1677 Thomas Ridgway, eldest son of Richard and Elizabeth Ridgway, was born on July 25 in England. [1]
1679 Anne Pharo, daughter of James and Anne Pharo, was born on 14 of month 12, 1678/79, in Medlam, Lincolnshire, England. [2] Ann Pharo arrived in the Delaware river in the "Shield" with her father James Pharo, in October of the year of her birth. [3]
1695 Daniel Smith, of Burlington, and Mary Murfin, of Nottingham Township, were married on July 2, at Francis Davenport's house, Burlington County, New Jersey. Witnessed by Anne Farrah, Mary Farrah, Ann Farrah, and Jarves Farrah and others. [4]
1699 Thomas Ridgway moved to New Jersey with his father. Thomas Ridgway produced a certificate from Chesterfield MM to marry Ann Pharo. [5] Ann Pharo was judged free to marry Thomas Ridgway on 6 of month 9, by the Burlington Meeting. [6] They made their second declaration of intention of marriage at Burlington Monthly Meeting, on 19 of 9 mo. [November]. Ann Pharo Thomas Ridgway were married in 1699. [7] [8] [9] [10]
1700 Richard Ridgway conveyed to his son, Thomas, 190 acres in Springfield township, Burlington county. Deed dated January 18, 1699/1700. The tract consisted of the whole of his first purchase of 90 acres of the widow Ogborne in 1697, and 100 acres of the tract purchased of John Hollingshead. Thomas purchased other lands in Burlington county, and continued to reside there for about ten years after his marriage.
1704 William Murfin and Sarah Bunting were married on August 8, at Chesterfield. Witnesses: Thomas and Ann Ridgway and others. [11]
Thomas Ridgway moved to Little Egg Harbor [12], where he accumulated a large estate. Thomas Ridgway was for many years an Elder of the Friends Meeting at Little Egg Harbor, and was much esteemed in the community. [13]
His first wife was Ann Pharo, who was the mother of five children, and died some years before him. He married (second) Elizabeth, daughter of Edward and Sara Andrews, who survived him, by whom he had eight children. [14] [15] [16]
1712 The marriage of Thomas Ridgway and Elizabeth Andrews, daughter of Edward, was recorded on 6 of month 9, at the Chesterfield meeting. [17]
1724 The will of Thomas Ridgway, husbandman, was dated August 19, 1724, at Little Egg Harber, Burlington County. It named Wife Elisibeth. Children: Thomas, John, Robert, Edward, Richard, all except Thomas under age; eight sons mentioned, but only preceding names given. Real and personal estate. Executors: the wife and sons Thomas and John. Witnesses: Samuel Andrews, Mary Jacobs, Mardaca Andrews. Proved January 15, 1724-5. [18] [19]
1724 Thomas Ridgway died in 1724 at the age of forty-seven years. [20] Thomas was buried at the Friends graveyard in Tuckerton. [21]
1724 The Inventory, dated October 30, of the personal estate of Thomas Ridgway, was valued at £611.1.8, and included "neagors & a sloup" £152.5.3; made by Gervas Pharo, Jacob Ong (son-in-law) and James Pharo. [22]
1725 The will of Elizabeth Ridgway of Little Egg Harbor was dated 1mo. 1, 1725, and was proved on June 2, 1725. The will mentioned her children, Edward, Richard, Job, Joseph, Jacob and Elizabeth, daughters-in-law (step-daughters), Ann Ridgway, Katrin Gardiner; sons-in-law, Thomas and John Ridgway." [23] [24]
1733 Mathew Champion of Burlington named James Pharo and his descendants as beneficiaries in his will, including kinsman Thomas Ridgway's children by his first wife (Ann Pharo, daughter of James). [25]
Research Notes:
The record of the children of James and Ann Pharo is taken from the Chesterfield, New Jersey, Friends Records.
A biosketch reports [26]:
Thomas Ridgway, eldest son of Richard and Elizabeth Ridgway, born in England, July 25, 1677, removed with his father to New Jersey, and married at Springfield Meeting House, in 1699, Ann Pharo, their second declaration of intention of marriage being made at Burlington Monthly Meeting, Qmo. (Nov.) 19, 1699. Ann Pharo was born February 21, 1677-8, and arrived in the Delaware river in the "Shield" with her father James Pharo, in October of the year of her birth. On January 18, 1699- 1700, Richard Ridgway conveyed to his son Thomas, 190 acres in Springfield township, Burlington county, the whole of his first purchase of 90 acres of the widow Ogborne in 1697, and lOO acres of the tract purchased of John Hollingshead. Thomas purchased other lands in Burlington county, and continued to reside there for about ten years after his marriage, and then removed to Little Egg Harbor, where he accumulated a large estate. Thomas Ridgway was for many years an Elder of the Friends Meeting at Little Egg Harbor, and was inuch esteemed in the community. He died in 1724 at the age of forty-seven years. His first wife Ann Pharo, who was the mother of five children, died some years before him, and he married (second) Elizabeth, daughter of Edward and Sara Andrews, who survived him, by whom he had eight children. Her will dated imo. i, 1725, proved June 2, 1725, mentions her children, Edward, Richard, Job, Joseph, Jacob and Elizabeth, daughters-in-law (step-daughters), Ann Ridgway, Katrin Gardiner; sons-in-law, Thomas and John Ridgway.
