Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's?
Enid Eleanor Adams, F. A. S. G.
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Volume 58, Number 3, Whole Number 210, Sep 1983, pages 97-103 CCliff Morford's transcription of Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's, originally published in the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, Volume 58, Number 3, September 1983, pages 97-103, authored by Enid Eleanor Adams, FASG, published by Genealogical Society of New Jersey.
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Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's? |
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Enid Eleanor Adams, F. A. S. G. |
| Identification of numerous Morfords who continue to perpetuate the given names of John and Thomas Morford, the "presumed brothers" who settled in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, in the 1670's, has been a challenge to many researchers, including the writer. Another challenge is the determination of the European origin of the Morford family. Although Dr. John E. Stillwell, in Volume IV of his Historical and Genealogical Miscellany [SHGM] stated that "Thomas and John Morford came from England," it does not appear that their first point of arrival was in New Jersey. Kenn Stryker-Rodda, authority on New Jersey, has said that "all of the early settlers (of East Jersey) were from other colonies" (emphasis mine), and that "the earliest group from abroad were Scots who came to Perth Amboy in 1685" (Vol. 1, Genealogical Research Methods and Sources, rev. ed. 1980, p 222). Since this was 15 years after John and Thomas Morford became landholders in Middletown (which was, Dr. Stryker-Rodda says, "founded . . . from New England and Long Island") we must therefore consider some other point of arrival for the Morford brothers at a time preceding 1670. The many spelling variations of the Morford surname offer a third challenge,
which was acknowledged tacitly by Dr. Stillwell in his index to Volume II of
SHGM, wherein he grouped all Morford references under the heading: MORFORD (Morfot,
Morfett, Morfford, Mortford, Mofford, Murfoord, Maurfoott), and in Volume IV
as: MORFORD (Maurfoot, Morfoot, Morfort, In searching for another location where John and Thomas Morford may have
lived prior to their migration to New Jersey about 1670, it seems significant
that in 1663 one John Morfit was among a group of persons imported from England
by George Richardson of Maryland (Skordas, Early
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| Hundred, in Baltimore County, Maryland (Maryland & Delaware Genealogist,
1:60). The imported John Morfit was thus in the colonies some seven years prior
to the earliest record found in New Jersey for John and Thomas Morford,
"presumed brothers" and settlers of Middletown.
The John Morford of the 1700 Maryland tax list was not very likely to have been the John Morford who was then living in New Jersey; but perhaps he might have been the 1663 importee, John Morfit. Therefore it may not be a mere coincidence that a presumed grandson of the New Jersey John Morford, namely Thomas Garrison Morford (1738-1820)), who by tradition is said to have married into the Maryland family of Richardson, was living in 1783 in Gunpowder Upper and Lower Hundred of Harford County, Maryland (formed in 1773 from Baltimore County) -- the exact location where John Murford [the importee?]* had been living in 1700. Another Morford shown in early Maryland records was James, who on 17 February
1716/7 signed the inventory of the estate of one John Gray, of Charles County
(Liber 38-A, folio 129, Md. Hall of Records). Assuming James to have been no
younger than 18 to 21 when he signed the inventory, It is possible, but perhaps not susceptible of proof, that the New Jersey
John and Thomas, and the Maryland James, were sons of the importee, John Morfit,
and that they had been born in England before 1663. Finding the importee's
ancestral home in England, and the birth records of his The topography of the land compromising New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware is such that migration among these colonies even as early as 1670 was no great problem. Kenn Stryker-Rodda has written: "Except for its relatively short and once hotly contested northerly border, New Jersey is completely surrounded by water. Today the Hudson (or North) River separates New Jersey from New York, the Arthur Kill separates it from Staten Island, the Delaware (formerly the South) River separates it from Pennsylvania and Delaware. . . . until long after the American Revolution it was easier to sail or even row a greater distance than to trudge or be bounced by horseback a shorter one over rough and wooded terrain" (From "New Jersey Records A Genealogical Haystack Full of Needles," in PGM 24:4). With the opening of the new colony of New Jersey, and the potential for obtaining land grants there, it seems logical that John Morfit's sons would have taken advantage of their opportunity to help settle "Nova Caesarea." Despite the lack of definitive records from which to determine the birth years of John Morfit of Maryland and his presumed sons John and Thomas Morford of Monmouth County, New Jersey, James of Charles County, Maryland, in 1716/7, and the Richard Morford who in 1679 was serving as a soldier in the West Indies, under Richard *Although square brackets in text usually indicate insertions by an editor, in this article they are used to enclose asides of the compiler and to distinguish these interjections from source citations and other matter which properly belong in parentheses.
