James Jones and Susannah Williams of New Castle County, Delaware

PART TWO

CHAPTER FOUR

JAMES JONES and SUSANNAH WILLIAMS

Delaware Colonists

8 June 2016

James Jones was the son of David Jones and Esther Morgan Jones Welsh immigrants to Delaware Colony in the early 18th Century. His parents were early members of the Welsh Baptist Church and probably married in 1696 at Llanwenarth a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. His father David Jones was born in 1668 most likely in Glamorganshire not far from the port town of Swansea the son of John ap John. His mother Esther Jones was the daughter of Morgan ap Rhydderch a Baptist Deacon from Llanwenog a community north of the ancient city of Cardigan in Cardiganshire.

The birth year of James Jones is unknown due to the facts that no tombstone has been located for him in the graveyard of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church that might suggest his age at the time of death. Also the Baptists did not keep official vital statistics in their records such as births of the children of their members. However his father David did mentioned James second in a list of sons recorded in his Last Will and Testament in 1748. A son listed first was named Morgan Jones and according to the date on his tombstone he was born in 1697.

Generally parents listed sons or even their children in chronologically order in Last Wills and Testaments. Some sources place his birth date as 1699 while others as late as 1707. The more likely date is 1699 while the family lived at Llanwenarth in Wales. Most of James’ childhood was spent in Wales, perhaps doing chores on his father’s farm and attending Sunday services at the of Blaenau Gwent Baptist where his uncle Rev. Abel Morgan was the pastor.

In 1701 when James was a two year old infant, his uncle Enoch Morgan sailed to the Pennsylvania Colony with a group of fellow churchmen and their families to join a Welsh Baptist Church already established on the outskirts of Philadelphia known as the Pennypack Baptist Church. Enoch Morgan with this group of Welsh Baptists led by Rev. Thomas Griffith separated from Pennypack over doctrinal practices and moved south into the “Lower Three Counties” where they bought huge tracts of lands in the same year that the Delaware became a separate colony from Pennsylvania in 1703. Here they established the Welsh Tract Baptist Church today near today’s cities of Newark and Wilmington in New Castle County.

Pennsylvania had grown rapidly after 1682, when William Penn’s policy of religious tolerance and its reputation as the “best poor man’s country” attracted people from all walks of life. At the turn of the 18th Century Philadelphia had grown from a small collection of Swedish homesteads to a population of approximately 2,000 people concentrated in a half-mile wide stretch along the Delaware River. By the time of the American Revolution, Philadelphia was the largest city in colonial America with a population above 32,000. It was noticeably larger than the next two largest cities, New York with a population of 25,000 and Boston with 16,000.

Pennsylvania, as a whole, grew from 1680 in 1682 to nearly 18,000 European residents by 1700. The lower counties on the Delaware River, which later became the Colony of Delaware, also controlled by the Quaker William Penn, grew from about 200 settlers to nearly 2,500 Europeans by 1700. New Jersey Colony because of its proximity between Philadelphia and New York City grew from 1,000 to a population of 14,000 Europeans at the same time.

Either due to an economic down turn, increased pressure to conform to the Anglican Church or perhaps simply a desire to be with family members who were immigrating or had already left, James Jones parents left Wales in 1711 from the English port of Bristol, England.

James was about twelve years old when his parents embarked on the harrowing five month journey to Pennsylvania Colony where their wooden vessel was tempest tossed and buffered by torrential storms. His aunt and baby cousin died while at sea but his parents and siblings set foot a shore in Philadelphia in 1712. They were escorted to their new home by family members already in the Welsh Tract of New Castle, Delaware where his father purchased a farm.

The Jones family settled in a community that had already been established. They were not eking out an existence in a wilderness nor were they threatened by Indian reprisals. The Delaware Indians had been pacified by William Penn’s policies and by the mid 1700’s almost all the tribes had moved west to the Ohio valley.

Little is known of James Jone’s life except that he became a wealthy prosperous farmer and married later in life in his early 40’s. He was about 18 years older than his bride Susannah Williams whom he had married prior to 2 May 1741 when he and his wife were baptized as members of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church. Susannah Jones was about 24 years old when she became a member of the church.

James Jones and his friend James James were baptized members of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church as was his wife Susannah Jones on “May ye 2d, 1741”. Susannah Williams of whom there is very little historical record, may have been a younger sister of Richard Williams who had married James Jones’ sister Rachel Jones.

