Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's?

Enid Eleanor Adams, F. A. S. G.

 

Transcribed from The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey
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.

 


 
Morfords of Monmouth    

[97] [1]

 

Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's?

 
 

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,
Morphet).  Other early New Jersey variants found by the writer include Maerfoet, Marfoet, Marfoot, and Morfit.

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
Settlers of Maryland; also Maryland Patents 6:90); and that in 1700 a John Murford was on a tax list, North Side of Gunpowder

 

 

98 [2] 

Morfords of Monmouth  

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,
he would not have been born any later than 1696; and of course may have been much older, so that the possibility exists that he was a contemporary of the New Jersey John and Thomas Morford.

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
children, will require some intensive research, but is perhaps not an impossible task.

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.

 

 

Morfords of Monmouth

[99] [3]

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
County (NJA 23:233), because the other Thomas3 Morford (son of Thomas2) was only seven years old at that time.

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.
    A child (sex not stated) of Myndert Jansen was baptised 2 Aug. 1724 at Harlingen Dutch
        Reformed  Church.
    Derick (Dirck), son of Myndert Johnson and Catherine Morford, bapt.  7 Nov.  1728.
        ("Earliest  Baptismal Records of the Church of  Harlingen (Reformed Dutch) of  NJ,
        1727-34,"  in NYGBR Vol.  40.)   Note that "Derick"  is the Dutch version of "Richard"; thus
        Catherine may  have named him for her presumed uncle Richard Morford, and her probable
        brother of the same name.
    On 14 Oct.  1731 Meindert Jansen and Catrina Marfoet (also spelled "Marfoot" in another
        record)  were witnesses at baptism of Abraham, son of Coert and Geurtje Laen Jansen.
        (Register of Baptisms of Harlingen Reformed Dutch Church,"  in GMNJ 15:86)
    Annatje, child of Meindert Jansen and Catrina Maerfoet, bapt.  in Reading Church, Dec. 9, 1733.

 
 

100 [4] 

Morfords of Monmouth  

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
Morford (1738-1820) of Maryland, and another brother, Samuel, whose dates have not been learned, but who was said to have come to Maryland from Trenton, New Jersey, were the sons of a John Morford (1685-1783) who had been a pastor or deacon of a Baptist church in Salem, New Jersey for more than fifty years.  No documentary proof of this statement has been located
by this writer; however, if the location named may have been an error for such a church in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, the story becomes more likely, and perhaps probable.

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
Hendricka Campbell, his wife, conveyed property to "Benjamin Mofford and John Mofford, sons of John Mofford Senior of the same County and state" (MnD 0:491).  The same property, consisting of a one-acre


 

Morfords of Monmouth

[101] [5]

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
of John2 and Margaret Morford comes from a deed dated 16 December 1751 but not filed for record until 15 April 1803, apparently to prove the chain of ownership of certain property.  This deed was made by "John Morford of Pennsylvania, son of Thomas Morford deceased, and which Thomas Morford was the eldest son of John Morford late of the County of Middlesex . . . deceased . . ." (MxD 5:48).  The deed was, however, recorded within the lifetime of John4 Morford 1713- 1812) of Pennsylvania, probably at the instigation of heirs of Benjamin and Elizabeth Applegate, who had lost the original deed from "John Morford the elder."  Thomas3 Morford's wife was probably the Rebecca "Morfett" listed among members of Middletown Baptist Church in 1712, and baptised as an adult in 1715.  It is noted that the name Rebecca appears frequently among descendants of both sons of Thomas3 Morford, who died not long before 31 July 1717, as a deed of that date made
by John2 Morford "of  Cranbeare" (Cranbury) gives to his two grandsons, John4 and Thomas4, "land upon which my loving son Thomas Morford (of late deceased) in his lifetime dwelt. . . "  (MxD A-1:212).  No mention is made of the grandchildren's mother, so perhaps she was also deceased by this date.  It is interesting to speculate on whether the two grandchildren were left in the care of the grandfather, or possibly with relatives of their mother.

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
Baptist Church at Middletown November 1745.  Candidates as likely children of this couple include David Morphett of Burlington County, New Jersey who married 1735 Elizabeth Hedger (or Hedges); Stephen "Maurford" of Upper River Back Hundred, Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1773 and 1790; William Morford whose sons William and John were mentioned in the 1761 will of
their grandfather William Beakes (NJW 2582-2588M); Zebulon Morford (1722-1794); Thomas Garrison Morford (1738-1820) of Maryland by 1800; and Samuel Morford.

