1667 Thomas French was baptized on October 31, at church S.S. Peter and Paul, Nether Heyford, England. [1]
1694 The Penford brothers, by their attorney George Hutcheson of Burlington, distiller, to Thomas ffrench junior of Chester, Burlington Co., yeoman, for 100 acres to be surveyed. Dated February 21. [2]
1695 Hannah French and Mary French married Richard Buzby and Nicholas Buzby in a double wedding on August 30. Witnessed by Thomas French and others. [3] [4]
1697 Thomas French Jr, living in West Jersey near Burlington and Mary Allen of Shrewsbury were married on 9 of month 4, in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. Witnesses included father Thomas French and others [5] [6] [7]. Thomas French married Mary Allen, daughter of Judah and Mary Allen of Shrewsbury, NJ on 10th mo 3rd day 1696 [8]. [9]
1697 Thomas French Jr served on the grand jury for Burlington County. [10]
1698 Joseph French, son of Thomas and Mary French, was born on September 23. [11]
1702 Hugh Sharp of Pensbury, Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Rachel Allen of Chester Twp, Burlington County, New Jersey, widow, were married on 9 of month 12 called February, at the house of the aforesaid Rachel Allen. Witnessed by Thomas French and Mary French and others. [12]
1702 Thomas French, son of Thomas and Mary French, was born on October 27. [13]
1700 Thomas French was overseer of the highways in Chester Twp, Burlington County. [14]
1700 Thomas French was appointed [tax] collector for Chester Twp, Burlington County, New Jersey. Dated In May. [15]
1705 Thomas French was constable in Chester Twp, Burlington County. [16]
1714-28 Thomas French was elected freeholder in Chester Twp, Burlington County in 1714, 1720, 1725-28. [17]
1723 Thomas French, perhaps this one, was collector in Chester Twp, Burlington County. [18]
1724 Preserve Brown Jr. and Mary French were married on October 15. Witnessed by Thomas French, Thomas French Jr, and others. [19] [20]
1732 Thomas French married, second, Mary Cattell, widow of Jonas Cattell. [21] [22]
1739 Thomas French voted in an election in Burlington County, New Jersey. [23]
1745 Thomas French Junr, perhaps this one, was a freeholder in Chester Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. Dated April 15. [24]
1745 Thomas French Sr, of Chester, Burlington County, yeoman, dated his will on the 26th day, 9th mo, (Aug). Wife (not named). Sons: Joseph and Robert. Daughter Mary's four sons. Real and personal estate. Executors: sons Robert and Thomas. Witnesses: Joshua Bispham, Nathan Middleton, Sam'l Atkinson. Proved Nov. 1, 1745, by Thomas French, at which time Robert French disclaimed. Witnesses: Sam'l. Atkinson, Joseph Heritage. Lib. 5, p. 190. [25]
1745 Thomas French was buried at Friend's burying ground, Chester meeting, Moorestown, New Jersey. [26]
1745 Inventory of the personal estate. £215.7; made by Joseph Heritage and Sam'l Atkinson. Dated October 17. [27]
1778 Thomas French was a minister in the Quaker Society. He ministered at the Chester Meeting House. This meeting house earned fame for being fired on by American revolutionaries during the American Revolution. Apparently the house got in the way of shots fired on the British as they crossed a nearby bridge. Three cannon ball hit the side of the meeting house. One of the cannon balls is still lodged in the exterior wall to this day.
Thomas French's house is a historic landmark: [28] [29] [30]
Now located in a relatively urban setting, this building was once the centerpiece of a large farm. It is believed to incorporate the oldest house in Moorestown, built by Thomas French, Jr. in the early 18th century. Although at first glance this appears to be a 5-bay, 2½-story house with a conventional Georgian center-hall plan, closer inspection reveals that it was constructed in at least three sections. This is suggested on the exterior by the placement of the front door slightly off-center, and evidence, revealed in the brickwork, of the relocation of a window to make the facade appear more symmetrical.
The oldest section consisted of a 1-room structure, now encompassed in the southeast corner of the building. As occurred frequently in central New Jersey, this was then enlarged to a 3-bay, side hall plan, two rooms deep, and then to a full central hall, 5-bay plan.
Some fine woodwork survives on the interior. The east parlor retains chair rails, a molded cornice, and a round-arched corner cupboard with carved pilasters and keystone. In the living room is a corner fireplace, with a Federal-style mantel with delicate free-standing columns and bulls' eyes in the end panels.
Thomas French, Jr. was locally prominent in Moorestown in the early 18th century. He served in several church and township offices, and eventually was elected to the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The property descended in his family until 1837. During the Revolutionary War, the farm was probably occupied by troops from both sides. Certainly both sides raided it. Continental troops appropriated cedar rails, hay, and grain in February 1777. In June 1778, British troops, retreating from Philadelphia, slaughtered cattle and made off with timber and clothing.