Richard Williams was thought to be the son of a James Williams from Wales. Many researchers place her birth year as 1717 but they show no evidence to support that claim. The date 1717 seems plausible as that Susannah Williams Jones had her youngest child born in 1760 when she was 43 years old. If she was born much earlier than circa 1717 it is likely she would have been menopausal.

 In 1725 there is a Susannah Williams who signed the confession of Faith at the Welsh Tract Baptist Church meeting house in New Castle County Delaware but this could hardly had been James Jones’ wife if she was indeed born in 1717. However this person possibly could have been her mother.

Some sources suggest that James and Susannah were married on 2 May 1741 but there is no evidence of this. According to records of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church in New Castle County, Delaware she was already the wife of James Jones when she was baptized the same day as her 42 year old husband. Others baptized on the same day were James James, Mary Jones, and Elizabeth Heath.

James Jones was 49 years old in 1748 when his father died. He was a legatee in his father’s Last Will and Testament and received 240 acres of “land and plantation where he now dwelleth.” He also received the sum of £ 10 which he was requested to pay his niece Esther Jones, a daughter of his brother John Jones who had relocated to South Carolina. Why David Jones did not just bequeath £ 10 to his granddaughter is unknown.

James and Susannah Jones lived for several years on a farm in Clay Creek Hundred but was in Pencader Hundred of New Castle county for the most of their married lives. James’ farm was about 2.5 miles from the Welsh Tract Baptist church where the family worshipped.

The life of James Jones was that of a prosperous farmer. As he had married late in life he probably acquired African American slaves to help work his 360 acres which is a little more than a half square mile of land. He would have been in his mid fifties when the first of his sons were youths and old enough to be farm laborers.

A cash crop for the farm would have been tobacco which is a labor intensive crop needing workers such as indentured servants or more economically, Africans in perpetual bondage. As more and more people filed into Philadelphia, there was a steady need for grain crops like wheat and corn and Jones farm would have switched to those crops. Philadelphia markets were only about 45 miles north of Pencadar Hundred. He also raised livestock consisting of horses, milk cows, beef cattle, and hogs. At the time of his death he was quite wealthy as shown by the bequeaths he made to his ten children in his last will and testament.

James Jones was in his 60’s when trouble rose between Great Britain and her American Colonies. The British Army had defeated the French at the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763 and expected the colonies to bare much of the expense of the war. As that James Jones was not living on the frontier he was probably indifferent to the results of the war and probably was unhappy at the taxes levied on the colonies.

James Jones was an active member of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church as that a record of a church business meeting dated 1 December 1770, showed that he was one of 6 men appointed by the church to look into “purchasing the Plantation late belonging to the Rever'd Mr. David Davis dec'd for a parsonage on Glebe.” A Glebe was an old English term for cultivable land owned by a church that could be rented for income. At the age of 71 James Jones voted on a new pastor for the Welsh Tract Baptist Church, Rev. John Sutton who was chosen. Sutton labored from November 3, 1770, until 1777, when he resigned, for the purpose of going to Virginia.

James Jones was about 76 years old when The Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, 1775, at Philadelphia's State House. James Jones was 77 years old when the American colonies declared its independence from Great Britain, just 45 miles to the north in Philadelphia. The Second Continental Congress continued meeting at various locations, until it became the Congress of the Confederation when the Articles of Confederation were ratified on March 1, 1781.

All of James Jones’s sons served as soldiers in the Revolutionary War as well as several of his sons in law. He was too old to serve in the militia but on 24 September 1777 he signed the Oath of Fidelity to the United States, after fighting had broken out near his farm earlier in the month.

In the summer of 1777, the British General Sir William Howe sailed up the Chesapeake Bay in order to attack Philadelphia. General George Washington had situated the American forces, about 20,300 strong, between Elkton, Maryland at the head of Chesapeake Bay and Philadelphia in an attempt to keep the city out of the hands of the British. His forces were centered around Iron Hill where the Welsh Tract Baptist Church was located about nine miles from Elkton to reconnoiter the British landing at Elkton but from because of a delay disembarking from the British ships, General Sir William Howe did not set up a typical camp but quickly moved forward north with his troops through Delaware. As a result, Washington was not able to accurately gauge the strength of the opposing forces.