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| Ellyott, belonging to Capt. John Adams' Company (Smith Mss. 1-149, Society
of Genealogists), it is suggested that John Morfit's birthyear was not much
later than 1626. This is based on the fact that his presumed grandson Thomas3
was old enough in 1699 to have made an inventory of an estate; therefore he must have been born by at least 1680. This gives us the 1650s as a probable period when John2 and Thomas2 of New Jersey, James2 of Maryland, and the soldier Richard2 Morford, may have been born. It appears that John2 Morford might have been the eldest of the four men. As to the latter two, no further mention of them has yet come to light, so our attention will be focused on John 2 and Thomas2 Morford of New Jersey. Both of the Monmouth County Morfords had children named John, Thomas, and Catherine. How to determine whose Morfords they were? Were they John's or Tom's? Fortunately, although John2 left no will, he did make deeds which identify some of his children and grandchildren, while Thomas' children are all named in his will, made December 1695 and probated the following March (NJW Unrecorded Wills 10:371). A "Jno. Morford Jun'r" who was listed as serving in the New Jersey militia in
1715, in Col. Tho. ffarmer's Regiment, 5th Company, George Res Carrick, Capt.
(Second Annual Report of the Historian of New York, p. 533), surely had to have
been a son of John2 Morford. Two other men in the same company were "Tho.
Morfit" and "Benj. Morfit." As it is known from Thomas2 Morford's will that he
had no son Benjamin, it seems appropriate to assign both "Tho." and "Benj."
Morfit to John2 Morford. There is reason to believe that this "Tho.3 Morfit" is
the same person as the Thomas Murford who in 1699 made inventory of the estate
of John Holland of Middlesex John2 Morford's daughter Catherine appears to have been much younger than her cousin of the same name, who married first, about 1701/2, to Edward Taylor (1678-1733/4), and second, 1741, to John Ashton who died in 1743/4 (Genealogy Taylor-Snow, by Charissa Taylor Bass & Frank Nelson Bass, 1935, pp. 17, 61). John's Catherine had become wife of Mindert Johnson (or Jansen), probably shortly before 31 March 1720, when John2 Morford deeded 200 acres of land in Middlesex County to Mindert, perhaps in lieu of a dowry for Catherine (MxD D:222). Proof that Catherine was a Morford is shown in the following records: A child (sex not stated) of Mindert and Catherine Johnson, bapt. 29 Oct .
1721 at Freehold, N. J. |
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| John2 Morford may have had another son, Richard, born say in the late 1690s
or early 1700s, named for John's presumed brother, the Richard who in 1679 was
on military duty in the West Indies. WPA-copied records at the New Jersey State
Library show "a male child born 1757 in Burlington County, to Richard Morford"
(original source of this record was not stated). The names Richard and James (the latter perhaps being for James of Charles County, Md.) are both found later among descendants of Thomas4 Morford (1716-1797) of Cranbury, Middlesex County, a grandson of John2 Morford (History of the Morford Family by C. R. Morford, 1892; a small pamphlet dealing with the Morfords of Mercer County, Pa; copy in the writer's possession). Now comes the problem as to the two John Morfords of the third
generation--one a son of John2, and the other a son of Thomas2. As to the
former, a tradition in old records of a branch of the Zebulon Morford family
indicates that Zebulon and his supposed brother Thomas Garrison Certainly this tradition is far more plausible than the oft-repeated fable that both Zebulon 1722-1794) and his wife Susannah (Barton) Morford (1727-1812) had been born and married in Wales before coming to New Jersey. Actually, Zebulon's marriage to Susannah, by license dated 12 January 1746, is recorded in Middlesex County (NJMB M:44). An account of the Barton family shows that Susannah was born in New York state, later resided in Cranbury, New Jersey; she was a daughter of Noah and Mary Barton ("Roger Barton of Westchester Co. , N. Y. . . . ," by George E. McCracken, NEHGR 106:297.) As to the second John, son of Thomas2 Morford, we know from Thomas' will that John was the younger of Thomas' two sons, having been named second in the will, and both sons being underage as of 1695. As was customary for a testator to name his male issue first, then the females, we have no way of knowing in what year this John was born. Dr. Stillwell numbered him as #4, but provided no further data for him, skipping from Thomas (born 1692) to the daughter Catherine, who was probably the eldest child, born perhaps in the 1680s, as she first married in 1701/2. Assuming that the first three children were daughters, Catherine, Sarah, and Johanna, born say in 1680, 1687, and 1689, with Thomas following as the fourth child, and then Susannah, about 1693, we now place John as the youngest of the children, with a probable birthyear of 1695, born shortly before December. What became of this John -- did he die young? Move from the state?
