Clayton, William

Clayton, William

Male 1632 - 1689  (56 years)

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  • Name Clayton, William  [1
    Born 8 Dec 1632  Chichester, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Gender Male 
    Died Aug 1689  Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Person ID I24422  My Genealogy
    Last Modified 21 Jan 2022 

    Father Clayton, William,   b. 1590, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1658, Chichester, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 68 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Smith, Joan,   b. 1610, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 27 Apr 1644  (Age < 34 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Married 30 Oct 1631  [2, 3, 4
    Family ID F10768  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Lanckford, Prudence,   b. 1630, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 7 Nov 1653  Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [5, 6
    Children 
     1. Clayton, Prudence,   b. 20 Aug 1657, Lowes, Chichester, Sussex County, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1728, Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 70 years)  [natural]
     2. Clayton, Joseph,   b. 12 Dec 1659, Lowes, Chichester, Sussex County, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [natural]
     3. Clayton, Elizabeth,   b. 1660  [natural]
     4. Clayton, Honour,   b. 29 Nov 1662, Chichester, Sussex County, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [natural]
     5. Clayton, William,   b. 11 Mar 1664/65,   d. 22 Feb 1726/27, Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 61 years)  [natural]
     6. Clayton, Mary,   b. 29 Jun 1665, Sussex, Rumbaldeweek, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1725, Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 59 years)  [natural]
     7. Clayton, Elizabeth,   b. 29 Jun 1665, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Jun 1665, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 0 years)  [natural]
     8. Clayton, Hannah,   b. 2 Nov 1667, Chichester, Sussex County, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [natural]
    Last Modified 21 Jan 2022 
    Family ID F9247  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 8 Dec 1632 - Chichester, Sussex, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 7 Nov 1653 - Sussex, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - Aug 1689 - Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Histories
    William Clayton Story.ftms
    William Clayton Story.ftms

  • Notes 
    • History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches, John Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, Published by Louis H. Everts, Philadelphia, 1881, page 1467.

      CLAYTON, WILLIAM, with his family, arrived in the ship "Kent" from London, in company with certain commissioners sent out by the proprietors of New Jersey to purchase lands from the Indians, etc. In 1678-9 (March) be purchased the share of Hans Oelson, one of the original grantees of Marcus Hook, and settled at that place. As a Quaker, he was an active and consistent member, and likewise took a part in political affairs. He was a member of Governor Markham's Council, and also of that of the proprietary after his arrival, while at the same time he served as one of the justices of the court of Upland County, and subsequently for that of Chester County, presiding at the first court held in Pennsylvania under the proprietary government. He died in 1689, leaving a widow, Prudence, and the following children, if not more: Prudence, m. to Henry Reynolds, 11, 10, 1678; Honour, m. to James Browne, 6, 8, 1679; William, m. to Elizabeth Bezer, 1682; and Mary, to John Beals, in the same year.

      William Clayton, Jr., died in Chichester about 1727, leaving a widow, Elizabeth, and children,- William, Richard, Rachel, married to Thomas Howell, Edward, Ambrose, Thomas, and Abel. His daughter Elizabeth, born 5, 12, 1685, is not mentioned in his will, but she married Daniel Davis in 1705.

      William (3) married Mary, daughter of Walter Marten, of Chichester, and died about December, 1757. His children were Mary, m. to Nineveh Carter; William, m. Mary Evans, of Uwchlan; Lydia, m. John Spruce and Abraham Carter; Sarah, m. John Phipps; Moses; Prudence, m. to John Ford; Patience, m. to Henry Grubb; and David.

      Edward Clayton married, 12, 25, 1713, Ann Whitaker, daughter of James, and settled in Bradford, on the southwest side of the present village of Marshallton. The Friends' Meeting property is a part of the land. He died about 1760. His children were John, Elizabeth, Hannah, m. Robert Green; Joshua, b. 1, 8, 1725; William, b. about 1728, d. 4, 16, 1814; Sarah, m. Joseph Thornbury; and Susanna, m. to Isaac Spackman.

