Lt. John Pawling

   Another name for John was Jan.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Conveyance, 24 Mar 1704. ²³⁰ The trustees of Marbletown met on March 24, 1704. One item on their agenda was my desire for a conveyance for the Old Esopus Kill located between my father's land and that of Jan Mattyson. I also was requesting 28 acres of woodland next to our pasture, behind our house. The trustee granted my request.

• Military, 1709. ²³¹ I served as a lieutenant in the Ulster County Militia under Captain Wesseel Ten Brock

• Property, 10 Jul 1713, Norristown, Pennsylvania. ²²⁷ I came in possession of 500 acres of land at the junction of the Schuykil River and Perkiomen Creek, ten miles from Norristown, Pennsylvania. I owned two gristmills. The Pawling Bridge and Mill were named after my brother Henry and me.

• Property. ^232,233 We owned a shad fishery that was bounded by the Schuylkill and Perkiomen Rivers. Our land also included the Pennypacker Mill and the home of Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker.

• Moved, 1715. ^227,234 Our family along with my brother Henry moved to Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Henry was serving as a foot soldier with Captain William Nottingham at the time. Henry and I settled on adjoining tracts of land.

Our family was prominent in the St. James Perkiomen church at Evansburg, MontgomeryCounty, Pennsylvania. I served as a Warden and Vestrymen. Edward Lane donated the land on which we built our church. We built the church out of logs. The church burned down a few years later and all the church records were destroyed. We replaced the original log structure in 1721 with a stone church.

• Moved, 1720. ²²⁷ He moved onto his father's grant about 1720

• Petition, 10 May 1728, Colebrookdale Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. ^227,235
In the spring of 1728, horrid war raised its grizzly head in the midst of the serenity and peace causing untold agitation throughout the settlement and terror to the inhabitants. During the month of April there were repeated rumors of threatened attacks by bodies of hostile Indians. On the 25th of April, a communication was sent to Philadelphia to Governor Patrick Gordon, signed by a number of people who were mostly Germans and Welsh who were living on what was then the frontier informing him “That the s requested that he take such measures with respect to the situation that they might be freed from these alarms. This warning does not appear to have aroused the Governor to the necessity for action.

A few days later eleven Indians fully armed and in their war paint appeared only five miles beyond the borders of Bebber's Township. Under the leadership of a “Spanish Indian” they began going from house to house compelling the people to supply them with victuals and drink. Twenty men armed with guns and some with swords gathered together for defence. They pursued the Indians and when they overtook them they sent two of their members to parley with the leader. He refused to receive the messengers and raising a sword ordered his Indian braves to fire. They obeyed and two of the settlers were wounded. The settlers returned the fire hitting the Spanish Indian who fell, but later arose and “run into the woods after his party, having left his gun and watch coat behind him”. As was to be expected, the affair was much exaggereated. It was widely reported that there was a general uprising of the savages and that this band was only the advance guard of the host with which the forests were filled. Rumors flourished that already several of the German settlers at Tulpehocken and elsewhere had been killed. The whole country was aroused and in a state of commotion.

John Roberts who was living at that time on the East side of the Easternmost of the three roads which ran Northwestward from Philadelphia through Phildadelphia, was evidently thrown into a state of mental excitement by the stirring events occurring around him. On the 10th of May, he wrote a petition to the Governor. It is headed VanBebber's Township and Ye Adjacencies Belonging:

The following signed his petition:

John Jacobs, Isaac Dubois, Israle Morris, Benjamin Fry, Jacob Op den Graeff, Johannes Scholl, Richard Adams, George Poger, Adam Sellen, Dielman Kolb, Martin Kolb, Gabriel Shoulder, Anthony Halman, John Isaac Klein, Hans Detweiler, William Bitts, Heinrich Ruth, Hubert Kassel, Henry Teutlinger, Christian Weber, Gerhard In da Hoffen, Lorentz Bingaman, Richard Jacob, Hermanus Kuster, Peter Bun, Jacob Engers, Hans Weierman, Conrad Custer, Jacob Marieke, Christian Neuswanger, Conrad Reiff, Jacob Kolb, Hans Ulrich Bergey, John Myer, Henrich Kolb, John Fried, Paul Freed, William Smith, Peter Rambo, David Young, Christopher Schmidt, Garrett Clemens, Johonnes Reichardt, Matthias Tyson, Peter Johnson, Hans Joest Heijt, Christian Allebach, Hans Reiff, Daniel Stauffer, Abraham Schwartz, Johann Valentine Kratz, John Johnson, Ulrich Heffelfinger, Nicholas Holdeman, Michael Ziegler, Christian Stoner, Johannes Garber, John Holdeman, Claus Jansen, Nicholas Hicks, Johannes Leisher, Jacob Sheimer, Michael Krause, Peter Reiff, George Meyer, Bastian Smith, Edward In de Hoffen, Christian Kroll, Jacob Grater, Jacob Stauffer, Henry Stauffer and Paul Fried, Jr. Roberts signed Forty-four of the names in his own handwriting. However, the signatures represent a fairly complete list of the residents at the time.