There is some uncertainty about whether Thomas Ridgway had a second wife [27]:
As before stated, Thomas Ridgway was the eldest child of Richard Ridgway, Sr., and was born in England the 25th day of the 5th month, 1677, and was two years_and two months old when he with his parents arrived in America. Thomas Ridgway married Ann, daughter of James Pharo, who came to America in the ship Shield. Ann Pharo, like her husband, was born in England, and was about one year old when she came to America. She was born the 21st day of February, 1678. Ann Pharo was the mother of all of Thomas Ridgway's eleven children.
A certain author states that Ann was the mother of John, Thomas and Catharine, and that the second wife, Elizabeth Andrews, was the mother of the other eight children, but with the descendants of Thomas Ridgway, it is a tradition that Ann was the mother of all of the children, and that Elizabeth had no children, and the following record is proof that the children were Ann's.
Timothy Pharo, Sr., who married a grand-daughter of Thomas Ridgway, Sr., made the following record in his family Bible :
" Ann Pharo, daughter of the said James Pharo and Ann his wife, was born the 21st day of 12th month, called February, (old style) 1677—8, the mother of Thomas, John and Robert Ridgway, and Catharine Garner and Ann Gauntt, the public preacher, all born in Little Egg Harbor."
This record gives the names of Thomas Ridgway's oldest and youngest children, and if Ann, the first wife, was the mother of the first and the last children, she must have been the mother of those which intervened.
A biosketch reports [28]:
The eldest of the children of Richard Ridgway, the colonist, was Thomas Ridgway, born in England, July 25th, 1677. He spent the early years of his life at Crewcorne then about 1697 accompanied his father over the Delaware into Burlington County. West Jersey, where they had originally landed from the ship in 1679 and shortly after made his way across the state the entire length of Burlington County and took up his abode in Little Egg Harbor Township near a place now called Tuckerton.
Thomas Ridgway located on the borders of Little Egg Harbor bay where later he became an extensive farmer and land owner as will appear by reference to his will. He also became an owner of vessel property and likewise slaves which are mentioned in his will. He was evidently one of the wealthiest men of his time in that section of New Jersey. He was twice married, first in 1699 to Anna Pharo, daughter of James and Anna Pharo who had come to West Jersey in 1678 in the Shield, the second English ship to land passengers on the east bank of the delaware river, the Kent having been the first.
"Thomas Ridgway, b. 5 mo. 25, 1677, son of Richard and Elizabeth, and Anne, b. 12 mo. 14, 1678, daughter of James and Anne Pharo, were married in the year 1699. They settled at Little Egg Harbor, N.J." [29]
[1] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[2] Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Untitled: Chesterfield Births and Deaths, 6, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[3] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[4] Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington, New Jersey, Births and Deaths, 1675-1750, Vol. K, Marriages, 1684-1724, 49, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[5] William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol. 2 [NJ and Pennsylvania] (1938), 252, [HathiTrust].
[6] William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol. 2 [NJ and Pennsylvania] (1938), 249, [HathiTrust].
[7] U.S. Quaker Meeting Records, Marriages in Burlington Monthly Meeting (derived from other sources), [AncestryImage].
[8] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[9] Charlotte D. Meldrum, Early Church Records of Burlington County, New Jersey, Vol. 1 (1994), 67.
[10] George DeCou, Burlington: A Provincial Capital (1945), 205, [GoogleBooks].
[11] Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington, New Jersey, Births and Deaths, 1675-1750, Vol. K, Marriages, 1684-1724, 64, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[12] Leah Blackman, "History of Little Egg Harbor Township," Proceedings, Constitution, By-Laws, List of Members, &c. of the Surveyors' Association of West New Jersey (1880), Appendix: 171-420, 427-468, at 178, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].
[13] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[14] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[15] George DeCou, Burlington: A Provincial Capital (1945), 205, [GoogleBooks].
[16] Leah Blackman, "History of Little Egg Harbor Township," Proceedings, Constitution, By-Laws, List of Members, &c. of the Surveyors' Association of West New Jersey (1880), Appendix: 171-420, 427-468, at 268, Reports that Ann Pharo was the mother of all the children, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].
[17] "Marriages at Chesterfield, New Jersey, 1685-1730," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 9 (1885), 347-352, at 349, [GoogleBooks].
[18] Leah Blackman, "History of Little Egg Harbor Township," Proceedings, Constitution, By-Laws, List of Members, &c. of the Surveyors' Association of West New Jersey (1880), Appendix: 171-420, 427-468, at 269, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].
[19] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 23. (Wills and Administrations 1, 1670-1730) (1901), 384, citing Lib. 2, p. 280, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[20] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[21] Leah Blackman, "History of Little Egg Harbor Township," Proceedings, Constitution, By-Laws, List of Members, &c. of the Surveyors' Association of West New Jersey (1880), Appendix: 171-420, 427-468, at 206, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].
[22] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 23. (Wills and Administrations 1, 1670-1730) (1901), 384, citing Lib. 2, p. 280, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[23] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[24] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 23. (Wills and Administrations 1, 1670-1730) (1901), 383, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[25] A. Van Doren Honeyman, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 30. (Wills and Administrations 2, 1730-1750) (1918), 90, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[26] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 888, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[27] Leah Blackman, "History of Little Egg Harbor Township," Proceedings, Constitution, By-Laws, List of Members, &c. of the Surveyors' Association of West New Jersey (1880), Appendix: 171-420, 427-468, at 268, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].
[28] George C. Ridgway, Descent of the Ridgway-Ridgeway family in England and America (1875), 60, [HathiTrust].
[29] Alfred C. Willits, James and Ann Willits of Little Egg Harbor, N. J. (1898), 9, [FHLCatalog].