      Joshua married, 5, 16, 1753, Martha Baker, daughter of Aaron and Mary, of West Marlborough, and continued to reside on a part of his father's land. His children were Aaron, b. 4, 2, 1754, m. 6, 9, 1779, to Sarah Baily; Mary, m. Enoch Speakman; Joshua; Samuel, m. Ann Speakman; Hannah, m. Amos Speakman; Jacob, Martha, Caleb, Rachel, Susanna, and Isaac.
      William Clayton, son of Edward, married, 3, 24, 1750, Abigail Woodward, daughter of Henry and Mary, of East Bradford; second wife, Mary, died 3, 8, 1825. Their daughter Ann died 4, 7, 1825; son James, 9, 1, 1827, aged 49; and son Thomas, 12, 20, 1864, aged about 85.

      ___________________________________________________________________

      WILL OF WILLIAM CLAYTON, of the parish of St. Pancras, Chichester,
      Sussex, England, 1 Feb 1658/9.
      Consistory Court Will Register 1653-1668 in Chichester Miscellaneous
      Wills 1653-1668, vol. 218, Ref. ST61/218 at the West Sussex Record
      Office, Chichester, Sussex. Copied and transcribed by Marilyn London
      Winton, 1984.

      "WILLIAM CLAYTON. In the name of God I Will Clayton of the Parish of Pancras without the East Gate, of Chichester in the County of Sussex, Timberman, being sick & weak in body yet of perfect memory Lord to be thanked, do make & ordain this my last will & Testament in form following.
      First I give and bequeath my soul into the hand of Almighty God and my
      body to the earth.
      ....Item: I give unto my son Will Clayton the sum of 12 pence to be paid
      within on whole year after my decease.
      ....Item: I give unto my grandchildren William Clayton [and] Prudence Clayton the children of my son Will Clayton the sum of 20 shillings apiece to be paid unto them after they shall accomplish the age of 21 years.
      ....Item: I give unto my son Richard Clayton the sum of 20 shillings to be paid him when he shall accomplish the age of 21 years.
      ....Item: I give unto my son Thomas Clayton the sum of 20 shillings to be paid him when he shall accomplish the age of 21 years.
      ....Also I give and appoint 5 pounds for the placing of my son Thomas above said between this and the first day of May next ensuing the date hereof unto Thomas Coby.
      ....Item: I give also unto my daughter Elizabeth Clayton the sum of 40 shillings to be paid her within one whole year of my decease.
      ....Item: I give unto my daughter Mary Clayton the sum of 5 pounds to be paid her when she shall attain to the age of 20 and 1 years.
      ....All the rest of my goods I give unto my loving wife Elizabeth Clayton after my debts and funeral expenses be discharged for her well being and for the bringing up of my youngest daughter Mary Clayton, and do ordain and make her my Executor of this my last will and testament. But my will & meaning is that for as much as my wife may be uncapable to manage my estate to the best use and for the payment of debts in the due order, and for as much as my loving friend John Peche [Peachey] of Pagham doth stand bound with me for much of my only debts, I do ordain and appoint my friend John Peche [Peachey] and do give him full power and authority (not withstanding my Executor above said) to prove this my last will & meaning and to take an inventory of all my goods and to sell the same until such time my debts & funeral expenses be discharged, and then to resign up the Executorship into the hands of my loving wife, and to my meaning above said he being paid all such charges as he shall be at in this business.
      ....And I do ordain & appoint & my will & meaning is & I do desire my 2 friends & do give them powers to call the above named John Peche [Peachey] unto an account & unto such accounts as are needful & as often as they shall think fit, namely William Steele, miller, & living without the east gate of Chichester, & John Avery, shoemaker in Chichester, & I do desire them that they do see this my last will be performed tothe
      true intent & meaning hereof, & I do give my 2 friends Will Steele & John Avery 2 shillings apiece for their care & pains & to have their expenses borne from time to time when they shall be employed about my business.
      ....In witness hereunto I have set to my hand & seal this first day of February, [the year] of the lord 165 & 8.
      William Clayton
      In witness, us, ....Thomas Hopkins ....John Rogers
    • William Clayton received a patent for 500 acres in Chester Co.,PA. Moved from Chygoes Island, which was renamed Burlington by the Quakers, and is no longer an island.

      It has been determined that Willliam Clayton is NOT the son of a London lawyer, or Oxford University dignitary that was previously claimed.

      A Will Bond in lieu of a Will was signed by his son, William Clayton, Jr. and is number 119 for the year 1689 in the Register of Wills office of the City and County of Philadelphia, PA.

