52 Ancestors: Week 9 "Close to Home": Bridget Scott

I was born and raised in New Jersey, but most of my ancestors were from elsewhere. My parents and grandparents moved to New Jersey in the 1950s. I do have an ancestor who grew up in New Jersey, though: my 8th-great-grandmother Bridget Scott.

Bridget's parents, Benjamin Scott and Margaret Woodley, were from Widdington, Essex, England. They were Quakers, and Bridget's birth on the 16th day of the 4th month (16 June) 1679 was recorded in the records of the Monthly Meeting of Thaxted.

Monthly Meeting of Thaxted, 1679. General Register Office: Society of Friends' Registers, Notes and Certificates of Births, Marriages and Burials. Records of the General Register Office, Government Social Survey Department, and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, RG 6. The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England. Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers, 1578-1837 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

In 1681, the Scott family sailed from England to West Jersey on the Henry and Ann. Bridget's younger sister Elizabeth was born on the ship. Within a few years, Bridget lost both her parents. her mother Margaret died on the 26th of the 10th month (26 December) 1682. Her father Benjamin married Hannah (Chaffon) Kemball on the 12th of the 12th month (12 February) 1683. In April 1685, Hannah was granted letters of administration on Benjamin's estate.

Bridget's widowed aunt Bridget (Woodley) Bingham and her family had come to West Jersey with the Scotts. She married William Watson in 1687. Perhaps Bridget and William Watson raised Bridget Scott and her siblings.

Bridget married Edward Lucas at the house of Thomas Lambert in Burlington, New Jersey. Thomas was the husband of Bridget's sister Margaret. Elizabeth Lucas, Giles Lucas, Robert Lucas, John Scott, and 49 others were witnesses.

Marriage of Edward Lucas and Bridget Scott. 3rd day of 7th month 1700. Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington Co., New Jersey. Minutes, 1682-1847. Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1994 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

After their marriage, Bridget and Edward lived in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is very close to Burlington, New Jersey. Their children were Mercy, born 4th of the 1st month (4 March) 1702; John, born 21st of the 11th month (21 January) 1703; Mary, born 1st of the 1st month (1 March) 1705; Margaret, born 16th of the 4th month (16 June) 1708; Edward (my 7th-great-grandfather), born 24 December 1710; Ann, born 3rd of the 3rd month (3 May) 1713; Elizabeth, born 23rd of the 7th month (23 September) 1716; Robert, born 22nd of the 12th month (22 February) 1718; and Benjamin, born 19th of the 8th month (19 October) 1724.

Bridget's husband Edward died in 1740. He appointed Bridget and their son John executors of his will.

Bridget died in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on the 21st of the 6th month (21 August) 1748. Her son John and John's wife Isabel had died earlier that month. It would be interesting to know what the causes of death were; since all three deaths occurred within less than two weeks, they may be related.

Falls Monthly Meeting, 1748.Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Religious Freedom Day

January 16 is Religious Freedom Day. It commemorates the passage of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, which was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and passed on 16 January 1786. A presidential proclamation has been issued annually since 1993. The First Freedom Center holds a commemorative event each year.

The Establishment Clause in the First Amendment (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion) was based on the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom.

My 9th-great-grandparents Benjamin and Margaret (Woodley) Scott  left Widdington, Essex,England because they wanted to be free to practice their religion. They were Quakers. In England, they could be fined for not attending the Church of England. In 1672, Margaret was fined for not going to church. Benjamin Scott was one of the London Commissioners that was sent to West Jersey in 1677 to purchase land from the Lenape.

References
First Freedom Center: About Us
National Religious Freedom Day
ReligiousFreedomDay.com
Religious Freedom Day Guidebook

Those Places Thursday: Widdington, Essex, England

Widdington Village sign.© Copyright Bikeboy and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. 

Widdington is a small village in Essex County, England. It is about five miles south of Saffron Walden and two miles southeast of Newport.

My 9th-great-grandparents Benjamin Scott and Margaret Woodley were from Widdington, Essex, England. They settled in Burlington, West Jersey, Province of New Jersey in 1681. Margaret's father, my 10th-great-grandfather John Woodley, was a yeoman from Widdington who died in 1644.