To recapitulate, the following outline is offered as a tentative record of the early generations of the Morford family:

 

 

102 [6] 

Morfords of Monmouth  

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:
      +2.  John Morford, born perhaps in the 1650s
        3.  Richard Morford, born perhaps in the 1650s
      +4.  Thomas Morford, born perhaps in the 1650s
        5.  James Morford, adult in 1716, living in Charles Co., Md.

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
Middletown, New Jersey, about 1676, in which year he was granted 120 acres of land, and in 1677 received 139 acres more.  His wife Margaret (her maiden surname not learned) was living in 1710 when she was a cosigner of a deed with her husband, but is presumed to have died before May of 1720, as her signature does not appear on a deed of that date to her son John Morford Jr.  John and Margaret removed about 1700/1704 to Cranbury, Middlesex County.

    Children, all probably born in Monmouth Co.:
      +6.  Thomas, born say about 1680
        7.  Benjamin "Morfit," born say about 1683; served in same N.J. militia  unit in 1715 as did
             John Morford Jr. and Thomas "Morfit."
      +8.  John Jr., born 1685 (per family tradition)
        9.  Catherine, born say in the 1690s, m.  about 1720 Mindart  Johnson or Jansen.  They had at
             least four children JANSEN):  child bapt.  29 Oct.  1721; child bapt.  2 Aug.  1724; Derick
            or Dirck, bapt.  7 Nov.  1728; and Annatje, bapt.  9 Dec.  1733.
      10. Richard, born say in the late 1690s or early 1700s, was of  Burlington Co., N. J., in 1757
            when a son was born to his wife (name not stated).

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
known in 1916 as Cooper's farm.  This was the site of the original Morford burying ground which, by 1916, had been mostly destroyed by being plowed over so that only three tombstones then remained (SHGM 4:1).  It has been claimed that Thomas' wife Susanna was a Leonard, but this statement  was based on a misinterpretation of the will of Henry Leonard in 1739. It was because Henry Leonard had married Thomas Morford's sister Sarah that he spoke of Thomas as his brother-in- law."  A list of epitaphs from Christ Church, Shrewsbury (SHGM 1:212) includes that of "Samuel, son of Henry & Sarah Leonard, died May 13, 1790, aged 79 yrs. 3 mos. 14 days."  Nothing has
been found as to the dates of birth or death of Thomas'

 


 

Morfords of Monmouth

[103] [7]

widow, Susanna.

   Children, all probably born in Monmouth Co.:
     11.  Catherine, born after 1677, say in the early 1680s, died after 1742, m. 1st ca. 1701/2
            Edward Taylor, 1678-1733/4, who  was born in England, son of Edward and Catherine
            Taylor.   TAYLOR children:  Esther, 1703-1785, m.  David Clayton; Edward, 1703/4-
            1750,  m. ca.  1733 Hannah Lawrence; John, m. Mary -- --; Susannah; Hannah, m.  1737
            Jacob Gibbons; Catherine, 1712-1794, m.  1735  John Lippett; Rebecca, m.  1742  Jarratt
            Morford #25; James, m. Rachel Taylor; Thomas, m.  Rachel -- --; Joseph, 1720-1766, m.
            1743 Elizabeth Ashton; George, m. 1743 Mary Leonard.
     12.  Sarah, born about 1687, died between 1723 and 1736, m. ca. 1710  Henry Leonard, who
            died 1739/40.  LEONARD children:  Samuel, 1711-1790, m.  1734 Mary Throckmorton;
            Thomas; Sarah, m.  1747  Daniel Robins; Susannah; Parthenia, m.  by 17 Apr.  1739 a Mr.
            Cook; Margaret.
     13.  Johana, born ca.  1689.  [Did she marry Lewis Morris, the one designated by Dr. Stillwell
            as #31; or was she, perhaps, the  wife of Thomas Applegate Jr.]
   +14.  Thomas, born 1692, died 1750.
     15.  Susannah, born ca.  1693.  [Did she marry Joseph Lippincott?]
   +16.  John, born ca.  1695/6; lived at least to 1746; wife's name not known.

 

 

Morfords of Monmouth    

[15] [8]

 

Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's?

 
 

Enid Eleanor Adams, F. A. S. G.

 
 

Continued from volume 58, page 103

 
Third Generation

 

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.,
       +17.  John, born 1713, died 1812.
       +18.  Thomas, born 1716, died 1797.

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
birth and death, are unknown.

