Benjamin Paschall, A246 by Clarence McDaniel December 2008 Benjamin was born June, 1690, in Bristol England, the son of Joseph and Mary Wickham Paschall of that city. He is an interesting & mysterious character. He was named executor of his father's estate in 1712. He received only the rents. He was not a Quaker but his parents were. He married his older, widowed cousin and did not have issue. Benjamin appears as the purchaser of a lot, 41x200 ft on 2nd St in Phila., PA,. on the 15th of March, 1716. His uncle(and father-in-law), Thomas Paschall, wrote his will on Sep 12, 1716, naming Benjamin and Henry Flower as two of the three executers. Henry Flower had married Elizabeth, B3, a daughter of Thomas. Mary,B5, another daughter of Thomas, had married in 1699, William Say, as his second wife. A son, William Say, Jr, had been born in 1696 from the first marriage. William Say, Sr, died October,1714, and was buried by the Quakers as a "non-Friend".This fact is found in the list of burials of non-Friends. Benjamin on March 15, 1719, sued in Orphan's court as the executor of William Say for the return of 100 pounds due the estate for the orphans. This money was given by Alice Guest, mother of William Say's first wife, Mary Guest, to William. William gave this money (in trust for his son, William, Jr) to George Guest, son of Alice Guest. George Guest in turn gave the money to his brother-in-law, Anthony Morris(married Phebe Guest) for the same purpose. Anthony, in court, stated that he thought he was the guardian to the Say children. The court awarded the money to Benjamin and made him guardian of the Say children. This is strong evidence that Benjamin was then married to Mary,B5. It appears that William Say, Jr, had died prior to this court leaving no issue. There were five living children of Mary and William Say at this time, named in court. These children's births and deaths are listed in the Say Bible. That Benjamin married the widow, Mary Say, is well known from the Say Bible and their wills and the book of Dr. Benjamin Say. What was not known was when this marriage occurred. If the marriage took place c1716, then Benjamin was son-in-law to Thomas when he wrote his will. This is most probable for as her husband he would be the natural guardian(step-father) of the Say children. Benjamin was quite a bit younger than his wife. It is likely that Benjamin was well loved by his step-son,Thomas Say, as he named his son, Benjamin. Indeed, it would seem like all the subsequent Paschalls named Benjamin derive from him. On October 16,1716,at the Goshen monthly meeting, Chester county, Thomas,B21, married Margaret Jones. Among the witnesses were Joanna Flower and Mary Paschall. The Say Bible lists the death of Joanna,nee Paschall,Flower in 1728, aged about 26. Joanna was not among the known descendants, nor wives of descendants, of Thomas,B. It would seem like there is yet another unknown male line in this time and place. This record would appear to show that Joanna had already married Flower and that Mary had married Benjamin by October 1716. Mary Paschall Say wrote her Bible from about the birth of her first child to her death in 1734. After that her son, Thomas wrote in the Bible, it passing to his son, Dr. Benjamin Say. In this Bible Mary wrote a sentence giving her date and place of birth. She signed herself as Mary, late Say, Paschall. The meaning of her "late" is "formerly". No date is given as to when this was written but it was obviously after her marriage to Benjamin. When Benjamin wrote his will in 1729, he named his step-children and his wife, Mary as heirs. He willed to step-son Thomas Say the 3rd St property known as "the burial ground". This shows that the property had been used as a cemetery from sometime after Benjamin bought it on Sep 19,1724. Strangely, Benjamin never sold any property, only purchased. At death, he seemed to be insolvent. This caused Benjamin, B28, and William, B11, to purchase some of the sheriff's sale property and deed it to Thomas Say. Both of these men were named in the wills of Benjamin and Mary. My guess is that these men were in debt to Benjamin so made this