A man upon horseback rode “with speed” into Philadelphia bearing this pathetic message to the Governor. The Governor upon receiving the notice that same day hastened to Manatawny accompanied by Andrew Hamilton and several others. He remained in Manatawny until the 14th of May. He found the country in disorder with many of the houses deserted. A number of Germans gathered together at a mill near New Hanover Township in order to defend themselves. There was rumor that a man had been wounded in the belly. Angry feelings were rife, indicating a purpose to kill whatever Indians could be found. He issued a commission to John Pawling of Bebber's Township; Marcus Huling and Mordecai Lincoln authorizing these persons to organize the settlers for defence and protection. With this said, he distributed some power and lead among them. The hostile Indians were a band of Shawanese on their way, as their chief afterward alleged, to aid the Delaware in a war with the Flatfeet. Altogether, five of the settlers and several of the Indians had been wounded more or less seriously, but notwithstanding the wild rumors none were killed.

• Property, 9 Jan 1730. ²³⁶ I purchased land in Schwenksville. Schwenksville, which was once a part of Perkiomen-Skippack Township, dates its early history to 1718 when 600 acres of land on the east bank of the Perkiomen Creek were conveyed by Joseph Kirkbride and Thomas Stevenson of Bucks County to Hans Yost Heijt (Heyt). Stevenson had purchased this land from the Penningtons, who had secured it in 1681 from William Penn, for the purpose of allocating it to other settlers. Heijt sold the property on January 9, 1730 to me, at which time a gristmill is mentioned in the deed. The Skippack Road, which was laid out in 1713 by Hendrick Pennypacker, had by this time been extended from Whitemarsh to Pennypacker Mills.

• appointed, 1732 to 1733. ²³¹ My brother Henry and I were appointed justices of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County.

• Probate, 5 Jun 1733.

• Biography. In the assessment of 1776 John Pawling is returned for 475 acres, 4 negroes, 4 horses and 4 cows; Joseph Pawling, 300 acres, 2 negroes, 4 horses and 6 cows Benjamin Pawling, 100 acres, 2 horses and 2 cows. The latter died in 1800, aged forty-nine years.

John Pawling resided on the Skippack road, near the present Amityville, and died in the beginning of this century. There is a family burying-ground situated in quite a retired place adjoining the farm of Enos Schwenk, about a mile and a quarter northeast of Grater's Ford, only a few stories of which contain inscriptions. A portion of the same was also used as a place of interment for their negroes. On the consecration of the Trappe Church October 6, 1745, the Rev. H. M. Muhlenberg baptized three negroes belonging to a Mr. Pawling which it is probable, belonged here, as the distance does not exceed four miles, about half as far as Pawling's Ford, on the Schuylkill.

• Acquaintance. .I served under Major Dirck Wesselsen Ten Broeck. Wessel was born on December 18, 1638 in Kingston, New York. In 1663, he married Christÿna Van Buren in Albany, New York. She was the daughter of Cornelis Van Buren and Catalyntje Martensen. She was born 19 May 1644 in Albany, New York.

Dirck was prominent in the affairs of Beverwyck (later named Albany). He was a civil magistrate and a member of the Council for years. Dirck was the mayor of Albany from 1696 to 1698. He was a writer expressing himself wisely and fluently as duties required. He became master of the Indian language, a necessary and valuable acquisition for a man in public life in those times. He tended to wear silver breeches and buttons.

In 1663, he is spoken of as “a free merchant” in Albany. On July 27, 1657, he purchased 500 beaver skins. In 1663, he signed the contract for a house and lot on the corner of State and James Street in Albany. The home was the late residence of the famous Anneke Jans, for which he agreed to pay the heirs one thousand guilders in beaver skins. The deed was dated July 17 or 27, 1667.

In July 1, 1676, Governor Dongan appointed him Magistrate Commissary. Following this, he was chosen for the service of Envoy to Canada, which required that he bear the correspondence and treaties between the English Colonial Governor and the French agents. Failing to receive remuneration for certain services, he petitioned the English Government on the subject.

When the Charter of the ancient town of Beverwyck was executed July26, 1686, Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck was named first in the list of Aldermen. On October 26, 1686, the Common Council nominated and appointed Dirck Wesselse Recorder, and Robert Livingston Gentn, to view the land above Schenectady, on the Mohawk River, called Tionderoga, and other land adjoining, to the extent of one thousand acres, in order to purchase it for the city.

