern.

Willm's signature shows a fair hand and he signed his surname in the anglicized form with one L with a florish under the name. He abbreviated his first name as "Willm" as he did on all the other documents and his will. See signatures.

Note: When another person writes his name they may use different spellings but in every case where Willm himself signed he used the above form. I now use this form, Willm, to ID him. 

THE TERMS OF THE GRANT - The grantee was required, within a space of time, to make improvements in the property. He was to clear and cultivate the land at so many acres a year or he was to build a suitable house and graze so many head a year, etc. In all he was required to do exactly as you would expect he would want to do. A token sum, called quit rents, was due yearly, forever. Failure to meet the terms meant expulsion and forfeiture. It is uncertain why terms were imposed; it was not to the advantage of the Crown to enforce them.

THE PLACE OF THE GRANT - The grant bounds are perfectly definable. The grant may be easily located even at this date on a modern topographical map of the area. Embellishments made by Willm's descendants were still there in the 1920's according to Edward E. Paschal. He wrote that a mill, "Paschall Mill", was still standing in 1925. Edward's father, Robert Daniel,K53, was a surveyor and made a map of Warren Co. in 1874. This very detailed map is in the state archives. As we follow the Roanoke up river from the bay country, we encounter a northeasterly flowing creek named Smith's Creek. Willm located up this creek near a small branch called Beetree. It was here Willm had survey chains dragged through densely forested hill and vale and made his homeplace, and it is here that he is buried.

Willm improved and kept his 1749 grant; indeed he added three more grants of adjacent land to the original, making in all 2597 acres. These grants were dated the 11th and 13th of March, 1760 and 16 March, 1761. This constituted a parcel of land about 3 miles long, east to west, and a mile wide. On a road map, North Carolina routes 1217, 1206 and 1218 enclose most of the original grants. This achievement has caused Willm to be fondly known as:

                                                       "William of the NC Land Grants".

Willm's three oldest sons also received grants in their names, all in the same immediate area. Surviving records of the early period with individual names of settlers are few. Thankfully, we do have some. There are four published lists, three tax and a militia list, that give the names of individuals that are of interest. These are:

• 1750 Granville Tax list
• 1754 Granville Militia list
• 1755 Granville Tax list
• 1762 Granville Tax list

These lists suffice to give us some idea of Willm, his sons and their neighbors. As would be expected many prominent names can be found on the these lists which became legends in later North Carolina history.

1750 - This list shows Willm with four additional polls. The state tax was levied on males at age 16 in these early years.

1754 - This is a military list, probably brought about by an Indian scare, resulting in a desire to know how many able-bodied men could fight. This list states some relationships. We have Willm and son, William. Other companies carry Samuel, John and Isaiah. Samuel is married and most likely so are John and Isaiah. John's name is either duplicated or the complier could not distinguish the difference in names. We note Elisha is missing from the list. We do not know of any certain age requirement imposed for this list. This list has, rather inanely in the past, been used to establish military service for patriotic societies.

1755 - This list gives us the names of the polls and we find six of Willm's sons listed with him. Only the youngest two sons are missing from this list.

1762 - Recently published, this list shows two sons living in the homes of relatives of their wives. We notice that Isaiah,F, is listed as overseer in the household of Julius Nichols, his brother-in-law. Likewise we see William, G, living in the household of Thomas Aspen. Thomas is likely his father-in-law. Willm has Elisha and Dennis at home and over 16. Samuel and James are listed separately so James has probably married by 1762. The first two tax lists give us a chance to make some rough age estimates for Willm's sons. We can show the following:

                                 1750                                         1755 

• Samuel            > 16                                           > 16 
• John               > 16                                            > 16             >  means "over"
• Isaiah             > 16                                            > 16            <   means "under"
• William           > 16                                            > 16
• Elisha             < 16                                            > 16
• James             < 16                                            > 16

We can see this indicates the first four were born before 1734 and the last two were born between 1734 and 1739. We have a document regarding Isaiah which says he was "about 50" in 1779. Samuel's Bible has his year of birth as 1727. Using the traditional order as given by Willm's will then we have:

• Samuel b, 1727
• John     b, 1729
• Isaiah   b, 1731
• William b, 1733
• Elisha   b, 1735
• James  b, 1739

We keep the two year separation between births as most authorities recommend. The traditional year of birth for James is 1740. We lower this to 1739 to be in agreement with the tax list. These 6 sons likely had Reliance as their mother.