On 3 September 1777, British and German Hessian troops marched east through New Castle County, Delaware under the command of General Cornwallis in an attempt to capture Philadelphia. Under General Washington’s orders to “give every possible annoyance” to the enemy, American General William Maxwell’s special corps of light infantry encountered the British along the road to Cooch’s Bridge a few miles from James Jones’ farm.

Eight hundred marksmen fired at the British from the cover of the woods and ravines along the road to Cooch’s Bridge. At the forefront of the British line was Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Von Wurmb’s elite force of German jägers who responded with cannon-fire and a bayonet charge, ultimately forcing the Americans to withdraw. The running fight ended in a final skirmish in the vicinity of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church. As that James Jones farm was only 2 miles away from the church the cannon fire and smoke from the battle could clearly be heard and seen. At the end of the day, General Maxwell’s corps retreated four miles north to rejoin the main American army on White Clay Creek probably crossing Jones’ property.

The British camped for a week in New Castle County and headquartered themselves in the home of Thomas Cooch whom his half aunt Sarah Griffith had married. Cooch’s family had fled before the advancing Redcoats. Certainly the British troops would have confiscated provisions from Jones and his neighbor’s farms.

After the skirmish at Cooch's Bridge just south of Newark, the British troops moved north and General Washington abandoned his defensive encampment along the Red Clay Creek near Newport, Delaware and retreated to Chadds Ford in Pennsylvania. This site was important as it was the most direct passage across the Brandywine River on the road from Baltimore to Philadelphia.

On September 9, Washington positioned detachments to guard other fords above and below Chadds Ford, hoping to force the battle there. The British instead engaged the Americans along the Brandywine Creek on 11 September 1777. The British Army defeated the American Army and forced them to withdraw toward the American capital of Philadelphia.

More American troops fought at Brandywine than at any other battle of the American Revolution and it was also the longest single-day battle of the war, with continuous fighting for 11 hours. The total American losses and casualties totaled 1300 soldiers, 300 killed, 600 wounded and 400 captured. All of James Jones’ sons, Enoch, Daniel, James and Abel fought at the Battle of Brandywine.

Following the American retreats at the Battle of Brandywine, George Washington left a force under Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, behind to monitor and harass the British as they prepared to move on the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Wayne was a 2^nd cousin of James Jones who were both descendants of Rhydderch ap Dafydd of Wales, their great grandfather.

On the evening of September 20, British forces under Major General Charles Grey led a surprise attack on General Wayne's encampment near the Paoli Tavern, about 27 miles north of James Jones’ farm. Although there were relatively few American casualties, claims were made that the British took no prisoners and granted no quarter. The engagement became known as the "Paoli Massacre."

Eyewitnesses stated that the British had attacked after midnight and stabbed or mutilated Americans who tried to surrender. "I with my own Eyes, see them, cut & hack some of our poor Men to pieces after they had fallen in their hands and scarcely shew the least Mercy to any..."

On 26 September 1777, British forces marched into Philadelphia unopposed just two days after James Jones signed a Fidelity Oath to the United States. Capture of the rebel capital did not bring the end to the rebellion as the British hoped it would. In 18th Century warfare, it was normal that the side who captured the opposing force's capital city won the war but the war continued four more years until 1781.

France's entry into the war in 1778 forced a change in British war strategy, and the British abandoned Philadelphia to defend New York City, now vulnerable to French naval power. Loyalists and most of the heavy equipment was evacuated from Philadelphia on June 18 to New York. By July, the British were in New York City, and Washington was again at White Plains, New York back where they had been just two years earlier.

General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington in 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia but the war was technically not over until the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris on 3 September 1783, six years after the 1777 skirmish near James Jones farm. The treaty officially ended the hostilities between the two countries by Great Britain recognizing America’s independence.

On 29 January 1783, nearing 85 years of age, James Jones wrote out his Last Will and Testament. James lived another three years dying 26 May 1786 at the age of 87 at his farm at Pencadar Hundred. His will was recorded 7 June 1786 by his executors and proved by his witnesses. It is found in volume M on page 203 of Delaware’s records of Wills and Probates.

In the name of God, I James Jones of Pencadder [Pencadar] Hundred and County of New Castle in the Delaware State, farmer, being of sound and desposing mind and memory calling to mind the mortality of mankind and that it is appointed once for all men to die do constitute and appoint this my last will and testament as follows viz.

