From John Beals, the father, there descended a large number of members of the Society of Friends located in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Oregon and California. On many of these descendants, gifts in the ministry have been conferred. Among those of direct descent were: Thomas Beals, Bowater Beals, Sarah Mills, Ruth Hockett, Hannah Cloud, Nathan Hunt, Hannah Baldwin, Elizabeth Bond, Peter Dix, Benejah Hiatt, John Bond, Jesse Bond, Jesse Williams, Jesse Hockett, Aseneth Clark, Myseam Mendenhall, Daniel Williams, Eleazer Beals, Asaph Hiatt, Ruth Haisley, Naomi Coffin, Esther Carson, Levi Jessup, Jesse B. Williams, Margaret Toms, William J. Thornberry, Anna M. Votaw, Amos Bond, Elwood Scott, Dr. Dougan Clark, Elizabeth Beals Bond and Jehial Bond.

From Chester County, as it then was, John Beals moved with his family to Monocacy Carols Manor, Maryland, There, his son Thomas, the subject of this sketch, married Sarah Ankram. From there they moved to Hopewell, near Winchester, Virginia, where John Beals died in 1745, three years before the family moved on to North Carolina.

Thomas Beals moved with his family to North Carolina in 1748, being then twenty-nine years old. He stopped first at Cane Creek, then he went to New Garden, North Carolina, which was at that time frontier territory. In a very short time, he was joined by some other families. In the year 1753, Thomas Beals, then about thirty-four years of age, came forth in the ministry. The next move he made was to Westfield, Surry County, North Carolina. Here he was instrumental in the development of a large meeting. He must have lived at New Garden and Westfield about thirty years, during which time he paid lengthy visits to the Indians.

In the year 1775, twenty years before Wayne’s Treaty with the Indians at Greenville, Thomas Beals, accompanied by his nephew Bowater Sumner, William Hiatt and David Ballard, started to pay a visit to the Delaware Indians and some other tribes. After passing a fort not far from Clinch Mountain in Virginia, they were arrested and carried back to the fort to be tried for their lives on the charge of being confederates of the hostile Indians. The officers, understanding that one of them was a preacher, required a sermon before they went in for trial. Thomas Beals thought it was the right time to hold a meeting with the soldiers. This proved to be a very good idea for a young man from the fort was converted and, some time after joined the Friends, became a member of the group and, at a very advanced age, bore public testimony to the truth of the principles of which he was convinced at the fort.

After the meeting, the Friends were kindly entertained and told that they were at liberty to go on their journey. They crossed the Ohio River into what is now the State of Ohio; held many satisfactory meetings with the Indians and returned home safely. Discussing the trip, Thomas Beals told his friends that he saw with his spiritual eye the seed of Friends scattered all over that good land and that one day there would be a greater gathering of Friends there than any other place in the world, and that his faith was strong in the belief that he would live to see Friends settle north of the Ohio River.

In the year 1777, Thomas Beals, accompanied by William Robinson and an interpreter, Isaac Ottoman, started to pay a religious visit to the Six Nations and some other tribes of Indians and proceeded as far as Sewickley, a small meeting of Friends in the western part of Pennsylvania, where they were captured and carried to Hannelstown, not far from Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh. There they were detained some time and then sent home. Still having a concern in his mind for the Indians, he made another attempt to visit them, but was again arrested and imprisoned, under guard, in a cold, open barn. When he was let out of confinement, he was permitted to hold a meeting with the soldiers, but was not allowed to go any farther, and had to return home.

In 1781, Thomas Beals moved from Westfield, North Carolina, to Blue Stone, Giles County, Virginia, where he lived but a few years. This move does not appear to have had the approval of his friends, for Nathan Hunt states that they sent a committee to induce him to return to Westfield, North Carolina. The little meeting of twenty or thirty families was entirely broken up at Blue Stone. Beals and his family stayed, however, and suffered not only for the necessities of life, but their son-in-law, James Horton, was taken prisoner by the Indians and, from most reliable information that can be obtained, was carried to Old Chillicothe, near Frankfort, Ohio, and there put to death.