Other Early Records - The court records of early Granville list, in 1756, Willm's name in a trespass suit. A deed record of Thomas Aspen, in 1758, has as witness, William. This is most likely the son, William, G, as he was in the household in the 1762 tax list. There is in the 1760's a series of deeds, Willm to his sons and Isaiah to father, Willm.

 Willm deeded to seven of his sons all of the land in the three later grants. He retained only the northernmost part of the 1749 grant - the homeplace. William, G, did not receive land because he had left the county - he most likely got property of equal value.

The year 1765 saw Granville County divided with Willm's original tracts split between two counties. The eastern portion of Granville with the homeplace became Bute County. Again in 1779 we see the Bute name discarded and the county divided into two new counties, Warren to the north and Franklin to the south. The records of Bute were given to the keeping of Warren County wherein the homeplace now lay.

In 1773 there was an agreement between Willm and son, Thomas, K. The agreement was that Thomas should provide his father and wife with their keep for one year; Thomas in return was to get a sum of money. The agreement was witnessed by a William who made a mark like a capital M. Whether this was Wm, D3, or Wm, G, remains to be determined though Wm, G is believed to have made a mark like a capital W and thought to have been in Orange county at this time.

In May of the year 1774 Willm made his will. The will was probated in Bute court of November, 1774. Today we can view a microfilm copy of that original will. Willm named his seven oldest sons and devised a nominal sum to each. This signifies that he considered they had already gotten their fair share of his estate. The idea in naming each is to show that none had been accidentally forgotten. Willm named his then living wife, Tabitha; his underage daughter, Reliance; his married daughter, Dianna, and her husband and son; his three adult daughters and his youngest son, Thomas. The four adult daughters received land in Granville, Reliance got a sizeable bequest, Tabitha got the homeplace for her lifetime. Thomas got the rest including Tabitha's after her death. Thomas was made the ward of his sister, Reliance, and posted bond. It has always been the custom that Willm named his sons in order of their birth and we know of no cause to believe otherwise at this time.

An inventory of the estate shows a voucher for payment to the Rev. Henry Patrillo for the funeral sermon. He was a noted Presbyterian minister of the time. Anderson, J1, named a son, Zebulon Montgomery no doubt but for the famous Pike's peak explorer. My guess is that Willm married secondly into this Pike family, who were his neighbors, and embraced their religion about 1743 and Dennis, J, and Thomas, K, as well as two or three daughters were by this second wife. Enforcement to this idea is had by the fact that neither of the J or K lines ever named a daughter Reliance whereas the older ones did so.

Of the five daughters we originally knew very little. No marriage records of this period have been located. Dianna had a record (banns) of intent to marry Richard King and this is confirmed by the will. No further record has been identified for the other three daughters.

The daughters marriages may be traced using the land records. This requires a tedious search for the first recorded owner of the bequeathed land. Willm gave bequests to four daughters of land in Granville county below that of son, Elisha.

The deed to Elisha was confused but it was for 845 acres. To understand this the searcher must know that the 700 acres of land given by son, Isaiah, to his father was to the west and south of the fourth grant of Willm. When this 700 acres is platted in and the boundaries of the 845 acres to Elisha used we see that Elisha got 685 acres (the entire 4th grant to Willm) and 160 acres of the west part of Isaiah's old grant. A careful reading of the deed to Elisha now shows that Willm gave Elisha the entire grant along with the liabilities thereof, i.e. the quit rents. This left 540 acres of Isaiah's old grant, all south of Elisha. The dimensions are given for this residual land.

Following the amounts given in the will we can plat the land given to each daughter. This has been done. 

The above lengthly explanation was necessary as this is the only clue to the marriages of the three daughters. The land records had to be searched for mention of Sarah,L's 150 acres south of Elisha being conveyed. The conveyor must have no prior deed for the land it being his wife's legacy. There was located, as predicted three such sales of the exact land. The story is found in each daughter's history. More work needs to be developed on these lines. Betty Jo Paschall of Puryear, TN, did this tedious searching of the land records.