• Imprimus To my beloved wife Susannah, I give and bequeath in lieu of a dowry, one hundred and fifty pounds current money in Gold or Silver at the rate of seven shillings and six Spanish milled dollars to be paid unto her or hereafter directed, and also her choice of one horse and one cow out of my stock which horse and cow I order to be maintained at the expense of my son Daniel; also two beds and furniture, six chairs, one chest, one table, two pots, two pails and two tubs all which legacy above specified I will unto my said wife as her absolute property in lieu of Dowry and to be disposed of by her as she may see proper I will also to my said wife the use and service of my negro wench named Sarah during my said wife’s natural life, and it is my will also my said wife shall enjoy the privilege of one room in my house and free use of the kitchen during her natural life and it is my will that her fire wood shall be cut and brought to the door at the cost and expense of my son Daniel during her natural life.

• Item To Enoch Jones and his heirs and assigns forever I give and bequeath my plantation on which he now lives situated in the county and hundred aforesaid containing by estimation one hundred and sixty acres hereby ajoining on my said son Enoch in lieu thereof to pay unto my son son Abel Jones, his heirs and assigns forever the sum of one hundred pounds like currency aforesaid within two years of my decease and also twenty bushels of wheat yearly and two hundred and fifty weight of pork and beef yearly to be paid to my wife Susannah and one half of my funeral expenses all which legacies the aforesaid plantation is encumbered with until the discharge as may further appear in a certain deed of aforesaid land by me made to my said son Enoch Jones baring date January the twenty ninth Anno Dom 1783.

• Item To my son Daniel Jones and to his heirs and assigns forever I give and bequeath my plantation on which I now live containing two hundred acres and also my Negroes Joseph, Phillis, and Alexander together with all my bills, bonds, dues, and accounts and all other of my personal estate what soever excepting such articles as are or shall be otherwise dispose of in my Last Will and Testament enjoying on my said son Daniel in lieu thereof pay all such legacies as directed excepting such as otherwise ordered and to comply with every condition laid on him my said son Daniel after my decease to pay yearly to my wife Susannah during her natural life twenty bushels of wheat and two hundred and fifty pounds of pork or beef and I do encumber the aforesaid estate till the legacies and requirements mentioned or to be mentioned in my Last Will and Testament are fully discharged which encumbrance is partly mentioned in a deed of the above planation by me made to the aforesaid Daniel Jones bearing the date January the twenty ninth 1783

• Item To my son James Jones I give and bequeath the sum of ten pounds currency aforesaid

            Item To my son Abel Jones, I give and bequeath the sum of one hundred and fiftypounds currency aforesaid one hundred of which is to be paid by my son Enoch as above mentioned and the other by my son Daniel as part of the encumbrance above mentioned also a Negro boy George is hereby willed to my son Abel his heirs and assigns forever.

           • Item To my daughter Mary Griffith I give the sum of thirty five pounds

           • Item To my daughter Jane Buckingham I give the sum of thirty five pounds

           • Item To my daughter Hannah Shield I give and bequeath to heirs and assigns forever one Negro wench Dorcus also eighty pounds in money

           • Item To my daughter Esther I give and bequeath eighty pounds in money, one cow and one bed and furniture and my Negro wench named Sarah to be possessed by her and her heirs and assigns forever after my wife decease.

           • Item To my daughter Susannah James I give and bequeath my Negro wench named Heins and eighty pounds money

           • Item To my daughter Margaret and to her heirs and assigns forever I give and bequeath my Negro child Venus and one bed and furniture and a new saddle and seventy pounds money
And it is my will that all my legacies mentioned in this my Last Will and Testament be discharged within two years after my decease excepting such as are otherwise ordered. It is my will that my executrix and executors shall receive no compensation money for performing this my Last Will and Testament. Lastly I constitute my loving wife Susannah executrix and my son Enoch and Daniel executors of this My Last Will and Testament revoking former wills by me made. Signed this day 29 Day Jan 1783 Witnesses David Jones, John Boggs, and William Bunker.

According to James Jones last will and testament he was a wealthy farmer in Pencadar Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware where he owned 360 acres of lands and eight African American slaves. He bequeathed to his wife and children over £ 470 of currency measured in gold and silver. Evidently he was a wheat farmer with livestock consisting of cows, beef cattle, and hogs.

Several items are evident from James Jones’ will and one is that his wife Susannah and his ten children were alive at the time of writing his will. He did not give the usual “leaving his soul” to God or his body being resurrection by faith in Jesus Christ”. Also he did not leave a legacy to the Welsh Tract Baptist Church which may indicate that his devotion to his church had waned.