Neither. Fortunately two deeds made nearly 110 years after his birth confirm
that he remained in Monmouth County, married, and had a family. On the 10th day
of March 1804, John Campbell of Freehold, with the consent of |
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| lot on the south side of the new road on the highway leading from Monmouth
Court House to Mount Holly, was conveyed to Joseph Scudder on 20 October 1806 by
John Morford Jr., the deed reciting that his brother Benjamin had died intestate
since the 1804 conveyance, and that he, John, had a right to the share or part
of said Benjamin Morford, deceased, as brother and one of the heirs of the said
Benjamin, and to the other half thereof by a deed dated 15 October 1806 from
"Theodorus Conover and Hannah his wife (late Susannah Morford) and Ann Morford,
which said Susannah and Ann were sisters of the said Benjamin and with the said
John are all the heirs left by the said Benjamin at the time of his death to
inherit his estate" (MnD Q:209)
In distinguishing the two Thomas Morfords of the third generation, it was
mentioned that Thomas3 of John2 must have been the elder, as he was old enough
in 1699 to make an estate inventory, his cousin of the same name being then only
seven years old. Proof that the elder Thomas was the son John3 Morford (of John2) had a wife Abigail, as shown in a 1738 deed (MxD
G-2:509) whereby they sold 100 acres of land in Cranbury which they had received
by deed in May 1720 from John2 Morford (deed A-1:212, cited supra). Abigail's
name appears in a list of 17 original members of the To recapitulate, the following outline is offered as a tentative record of the early generations of the Morford family:
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| 1. JOHN MORFIT, born in England, say about 1620/30, imported to Maryland in
1663 by George Richardson. Wife's name not known, nor data as to death dates
and places for this couple.
Presumed sons, probably born in England: Second Generation 2. JOHN MORFORD, presumed son of John Morfit (#1), born perhaps in the
1650s, probably in England; died, perhaps in the early 1730s, the last record of
him being in a deed dated 16 September 1729, his death taking place probably in
Middlesex County, New Jersey. He first came to Children, all probably born in Monmouth Co.: 4. THOMAS MORFORD, presumed son of John Morfit (#1), born say in the 1650s,
probably in England, died in Monmouth County, New Jersey, about March 1695/6,
having made his will in December 1695, mentioning his wife Suseanna, sons Thomas
and John, and daughters Katherine, Sary, Johana, and Suseana (NJW Unrecorded
Wills 10:371). All children were under age in 1695; the sons therefore were
born after 1674 and daughters after 1677. Thomas came to Middletown in the early
1670s; he received 120 acres in 1676, 113 in 1677. He was located first at
Colt's Neck, Middletown, and later at the bridge crossing between Red Bank and
Middletown, on what was
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| widow, Susanna.
Children, all probably born in Monmouth Co.:
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Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's? |
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Enid Eleanor Adams, F. A. S. G. |
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Continued from volume 58, page 103 |
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6. THOMAS MORFORD, eldest son of John Morford (#2), born say ca. 1680, probably in Middletown, Monmouth County; died shortly before 23 July 1717, perhaps in Middlesex County. His wife, Rebecca, may have died shortly after the birth of their second son; otherwise it seems that she, not her infant sons, would have been given possession of the land which John2 Morford had neglected to deed to her husband during his lifetime. Children, probably born in Cranbury, Middlesex Co., 8. JOHN MORFORD, JR., son of John Morford (#2), according to a tradition
preserved by descendants of his son Zebulon, is said to have been born in 1685
and to have died in 1783, aged 98, at Salem, New Jersey; but might the location
have been an error for Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania? He married, about
1709, Abigail, whose surname, parentage, dates and places of Presumed children: 14. THOMAS MORFORD, son of Thomas Morford (#4), born 2 February 1692,
probably
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| 1700 at Cream Ridge and died there 5 June 1783. By this marriage there were
two children (COX): Fenwick or "Phoenix," born 1755, and Mercy, born 1758
(married Edward Kelly).
