Search for father of William Paschal(c1705-1774)
			Clarence McDaniel October 2006


NEWS: I think the father of Wm Paschal has been identified! NEWS

Note: As suggested by Gordon Bond I am using the following convention:

Wm: William Paschal of NC Land Grants, ID = C1
William: William Paschall of Woodbridge, NJ; ID = C

My abbreviation of Paschal, Paschall is P'l, P'll

Gordon Bond of Middlesex, NJ,has given me info and photos of two signatures
(one dated 1730) of William Paschall in the Samuel and Jana (Englis) Parker
Bible. He obtained these photos, with permission, from the Bible in 
possession of the Historical Society of Delaware.

The Parkers lived in Woodbridge, NJ. Samuel and Jana's son, James, was a
very notable person in history. I have ID'ed the Paschall signatures as
the same as that on the Thomas Pike will of 1729. I only had the faint 
signature on the will before, now with these additions I am convinced they are
NOT the signatures of Wm Paschal, C1. Wm signed with one L, never fully spelled
his first name and used a characteristic florish at the end of his name. Since
we know Wm was in Woodbridge at this time and had 2 sons it seems certain that
this William, C, is likely the father. Of course, William, C, could be an uncle
but a close relative regardless. It would also seem as though William, C, had 
some connection to the Parker family or to Jana's, nee Inglish, family. Perhaps 
as tutor to the children.

MORE: There was a deed to William Paschall, C, in Essex Co, NJ, in May of 1730. 
I have thought there was a connection as the source of the info said the deed was
witnessed by 3 Woodbridge men. Gordon Bond has looked these up; they were from 
Woodbridge AND one, Nathaniel Paine, was the 2nd husband of Jana Inglish Parker.
Jana also wrote in the Bible using both Parker and Pain names. She was executer
of her 2nd husband, Nathaniel Paine in 1734.

MORE: When Samuel Parker died in 1725, his neighbor was named as Samuel Dennis. 
This would be the brother of Reliance Dennis, b 1706; This places the Paschall
family, Dennis family and Parker family in close proximity at the same time we 
assume Reliance Dennis and Wm Paschal,C1, married. They named their first son
Samuel.
  
Gordon is writing a biography on the life of James Parker(1714-1770)for the 
Historical Association of Woodbridge Township(NJ) with a grant from the NJ State Historical Commision. James Parker established the first permanent printing press
in New Jersey and was a friend of Benjamin Franklin. 

Some history:

About 1989, Betty Paschall of Puryear,TN, sent me a NY Court Record of 1739.
This record indicated that a William Paschal was living in Woodbridge, NJ. I
went to the local Mesa FHL and found a book by the Rev Dally of Woodbridge.
In the rear of this  book was copied the births, marriages and deaths of the
town from a town book called Libre(liber) A. This listing went to about 1708. 
In the listing there are  numerous  mentions  of  the  Dennis  family.
Samuel Dennis was a judge and held several posts for the city.

Later, it occurred to me that the name DENNIS was used everywhere in the  Wm
Paschal, C1,  line,  including  a  son  by the name. I wrote to those people
then looking for Paschal info and predicted that a Reliance Dennis,  dau  of
XXX Dennis may be found in the wills. Several days later, Betsy West of 
Memphis,TN, wrote that she had found the will of Samuel Dennis, 1719, and he
named a dau, Reliance. The marriage is universally accepted now.

Rev. Dally did not have the wills so confused the Samuel Dennis data. Samuel
Dennis, gf of Reliance died, 1709, and her father, also Samuel,  died  1719.
Dally did not know of the son and thought the grandfather lived to c1718.

The  search was on. We know Wm married Reliance c1726 as son Samuel was born
1727. Next the original 1729 will of Thomas Pike of  Woodbridge  was  found;
the  witness  signed: William Paschall. This is the only known case where the
first name, William, is fully spelled out and 2 final L's used. 

Libre A ended about 1708 due to the book being filled. For 4 years the  town
talked  about buying another book finally doing so. Libre B does not contain
vitals but has town meeting minutes and cattle mark registrations.

Libre B should be checked for William and Dennis cattle mark registration.
The book is thought? to be still in possession of Woodbridge, however, it
may have passed into dust?? Rev. Dally (1873) stated it was in poor condition.

Check Paschalls(2 L's) at:

   St Marys the Virgin, Dover, KENT, England;   source: FHL,IGI

These P'lls had sons named William born 1690-1708 and three of these had
a father named William! What is needed is the deaths and wills for this area.
Note: I am in corresponce with a P'll descendant who lives in Dover; he 
indicates the Paschall tombstones are still there but he has not found the
connection to the Essex Paschalls yet. He is looking for emigration info.

 I have made up some images of the signatures of Wm, C1, and William, C. These
range from 1729 to his will in 1774. They are viewable on my site.

The really latest NEWS: I have found five (5) mentions of Paschall men in Middlesex Co,
NJ, from 1735 - 1737. Three are for William Paschall. The facts concerning 
them are currently being sought. October 24, 2006

To be continued...