    Presumed children:
         19.  David "Morphett", born say about 1710, death date unknown, m. by lic.  dated 18 August
                1735 (NJMB Book 1727/34, page 7-1/2), Burlington Co., N. J., Elizabeth Hedger.
       +20.  William, birthyear not known, died before 1761.
       +21.  Zebulon, born 1722, died 1794.
       +22.  Thomas Garrison, born 1738, died 1820.
         23.  Samuel, said to have come from Trenton, N. J., to Maryland, as an adult; probably had
                wife Eliza.
         24.  Stephen, dates not learned;  he was taxed 1773 in Back River  Upper Hundred, Baltimore
                Co., Md.; in 1790 census of same  place he is shown as Stephen "Mauford" with a wife
                and one son.

14.  THOMAS MORFORD, son of Thomas Morford (#4), born 2 February 1692, probably
Monmouth County, died 12 April 1750 at Shrewsbury, New Jersey.  As of 1916 his was one of only three tombstones still standing in the old Morford burying ground.  He married three times:  first to Mary Wall, daughter of Jarrat and Lydia (or "Poolen," i.e. "Pauline") (Masters) Wall (SHGM 5:225), by whom he had sons Jarratt and John; second to Sarah Stillwell, daughter of Jeremiah Stillwell, having by this wife a son Thomas and a daughter Mary; and third by 17 March 1726, to Hannah Burdge, daughter of Jonathan Burdge.  There were four children by Hannah:  Sarah (died
young), Hannah, Joseph, and Catharine.  Four years after his death, Thomas' widow married shortly before 18 May 1754, Thomas Cox, born 23 June

 

 

Morfords of Monmouth

16 [9] 

 

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.:
       +25.  Jarratt, born 18 May 1714.
       +26.  John, born about 1715
       +27.  Thomas, born about 1722
         28.  Mary, born 23 May 1723, probably at Freehold, died there 19 April 1790, m. by lic.
                dated 4 April 1743 (NJMB T:19), Job Throckmorton, 1720-1765.  Eight children
                (THROCKMORTON)  James, 1744-1749; Sarah, 1746-1813, m.  1765 Edward
                Clayton; Jemima, 1748/9-1813, m.  1770 Joseph Stillwell; Mary, 1751-1817, m. Richard
                Morris and moved to Waynesburg, Greene Co.,  Pa.; Anna "Nancey," 1753-1831, m. as
                his 3d wife Maj.  Gen. James Greene; Susannah, 1756-1792, never married;  Hannah,
                1758-1809, m.  William West; and Job Jr., 1761-1839, m. 1st 1784 Mary Robinson, 2d
                1811 Jane (Aumache) Stymest.
         29.  Sarah, probably the one who was buried 14 July 1748 ("Christ Church Register," in
                SHGM 1:170)
         30.  Hannah, born about 1732, m. by lic.  dated 9 Mar.  1756 (NJMB  C:185), Isaac
                Couvenhoven, son of William  and Lysbeth (Van  Cleef) Couvenhoven.  Five children
                (COUVENHOVEN):  Sarah and  Eleanor  (both bapt.  10 July 1763); Elizabeth, bapt.
                23 Feb.  1766; Thomas, bapt.  13 Sept.  1767, m.  Margaret Holman; Lewis, born 14
                Aug.  1776, died 10 Nov.  1831, m. 1806 Catherine DeNyse.
       +31.  Joseph, born 15 Dec.  1737; died 20 Aug.  1765
         32.  Catharine, born 13 July 1743, died 2 Feb.  1838, Middletown,  m.  by lic.  dated 2 Nov.
                1761 (NJMB G:115), Charles Gordon, 1740-1820, son of David Gordon.  Three
                children (GORDON):  child, bapt.  1762; Hannah, born 22 Aug.  1764, died 8 ct.1846,
                m. 1785 to Judge Jehu Patterson, 1765-1851; Mary, born 19 Aug. 1776, died 12 Oct.
1803, m. James P. Allen of New York.

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:
       +33.  John, born in 1747; living in 1830 at Freehold.

                                                 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
County.  John and his wife were baptised at Crosswicks by the Rev. Abel Morgan (Southampton Pa.  Old School Baptist Church, Register of Baptisms, p. 237).  Elizabeth died 11 November 1748 (perhaps in childbirth, or soon afterward), "aged about 35-1/2 years,"  and was buried at Southampton, Pennsylvania, on November 13 (ibid., in Register of Deaths, p.  453).  John
married second,

 

 

Morfords of Monmouth

17 [10] 

 

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
excommunication "for poor attendance and the spreading of false stories about the minister."  Later John went to Philadelphia, where he spent his last years with his widowed daughter, Rebecca Barber.  His obituary states that he had seven children, 42 grandchildren, 116 great-grandchildren, and 15 great-great-grandchildren, but unfortunately does not mention the name of even one of his survivors.  (For full text of obituary, see Morford Historian, July 1981, pp.  42-43.)