Children, all probably born in Monmouth Co.: 16. JOHN MORFORD, younger son and probably youngest child of Thomas Morford (#4), was born probably about 1695/6, not long before December 1695 when he is mentioned as a second of two sons in his father's will. His death date and information as to his wife have not been discovered. He was still alive in the late 1740s, as his presumed son John was born in 1747. Although there may have been other children in this family, records of them have not been located. Presumed son: Fourth Generation 17. JOHN MORFORD, son of Thomas Morford (#6), born 1713, probably in
Cranbury, Middlesex County, died 1 February 1812, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He married first, by license dated 18 February 1739, Monmouth County (NJMB Book
1727/34, page 51-1/2), Elizabeth Robins, born about May 1713, daughter of Daniel
Robins of Upper Freehold, Monmouth
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| 25 May 1749, Margaret Frazer, daughter of Andrew Frazer "late of Warminster, deceased." This John is probably the John "Moffitt" who received a warrant for 50 acres
of land in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 28 May 1743; and may have been the "John
Morford of Pa., trader" who was a witness on the marriage license, in 1746/7,
(NJMB C:52) of Joseph Cunningham and Elizabeth Jones. In 1768 John and Margaret
Morford returned to New Jersey following their Names of three daughters are known, and the first two sons shown in the list below are considered "probable;" sufficient clues to identify the two remaining children have not been located. Daniel is the eldest, probably named for his maternal grandfather, Daniel Robins. Cornelius is linked to this family group, as he signed as witness on marriage bonds for James and Joseph Barber who married Rebecca and Elizabeth Morford, respectively (NJMB B:296 and B-383). His own marriage, as well as those of his presumed sisters, took place in Burlington County. John Morford's burial took place on Monday, 10 February 1812, in the Baptist burial ground adjoining the meeting house on Second Street, below Arch: but in 1860 all bodies interred there were moved to Mount Moriah Cemetery. However, the list of tombstone inscriptions for Sec. 112, where reinterments were made, does not show his name, so perhaps descendants had his remains taken to a different cemetery. [Was it Southampton, where his first wife was buried?]. Children (four by first wife, three by second wife): |
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| Hern (Haran/Hearne) and Mary (Eldridge) Bryan, and was
therefore "condemned for marrying contrary to discipline" ("Burlington NJ Monthly Meeting" in HEQG 2:200). Cornelius and Hester lived in Salem Co. She died about 1802; he and son Cornelius Jr. moved to New Castle Co., Del., and later to Warren Co., Ohio. Among his children were: Isaac who died 1817 in Fieldsboro, Appoquinimink Hundred, New Castle Co., Del., leaving a widow Barbara and a son Frederick (1788-1851) [great-great grandfather of the compiler's husband, Harold L. Adams]; Ephraim; Mary 1764-1800, m. 1787 Nathan Woodruff, 1762--1848; and perhaps others. 36. Rebecca, born 1745, prob. in Bucks Co., Pa., died 22 Dec. 1838 in Philadelphia, Pa., m. by lic. dated 22 May 1770 (NJMB B:296) James Barber. Only two of her children are known. (BARBER): Elizabeth, born ca. 1775, m. in N.J. a Mr. Dalruple [Dalrymple?] whose given name may have been George; son John M[orford?] who m. 28 June 1795 at Philadelphia, Pa., Tacy Jones, 1772-1842. 37. Elizabeth, born 1748 Bucks Co., Pa., m. by lic. dated 22 May 1772, Burlington Co. (NJMB B:383), Joseph Barber who died before 1811. The widow Barber and her father John Morford were living on Prime Street, below Second, Philadelphia, in 1811. 38. Rachel, born ca. 1752, died 1838, m. 2 March 1775, Burlington, Henry Barber ("St. Mary's Church Record, Burlington, N.J.," in SHGM 2:89). 39. Possibly Joseph* 40. another, unidentified*. 18. THOMAS MORFORD, son of Thomas Morford (#6), born in 1716, probably in