In 1696, after serving the city in the capacity of Recorder for ten years, governor Gletcher appointed him Mayor. He was the fourth to fill the office since the granting of the Charter. He received the appointment for the second year. The Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen were also Justices of the Peace. They held the Courts of Quarter Sessions at Albany, and the Courts of Oyer and Terminer. One of the Boards presided.
“Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck had been elected a member of the first representative Provincial Assembly, the one seated in 1691. He was reelected

Dirck Wesselse was repeatedly sent to the Mohawk, Oneida and Onondaga Castles, to confirm the fidelity and allegiance of the Indians to the colonists, as well as to consult with them in regard to proposals from the Candadian agents and the English governors.

On October 2, 1716, Governor Hunter gave him an honorable discharge from the Indian Board, where during thirty years he had labored for the peace and security of the Colony, as well as the protection and civilization of the Indians.

The purchase and Patent of the “tract of land called Sarachtogie” was completed in 1684. It included the land on both sides of the Hudson, from where Mechanicsville now stands to Battenkill: twenty-two miles in extent north and south, and twelve miles east and west. The patentees numbered seven: Cornelis Van Dyck, Jan J. Bleecker, Peter P. Schuyler, Johannes Wendel, Dirck Wessells, David Schuyler, and Robert Livingston. In the spring of 1685, they made a division of the lowlands; for this purpose they chose disinterested men to parcel it, according to value and location. One child from of each of the partners drew a ticket out of a hat. Dirck Wesselse's lot was known as number three. The land continued in the possession of descendants of the line of the oldest son for several generations. A strange happening, occurred in 1776 when General Abraham Ten Broeck led his men to victory on this very spot during the decisive battle of Saratoga.

• Friend. ²³⁷ Isaac Norris was born in London, England, on July 26, 1671 and removed with his parents to the Island of Jamaica at the age of seven years. In 1690 his father sent him to Philadelphia to investigate the propriety of moving there. He sailed from Port Royal on March 5, 1690, taking with him a letter of introduction from Mordecai Loyd to the latter's father, Governor Thomas Lloyd. After carefully looking into the advantages of Philadelphia and its vicinity as a trading center, he returned to Jamaica in 1692. He returned only to learn that his father and other members of the family, with exception of his stepmother and sister Elizabeth had perished either by an earthquake or the pestilence, which followed. The earthquake practically destroyed all the family property. He returned to Philadelphia the following year with little more than one hundred pounds. He entered into business there, in which he was eminently successful. He eventually became one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the Province. He was a man of extraordinary business ability and his services were early enlisted in the affairs of the city and Province. He soon attracted the attention and won the esteem of William Penn, at whose request he went to England in 1707 to assist in extracting the great founder of Pennsylvania from the difficulties in which he was entangled with the Fords. He was elected to the Colonial Assembly in 1699 and continued a member until 1705. He was again returned in 1711 and again the following year. In addition, he was elected Speaker. He was called to the provincial Council, February 8, 1708 and 1709 with his brother-in-law, Samuel Preston and from that day was one of the prominent men of the Province.He was particularly successful in the affairs of the Council for the next twenty-five years. During a portion of the time he also served in the Assembly, to which he was again returned in October 1720 and elected Speaker to succeed William Trent, who that year removed to New Jersey. He was also Justice of the Courts of Philadelphia from June 4, 1715 until his death. On April 7, 1731 he was appointed to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, but he declined to accept preferring to remain a Justice of the County Court. He was also the director of the first public school of Philadelphia.

He was an extensive landowner, however he resided at his estate known as Fair Hill. He possessed the luxury of a coach. He was fond of reading and was familiar with severl languages. He died June 4, 1735 being smitten with apoplexy while attending a Quaker Meeting in Germantown. He was removed to Stenton, James Logan's residence where he died. He was known as a man whose character will do honor to his latest posterity, a doer of justice, a lover of mercy, a loving husband, an affectionate father, a sincere friend and a lover of his county.

• Acquaintance. Edward Lane was from Bristol, England who owned a large tract of land lying along the wouthwestern boundary of Bebber's township,

• Acquaintance. ²³⁸ Charles Willing: Charels Willing was born in Bristol, England May 18, 1710. He was in the mercantile business and came to Philadelphia in 1738 at the age of eighteen to take charge of a mercantile house established there by his family in 1726. Charles was a successful businessman of much more than ordinary ability and became a much adopted city for public honor and private wealth. Philadelphia is largely indebted for her commercial, political, social and intellectual prominence in colonial days to Charles Willing. He was active in organizing the Philadelphia Associators for the defense of the frontier in 1747 and was commissioned captain of a company in the associated Regiment of Foot, commanded by Colonel Abraham Taylor. He was elected to the Common Council, Commissioned Justice and elected Mayor of the City. He died from ship fever contracted in the discharge of his official duties on November 30, 1754

John married Aefje Dewitt, daughter of Tjerck Claasen Nichols Dewitt and * Barbara Andriessen, on 23 Aug 1712 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York. (Aefje Dewitt was born on 14 Jan 1683 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York, christened on 14 Jan 1683 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York and died before 1733 in Perkomen Township, Montgomery, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Met. Aagie lived next door to the Pawling's in Kingston, New York.