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):
        34.  Daniel, born Oct. 1740, probably in Woodbridge, Middlesex Co.  (His Revolutionary War
             pension application, S-16209 NJ, made 1 May 1833 when he was past 92 years of age,
             and admittedly forgetful, gives the county name as "Woodford"  even though  his service was
             in Middlesex Co.); died in Brown Co., Iowa, 1 July 1833.  His wife was Rachel, her
             surname not learned.  They moved to Virginia (the part which a few years later  became
             Mason and Bracken Counties, Ky.)  about 1787, remaining  there 40 years; in 1827 moved
             to Brown Co., Ohio.  Neither the DAR nor the State of Ohio has record of his burial place;
             it  is likely that his body was brought back to Kentucky and  interred in a family cemetery
             near Locust Creek, Bracken Co.  He had a large family, his known or presumed children
             being:  Daniel Jr., born ca. 1761, m.  Margaret -- --, both living 1850; John D., ca.
            1763-1840, m.  1st Rachel -- --, m.  2nd  Mrs. Mary Lewis; James, 1766-1839, m.  1st
            1790 in Va.  Jane  (or Jean) Kennedy, m.  2nd ca. 1838 Mrs.  Elizabeth Campbell,   he was
            a Pioneer of Greene Co., Pa.; a dau.  who prob.  m. John Alley Jr.; Miles, died 1842, m.
            Polly Alter, lived in Clermont Co., Ohio; Elizabeth, m.  1796 Thomas Selvage;  Sarah,
            1777- 1852, m.  1798 James Rice and moved to Brown Co., Ohio; and perhaps others.
        35.  Cornelius, born 1741 in N. J., died 12 Dec.  1825, bur.  Old Rehoboth M. E. cem. on Rt.
            48 just north of Warren Co. line,  in Montgomery Co., Ohio, with 2nd wife Mary, 1743-
            1831.  His 1st wife and mother of his children was Hester Brian whom he  m.  by lic. dated
            21 Dec. 1761, Burlington Co. (NJMBM:207).   She was of Quaker parents,


 

18 [11] 

Morfords of Monmouth  

  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
sons Michael and Thomas, had predeceased him.  Thomas' wife was Ann Lawrie (1718-1799), whom he had married by license dated 25 September 1739 in Monmouth County (NJMB M:8).  His wife's ancestry has not been researched.  His sons John and James were the founders of the Mercer County, Pennsylvania, branch of the Morford family.

     Children, all born in Middlesex Co.:
        41.  Rebecca, born 15 July 1742, living in June 1790; m.   5 Dec.  1757 a Mr. Perrine, his
               given name not mentioned.
        42.  Mary, born 16 Aug. 1744; probably died before 1790.
        43.  Joseph, born 3 Sept. 1746; believed to have been living in  Fayette Co., Pa., in 1795, [**]
 

*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:
    1. Ann born say about 1773; was unmarried in 1792 when she received her bequest from her grandmother Anna Updike (widow of William), of Windsor Twp., Middlesex Co. (NJA 37:365). Ann probably married about 1793 Perine Carson, whose intestate estate was administered by Peter Job in March 1799 (NJW 9471-9474L).  Carson was of South Amboy, Middlesex Co.; his children, John, Anne, and Catherine (all under 14) petitioned for a guardian 12 June 1799.  John Carson was of Boone Co., Ky., in 1828.
    2. James "Moffatt" was of Woodford Co., Ky., when he deeded to Abijah Davis the property in W. Windsor Twp.  which he had inherited from his father's estate (deed certified 17 Nov. 1828 at Frankfort, Franklin Co., Ky., where it was recorded 16 June 1829).  He was probably the James Morford, age 18, listed on page 228 of Norton's New Jersey in 1793, among citizens of Windsor, Middlesex Co.  If so he was born in 1775, the same year in which his father had died.