Cranbury, died there in June 1797, leaving a will dated 29 June 1790 (MxW
B-36:50) which mentions his wife Ann, a son Joseph, daughter Rebekah "Prine,"
granddaughter Ann Morford, grandsons Peter and James Perrine, and sons John and
James. Evidently his daughters Mary, Ann, and Elizabeth, and Children, all born in Middlesex Co.: *A possibility exists that one of the two unidentified children of John
Morford (#17) may have been the Joseph Morford of Windsor, Middlesex Co., who
died in 1775, leaving a widow Elizabeth (Updike) Morford, who married second
Joseph Story, did not get along with him, and was separated from him about
1800. Children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Updike) Morford were: |
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| [**] when he witnessed will of Benjamin Harris, father-in-law of his
niece, Rebecca (Morford) 20. WILLIAM MORFORD, presumed son of John Morford
Jr. (#8), may have been born in the 1720s, and seems to have died a
number of years before 1761. His wife is said to have been
Elizabeth, daughter of William Beakes (1691-1761), whose will of 1761
mentions two grandsons, William and John Morford, both of whom were not
yet 21 (NJW 2581-2588M, B-11:63). An |
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| Children, perhaps born in Monmouth Co.: 50. William, born say about 1748; living 1761 no further record. 51. John, born say about 1750; very likely is the John Morford who with his wife Mary (possibly Furman) is buried at the Baptist Burying Ground in Freehold. Dr. Stillwell's notation (SHGM 4:13) shows: "John Morford died, Aug. 5, 1817, aged 66 years, 9 months and 23 [25?] days." [According to Edward J. Raser, who examined the inscription, "23" is correct.] The wife's record shows: "Mary, wife of John Morford, died October 21, 1815, aged 62 years, 5 months and 9 days." By subtraction this gives a birthdate of 12 Oct. 1750 for John, and 12 May 1753 for Mary. Another notation in the same source states: "1786, Aug. 12. John Morfort and his wife Mary Forman, were members of the Yellow Meeting House congregation." John Morford's will dated 25 Sept. 1815 and proved 1 Sept. 1817, mentions his wife Mary, and a "kinswoman, Melinda, daughter of James Lloyd," and a friend David Perine, who had been "kind to him in sickness and health." It must be inferred that there were no surviving children of this couple, if, indeed, they had any. |
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Enid Eleanor Adams, F. A. S. G. |
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Concluded from page 20 |
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21. ZEBULON MORFORD, son of John Morford (#8), born 1722, probably in Middlesex County, died at Cranbury 25 October 1794, buried in the churchyard of the Old Presbyterian Church in Cranbury, but his and his wife's gravestones are said to be no longer extant. He married, by license dated 12 January 1746 (NJMB M:44), Susannah Barton, born about 1727, perhaps in Westchester, New York, died 15 January 1812, Cranbury, daughter of Noah and Mary (-- --) Barton. Children, per Bible records from descendants, all probably born in
Cranbury: |
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| 55. Benjamin, born 10 May 1754; may have been the Benjamin Murford over
16, with 3 males under 16 and 4 females, living in Washington Co., Pa., in
1790. He was enumerated next to a Thomas Weakley--a surname closely associated