For a time in the 19th century, a girls' school operated on the property. Elwood Hollinshead acquired the farm in 1858. It remained in possession of his descendants until 1965, although the family began to subdivide the property for development in 1914.
Research Notes:
1701 "This meeting taking into consideration ye late riott of braken up ye prison dores in ye doing of which were severall that goes under ye denomination of Quakers whereby a scandal is brought upon our Holy Profession thereto ye meeting orders ye friends appointed by ye perticular meetings to inspect into disorders if they speak to every offender they know of that belongs to their meeting in order that they give satisfaction to ye governor & friends [continued below]" Dated April 7. [31]
1701 "This meeting taking into further considerations the misdeameanors of ye persons who appeared in a riotous manner amongst them to break open ye prison ...[several persons named including Richard French]". "The friends appointed to speak to disorderly persons to give satisfaction to next meeting are John Shinn & John Day who are also desired to speak to Sam'l Coat to same purpose" Dated on 7 of month 5. [32] Richard French was named among the defendants at the Burlington court [33].
1739 On 17-18 of month 7 (September), the yearly Quaker meeting at Philadelphia named representatives called by quarterly meetings including Thomas French, of Gloucester & Salem. [34]
DNA [35]
[1] Howard Barclay French, Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French, Volume 1 (1909), 116, [HathiTrust].
[2] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 21. (Patents and Deeds, 1664-1703) (1899), 452, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[3] Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Burlington Monthly Meeting, Minutes, 1677-1777 (includes many different types of records), [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[4] Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Burlington Monthly Meeting, Minutes, 1677-1777 (includes many different types of records), [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[5] John E. Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Vol. 1 (1903), 248, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[6] John E. Stillwell, The old Middletown town book, 1667 to 1700; The records of Quaker marriages at Shrewsbury, 1667 to 1731; The burying grounds of old Monmouth. (1906), 59, [HathiTrust].
[7] Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Records of Marriage Certificates from Upper Springfield Meeting, commencing 1783, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[8] Howard Barclay French, Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French, Volume 1 (1909), 116, [HathiTrust].
[9] Anna Miller Watring, Early Church Records of Monmouth County, New Jersey (2004), 76, [GoogleBooks].
[10] H. Clay Reed and George J. Miller, The Burlington Court Book. A Record of Quaker Jurisprudence in West New Jersey 1680-1709, Vol. 5 (1944), 195.
[11] Quaker Meeting Records, Haddonfield Monthly Meeting Certificates of Removal Marriage Certificates, 1681-1741, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[12] Quaker Meeting Records, Haddonfield Monthly Meeting Marriage Certificates, 1681-1741, 28, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[13] Quaker Meeting Records, Haddonfield Monthly Meeting Certificates of Removal Marriage Certificates, 1681-1741, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[14] Major E. M. Woodward and John Hageman, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 253, [HathiTrust].
[15] Aaron Leaming and Jacob Spicer, The Grants, Concessions, and original constitutions of the province of New Jersey (1881), 583, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[16] Major E. M. Woodward and John Hageman, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 254, [HathiTrust].
[17] Major E. M. Woodward and John Hageman, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 254, [HathiTrust].
[18] Major E. M. Woodward and John Hageman, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 254, [HathiTrust].
[19] Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington, New Jersey, Births and Deaths, 1675-1750, Vol. K, Marriages, 1684-1724, 47, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[20] Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington, New Jersey, Births and Deaths, 1675-1750, Vol. K, Marriages, 1684-1724, 90, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[21] Howard Barclay French, Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French, Volume 1 (1909), 116, [HathiTrust].
[22] Howard Barclay French, Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French, Volume 2 (1913), 665, [GoogleBooks].
[23] John J. Thompson, "Poll Book of an Election in 1739, Burlington County, New Jersey," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 18 (1894), 185-193, at 188, columns 3 and 4, [GoogleBooks].
[24] Carlos E. Godfrey, "A List of the Freeholders for the City and County of Burlington," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 29 (1905), 421-26, at 425, [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), 189, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[26] Howard Barclay French, Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French, Volume 1 (1909), 116, [HathiTrust].
[27] 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), 189, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[28] National Archives Ref # 78001745, Picture of Thomas French Historic Landmark house, [URL].
[29] Description of Thomas French Historic Landmark house, [URL].
[30] Map, National Register database - Reference number 78001745, [URL].
[31] U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Burlington Monthly Meeting, Minutes, 1678-1737, left, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[32] U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Burlington Monthly Meeting, Minutes, 1678-1737, right, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[33] H. Clay Reed and George J. Miller, The Burlington Court Book. A Record of Quaker Jurisprudence in West New Jersey 1680-1709, Vol. 5 (1944), 252-253.
[34] U.S. Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Minutes, 1739-1745; Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 20, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[35] The family tree of a person who has a DNA match to Robert suggests a lineage to this family, reported as a descendant of Thomas French and Mary Allem, son of Thomas French and Jane Atkins, 9th cousin.