St. Mary the Virgin, Widdington. © Copyright Peter Stack and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Benjamin and Margaret (Woodley) Scott baptized two children at St. Mary the Virgin. Their son Benjamin was baptized there in 1666, and their son John was baptized there in 1668. They became Quakers, so the rest of their children were not baptized at the church. In 1872, the church was completely restored. Windows from the 12th and 15th centuries remain in the chancel. Splays and arches from the 15th century are in the nave.

Another view of St. Mary the Virgin, Widdington. © Copyright Robert Edwards and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Prior's Hall Barn, Widdington, Essex. © Copyright Robert Edwards and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. 

Prior's Hall Barn dates back to the 15th century and is one of the finest surviving medieval barns in eastern England.

Prior's Hall Barn, Widdington. Back view of barn, with pond next to it. © Copyright Lorraine and Keith Bowdler and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. 

References 
Widdington Village 
Widdington History 
Widdington (British History Online) 
Widdington (Open Domesday) 
Listed Buildings in Widdington, Essex, England 
History and Research: Prior's Hall Barn, Widdington 
Priors Hall Barn 
Prior's Hall Barn - Widdington, Essex 
Widdington Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals, Approved October 2013 
Wildlife Walk 1 - Widdington (Uttlesford Wildlife) 

Mappy Monday: English Civil War Map, 1642-1645

English Civil War map, 1642 to 1645. From Wikimedia Commons.

This map shows the areas of England controlled by Royalists and Parliamentarians in December 1642, December 1643, December 1644, and December 1645, and shows the dates and locations of battles.

My 10th-great-grandfather John Woodley, a yeoman from Widdington, Essex, England, died in 1644. When he wrote his will in 1644, he had one child, my 9th-great-grandmother Margaret Woodley, and his wife Bridget was pregnant. He was probably a fairly young man when he died. I wonder whether he participated in the Civil War.

52 Ancestors: #12 Margaret Woodley

My 9th-great-grandmother Margaret Woodley was a Quaker from Widdington, Essex County, England. She is mentioned in several documents which are described on the Seax - Essex Archives Online Web site. Constables' presentment for Widdington, created on 27 March 1671 (part of Calendar of Essex Assize File [ASS 35/112/3], Assizes held at Brentwood 26 July 1671), states that Margaret, wife of Benjamin Scott junior, was absent from church. (Because she was a Quaker, she did not attend the Church of England.) Deed to declare the uses of a fine, created on 19 June 1671, mentions Benjamin Scott junior of Widdington and his wife Margaret and Bridget Bingham of Newport, widow, and states that they were both daughters of John Woodley, late of Widdington, yeoman, deceased. Another document, included in Calendar of Essex Assize File [ASS 35/113/3], Assizes held at Chelmsford 15 July 1672, mentions Margaret, w. of Benjamin Scott, and many other people who did not go to church.

The England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers, 1578-1837 database on Ancestry.com includes records from the Monthly Meeting of Thaxted. These records contain information about children of Benjamin and Margaret:

John, born on the 27th day of the 7th month 1668
William, born on the 22nd day of the 8th month 1671, buried on the 1st day of the 8th month 1676
Margret, born on the 17th day of the 7th month 1673
Martonn, born on the 4th day of the 7th month 1676
Bridget (my 8th-great-grandmother), born on the 16th day of the 4th month 1679

In 1681, Benjamin and Margaret, their children, and Margaret's sister Bridget left England and settled in Burlington, West Jersey, Province of New Jersey. Birth records from the Burlington Monthly Meeting, found in Early Church Records of Burlington County, New Jersey, Vol. 1 by Charlotte D. Meldrum (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2007), contain information about one more child of Benjamin and Margaret: daughter Elizabeth, born on the 7th day of the 5th month 1681, on board the ship Henry and Ann at Gravesend.

Sadly, Margaret did not live long after coming to New Jersey. Early Church Records of Burlington County, New Jersey, Vol. 1 also includes death records from the Burlington Monthly Meeting. Margaret died on the 26th day of the 10th month 1682.