 

Morfords of Monmouth

19 [12] 

 

     [**]    when he witnessed will of Benjamin Harris, father-in-law of  his niece, Rebecca (Morford)
             Harris.  Joseph's marriage date is shown as 22 February 1767, but the name of his wife is
             not  shown.  (All dates of this family group are from History of the  Morford Family, 1892,
             by Curtis  R. Morford, and may have been  taken from a family Bible record no longer in the
             family's  possession.)  Joseph's marriage seems to have met with his  father's displeasure, as
             Joseph was bequeathed a "token"  amount of 5 shillings.  He had a daughter Ann, who
             became the first wife of her first cousin Joseph Morford (son of 46, below), but she died
             very soon, leaving no issue.
        44.  Ann, born 11 Feb. 1748; probably died before 1790.
        45.  Michael, born 22 Jan.  1752; not mentioned in his father's will; probably died before 1790.
        46.  James, born 17 Aug. 1753, N.J.; died 14 Dec.  1809, Mercer  Co., Pa., m. 19 Apr.
             1772, Ann Clawson, born before 1756, died  after 1810.  Six children:  Rebecca,
             1772-1829, m Jacob Harris of Fayette Co., Pa.; Joseph, 1774-1851, m.  1st his cousin
             Ann  Morford, 2d Elizabeth Fell; William, born say ca.  1778, died  between 1816/20, m.
             Elizabeth C. Bentley, born 12 July 1787 in  Pa., dau.  of Benjamin & Mary (Baldwin)
             Bentley; Thomas, 1780-1865, m .  1803  his cousin Rebecca Morford, 1785-1857,
             daughter of John & Mary (Cox) Morford; Elizabeth, 1784-1826,  m.  1807 her cousin
             Richard Morford, 1781-1874; a daughter,  name not given, probably born in Fayette Co.,
             Pa., m.  a Mr. Clawson who may have been her cousin.
        47.  Thomas, born 27 Apr.  1755; not mentioned in his father's  will; prob. d. yg.
        48.  John, born 18 May 1758, Cranbury, died 8 May 1840, Mercer Co., Pa.  He was a
             Revolutionary War soldier.  He m. 21 Dec. 1780,  in New Jersey, Mary Cox, born 31
             Oct.  1757 at Cream Ridge, died before 1830 in Mercer Co., Pa., a daughter of Richard
             and Mercy (Taylor) Cox.  Eight children:  Richard, 1781-1874, m. 1st 1807 his cousin
             Elizabeth Morford, 1784-1826, by whom  there were eight children, m. 2d 1827 Mary
             "Polly" (McLaughlin) Brown, 1794-1873, by whom there were four children; Rebecca,
             1785-1857, m.  1803 her cousin Thomas  Morford, 1788-1873; Thomas, 1788-1873, m.
             1813 Susanna Hazen, ca. 1794-1866; Elizabeth, 1791-1860, m. 1814 William Hull,
            1789-1872, both died in Lima, Wis.; James, 1793-1870, m.  1815  Martha Titus, b. 1799;
              John, 1796-1877, m.  Theresa Perrine, 1798-1879; William, 1799-1875, m. 1825 Phebe
              Robison, who died 1872; and Joseph, 1801-1860, m. 1826 Susanna Bell, 1801-1886.
        49.  Elizabeth, born 26 Jan. 1762, Cranbury; died 20 June 1790, in  N.J., m. 5 June 1785,
             Andrew Perrine, 1763-1813, by whom she  had two sons (PERRINE):   Peter, 1787-
             1813, and  James, 1790-1813.  Andrew m. 2d. 1791, Mary Mount, 1771-1848, and
             fathered nine more children.  It would appear that there was some sort of epidemic in 1813,
             since the father and his first two sons all died within four months of each other.

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
account of the Beakes family by Lewis D. Cook (TAG 51:211) lists Elizabeth as 6th child of William Beakes, and says she married (1)  William Morford, (2)  Jonathan Thomas.  Elizabeth's second husband Jonathan Thomas also died in 1761, leaving to Elizabeth the sum of £100, "exclusive of the Legacy left to her by her father William Beakes late dec'd. . . . also £10 a year . . . to be paid to her yearly whilst she remain my Widow" (NJW 2725-2743M, B-10:294).  The Morford grandsons appear to have been living in the Beakes' home, as William Beakes will makes a specific bequest of £20 to his wife Anne "to bring up grandsons William and John Morford;"  he also specified that the boys should receive £10 each at age 21.

 

20 [13] 

Morfords of Monmouth  

     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.


 

78 [14]  

Morfords of Monmouth  

 

Whose Morford Was He--John's or Tom's?

 
 

Enid Eleanor Adams, F. A. S. G.