with descendants of the Zebulon Morford group. 56. Stephen, born 10 Nov. 1756, died 22 Aug. 1833, at Princeton, m. by lic. dated 17 Mar. 1779 (NJMB M:477) Mary Hamilton, ca. 1760-1831, dau. of John and Sarah (Manning) Hamilton. Stephen was a Major in the Revolutionary War. Thirteen children (order uncertain): Charles, d. yg.; Edmund, 1782-1833, m. Harriet Thompson; Frances Witherspoon, died 1833, unmarried, said to have been buried at Liberty, Va. (now W. Va.); Henry Percy, prob. d. g.; Hamilton, prob. d. yg.; William Percy, 1791-1824, m. 1823 Maria Magic; Mary Jane, m. 1825 at Charleston, S.C., William A. Ashley; Margaret Ashburner, 1798-1862, m. Martin Luther Hurlburt; Harriet, d. yg.; Juliet Stuart, m. 1831 Ames or Amos Botsford; child, d. yg.; Caroline Fitzrandolph, m. 1st 1826 James W. Morgan, 2d W. P. Allison. 57. Zebulon Jr. , born 19 Mar. 1759, died 21 Apr. 1841, m. 13 Mar. 1785 Mary Denton, 1765-1843. Eight children: Susan, 1786-1859, of Newton, never married; Mary, 1788-1863, m. 1819 William Little; Samuel Denton, 1790-1865, m. 1818, N.Y.C., Elsie deReimer; Charles, 1793-1814; Harriet, 1796-1834, m. 1818 at Nashville, Tenn., John Nichol; Josiah Furman, 1799-1869, m. 1826 at Woodbury, Tenn., Jane B. Taylor; Robert Campbell, 1801-1837; Evelina Belmont, 1804-1882, m. 1823 Robert Locke Weakley. 58. Susanna, born 28 Aug. 1761; no further record. 59. Lewis, born 10 Dec. 1763, died after 1830, when he was listed in census of Indiana Co., Pa. His wife was Sarah; he was a shoemaker. He was very likely the Lewis Morford or Morfort who served during the Revolutionary War in the Wagonmaster General's Department, N.J. Line, and was on duty with his four-horse team in Continental service at the post Trenton 1 Mar. 1780 (N.J. Completed Service Cards and The Revolutionary Slips, at N.J. State Library). The 1800 census shows him as "Louis" Morford, living in Hempfield Twp., Westmoreland Co., Pa. Of his ten children, only the last one's name has been learned: Stephen L., 1807-1872, m. 1st Amy Davis, 1813-1838, 2d Reuhamah Cummins, born 1825. 60. Theodocia, born 13 Mar. 1767, died 31 Jan. 1841, probably at Richmond, N.Y., m. ca. 1789 David Stout, 1768-1858, son of John David & Katherine (Barclay) Stout. Twelve children (STOUT): Mary ca. 1790, m. 1813 David Waterous; Catherine Harriet, ca. 1791, died 1792; Zebulon Barton, born 1793, m. Jane Cauldleugh; Charles Wesley, 1795-1798; Susanna, 1790s-1823, m. 1817 Lemuel Woolsey; Theodocia Octavia, 1798-1823, m. 1816 Philo Taylor; Eliza, 1800-1827, m. 1824 Peter Baker; David Barclay, 1803, n.f.r.; Jesse Lee,1805-1874, m. 1828 Olivia Price Abbey; Charles Brockden, 1807-1880, m. 1832 Laura Chapin; Nathan Loofborough, 1809-1863, m. 1833 Elvira Barton Styles; Sarah Adeline,1811, m. 1838 Abner Healy. (Data on this family furnished 1959 to Morford Historian by Herald F. Stout, San Diego, Calif., from his Stout & Allied Families.) 61. Charles, born 27 Sept. 1769, died 9 Apr. 1849 at Victor, Ontario Co., N.Y., m ca. 1794 Anne Finley, born about 1773, daughter of James and Ann (Angrest) Finley. Four children: Margaret, 1795-1881, m. 1815 Samuel Ewing, 1787-1886; Mary Anne, 1796-1826, m. Henry Pardee, 1796-1862; James Finley, m. Angeline Gould, lived 1861 at Eaton, Mich.; Susan Frances, ca. 1803-1842, m. ca. 1833, as his 2d wife, her brother-in-law Henry Pardee. Charles and Anne (Finley) Morford moved from Basking Ridge to Ontario Co., N.Y., in 1815. 62. Sarah, born 7 Aug. 1772, Cranbury, died 28 Sept. 1849 at Victor, Ontario Co., N.Y., m. 2 June 1791, at Cranbury, Nathan Loofborough, born 21 Feb. 1767, Woodbridge, died 17 July 1854, Victor, N.Y., son of Elias and Margaret (Shanks) Loofborough. Nine children (LOOFBOROUGH): John Fletcher, 1792-1866, m. 1815 Margaret Swaze; Zebulon, 1794-1798; Elias, 1796-1853; David, 1797-1798; Margaretta, 1799-1872, m. 1822 Miles Carter; Nathan Benson, 1802-1839; Sarah Morford, 1804-1883, m. 1834 Charles Jones; Susanna Barton, 1806-1882; William Long (or Lacy?), 1809-1810. |