In the year 1785, Beals moved to Lost Creek, in Tennessee, and in the year 1793, he came to Grayson County, Virginia, where Nathan Hunt states that Thomas Beals established meetings and says that he was very zealous for the support of the testimonies of Friends. In the year 1795, George Harlan and family, members of the Society of Friends, settled on the Little Miami, at Deerfield, four miles from the present town of Morrow.

In 1796, James Baldwin and Phineas Hunt, with their families, members of the Society of Friends, from Westfield, North Carolina, moved to the Virginia shore of the Ohio River. Here Mary Hunt was born, on October 18, 1796, four miles from Point Pleasant, on the Virginia shore. In February, 1797, the Baldwins and Hunts crossed the Ohio River and settled opposite Green Bottom near each other. Two families of Friends now settled together in the Northwest Territory with the one previously mentioned (the Harlans) quite remote from them.

On May 8, 1797, a group of Friends moved from Westland, Pennsylvania, and settled at High Bank on the east side of the Scioto River, four miles below the present Chillicothe. In the latter part of this same year, Jesse Baldwin moved from his first location opposite Green Bottom, some eighteen miles down the Ohio, and settled in what was called Quaker Bottom, in Lawrence County, opposite the mouth of the Guyandot River, and the present town of Guyandot. So far as can be ascertained, this was where Friends in the Northwest Territory first sat down to hold a Meeting for divine worship.

John Warner, son of Isaac and Mary Warner, who was born at High Bank, Ross County, Ohio, on July 12, 198, was, so far as is known, the first child born as a birthright member of the Society of Friends northwest of the Ohio River, and, on November 11 of that year, Rebecca Chandler, daughter of William and Hannah Chandler, was born near the same place. In 1798, a group of Friends from Hopewell, Virginia, settled at High Bank, and in the same year a group of Friends, all from North Carolina, settled at Salt Creek, near Richmondale, Ross County, Ohio.

In 1799, Thomas Beals, who had visited this country twenty-four years before, now moved to Quaker Bottom, along with other members of his family. They were accompanied by Obediah Overman and his family, all from Grayson County, Virginia. On their arrival, they opened a meeting for worship in the dwelling of Jesse Baldwin. There they met regularly during their residence at that place. The nearest Meeting to them was at Westland, Pennsylvania. Sometime during the year, 1799, Taylor Webster and family, from Redstone, Pennsylvania, settled at Grassy Prairies, five miles northeast of Chillicothe.

In the spring of 1801, Thomas Beals, Jesse Baldwin, John Beals and Daniel Beals moved from Quaker Bottom, and they, with Enoch Cox and their families, settled up Salt Creek, near the present town of Adelphia.

August 29, 1801, Thomas Beals died and was buried two days later, near Richmondale, Ross County, Ohio, in a coffin of regular shape, hollowed out of a solid white walnut tree by his ever faithful friend, Jesse Baldwin. He was assisted by Enoch Cox and others, who covered the coffin with a part of the same tree, which had previously been selected for this purpose by the deceased. Buried near him were William Puckett, Hugh Moffett, as well as others of the small community. A meeting house was later built on the land then owned by the Moffett family and a Meeting was held there for some time.

In the spring of 1802, a group of Friends settled on Lees Creek, in and near the present town of Leesburg, which is located in Highland County, Ohio, where no white person had lived before. In the fall of the same year, Sarah Beals, widow of Thomas Beals, and her sons, John and Daniel, and their families, moved from Adelphia, as did Phineas Hunt, formerly of Raccoon Falls. All settled at Lees Creek and Hardins Creek near each other. This community was augmented in the spring of 1803 by the families of Jesse Baldwin, John Beals, Bowater Beals and John Evans, and, in the fall of the same year, two Lupton families, from Hopewell, Virginia, settled at Lees Creek. On their arrival, Friends became concerned about a meeting for worship. Widow Sarah Beals heartily endorsed the idea. Thus there began a Friends Meeting at Fairfield (Leesburg), regularly authorized in May, 1804. Sarah Beals died July 7, 1813, at the age of 89, and was buried at Fairfield. Thomas Beals’s daughter, Margaret, whose first husband, James Horton, was captured by the Indians, afterward married Daniel Huff, who lived in the Fairfield community.

When Thomas Beals was captured in 1775, one recalls that a young man then in the fort was converted. That young man was Beverly Milner, who eventually settled near the last residence of Sarah Beals. In his later years, after he became too feeble to attend Meeting, he often alluded to the ministry of that “heavenly man by whom he was converted.” He died in 1848, when he was almost 87, and was buried at Fairfield.