The daughter, Reliance, was alive, and not married until 1785, the year Thomas last renewed the bond. Reliance was not the child of Willm's first wife Reliance as so many searchers have presumed. We can show this by the following analysis:

Eighteen was at the time the legal age for females. If Reliance was underage in 1785 (assuming the bond was for an underage ward) then she must have been born no earlier than 1767. If we presume Reliance was born no later than 1703 (she was a minor when her father died in 1719) then Reliance would have been, as a minimum, 65 years old when daughter Reliance was born. The incidence of live births to women over 50 is extremely small so good genealogy then denies the assumption that Reliance was the mother.

In 1815 at Smith county, TN, James Burchett died and had an estate sale. He was allied by his sisters marriage to the E-line and went with them to that county earlier. At his sale was his widow, Reliance. I suspect she was either William's daughter or a daughter of James, I, or John, E. The latter seems more likely and is so indicated below.

We have traced as accurately as possible the descendants of the eight sons. All eight sons married and had issue. Willm was blessed with no less than 63 grandchildren! The line-up as we apportion it today is:

      Line                      Son                       Grandsons

•  D                      Samuel                   William, John, Samuel, Milton
•  E                       John                       James, Silas, Samuel, John 
• F                        Isaiah                     William, George, John, Isaiah, Dennis 
• G                      William                     Thomas
• H                       Elisha                       Wm, Samuel, John, Elisha, Jesse, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Alexander
• I                        James                        Samuel, Robert, John, James, Joshua, Edmund
• J                       Dennis                       Anderson, Nichols, Elisha
• K                     Thomas                      William, Thomas, John, Henry, Michael, Robert

        Line                  Son                             Granddaughters

• D                     Samuel                        Reliance, Mary, Rachel, Sarah, Susan, Nancy, Mildred, Betty, Phereba
• E                      John                            Jemina?, Reliance?
• F                      Isaiah                           Lucinda
• G                    William                          Hannah
• H                     Elisha                            Elizabeth, Reliance, Jerusha, Rachel
• I                      James                            Patience, Elizabeth, Eluena, Sarah
• J                      Dennis                          Mary, Sarah
• K                    Thomas                         Nancy, Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Bushaba

In this list there are some questions but it represents a minimum count - there was possibly two more grandsons. Of these 36 grandsons, nearly all had descendants. One can quickly see the numbers become astonishing in several generations. When I first became aware of these eight sons and their children and the confusion regarding them I determined to find where they went and when they died. Little did I know of the extent of such a task. The date and place of death for the sons were:

          Name                      Date                     County/State

• Samuel                   1805                       Abbeville, SC
• John                       1776                       Granville, NC
• Isaiah                     1795                       Franklin, NC
• William                  1818+                      Russell, VA
• Elisha                     1810+                      Caswell, NC
• James                     1792                       Warren, NC
• Dennis                    1815                       Warren, NC
• Thomas                  1821                        Warren, NC 

Those who made wills were:

Samuel, Isaiah, James, Dennis

Relationship information may be found in deed records for:

John, Elisha, Thomas

In other wills for:

John, William

Contrary to what might be expected the greatest problems occur when a great number of persons with the same surname are living in the same civil region. Such occurs in Warren in the period from about 1780-1810. After this time the number of remaining lines has diminished to the point where identification is not questionable. The only saving factor in Warren was the preservation of a great number of records. The tax lists divide the county into smaller geographical areas or districts. With a large number of descendants in a small area no scrap of paper or mention is insignificant. One John who could sign his name and another who couldn't was the break needed in one case.

When Willm deeded his land to his sons, the land was all in one civil jurisdiction, Granville County. In 1765, the land given to James was partially divided between Granville and Bute. In the west John, Isaiah and Elisha were still in Granville, while to the east Samuel, Dennis and Thomas with their father were in Bute. Furthermore the new county line dividing Bute and Granville was artificial, that is, an imaginary line rather than the more familiar boundary of a river. The line ran fairly parallel to Deep Creek but the creek had been ignored as a boundary.

Dissatisfaction with this line must have been great because in the year 1786 (after the tax list) Granville ceded this district, Nutbush, to Warren. Knowledge of this change is necessary to interpret the records of 1785-87 correctly. In 1787, Elisha suddenly appears to have moved from Granville to Warren. The line, not Elisha, moved.