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| 22. THOMAS GARRISON MORFORD, by tradition a son of John Morford (#8), born 17 June 1738, perhaps in New Jersey; baptised as an adult 6 April 1800 at St. James Parish, Baltimore, Maryland; said to have died in 1820. Family tradition gives his first wife as Jane Richardson. [Might she have been a descendant of George Richardson who imported John1 Morfit from England to Maryland in 1663?] She was probably the mother of all of Thomas' children, and died prior to 29 January 1783 when Thomas, then over 44, married Hannah Presbury, daughter of Thomas Presbury. [The latter may have been the Thomas P. Presbury of Spesutia Upper Hundred in 1783, just north of Gunpowder Upper and Lower Hundreds where the Morford land was located.] A genealogical researcher, the late Mrs. Catherine Klein of Baltimore, stated that Thomas Morford was said to have come from New Jersey into York County, Pennsylvania, and thence to Harford County, Maryland, where he kept a tavern on the Old Harford Road, "near the Long Green Valley," around 1776. Deeds show his occupation as "wheelwright" and "wagon wheelwright," Known and probable children (list may be incomplete): |
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81 [17] |
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ford m. 2d 24 December 1811, at Mt. Union, Adams Co., Ohio, Frances "Fanny" Rachford, who survived him and m. 2d 1820, James Erwin, 1763-1849 (Historical Collections of Brown Co., Ohio, Carl N. Thompson, p. 516). Children of Thomas Morford, all by first wife: Kennard, 1798-1857, m. 20 May 1822, Adams Co., Ohio, Ann Birket; William R[obinson?], 1800-1851, m. Rebecca Isabella [Dugan?]; Margaret, 1802-1874, m. 1824 at Cincinnati, Ohio, Andrew Jackson Cox; Robinson, 1805-1882, m. 1st 1826 Elizabeth Norris, 2d Nancy Slayton, 3d Mary Slayton; Catherine, 1808-1891, m. 1830 James Meteer Eakins. (Morford Historian, April 1982, p. 78.) 25. JARRATT MORFORD, eldest son of Thomas Morford (#14), born 28 October 1714, in New Jersey, died 1 June 1761, Shrewsbury Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. He maried, by license dated 3 January 1742 (NJMB M:23), his first cousin Rebeckah Taylor, born 28 May 1714, death date not known. She was a daughter of Edward and Catherine (Morford) Taylor. Jarratt's will, dated 15 February 1760, was proved in 1761; it mentions his wife Rebeckah and their two sons, Thomas and George Taylor Morford. Value of the inventory, made by the widow and Job Throckmorton (Jarratt's brother-in-law), came to £495.14.9 (NJW 2669-2672M). Children, born in Shrewsbury: 26. JOHN MORFORD, second son of Thomas Morford (#14) and his first wife, Mary Wall, was born say about 1715, and died shortly before 14 March 1764, in Shrewsbury. The date of his marriage is not known, but was before the 10th of the 8th month (Old Style) 1739, on which he and his wife Margaret (Morris) Morford signed as witnesses at the marriage of William Morris of Middletown to Elizabeth Brewer of Shrewsbury, at the house of Adam Brewer in Shrewsbury ("Second Book of Shrewsbury, N.J. Friends' Records," in SHGM 1:284). Margaret Morris was one of the elder children of Richard Morris (ca. 1690-1763), who had twenty children. At her husband's death, Margaret Morford renounced administration of his estate, in favor of her son, Jarratt Morford, and David Knott. Inventory of the estate included a silver tankard valued at £6; also two negro children, Abraham and Hannah. Total value of the personal estate amounted to £469.8.4. Only known children: |
| 82 [18] |
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| ried in 1755, was Anna Wall, ca. 1727-1760. Five children
(KETCHAM): John 1762, David Jr. 1764, Anney 1767, Rebecca 1770, Isaac 1772.
1. Rebecca, born about 1744/7, probably in Shrewsbury, her death date not
learned. She was evidently under age in September 1761, as both of her parents
signed a paper giving their consent to her marriage, 28 Sept. 1761, to Jeremiah
Horner of Monmouth (NJMB H:252). One of the bondsmen was Jeremiah Horner "of
Squancum," the other was William Imlay of Bordentown, Burlington Co. No
further record.