      Exactly when William Clayton became a Quaker is not known, but he was active as a Friend before he emigrated on the ship Kent to New Jersey. Samuel Janney in his "History of the Religious Society of Friends" speaks of a William Clayton going on a missionary trip to Ireland in 1656. Joseph Besse in his "Collections of Sufferings for Sussex" has this entry: "On the 7th day of the 12th month of this present year 1663, Edward Hamper, Nicholas Rickman, Tristram Martin, William Turner, John Baker, John Sanfold, Richard Newman, William Clayton and Henry Wolger for the sake of truth they did profess in meeting together to wait upon the Lord with the rest of the Meeting (Chichester) then assembled, were by one Major Mills with his band of armed men and with guns and swords drawn and in a violent manner took out of the said meeting twenty persons and had them to an inn, where they were kept till midnight and in the meantime the said Major Mills sent for William Gratwick, called a Justice of the Peace in this County of Sussex, and for no other cause were the several persons afore named by him the said Gratwick, committed to goal and the rest he bound over to answer for that offence,, so called, who accordingly appeared at the Assize, but were not called for anything said to them in relation to that matter, but at the following Sessions the aforementioned persons who were committed to goal were fined every many six pounds for the said meeting, and because for conscience sake they could not pay their fines aforesaid, they were committed to the House of Correction for six months in the town of Arundel (about 10 miles to the east) where they lay until it was expired, but here it is to be noted that John Snasfold aforesaid was fined but three pounds, and for not paying it lay there three months. "

      And the same "Collection for Lancashire" has this entry for 1665: "As William Clayton was preaching in a Meeting at Padisham, the Priest of that Parish, attended by a Constable with a Warrant, came into the Meeting, pulled William out on the street,, tore his coat. The Constable then carried him before the Justices, who tendered him the Oath of Allegiance, and upon his refusal to take it, committed him to prison till the next sessions, when the Justices fined him five pounds for being at an unlawful Assembly, and committed him to the House of Corrections for three months. The Officers, for pretended fees and charges of carrying him thither, took his coat off his back. The keeper put him into a dungeon for five days and nights, till some moderate people of the town procured him the common liberty of the house for the rest of the time."

      Two Quakers, Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick were partners in a proprietorship for West Jersey purchased for Lord Berkeley. Because of financial difficulties, Byllinge signed over his share to William Penn and two other creditors who in turn sold proprietary lots to two companies of Friends, one from Yorkshire and one from London. Commissioners were appointed to "purchase from the Indians" or "to extinguish the Indian title" to the land and they shipped ion the Kent. William Clayton was among those who came with these Commissioners. There were seventeen family heads listed on the Kent which started loading in March 4 1677 and finally sailed in the early summer. They passed the royal barge in the Thames and were given a blessing by King Charles II who was undoubtedly glad to see them go. After a stop in New York, the Kent sailed up the Delaware late in August and finally settled in "Chygoe's Island," This became Burlington, NJ. There were some scattered buildings from the Swedish settlement there, but during the first winter many of the settlers had to be sheltered in sheds, tents and stables. "The Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Providence of West Jersey in America" had been drawn and signed before the trip was undertaken. This document of civil and religious liberty was the Friends first experiment in legislation. It created an executive and a legislative power, provided that a Governor be chosen by an Assembly which in turn was elected by the people, and became the basis for the common law of the province. This colony predated Pennsylvania by five years.

      The fact that William Penn referred to William Clayton as "cousin" as well as "friend" has not been explained.

      Time Line: William Clayton was born 1 year prior to the first town government in the colonies being organized in Dorchester, Massachusetts

  • Sources 
    1. [S527] Kathryn Bales Porter, Christina Llewellyn, (Name: on line at Rootsweb; Location: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2482105; Date: 2003;).

    2. [S679] The Franzman lines : Schoene, Mueller, Scarborough, Byers, Williams, Hiatt, Clayton, Beals, Bowater, Corbett, Laura Huffman Renda.

    3. [S654] Parish Records, Boxgrove, Sussex, England.

    4. [S392] U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Yates Publishing, (Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004;), Database online. Source number: 6019.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: JDM.
      Record for William Clayton

    5. [S656] Parish Record, St. Pancras Parish, Cichester, Sussex, England.
      "William son of William Clayton of the parish and Prudence Lanckford of the the Less (Parish), Daughter of William Lanckford of Groughton, Hampshire.."

    6. [S665] U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Yates Publishing, (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Original data - This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was derived;), U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900.
      marriage date: 07 Nov 1653
      marriage place: Sussex, England
      birth date: 1630
      birth place: Sussex, England