 
 

Concluded from page 20

 
 

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:
    52.  John, born 10 Nov. 1747, died perhaps in the 1790s; probably the one listed in p. 80, List I, 1773-1774, in Kenn Stryker-Rodda's Revolutionary Census of N.J., shown as a resident of  Burlington Co.  He married Mary Chamberlain, 1753-1818, who moved from  Trenton to  Pittsburg, Pa. in the early 1800s with her sons John 1778-1869, James H., 1785-1843, Barton (whose dates of birth and  death are unknown), another son whose name is not  recollected by descendants, and a daughter Ann, 1791-1874, who had m. in 1814 Alexander Calhoun, who died in Trenton in 1826.  (See "Three Morford Family Bibles," in GMNJ 52:57.)  Other probable children  of # 52 are Thomas Morford, 1776-1818, a soldier  from Middlesex Co., who died unmarried in Baton Rouge, La.; and perhaps Sally Morford, born ca.  1777, who married 1803, in Burlington Co., Sylvanus Cook.
    53.  Mary, born 15 Nov. 1749.  [Did she perhaps marry a Josiah Furman?   This combination of  given names appears among descendants of her younger brother, Zebulon Morford, Jr. (#57)  below.]
    54.  Noah Barton, born 29 Jan. 1751, m. about 1776 Lydia Conover, 1754-1821; he was a  Revolutionary War soldier, died 18 Dec. 1847 at Warwick, Orange Co., N.Y.  Six children:   Helen, 1777-after 1848, never married; Noah Barton Jr., 1779-1836, m. Rachel  Disbrow;  Annie, 1785-1794; Phoebe, 1788-1840, never married;  Stacey P., 1790-ca.  1834, m. 1813 Ann "Nancy" Skillman, she m.  2d. Wm. Mitchell, who died ca. 1843; Catherine, 1792-1799.


 

Morfords of Monmouth

79 [15] 

      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.


 

80 [16] 

Morfords of Monmouth  

 

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):
    63.  Obadiah (a known son), to whom Thomas deeded in 1794 a 43-acre tract of land known as "Nancy's Gift" (on which Thomas had been  taxed in 1783).  In 1790 Obadiah was living in  Harford Co., Md., with 2 white males over 16 and 2 females in his family; the 1800 census of  Prince Georges County, Md., shows an Obadiah Morford and wife (both born 1755-74), a  son and a daughter born 1784-90, 3 sons and a daughter born 1790-1800.  [Was he the same person as the Obediah "Moffitt" who m. 24 Oct. 1816, in Baltimore, Elizabeth  Chenoweth?  If  so, it would have been a second marriage for him.]
    64.  Isaiah, born about 1760s, is shown in the 1790 census of Harford Co., Md., a near neighbor  to his presumed younger brother, Thomas Morford.  His family consisted of 2 males over 16, 1 male under 16, and 2 females, one probably his wife.  He is believed to have  been the "Josiah"  (a probable misreading of his name) shown in Clift's Second Census of Kentucky, 1800,   reconstructed from tax lists, which shows "Josiah," Thomas, and a George Mofford, in Mason County.  In the 1810 Bracken Co. census is shown Isaiah Mofford, age over 45, with one male 10/16 (born 1794-1800), 4 males under 10, and 1 female born 1784-94.  Presumed  children:  Jean, born say in the 1780s, m. 23 Dec. 1806 in Bracken Co., John McTigret;  John, born 9 June 1792 in Maryland, m. 29 Sept. 1811 in Brown Co., Ohio, Phoebe Tharp.  Isaiah  died intestate in August 1815, and Mary Morford, her identity not yet determined, was administratrix (Bracken Co. Record books A:418, B:331).
    65.  John, born 12 Feb. 1766, place not known, died 24 May 1837,  Newcastle, Coshocton Co.,  Ohio, his 3d wife Ellen surviving him.   He married three times (all marriages in Baltimore,  Md.):  1st 15 Feb. 1784 to Nancy Kelly, 2d 7 Nov. 1794 to Susanna "Sukey"  Chamberlain, 3d 13 Feb. 1817 to Eleanor ("Ellen" or "Nelly") (Chamberlain) Eagen;  the last two wives believed to have been daughters of Philip and Sarah (Gittings) Chamberlain of Harford Co., Md.  Child by 1st wife:  William 1787-1872, m.  1814 in York  Co., Pa., Mary C. Fulks.  Children by 2d wife:  James Chamberlain, 1795-1888, m. 1st 1822 Elizabeth Fowler, 2d 1840 Ruth Ann  Biddison; Harriet, born 1797, m.  Levi Plowman; Jane, born 1800,  m. 1820. York Co., Pa., John Fulks; Ann, m. Mr. Divin; Elizabeth, died 1817/8; Cassandra;  Sarah Chamberlaine, 1808-1830, m. 1826, Baltimore, Md., Richard Chilcoat; Philip C[hamberlaine?], 1808-1867, m. 1st ca.   1828 Lizzie Webber, 2d 1834 Mary E. Shopple;  Thomas, born ca. 1809, m. 9 Dec. 1829, in Baltimore, Elizabeth Brooks; Mary, m. 28 Apr.1833, in York Co., Pa., John  Gardiner.  There were probably two children by John's third wife, their names not discovered.
    66.  Thomas, born 8 Feb. 1773, probably in Harford Co., Md., died 24  Jan. 1815, Adams Co.,   Ohio, m. 1st 22 Sept. 1796, prob. in Maryland, Temperance Robinson, born 10 Feb.1777, died 22 Nov.  1810, perhaps in Washington, Bracken Co., Ky.  Thomas Mor-