This sketch may give some idea of the toil, privations, labor, struggles and sufferings of the pioneers. In planting Quakerism in the Old Northwest, Thomas Beals and his faithful wife and devoted family are but one of the hundreds who struggled, nor was he the only one buried in a log coffin. Many were buried with nothing but boards to separate them from the lone mountains, never to be seen or marked by loved ones. The author is convinced, however, that to Thomas Beals belongs the credit of having been the first Friends minister to carry the message of Christ into the vast region north and west to the Ohio, that region which in a few years, was to become the great center of the life of not only the Society of Friends, but the entire Nation. Thomas Beals’s prophecy of 1775 began to be realized in his own lifetime and has long been a reality, since one-third of the Friends of America have resided within the limits of the old Northwest Territory for three-quarters of a century!

Note: On September 19, 1937, a monument was dedicated at the grave of Thomas Beals near Richmondale, Ohio.

Rev. Thomas BEALS was the son of John BEALS II & Sarah BOWATER. Born 14 Mar 1719 in Nottingham, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. Died 29 Aug 1801 in Richmondale, Ross Co., Ohio. Buried in Presley Caldwell Farm 3/4 Mi. W Of Richmondale, OH.

Thomas Beals and Sarah Ancram had declared marriage intentions in Virginia, most likely at Hopewell MM, where their early books were lost in a fire in 1795. They were married in Prince Georges Co., Maryland. Living within the verge of Fairfax MM in Virginia, when that Quaker meeting was established and set off from Hopewell MM, Virginia, they were automatically transferred to Fairfax MM 1745-6. Thomas Beals remained in Prince George Co., MD until 1749. On 26 Jun 1749, Thomas and Sarah Beals and their four oldest children were granted certificates to Carvers MM, Bladen Co., NC, from there transferred to Cane Creek MM, Orange Co., NC when Cane Creek MM was set up, 7 Oct 1751 and were charter members. Then when New Garden MM (now Guilford Co., North Carolina) was set up in 1754, the family was transferred to that MM, never having moved from their original settlement.

Jeremiah Mills wrote in his journal: “My grandfather died when my father was about nine years old, leaving a weakly widow in the wilderness, with a family of small children to support. I have no doubt they saw hard times. Thomas Beals and family lived near grandmother’s, without seeing bread as I have often heard old people saying. They did not know what it was when my grandfather and some other persons came to see the country, and happening to have a few cakes in their saddle bags, gave some to the children, they did not know what they were, but looked at them awhile and never offered to bite them, laying them upon a board in the cabin. The girls wore leather petticoats, made of deerskins, and when they were young women grown, yet enjoyed themselves as well as Queen Victoria, dressed in silks of India and gems of Golconda. This Thomas Beals was a Quaker preacher and like Nimrod, the mighty hunter, he followed the game and was always forward in settling new countries. From Guilford, he moved into the mountains of Stokes Co., from there to Grayson Co., Virginia, from hence to the mouth of the Gian, on the Ohio River, thence to Salt Creek on the Scioto, there he was buried.”

In 1775, Thomas traveled into Shawnee territory with Bowater Sumner, William Hiatt, and David Ballard. During their journey, they were arrested and carried back to the fort near Clinch Mt., VA to be tried for their lives on the charge of being confederates with the hostile Indians. The officers, understanding that one of them was a preacher, required a sermon before they went in for trial. Beals thought it right to hold a meeting with the soldiers, which proved to be a highly favored season. A young man (Beverly Milner) then in the fort was converted and, sometime after, moved among Friends and became a member and, at a very advanced age, bore public testimony to the truth of the principles of which he was convinced at the fort. He later settled near the Beals family in Ohio and in his later years, after he became too feeble to attend Meeting, he often alluded to the ministry of that “heavenly man by whom he was converted.” Beverly Milner died in 1848, when he was almost 87 and was buried at Fairfield, Ohio. He was the great-grandfather of Clyde A. Milner, later President of Guilford College in N.C.