The birth order of his sons mentioned in the will was as follows- Enoch, Daniel, James, and Abel. Enoch and Abel were named for James’ uncles Enoch and Abel Morgan who were important Welsh Baptist ministers. James was named for his father and Daniel named for his uncle Daniel. Surprisingly no son was named for James’ father David Jones unless one died young. The six daughters mentioned in the will were Mary Jones Griffith, Jane Jones Buckingham, Hannah Jones Shield, Esther Jones, Susannah Jones James, and Margaret Jones Menough.

Of the four sons, evidently Daniel Jones, the second son, seemed to have been the favorite child having received the bulk of his father’s estate, a 200 acre farm and three slaves. While Enoch Jones, who was the eldest son, received a 160 acre farm both his and Daniel’s farms were encumbered with £150 worth of debt to pay a legacy to their youngest brother Abel, who was not given a farm but was given a slave boy. James Jones Junior seemed to be out of favor with his father as all he received for an inheritance was £10.

The eldest daughters only received £35 each from their father’s estate while their younger sisters recieved £80 or the equivalent. Additionally, the four younger daughters each received a female slave.

In all, James Jones owned eight African American slaves as field workers and domestic servants. Joseph, Phillis, and Alexander, who given to Daniel Jones, were probably adult slaves although they could have been a family unit. George, who became the property of Abel Jones, was called a boy which meant he was probably under the age of 12 years. Dorcus, Sarah, and Heins who were willed to daughters Hannah, Esther, and Susannah were called “wenches” which was a term for young women who were servants. They were probably teenagers because daughter Margaret received Venus who was described as a “child” which is someone between infancy and puberty.

The ages of these African Americans suggest that they were a family unit that was being split up.The fact that Daniel Jones owned slaves was unusual and he probably purchased them from Philadelphia. The best estimates are that Delaware contained 2,000 blacks in 1775, with each of its three counties containing approximately one-third of the total. Delaware was one of the first states to ban the importation of slaves and the Delaware Constitution of 1776 banned the sale of Delaware slaves out of state. As the agrarian crops switched from tobacco to wheat, slaves were less valuable and they were being freed frequently in Delaware especially as the Quakers became early abolitionists.

James Jones’ widow Susannah died the following year after his death on 3 June 1787 in Pencader Hundred, New Castle, Delaware. She was approximately 77 years old. She must have lived a comfortable life as a Colonial woman but by no means were they of the elite class. An early Rev. Morgan Jones history states that James and Susannah are both buried in the Welsh Tract Church Cemetery. However today there are no markers found for them. It seems most unlikely that Susannah would not have made arrangements for a tombstone for her late husband and their children for her but if so they may have fallen and in time buried in the ground.

Children of James Jones and Susannah Williams

1. Enoch Jones born circa 1740 died December 1787, married twice, second wife Jane Boggs..

2. Mary Jones was born circa 1742 and died after 1810. She was married first to Joseph Griffith by whom she had six children. He may have been the son of Rev. Benjamin Griffith the half brother of Jane Morgan Jones, Mary’s grandmother.

After his death she married a widower Rev John Boggs. On 4 October 1767 Joseph Griffith, Mary Griffith and Hannah Jones were “baptized and added to the church”. Hannah Jones was Mary’s younger sister. This record show that Joseph and Mary were married before 1767. There is another Joseph Griffith mentioned in the church records who was “bapt 5 October 1765.” On “October ye 4th 1769” this Joseph Griffith was disowned by the church “for being guilty of great and heinous crimes contrary to ye moral law.”       He was restored Sept. 1772. This is probably not the husband of Mary.

3. Jane Jones was born 28 January 1744 in New Castle County Delaware and died on 16 Mar 1826 in Washington County Pennsylvania. Some sources say she was born 28 January 1743 which was on the old calendar when January 1743 would have been January 1744.

Jane married William Buckingham Junior on 7 Dec 1762, probably in New Castle County, Delaware. His ancestoral roots go back to William Buckingham who came from England to Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1682. His parents were William Buckingham and Jane James.

The couple lived in New Castle County for the first years of their marriage. William Buckingham, Junior was baptized 1 October 1768. About 1779 the family moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania where William was a farmer.