gesture. In the records, Benjamin was listed variously as, merchant,clothier and landlord. Mary wrote in her Bible that Benjamin died the 16th of May, 1730, and was buried, "in his own burial ground". Later documents(1875) show that the burial ground was 40x36 ft. The land when purchased in 1724 was 40x198 so some of the property was otherwise in use. Since it is now known that Mary's first husband and his son, Richard, were buried by the Quaker's as "non-Friends", in presumably a Quaker cemetery then this 3rd St cemetery was a different, private, burial ground. . When Mary died in 1734 her son, Thomas Say wrote in the Bible that she was buried, "beside her husband in our own burial ground". This was the 3rd St cemetery where Benjamin was buried since this now belonged to Thomas and would be referred to in that manner by him. Later Thomas Say and his son were buried there along with their children also. Thomas Say, Jr. was about five when his father died. He grew up knowing only his step-father. He named a son, Benjamin. The son wrote a small book about his father, published, 1796, which contains a little information.It would seem that Benjamin was accepted as the father-in-fact to the Say children. It is logical that this family were all buried together rather than separately. Swarthmore college sent the author a copy of a news clipping(c1875) showing the abandoned Say cemetery containing the statement that the city of Philadelphia had taken over the property. There were 15 ft brick walls around it. This was long after the death of Dr. Benjamin Say in 1814. From the above we conclude that Benjamin was not the father of the T and C lines. It now appears he left no issue and that his marriage to his cousin was his first and only marriage. I think many more Paschalls came in this period than have been generally recognized. Mary wrote that Elizabeth, late Paschall, Jenkins died 1726, aged 93. This could only be her aunt, Elizabeth, A21, b1633, sister to Thomas. Quaker records also list that a Sarah Paschall married, "contary to disipline", in 1722. NOTE: recently, I saw, on the internet, an article that stated that the burial place of Dr. Benjamin Say was unknown. Sad it is that information like what is contained herein is lost; it is the genealogist's self-appointed task to attempt its preservation... Source notes for Benjamin Paschall 1690 Bris/EN Friends Mtg birth records names father/mother 1706 Burl/NJ Will of H Jennings; money pd to Benj, 1705?; him? 1712 Bris/EN adm'r of father, Joseph; John Lea History, publ., c1905 1716 Phil/PA exec'r of uncle (f-in-law), Thomas; will proved, 1718 1716 Phil/PA DB F1-228 from Wm Carter, lot 41x200, WS of 2nd; 15 Mar 1719 Phil/PA DB H1-685 sold 100a of Thomas' land as exec'r of est; 22 May 1719 Phil/PA DB H16-521 from Wm Carter; lot, 30x250; 16 Jun 1719 Phil/PA Bk 1 Orphan's Ct Benj, adm'r Wm Say, made gdn to Say ch; 20 Oct 1720 Phil/PA DB F4-156 fr H Scobal, Moyamensing twp, 10 3/4 a; 15 Mar 1721 Phil/PA DB H9-316 fr Abraham Bickley; house & lot; King St; 28 Mar 1721 Phil/PA DB F3-199 fr R Hill, Moyamensing, same as H Scobal; 30 May 1722 Phil/PA DB F2-251 fr Wm, B11, J Harrison; right-of-way; 13 Jul 1724 Phil/PA DB H1-166 fr J Jones, N Lib, 40x198, 3rd St, E end; 19 Sep(cemetery) 1728 Phil/PA Exec'r to will of Seth Flower; widow, Mary, son, Seth 1729 Phil/PA WB will written, 26 Jan; proved 7 Jan, 1731 1730 Phil/PA death rec'd in Say Bible; 16 May 1734 Phil/PA DB H16 p525 Wm/Sarah to Thomas Say; 4 houses and lot of Benj(A246) 1736 Phil/PA DB G2 p101 Benj/Margaret to Thomas Say; 41x200, 2nd St; 1796 Phil/PA Book: Life/Writings of Thomas Say by son, Dr. Benjamin Say; info 1885 Paschal records by John J Parker; LDS Library film 1907 Bristol Friends records by Gilbert Cope; Phila. Hist. Society; birth, parents 1981 PA. Mag. of Hist. & Biography; Say Bible 2001 Swarthmore college; Say records; Say cemetery photo, news clipping, c1875 Note: John Lea History: has Benjamin's step-dau's as dau's; error Note: He was apparently the first Paschall named Benjamin in Bristol and America Note: He was not a Friend; belonged to Episcopal(Christ) Church per John J Parker