Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy --- Go to Genealogy Page for Thomas Scattergood --- Go to Genealogy Page for Elizabeth Jarvis

Notes for Thomas Scattergood and Elizabeth Jarvis

1677-82 Mansfield Twp was first settled."Most of the pioneers of Mansfield were men of wealth and standing in England." Thomas Scattergood was an early settler who acquired a large tract of land. [1]

1694 On 21 of month 9, Thomas Curtis and Elizabeth Ellis were married at the house of John Brown. Witnessed by Joseph Scattergood and others. [2]

Research Notes:

A biosketch [3] reports:

Thomas Scattergood, progenitor of the family in this country, with his wife Elizabeth, came from Stepney Parish, London, England, with the Burlington pioneers, in 1677. He settled on a tract of 160 acres near the present site of Columbus, New Jersey, on Craft's creek, living for many years in a cave dwelling, where he raised a family of nine children. His only neighbors in the beginning were Indians, with whom he held kindly relationship, ever after maintained. He was an earnest minded Friend and so trained his children that they became useful members of the Society. He signed the testimony issued by Friends against George Keith in 1692. The will of Thomas Scattergood, dated November 3rd, 1697, proved November 27th, mentioned his sons Thomas, Joseph and Benjamin; son-in-law Thomas Brian, husband of Elizabeth Scattergood, then deceased; daughters Sarah French, Hannah Pancoast, Tomsin Pancoast; servant Mary Records; son Benjamin, Executor, with Richard French (son-in-law), William Pancoast and Nathaniel Records as overseers. The inventory of personal estate, dated November 11th, 1697, showed a valuation of £125 5s. 6p.

A biosketch [4] reports:

Thomas Scattergood was born in England, date unknown, where he married Elizabeth Jarvis, probably at Stepney Parish, London. He died between 8 and 11 November 1697, the dates of his will, at Burlington, New Jersey.

Thomas Scattergood probably arrived at Burlington, New Jersey, about 1677 with his wife and seven children. Tradition has it that the family lived for a number of years in a cave located on Craft's Creek, about one mile west of Columbus, New Jersey. This area was later included in the family plantation. This may be truth, which is stranger than fiction, or a myth which has arisen from the fact that the first mention of Thomas in the New Jersey Archives is dated 9th mo. 1685 (November), where he is cited as a neighbor bordering on land received in another man's deed. There has been speculation that some early pages of the original records have been lost and they could have mentioned a purchase by Thomas that took place much earlier.

A carpenter, Thomas and his wife Elizabeth came from the Parish of Stepney, London and were Quakers, raising their children in that faith also. He signed the testimony against George Keith which was issued by the Quakers in 1692. Little else is known concerning the Scattergood family. Sons Thomas, Joseph and Benjamin outlived their father, as did daughters Sarah, Hannah and Tomsin, but daughter Elizabeth predeceased her father, as did Thomas' wife Elizabeth, who died before his will was written. The inventory of his personal estate amounted to £125 5s 6p.

"On the other side of Craft's Creek a tract of 500 acres was taken up by Thomas Scattergood, who with his family lived in a cave on the south bank of the stream, traces of which are still discernible. ... Scattergood reared in this simple habitation a family of nine children, and at his death left a large estate. He was noted for his kind and liberal treatment of the Indians...". [5]

"Elizabeth Pancoast, wife of Marmaduke Watson, was a daughter of William Fancoast and his wife, Hannah, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Jarvis) Scattergood, who were among the earliest settlers on the site of Philadelphia, living there in a cave on the banks of the Delaware until they could build a house." [6]

See also a biosketch in [7]


Footnotes:

[1] Alfred Miller Heston, South Jersey: a History, 1664-1924 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1924), 679, [AncestryImage].

[2] Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington, New Jersey, Births and Deaths, 1675-1750, Vol. K, Marriages, 1684-1724, 45, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].

[3] Howard Barclay French, Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French, Volume 1 (1909), 111, [HathiTrust].

[4] Edsall Riley Johnston Jr, "Thomas Scattergood", Founders of New Jersey, Brief Biographies by Descendants (2011), 69, [GoogleBooks].

[5] Major E. M. Woodward and John Hageman, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 352, left column, bottom, [HathiTrust].

[6] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 555, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].

[7] George DeCou, Burlington: A Provincial Capital (1945), 208, [GoogleBooks].