During the Revolutionary War William Buckingham served in the Pennsylvania Militia and was a Frontier Ranger. In the last 8 years of her life Jane's health was not good and her daughter Jane cared for her.

Tombstone Inscription: “In Memory of Jane Buckingham who departed this Life March the 16th 1826. Aged 82 Years 1 Month & 18 Days. The Palsy for long time I bore The physician I did not try But Christ alone did hear my name And ease me of my misery.”

William established the Buckingham Cemetery in Washington County where he and his family are buried. The cemetery is on part of William's original land patent of 367 acres. Eleven of Jane Jones Buckingham’s 13 children moved to Ohio.

4) Hannah Jones was born 16 September 1746 and died in 1803. She was married to Robert Shields, and was the mother of four daughters. On 4 October 1767 she was baptized along with her sister Mary Griffith. This indicated that she was married after that time.

Robert Shields was born circa 1736, and died 13 February 1792 at the age of 56. Shields was a Private in the Delaware Regiment during the Revolutionary War.

On 16 October 1779 he purchased a 59 acre farm in New Castle Hundred for £ 160 from Alexander Montgomery. On 3 August 1782, he was baptized and “received into full communion” in the Welsh Tract Baptist Church where he became a deacon.

Robert Shield and his wife’s uncle Morgan Jones purchased a tract of land in Pencader Hundred.

On 11 February 1792 Robert Shields made out a will where he devised that his three slaves were to be given their freedom after a specified period of time. After the death of Shields his undivided one-half part was sold by his executors, August 28, 1793, to Isaac Hersey who conveyed the same to Morgan Jones, September 11, 1794.

Hannah Shields made out a Last Will and Testament 12 February 1793 but was not probated until 19 April 1803. She appointed her brother Daniel Jones as executor and John Boggs Senior and William Bunker were the witnesses.

She must have been devoted to her church as that, unlike her father, she had included all the florid language of the time in her will. “I recommend my soul to God through the Lord Jesus Christ on whom I depend on for Eternal Life” and “ to be buried in a Christian like manner believing the soul and body will unite in that day when God shall raise the dead”.

Then she gave a legacy of £ 50 to the trustees of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church, two thirds to go for the support of the ministry and one third to the poor of the church. She gave £ 100 to her brother Daniel to invest and the interest to be paid yearly to their sister Esther for her support. She also gave £ 50 to her father in law Thomas Shield Jr to invest for the interest to be paid yearly to her brother in law Caleb Shield.

She does not name her “dear children” but bequeathed each of them £ 50 at the time of her decease and the remainder of her estate to be equally divided among them.

In 1799, church business minutes stated “Our brother Ephraim Stoops reports that he and our sister Hannah Shields visited Rebeckah Morton and that Rebekah Morton confessed her fault with seeming sorrow for her transgression. The Church leave her at her liberty to commune when she finds opportunity.

Hannah lived a decade after making out her will and died in the Spring of 1803. However within that decade, her executor Daniel Jones moved away from Delaware, and her two witnesses had died, as well as her sister Esther Jones who died without benefit of the provision of the will.

On 6 April 1803 Andrew Morton and John Porter swore in probate court that they that Hannah’s signature was valid and Susan Shield as next of kin and Sylvester Walsh was appointed administrators of Hannah’s estate.

An inventory of her estate showed that she owned two African American slaves however they must have been promised their freedom as their servitude had expiration dates.

The church however did receive its legacy from church minutes staing “Our brother Nicholas Quin is appointed to take a bond from Francis Gotier for the money due from him to the Church agreeable to the will of Hannah Shields, Deceased, by Feb. 6th, 1808.”

5. Esther Jones was born circa 1752 New Castle County Delaware. She died 10 January 1800 in Pencadar Hundred, New Castle, Delaware. On 27 August 1780 Esther Jones was baptised and received into full communion in the Baptist Church. Esther never married and was buried next to her parents. Her stone was inscribed with the following: In memory of Esther Jones, who departed this life January the 10th 1800, aged 48 years. She may have had some physical or mental issues as that her siblings were providing for her and she died an old maid.

6. Daniel Jones was born 10 Apr 1754 in New Castle County Delaware and died 12 May 1832 in New Harmony, Clark County, Ohio. He married Mary Alston, and had 11 children. He was a Revolutionary War soldier.