After this meeting was over, the Friends kindly entertained and were free and at liberty to go on their journey. They crossed the Ohio River south of Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh, PA) into what is now the state of Ohio and became acquainted with Chief Tecumseh and Waw-wil-a-way and held many meetings with the Indians with satisfaction and returned home with much peace of mind. Thomas Beals told his friends that he saw with his spiritual eye the seed of Friends scattered all over that good land and that one day there would be the greatest gathering of Friends there of any place in the world and that his faith was strong in the belief that he would live to see Friends settle north of the Ohio River In 1777, Thomas was again granted a certificate to the Mingo and Delaware Indians on the Ohio River. William Robinson and Isaac Ottoman (interpreter) proceeded as far as Sewickley in the western part of Pennsylvania. In his diary, Samuel Fisher writes: “11th day of 11th month — Thomas Bails and William Robinson, from New Garden in N. Carolina, visited us… they were on their way to perform a religious visit to the Indians, at the risk of their lives, engaging in this service from a sense of duty and universal love to be kind, engaged our sympathy and desire that they should be preserved in this time of diligence in the arduous undertaking. Thomas Bails expects to spend the greater part of his life among the Indians, and having visited them before, he will be useful among them.”

On their return in 1778, they reported that they had been detained prisoners for some weeks in a cold, open barn. Thomas had his certificate taken from him and the group was not allowed to go further.

In 1780, Thomas desiring to move his family to the Ohio River to be near the Delaware Indians, was advised by the meeting that he go himself and make inspection before moving his family. On 25 Mar 1780 Thomas Beals, William Hiatt, Christopher Hiatt and David Ballard were granted certificates to travel to the Ohio River to be near and labor with the Delaware Indians. On 7 Jul 1780, Thomas Branson was granted a certificate to Ohio to be with Thomas Beals. On 30 Sep 1780, Thomas Beals and David Ballard returned the certificates which had been granted them to Ohio. However, at some later date, Thomas Beals with his sons Daniel and John (also Jacob) did move from Grayson Co., Virginia to Quaker Bottom, Ohio, crossing the Ohio River on New Year’s day, 1800, where Cincinnati now is. They went to what is now Ross Co., Ohio. Others from the family came later.

According to Roger S. Boone, Some Quaker Families, Thomas Beals was knocked off his horse by a tree limb, coffin hewed out of solid butternut tree by Jesse Baldwin. He was buried on the Presley Caldwell Farm about 3/4 mi. west of Richmond Dale (Richmond), Ross Co., Ohio (near Londonderry MH, Highland Co., Ohio). Gravestone in Londonderry FBG.
At 2 P.M on Sunday, September 19, 1937, a public ceremony was held in a little walled plot on the Jacob Caldwell farm near Richmond Dale, Ohio marking the grave of a man who played a big part in the history of Ohio and Ross Co. In this two-rod square burial plot is interred the body of Thomas Beals, the first Quaker or Friends missionary to work among the Indians and early settlers of southern Ohio and Kentucky.

Thomas Beals died on August 28, 1801, near the spot of burial and was buried there three days later in a coffin hewed out of a white walnut log. The final resting place of Thomas Beals would be lost forever if it were not for records made by Gershom Perdue. The grave went unpreserved until 1854 when Gershom Perdue, an enthusiastic church organizer among the Friends, prevailed upon the yearly meeting of Friends to take steps to preserve the resting place of their patriarch. On June 20 of the same year, the plot was deeded to a special committee of the yearly meeting and the stone wall enclosure built a while later.

According to The History of the Early Settlement of Highland Co., Ohio by Daniel Scott, 1890: “Daniel, John and Jacob Beals, sons of old Thomas Beals, came with their widowed mother, and were the first to communicate the sad intelligence of the death of the venerable and loved Thomas, the preacher, which happened on their way out, and was caused from a hurt received by his horse running under a stooping tree. He died in a few hours afterward in the woods on the banks of Salt Creek. His sons and others who were with him found it utterly impossible to get plank or any material out of which to make a coffin, so they went to work and cut down a walnut tree and made a trough, which they covered with a slab. Thus prepared, they performed the sad rites, and the remains of the pure and good man were left to repose amidst the profound solitudes of the unbroken forests. The Friends’ meeting of Fairfield, in this county, have recently sent down a committee for the purpose of enclosing the grave, which was done by erecting a permanent stone wall around it”