27. THOMAS MORFORD, son of Thomas Morford (#14) and his second wife, Sarah Stillwell, was born say about 1722 at the Eldridge house near Joseph Field's farm, Middletown (according to data furnished to Dr. John E. Stillwell, prior to 1916, by a Mrs. Silas Shepherd). He married Easter (or Hester) Bowne, by license dated 20 April 1752 (NJMB M:96). She was a daughter of Samuel and Esther (-- --)Bowne of Monmouth County (William Bowne of Yorkshire, England and his Descendants, by Miller K. Reading, M.D., publ. 1903 at Flemington, N.J. by H.E. Deats, p. 25). Known children (some dates lacking, list may be incomplete): 31. JOSEPH MORFORD, son of Thomas Morford (#14) and his third wife, Hannah Burdge, was born 15 December 1737, and baptised 18 June 1738 at Christ Episcopal Church, Shrewsbury (SHGM 1:160). He died 20 August 1765 at Freehold. He married, by license dated 6 February 1761 (NJMB M:186), Sarah Van Kirk, born about 1740, daughter of William Van Kirk. After Joseph's death, Sarah married second to William Perrine, by whom she had a son, Mathew, baptised 21 June 1767 at Freehold (SHGM 1:194). Joseph Morford, of Freehold Township, made his will 16 August 1765, directing all his lands and moveable estates, "except for what my father-in-law, William Vancurk, did give to my wife Sarah," were to be sold; the proceeds to |
| Morfords of Monmouth |
83 [19] |
| go one quarter to Sarah, the other three quarters to his three children, Lydia, William, and -- --, when the boy is 18 and the girls are 18. [Evidently the youngest child had been born, but not yet named, when he wrote the will.] The will was proved 21 August 1765 (NJW H:543; 3125-3128M; 3585-3588M). The three children were placed under the guardianship of Dr. Nathaniel Scudder prior to the widow's second marriage. She died in 1774, before 30 April, and her widower William Perrine asked to be made guardian of the son, William Morford, who had inherited 70 acres of land from his mother's estate (NJW 15:515). Children, born in Monmouth Co.: 33. JOHN MORFORD, A presumed son of John Morford (#16), was born in 1747, probably in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and was living in Freehold in 1827 when he applied for a pension based on his claimed services as a sadler in the Revolutionary War. His claim was denied. His wife was Sarah, her maiden surname not known, who was born in 1746. The last census record of them is in 1830 when they were enumerated in Freehold, with no others in the family; they are not listed in the 1840 census, so they may have died during the 1830s. The name of John Morford, sadler, appears on the tax ratable lists in Freehold from 1779 to 1797. In 1784 his household consisted of eight white inhabitants. It is possible there were six children in his family, but this cannot be stated with certainty, since often a household would include one or more servants, farm laborers, or other relatives than parents and children. Known children of John and Sarah Morford were determined by two deeds. The first was made by John Campbell and his wife, Hendricka (Van Couvenhoven) Campbell, 10 March 1804 (MnD O:491). They conveyed an acre in Freehold to Benjamin and John Mofford, sons of John Mofford Sr. of the same county and state (ie., Monmouth Co., N.J.). A second deed, dated 2 October 1806, was made by John Morford, Jr., of Freehold Township, sadler, and mentions his brother Benjamin |
| 84 [20] |
Morfords of Monmouth |
|
"since deceased," as well as two sisters, Susannah (or Hannah), who was wife of Theodorus Conover, and Ann Morford. John and these two sisters were called the "sole heirs" of their late brother Benjamin Morford (MnD Q:209). This John Morford may be the same person of that name who witnessed the will of one William Van Kouwenhoven (1703-1777)--a surname which is also rendered as "Conover" (NJA 34:112). This William Van Kouwenhoven was grandfather of the Theodorus Conover mentioned in the deed of 2 October 1806, who had married first, by 1797, Susannah Morford; and second, after her death about 1805/8, to her sister Ann. The record of this family group can now be put together with some certainty, reinforced by data from graveyard inscriptions, death certificates, and wills, in addition to the two deeds heretofore mentioned. Known children: |