 

Morfords of Monmouth

81 [17] 

 

         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:
    67.  Thomas, born 10 Dec. 1743, died 4 May 1818, m. 1st 21 Jan. 1765,  Sarah Taylor, dau. of   Joseph and Elizabeth (Ashton) Taylor.  She  was born 26 May 1744, and died 3 Nov. 1766,  in a fever epidemic.  There were no children by this marriage; SHGM 4:5 mistakenly attributes the first son, George Taylor Morford [though not born  until 12 years after Sarah's death] to the first wife.  (Genealogy Taylor-Snow, by Charissa Taylor Bass and Frank Nelson Bass, 1935,  p. 24.)  Thomas married 2d 3 Apr. 1768, at Shrewsbury, Esther Holmes,  1738-1823, daughter of Josiah and Hannah (Dennis) Holmes.  They  had six children:  Sarah,  1768-1823, m. Joseph Mount; Hannah, 1770-1849, m. 1798 Matthew Perrine; Samuel, born ca. 1773, died before 1816; Thomas, 1775-1856, m. 1801 Rebecca West;  George Taylor, 1778-1826, m. ca. 1801 Maria Wardell; Garret, 1781-1865, m. 1818 Catharine C. White.
    68.  George Taylor, born 26 Feb. 1756; died, unmarried, 26 Feb. 1778.

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:
    69.  Garret, born about 1739, living in 1764 when he served as co-executor or administrator of  his father's estate.  No further  record.
    70.  Mary, born 14 June 1740, was living in Aug. 1772, m. by lic. dated 10 Feb. 1762 (NJMB K:313), at Shrewsbury, Monmouth Co., as his second wife, David Ketcham, son of Daniel  and Easter [perhaps Littleton?] Ketcham.  David's first wife, whom he had mar-

 

82 [18] 

Morfords of Monmouth  

           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):
    72.  Thomas.
    73.  Garrett.
    74.  Sarah, born about 1754, died 7 Sept. 1843, buried Johnson Cemetery, Red Bank,
         Monmouth Co., m. 10 Dec. 1780, Henry Johnson, 1755-1841.  Children (JOHNSON):  Rebecca, 1781-1827, m. William B. Goodenough, brother to William; Henry, born ca. 1790,  m. Mary Sophia Tunis; Rachel, ca.  1794-1863, m. a Mr. King; Lambert, 1795-1873, m. 1819 Sarah Dorn.  There may have been a daughter Maria who m. Robert Allen, a farmer.
         Henry Johnson Sr. is the subject of Rev. War pension application R-5660, and was son of Lambert Johnson and Ida ("Itcha" or "Ite") McCleese.  Sarah's  statement indicates she married Henry in October 1780 and that William Morford witnessed the wedding.  John Johnson and Lambert  Johnson, both of whom died as prisoners in the Rev. War, were probably Henry's brothers; they lived on the north bank of the Navesink River.
    75.  Hester (presumed child), m. 5 Nov. 1779, Geames or James Bowne.
    76.  William, born 15 Feb. 1764, died 11 Dec. 1827, m. 13 Apr. 1788,  Lydia Stout, born 1768, died 1827, dau. of John and Mary (Taylor) Stout.  William was a weaver, in Chanceville, N.J.; also a farmer at New Monmouth, N.J.  His will, dated 24 Nov. 1826, was proved  22 March 1828.  Eleven children:  John, 1789-1826, m. 1816 Ann  Hulsart; Joseph, 1791-1818; Jesse, 1792-1816; William, 1794-1868,  m. 1st 1818 Elizabeth Willett, 2d 1836 Johanna Johnson; Lydia, 1798-1877, m.  1823 John G. Taylor; Mary 1800-1875, m. 1829 Walter Chamberlain Parsons; Sarah, 1802-1883, m.  1828 James Grover  Taylor; Capt. Thos., 1805-1862, m. 1st 1829 Lydia Tilton, 2d 1849 Caroline Cook; Capt. Charles, 1807-1874, m. 1832 Susan  Herbert;  Lucy Ann, 1809-1892, m. 1833 James J. Taylor; Elias, 1811-1877, m. 1st Frances Taylor, 2d 1869 Louisa Cathcart.