Timeline

1719 – born to John Jr. & Sarah (Bowater) BEALS, birth recorded at New Garden MM, Chester Co., Pennsylvania
1719 – born in Chester Co., Pennsylvania
1741 – married at Cold Springs Friends Mtg., Monocacy, Prince Georges Co., Maryland then move to Opeckon/Hopewell, Frederick Co., Virginia near Winchester
1745 – chr mbrs Fairfax MM, Loudon Co., VA
1748 – to Carvers MM, Bladen Co., NC, then Cane Creek MM at Snow Camp, then New Garden (never moved)
1749 – travels into “Indian Territory” at the age of 30
1752 – Thomas & Sarah sign the first wedding cert. at New Garden MM, Rowan (now Guilford Co.) – marriage of John Hiatt and Sarah Hodson
1753 – becomes Quaker minister at age of 34
1754 – chr mbrs New Garden MM, Guilford Co., NC
1755 – Thomas Beals & Beals Sawmill shown on map of early residents of New Garden MM in Guilford Co., NC
1757 – (Note from JLT: This is probably another Thomas Beals, a cousin sent me this information) Thomas is listed in the “Muster Rolls” of Fredericks Co., MD. According to “The Early Settlements of Fredericks Co., MD”. Thomas & Sarah (Ancrum) were still residing in MD 1725 Mar 1765 – Rowan Co., NC, Deed Book 6 p. 258: Thomas Beals to Christopher Hiett – 11 acres – 5 pounds “on the branches of the Horsepenn Creek, beginning at sd. Beals Corner and running south twenty poles to White Oak the West eighty eight poles to a black oak then north twenty poles to a stake on the original line thence to the beginning.” signed by Thomas Beals and Sarah Beals and witnessed by Eleazar Hunt and John Unthank (this land was located in that part of Rowan Co. which became Guilford Co. in 1770)
1768 – of Rowan Co. (now Guilford), NC
Westfield, Surry Co., NC (this is the MM where many families who had removed to Tennessee and the west before meetings were established in those areas deposited their certificates — it is right at border of NC/VA)
1771-1774 – Thomas, William, Bowater, John and Daniel Beals are on the Surry and Wilkes Co., NC tax list
1774 – signs marriage record of Ann Beals & Jacob Jackson at Tom’s Creek in Surry Co., North Carolina
1775 – travels into Shawnee territory with nephews Bowater Sumner, William Hiatt and David Ballard and became acquainted with Chief Tecumseh and Waw-Wil-a-Way. They are arrested near Clinch Mtn., Virginia for “being confederate with the hostile Indians”. Beals felt it right to hold a meeting with the soldiers, after which they were released and they continued across the Ohio River, cross the Ohio River below Pittsburgh, taught many Indians and returned home with peace of mind
1777 – Religious visit to the Six Nations and some other tribes of Indians by Rev. Beals, William Robinson and Isaac Ottoman (interpreter). They proceed as far as Sewickley, a Friends settlement in the western part of Pennsylvania. They were captured and carried to Hannastown (Fort Reed), not far from Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh. They were detained some time and then sent home. Still having a concern in his mind for the Indians, Thomas Beals made another attempt to visit them, but was again arrested and imprisoned in a cold, open barn.They were finally released, but not allowed to go further.
1780 – Thomas’s request to move his family to Ohio to be near the Delaware Indians is denied by New Garden MM, NC. He was advised to go himself and make inspection before moving family.
1781 – moved from Westfield, Surry Co., North Carolina to Blue Stone, Giles Co., Virginia
1782 – visited by a Westfield committee which recommended that they return. Beals and his family stayed.
1785 – to Lost Creek, New Market, Jefferson Co., Tennessee
1786 – Tom’s Creek, Surry Co., NC becomes Westfield Mtg.
1787 – Beals and a small party to Clinch River, Kentucky
