Jackson-Herman-Willig Family History
Our Family's Journey Through Time: 1677-2000
John Beales, Sr.: born about 1650, an immigrant from England (birth location and parents unknown). He died sometime shortly before December 6, 1726 when his will was probated. He was buried in the Friends Burial Ground at East Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Mary Jane (Clayton) Beales: born Sept. 29, 1666 in Rumboldswyke, Sussex, England, a daughter of William and Prudence Clayton of that place. They immigrated as a family in 1677 or thereabouts. She died in Nottingham, Chester County, PA sometime before 1726. She was buried in the Huntington Friends Cemetery, Adams County, Pennsylvania.
Marriage of John Beals, Sr. and Mary (Clayton) Beals: Jan. 1, 1682 at the Chester, PA Quaker Monthly Meeting (MM)
Children (5): John Beals, Jr., William Beals, Jacob Beals, Mary Beals, and Patience Beals.
Court documents show that John Beals, Sr. immigrated to the Penn Colony sometime prior to 1677. In a 1691 court case in Chester County, Pennsylvania, John testified that he had been farming in Chester County for fourteen years, which would place him there about 1677. He would have arrived as an immigrant about that time.
In the minutes of the [Quaker] Chester Monthly Meeting, there is a notification that on October 2, 1682 John Beals Sr announced his intentions to marry Mary Clayton, daughter of William and Prudence (Lanckford) Clayton. Mary had been born in the parish of Rumboldswyke, Sussex, England on August 29, 1665. They were married on January 1, 1683. John Beals Sr and Mary Beals remained on his farm in Chester County until 1701. He was active in both church and local affairs. In 1694, he was appointed the constable of Aston Township. This part of Chester County was later included in Delaware County when that County was formed out of Chester County in 1789.
In 1702, John Beals Sr. and other Quakers bought land in what was called the Nottingham Lots which were then a part of Chester County, Pennsylvania (but after the drawing of the Mason-Dixon Line in 1767, these lands became part of Cecil County, Maryland.) John Beals received a grant for two lots in the new area of Nottingham. As late as 1705, he still owned lands in West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
The Quaker families who moved into the area around Nottongham Lots established the new [Quaker] Nottingham Monthly Meeting where both John and Mary were quite active in Church life. Mary was chosen as an Overseer in 1706 and John was also chosen in 1709.
Mary most likely died sometime in the early 1720s, as she was not mentioned in John's will dated October 11, 1726. John's will was probated after December 17, 1726. So, his death was sometime between those dates. Mary (Clayton) Beales was buried in the Friends Burial Ground of the Huntington Quaker Meeting House in Latimore Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania. John Beales, Sr. was buried at Calvert, which is now (after the Mason-Dixon Line was established) located in Cecil County, Maryland.
"Nottingham Lots typically refers to a historical area in Maryland and Pennsylvania, associated with the early Quaker and Scotch-Irish settlement and the resolution of a border dispute between the two colonies. This area was part of the larger Nottingham settlement and included the East Nottingham Township in Pennsylvania and the Nottingham area in Maryland."
Historical Context: "The Nottingham Lots were part of a larger dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland over the boundary line. This area was initially part of Maryland's Susquehanna Manor, but the development of the Mason-Dixon line eventually established the border and led to the settlement of the area by Quakers and Scotch-Irish immigrants."
Quaker Corner Website
Gilbert Cope: Quaker historian
Find a Grave.com
Geni.com
FamilySearch.org
Bill Putnam: Beals Family History researcher
Wikipedia article