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.:
        77.  Lydia Ann, born 22 Sept. 1761, bapt. 15 Nov. 1761. died 17 Feb. 1841 at Cambridge,  Washington Co., N.Y., bur. there in Old  Turnpike Cemetery.  She m. 25 Nov. 1783, Washington Co., N.Y.,  John Ashton, born 8 July 1763 in Ireland, died 8 Dec. 1837, Cambridge, N.Y.  Eleven children (ASHTON):  James, 1784-1785;  Joseph, 1785-1834, m. 1821 Phoebe McCrea; James, 1787-after 1829,  m. 1st 1812 Isabel McHiel, 2d Clementine Vanderlip; William, born 1789, m. 1817 Margaret Kerr; Sarah, 1792-1847, m. 1826 John Foster; Thomas, 1793-after 1830, m. 1st 1815 Elizabeth Stueri, 2d  Elizabeth Cogsdill; John, 1795-1815; Isaac, 1797-1871, m. 1825 Anna Maria Beveridge; Benjamin Beveridge, 1799-1867, m. 1823 Mary Foster; Elizabeth, 1800-1854; Rebekah, 1804-1842.  (Data of this family from Mrs. John R. Pailthorpe, Wilmington, Del., in 1981.)
    78.  William, born about April 1764, Shrewsbury, died 11 Nov. 1816, Carlisle, Schohareie Co.,  N.Y.  Record of his marriage, prior to 1795, has not been located.  His wife was Sarah "Sally" Elizabeth  -- -- (her maiden name not learned), born about 1777, perhaps in  Rhode Island; she died some time after 4 June 1855.  Her second  husband was probably William Van Kirk Taylor, whom she m. in 1819  in Schoharie Co., N.Y. (Morford Historian, July 1982, p.87).
         Three children:  Rev. Joseph Baker, 1795-1855, m. 1st Lidia Van Sandt, 2d 1823 Asenath "Scena" Ward; Sarah Lane, m. 1818 Ruel Hankerson, 1794-1855; Cyrus William, 1806-1857, m. 1st 1825 Mary  Ann Riggs, 2d 1840 Mary A. Dwight, 3d 1844 Margaret Ann Powers,  4th Betsy Powers.
    79.  Hannah, born 1765, bapt. 15 Sept. 1765, Freehold.  No further  record.

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:
    80.  John Jr., whose dates are not presently known, living in  Freehold Twp. in Oct. 1806, when he made a deed to Joseph  Scudder of property which he and his siblings mentioned below had received in 1804 from John and Hendricka Campbell.
    81.  Benjamin, born after 1775, since he was not listed in the 1793  Militia Census of New Jersey, which listed all males between the  ages of 18 and 45; was apparently not married as of 1804;  died between 10 Mar. 1804 and 2 Oct. 1806, leaving neither wife nor child surviving him.
    82.  Susanna, born say between 1775 and 1780, m. by 1797 Theodorus Conover (also called  Covenhoven), who was born in 1773 and died  in 1863.  His will, made 1855 and proved 22 Apr. 1863, names  daughters Sarah Ann and Susannah, sons Wm. T. and James T., dau. Mary who was then unmarried, sons Thomas B., John M., and Theodore D.  His stone in Old Red Meeting House Cemetery, Holmdel, shows  he was 89 at his death 26 Mar. 1863.  His eldest daughter, Sarah  Ann Conover, made her will in Nov. 1878, proved 3 Dec. 1879,  leaving all her estate to her (step) sister Mary Mains.  Sarah Ann's burial was also in Old Red  Meeting House Cemetery, her death date shown as 10 Nov. 1879.  Five children  CONOVER):  Sarah Ann, 1797-1879; Thomas Bullman, 1799-1862; John Morford, 1801-1886; Benjamin, 1804-1841; and William, d. yg.
    83.  Ann, perhaps born in the 1780s, death date not learned, m. ca.  1808, as his 2d wife, her brother-in-law Theodorus Conover.  Five children (CONOVER): Susan, 1809-1862;  William  T., 1811-1876;  Theodore D., 1813-1895; James T., 1816-1903, unm.; Mary M.,  1818-1907, m. a Mr. Mains.