1788 – when Thomas’ son (John) married, Thomas was described as living in Hawkins Co., TN from Center MM, NC records (Hawkins Co. est. 1786)
1790 – “Virginia” consists of current states of VA, WV & KY
1790 – Beals, James Horton and a dozen men from NC establish camp on Bluestone River in Kentucky. Horton and 6 men captured. 5 men killed. Horton and John Branson captured and taken to Chillocothe, Ross Co., Ohio and tortured and burned at the stake. (Quaker John)
1792 – Thomas and sons John, Daniel and Jacob are received at Westfield MM, Surry Co., North Carolina from Lost Creek, Jefferson Co., Tennessee
1792 – Kentucky becomes a state
1793 – Mount Pleasant, Grayson Co., Virginia
1795 – Beals and Nathaniel Pope (personal friend of Daniel Boone) explore area that is now Fairfield Twp., Highland Co., Ohio. Beals introduces Pope to Chief Waw-Wil-a-Way.
1795 – George Harlan and family settle on the Little Miami at Deerfield, OH
1796 – James Baldwin & Phineas Hunt, with their families, members of the Society of Friends from Westfield, NC, moved to the Virginia shore of the Ohio River.
1796 – Jesse Baldwin, the wife and sons of Rev. Beals, Phineas Hunt and families are already at “The Green Bottom” when Nathaniel Pope arrives
8 May 1797 – a group of Friends moved from Westland, PA, and settled at High Bank on the east side of the Scioto River, four miles below the present Chillicothe.
Late 1797 – Jesse Baldwin moved 18 miles down the Ohio River from Green Bottom to what was called Quaker Bottom in Lawrence Co., opposite the mouth of the Guyandot River and the present town of Guyandot.
1798 – Thos., Daniel, John & Jacob “laid a concern before the mtg. (Westfield, NC) of removal to Scioto River (Highland Co., OH) or thereaway”. Disapproved by QM.
1798 – a group of Friends from North Carolina settle at Salt Creek, near Richmondale, Ross Co., Ohio
1799 – Quaker bottom land (Lawrence Co., Ohio) with John & Daniel , & Jacob – just across the Ohio River from the Guyandot River in West Virginia
1799 – Thomas & members of his family moved to Quaker Bottom with Obediah Overman from Grayson Co., VA
1800 – Thomas and John Belas (typo for Beals?) and Daniel and Jacob Beals are on the 1800 census living in Gallipolis, Washington Co., Ohio along with Nathaniel Pope and Jessie Hiatt (all except Rev. Thomas are shown in the early records of Fairfield Twp., Highland Co.)
Spring of 1801 – Thomas Beals, Jesse Baldwin and Daniel Beals (and John and Jacob?) moved from Quaker Bottom, and they, with Enoch Cox and their families, settled on Salt Creek, near the present town of Adelphia
1801 – Was in Adelphia on Salt Creek, Ross Co. (NE corner), Ohio
29 Aug 1801 – Thomas Beals died and was buried near Richmondale, Ross Co. (now in Jefferson Co.), Ohio
19 Sep 1937 – a monument was dedicated to Thomas Beals, inscribed: First Quaker Missionary to the Indians in the Northwest Territory, at Londonderry (now Guernsey Co.), Ohio
He married Sarah ANCRAM, daughter of Richard and Mary (Ashman/Matthews) ANCRAM on 12 Nov 1741 in Cold Spr. Mtg., Monocacy, Prince Geo. Co., MD. She was born About 1724 in Chester Co., Pennsylvania. Died 6 Jul 1813 in Fairfield, Highland Co., Ohio. Buried in Fairfield FBG, Fairfield, Highland Co., Ohio.
Timeline: 1724 – born Chester Co., Pennsylvania?
1741 – married at Cold Springs Mtg., Monocacy, Prince Geo. Co., MD
Sarah Antram of Prince George Co., MD married Thomas Beales. Witnesses: Oliver Matthews, Thomas Matthews, Francis Henley, Amos Jenny, Evan Thomas. John Wright, Mary Matthews, Sarah Beales, Elizabeth Matthews, Hannah Ballinger, Susanna Moon, Mary Tannyhill
1788 – of Hawkins Co., according to Center MM, NC records
1801 – dies in Fairfield, Highland Co., Ohio
1801 – buried in the old Fairfield Friends Mtg. Cemetery near the old brick church, Leesburg, Highland Co., Ohio