We are not so fortunate in the later Granville records as we are in those of Warren; fewer tax lists are available and the 1790 census is missing. We have tax lists for 1769, 1771 and various years and most of the state census of 1786.

                                                     Source notes for Willm Paschall

1.  1719 Midd/NJ WB Samuel Dennis names dau, Reliance, others; NJ state archives
2. 1727 Bible of son, Samuel, names mother as Reliance; see Bible at this site
3. 1729 Midd/NJ WB Thomas Pike; William was wit, signed; (the father?); see signature at this site
4. 1730 Esse/NJ Wm bought 100a from Joseph Alin(allen) (the father?)
5. 1735 Midd/NJ Supreme Ct rec; suit for debt
6. 1736 Midd/NJ Supreme Ct rec plt for debt
7. 1736 Midd/NJ Supreme Ct Rec suit for trepass/debt; Samuel Dennis bail
8. 1739 NewY/NY Ct Rec William Paschall, resident of Woodbridge, NJ; NEGS item
9. 1744 Edge/NC Col Rec Vol 4, p703 petition for 150a, Nov 19; 50a/person
10. 1745 Edge/NC Brands Bk A; Wm, a crop & a hole in each ear; Jul 18
11. 1749 Gran/NC Ld grant #38, file #760, Bk 14 p19, 625a; Mar 25; signed
12. 1750 Gran/NC TL William and sons, 6 polls
13. 1754 Gran/NC Militia, William & son, William; Samuel, John, Isaiah
14. 1755 Gran/NC TL William and 7 sons
15. 1760 Gran/NC Ld grants, 640a; Mar 11 and 647a; Mar 13
16. 1761 Gran/NC Ld grant, 685a; Mar 16
17. 1761 Gran/NC DB D314 Ld to son, Samuel; May; this son called D-line; 1766 Gran/NC DB I230 ditto
18. 1761 Gran/NC DB D313 Ld to son, John; Jun; called E-line
19. 1761 Gran/NC DB D327 Ld to son, Isaiah; Jun; called F-line
20. 1762 Gran/NC TL Smith's Cr has Elisha, Dennis at home
21. 1763 Gran/NC DB F170 Ld to son, James; Mar; called I-line
22. 1765 Gran/NC DB G313 Ld to son, Elisha; Feb duplicated J4, p6; called H-line
23. 1768 Bute/NC DB 2-45 Ld to son, Dennis; Feb; called J-line
24. 1770 Bute/NC Ct Min Wm gdn to Parks, Mary & Tabitha King; p150
25. 1773 Bute/NC Ct Min Wm & son, Thomas-agreement; Mar 27; p200; called K-line
26. 1774 Bute/NC WB will; May, proved Nov; sons, Thomas/Dennis exec'rs
27. 1777 Bute/NC Ct Min est acct; sermon by Rev Patillo, a noted Presbyterian minister
28. 1779 Warr/NC Ct Min additional inventory; Aug
29. 1779 Warr/NC Ct Min Tabitha, widow, died; her property sold by Thomas
30. Note: King ch were ch of John King; Parks >18 by Nov 1771 when he was bound to Richard King until 21.
31. Note: prob marr 2ndly; Sarah or Ruth Pike?, c1745; a guess
32. Note: prob marr 3rdly; Tabitha Englis? King, widow of John King; had her dau, Tabitha King as ward, et al
33. Note: son, William did not get land; called G-line
34. Note: 5 dau's, per will order, are called L-P lines
35. Note: Most of the grants, wills, deeds, court, tax lists, etc are at the NC State Archives

End of C1 line 

NOTE: The ratio of C-line to B-T line descendants is about 10 to 1 in America today!

                                                                             * * * * * * *

SHOUT it everywhere: William of NC land grants(C1-line) is NOT repeat NOT descended from Thomas (B-line) of Philadelphia. This absurd(def: contrary to common sense) claim, began in the 1930's by Rev. J C Paschal, continues today. It was based on the name William, a grandson of Thomas. See this document, this gson died in Phila, 1751. here Also here is an extract of J C Paschal's own letter of 1937 in which he realizes his mistake. It is easier to start a rumor than stop it! here1 here2 If this doesn't convince you how about the US Supreme Court? They too decided he died before 1754!   http://supreme.justia.com/us/49/263/case.html

BIBLE SECTION