His father left him a legacy of a farm “containing 200 acres and also my Negroes Joseph, Phillis and Alexander.” Welsh Tract Baptist Church records show that he was an administrator of the estate of his brother in law. “The church appoint our brethren John Rudolph and James Griffith to make some inquiries concerning some things alleged against "Rebecca" a black woman, a member with us who lives at Mr. Fishers and make a report at the next meeting of business N. B. An order was put into Mr. Boggs hands to lift what poor money is in Mr. Daniel Jones hands due from the estate of Robert Shields in order to repay Andrew Morton and Ephraim Stoops for what money they have advanced to William Price, the remainder to be brought to the Church.

Daniel Jones was not on the 1798 Tax Assessments of Pencadar Hundred and he was absent from the county by 1803 when he moved. The 1820 Census showed that Daniel Jones Senior was a resident of New Harmony, Ohio.  Ten years later the 1830 Census still showed him living at New Harmony, in Clark County and listed as being between 70 and 80 years old. [           Other Jones in New Harmony were his sons Enoch Jones born between 1780-1790, David Jones born between 1780-1790, Daniel Jones born between 1790-1800, and James Jones born between1800-1810.

Daniel Jones’ will was written 31 October 1831 and recorded 4 September 1832. He left his 162 acre farm near the Miami River to his youngest son Isaiah Jones and all the livestock. An inventory of his estate, taken 21 August 1832, showed that he raised horses, of which he had five mares and 2 colts and a filly. He also had 29 sheep, 8 milk cows, 3 dry cows, and 11 calves and 2 steers.

Others mentioned in his will are son James, daughter Mary Jones, youngest daughter Margaret Jones, “Polly” Jones [probably same as Mary], daughter Susannah wife of John Harvey, grandchildren John and Mary Jones children of son John Jones deceased [grandchildren living with him] and son Levi

7. James Jones Junior was  born circa 6 April 1756 in Delaware and died 29 April 1830 . He was married to Mary Creighton. On April the 6th, 1776 “then was James Jones, Junior received by baptism into full communion of this church.”

James Jones, Jr. joined the Revolutionary War as an American Chaplain and soldier. In 1776 he was appointed chaplain of a regiment that served in the northern department under General Gates. He was at the Ticonderoga October 1776. From 1777 until the the close of the war he served under General Anthony Wayne, a distant cousin and he was at the Battle of Brandywine and Germantown . He was also at Valley Forge when Philadelphia fell to the British. He was with the Continental Army at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered. He died after 1811.

8. Susannah Jones was born circa 1757 and died 8 March 1812 New Castle County Delaware. She married John James and the couple had only 2 daughters. John James was born circa 1752 and died 19 January 1811 at the age of 59. Nothing is known about John James' parents or possible siblings but perhaps son of James James. On 28 February 1777 “John James baptized and received into full communion of the Welshtract Baptist Church”. During the Revolutionary War John James served as a Captain in the Whig Battalion. John James was also a church clerk and became a church Trustee until his death “January 2d, 1811”.

9. Abel Jones was born circa 1758 and died 1 September 1831 in Smithfield Fayette County
Pennsylvania. He married on 23 Nov 1784 in New Castle County Margaret Lewis the daughter of Isaiah Lewia, and had 5 children. Abel Jones served in the Delaware and Pennsylvania militia and was hospitalized at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. He was a minuteman and served as a wagon master under Captain Thomas Watts and Captain Thompson in Delaware. The couple moved to Southwest Pennsylvania by 1794.

10.  Margaret Jones was born 1760 and died 16 July 1826 in New Castle County, Delaware. She married after 1786 Isaac Menough who was born circa 1747 and died 9 December 1826 age 76. In 1820, 6 years before she died, the census shows a Isaac Menough family of 7, 3 males & 4 females. No further details are known about their family.

On July 1st, 1815, “Church met for business. Mr. Isaac Menough related his experience for baptism, was received and is to be baptized tomorrow morning at Nine O'clock.” Nothing else has been found on Isaac.

Margaret Jones Menough's grave marker is enscribed: In memory of Margaret Jones, wife of Isaac Menough, who departed this life July 16, 1826, aged 66 years. While many of her Jones family are buried in this small cemetery they are many rows apart from Margaret.

Less than 6 months after Margaret passed, Isaac joined her. His marker is enscribed: In memory of Isaac Menough, who departed this life December 9, 1826, aged 79 years The couple stayed in Pencader Hundred, New Castle Co, Delaware until they died.