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Early life

Clayton was baptized on December 9, 1632, in Boxgrove, England, the son of William Clayton and Joan Smith.

His mother died before he was a teenager, and in 1653 he married Prudence Lanckford, a daughter of William Lanckford, in St Pancras, London. Clayton became a carpenter by trade and a follower of the Quaker religion.

Pennsylvania

Clayton was a founder of the Pennsylvania colony, serving as an original commissioner for William Penn, as well as one of Philadelphia’s first judges. He was appointed to the provincial Council in 3 Aug 1681, and later was elected to the council in 1683, serving until 30 Mar 1686. On 19 Aug 1684, he was commissioned as a JP in Philadelphia County.[2]

Penn Company Commissioner

In 1677, Clayton set sail for America, arriving in New York after being selected by Penn to serve as a commissioner. He oversaw the clearance of Indian land titles acquired by Penn in the West Jersey colony near present-day Burlington, New Jersey. In 1678, he purchased 1000 acres in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.[3] In 1681, his family removed to Chichester, Pennsylvania, where Clayton had secured a 500-acre land patent.

Chester and Philadelphia judge

In 1681, he presided over the first Upland Court in Chester, Pennsylvania and eventually was one of the first judges of nearby Philadelphia.

The post William Clayton III appeared first on Michael A. Hartmann.

A lifelong Quaker, he became a successful mining engineer with a global perspective. He built an international reputation as a humanitarian by leading international relief efforts in Belgium during World War I, 1914-1917. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917 he became “food czar” as head of the U.S. Food Administration with charge of much of the nation’s food supply and a massive advertising campaign to help consumers adjust and save. He worked well with President Woodrow Wilson and the cabinet, and gained a large national audience. After the war, he led the American Relief Administration, which provided food to the inhabitants of Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Hoover was popular among progressives as a potential candidate in the 1920 presidential election, but his candidacy quickly petered out. Republican Warren G. Harding won and appointed Hoover as Secretary of Commerce. Hoover was an unusually active and visible cabinet member, becoming known as “Secretary of Commerce and Under-Secretary of all other departments.” Hoover won the Republican nomination in 1928, and defeated Democrat Al Smith in a landslide. Hoover avoided the anti-Catholicism that hurt Smith, but in a time of peace and prosperity his success was highly likely.

The post Herbert Clark Hoover appeared first on Michael A. Hartmann.

Counterfeiting plot discovery

One of Townsend’s most valuable and memorable discoveries concerned a plot by the British to ruin the American economy by flooding the country with counterfeit dollars. American political and military leaders were well-aware of these intentions and understood the potential ramifications of a worthless dollar. In early 1780, Townsend received some intelligence about the British belief that the war would not last much longer as a result of a disastrous depreciation of the dollar. The most crucial part of Townsend’s report was that the British had procured “several reams of paper made for the last emission struck by Congress.” This was terrible news for American leaders because whereas before the British were forced to counterfeit money on paper that was similar to the official paper, now they had the authentic paper, and thus distinguishing between real and fake money would be virtually impossible. As a result, Congress was forced to recall all its bills in circulation; a major ordeal but one that saved the war-effort by not allowing counterfeit money to flood the market.[18]

Counterintelligence

Townsend warned his superiors of spies in their midst. At one point, he warned Benjamin Tallmadge that Christoper Duychenik was an agent of New York City Mayor David Mathews. Townsend warned that Mathews was under the direction of Governor William Tryon. Townsend also believed that if these men found out about the intelligence report, they would immediately suspect Townsend, indicating Townsend’s potential association with high-level officials.

Disinformation

After the French had joined the war on the side of the colonists a French fleet was set to land and disembark troops at Newport, Rhode Island. The problem with this plan was that the British controlled Long Island and New York City and had large amounts of influence in Long Island Sound. The British got wind of the French plans and began preparing to intercept the smaller French fleet before the French soldiers could make landfall. When George Washington learned of the British plans through the Culper Spy Ring he was able to successfully bluff the British forces into believing an attack was planned on New York City. Through feeding the enemy false information on his plans Washington was able to keep the British occupied while the French were able to safely land their forces.

Suspicion

A number of events caused Townsend to become extremely suspicious and led to his using great caution regarding spy activities.

One involved his nephew, James Townsend. After Washington and Woodhull had a brief falling-out, James became the new courier between Robert and Tallmadge. James’ cover story was that he was a Tory visiting family in rebel-controlled territory and was seeking to recruit men for the British army. When James visited the Deausenberry family, he acted the part well enough to convince the secret Patriots that he was really a Tory. John Deausenberry dragged James to the local Patriot headquarters, but after Washington’s personal intervention, James was set free. This event not only caused anger towards his nephew for Robert, but illustrated how easy it was to get caught. As a result of this event, Townsend often refused to report intelligence in writing for the remainder of his spying career.

Another event revolved around the arrest of Hercules Mulligan by Benedict Arnold (by then serving the British). Mulligan eventually became an agent of the Culper Ring and was responsible for a number of intelligence reports. Mulligan had previously been arrested for agitating anti-British sentiment, and Arnold had him arrested for having questionable American contacts. Although he was released after no evidence showed him to be a spy, his short captivity further convinced Townsend of the dangers he faced. This event led Tallmadge to direct Culper Ring activities more towards tactical intelligence for Tallmadge’s dragoons rather than undercover operations in New York.

As the end of the war drew near, and American forces focused on Yorktown and Lord Charles Cornwallis, the Culper Ring became less significant for Washington. However, even after the British Parliament overruled King George III and ordered a cessation of arms, Washington remained skeptical of British intentions. Reports suggested that British forces in New York still continued to fortify their lines. Nevertheless, Culper activity was limited and ended for a short time. However, when a British delegate reached Paris in 1782 to discuss peace negotiations, Washington reactivated the Ring. Upon this request to reactivate, Townsend wrote what is likely his last report on September 19, 1782:

The last packet…has indeed brought the clearest and unequivocal Proofs that the independence of America is unconditionally to be acknowledged, nor will there be any conditions insisted on for those who have joined the King’s Standard…Sir Guy himself says that he thinks it not improbable that the next Packet may bring orders for an evacuation of N. York.

A fleet is getting ready to sail for the Bay of Fundy about the first of October to transport a large number of Refugees to that Quarter…Indeed, I never saw such general distress and dissatisfaction in my life as is painted in the countenance of every Tory at N.Y.

Life after the Culper Ring

After the war, Townsend ended his business connections in New York and moved back to Oyster Bay. Townsend never married, sharing his family’s home and growing old with his sister Sally.

Townsend likely had a son, Robert Townsend, Jr., and it is unclear who the child’s mother was. One possibility is Townsend’s housekeeper, Mary Banvard, whom Robert Sr. left $500 in his will.Another possibility is that the mother was a Culper Ring member known today only as Agent 355, however, this possibility is unlikely. Questions remain about whether Robert, Jr. was indeed Townsend’s son. Solomon Townsend once claimed that Townsend’s brother, William, was actually the father.

Robert Townsend died on March 7, 1838, at the age of eighty-four. He managed to take his alternate identity to the grave. The identity of Samuel Culper, Jr. was discovered in 1930 by New York historian Morton Pennypacker. The Townsend home in Oyster Bay is now a museum known as the Raynham Hall Museum.

All content courtesy Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Townsend_(spy)

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Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing his undergraduate studies at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife Pat moved to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government. He subsequently served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Reserve during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist and elevated him to national prominence. He was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as Vice President, becoming the second-youngest vice president in history at age 40. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California to Pat Brown in 1962. In 1968, he ran for the presidency again and was elected, defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Nixon ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam in 1973 and brought the American POWs home, and ended the military draft. Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 eventually led to diplomatic relations between the two nations and he initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union the same year. His administration generally transferred power from Washington D.C. to the states. He imposed wage and price controls for ninety days, enforced desegregation of Southern schools, established the Environmental Protection Agency and began the War on Cancer. Nixon also presided over the Apollo 11 moon landing, which signaled the end of the moon race. He was reelected in one of the largest electoral landslides in U.S. history in 1972 when he defeated George McGovern.

In his second term, Nixon ordered an airlift to resupply Israeli losses in the Yom Kippur War, resulting in the restart of the Middle East peace process and an oil crisis at home. The Nixon administration supported a coup in Chile that ousted the government of Salvador Allende and propelled Augusto Pinochet to power. By late 1973, the Watergate scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support. On August 9, 1974, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he was issued a controversial pardon by his successor, Gerald Ford. In 20 years of retirement, Nixon wrote nine books and undertook many foreign trips, helping to rehabilitate his image into that of elder statesman. He suffered a debilitating stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.

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