Dorothy Jane (Jones) Cantrell (1672-1755) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Dorothy Jane Cantrell formerly Jones

Born 7 May 1672 in Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales

Ancestors

Daughter of Ellis Emmanuel Jones and Ellen Jane (Evans) Jones

Sister of Barbara Rebecca (Jones) Pegg, Mary Jones and Isaac Jones

Wife of Richard L Cantrill Jr. — married 5 Mar 1691 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Mother of Mary (Cantril) Cantrell, Joseph Cantrell, Zebulon Cantril and Dorothy Jane Cantrell

Died 30 Aug 1755 at age 83 in Philadelphia, PA, British America

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Profile last modified 15 Oct 2023 | Created 13 Sep 2010

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Dorothy (Jones) Cantrell was a part of William Penn's Pennsylvania Settlers community.
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1 Biography
- 1.1 Name
- 1.2 Birth
- 1.3 Event
- 1.4 Marriage
- 1.5 Children
- 1.6 Will
- 1.7 Notes
2 Sources

Biography

Dorothy was a Friend (Quaker)

The “Pennsylvania Historical Magazine” in a list of names of “Important Colonists who came on the Submission” mentions Ellis Jones. Mr. Jones did not remain in Bucks County, since we find he purchased one hundred acres of land in Nantonell parish, Radnor. This is recorded in the Welsh Tract Purchases. Barbara Jones married Daniel Pegge; Mary Jones married her cousin, Isaac Jones; and Dorothy Jones married Richard Cantrill about 1693. Since Ellis Jones and his family were Quakers, and Richard was a member of the Church of England, Richard and Dorothy were married, to use a Quaker term, “Out of Meeting.” In spite of her religious training, Dorothy wed the man of her choice and seemed to like the vivacious social life in early Philadelphia. To the dismay of her quiet Quaker friends, she once attended a masquerade ball.

From The Coalfield Progress article, “Dorothy Jones – far ahead of her time”, by Rhonda Robertson (Wise County Historical Society):

Dorothy Jones was born 1672 in Wales and emigrated with her parents, Ellis and Jane Jones, to the colonies aboard the ship Submission in September of 1682. Her father was a weaver and served the Governor of Pennsylvania for many years.

The Joneses were Quakers, and very early in her life Dorothy showed her considerable spirit and independence of character by embracing the freedom of the New World and selecting a husband “out of meeting”, which means she chose a man of a different religion.

Dorothy’s mother was an upstanding member of the Quaker church and her father was a pillar in the church and the community.

Not only did she marry the man of her choice, irrespective of her religious upbringing, but she was shortly to take her parents’ breath away by her demonstration of her love of gaiety and society. One could say Dorothy followed in her mother’s footsteps, but in a rather different way.

The year was 1703, the place Wilmington, Pa., now located in Delaware and according to genealogist and descendant, Joanne Rabun, Dorothy was about to be known as probably the first cross-dressing Quaker.

According to an old History of Pennsylvania, Dorothy is found in the grand jury indictments when she was presented for masking in men’s clothes the day after Christmas, “walking and dancing in the house of John Simes at 9 or 10 o’clock at night.”

John Simes, who gave the masquerade party, was presented at the same time for keeping a disorderly house, “a nursery of Debotch ye inhabitants and youth of this city…to ye greef of and disturbance of peaceful minds and propagating ye Throne of wickedness amongst us.” In other words, they were dancing and having a good time!

It seems that after appearing in court, unrepentant Dorothy paid her fine and went about her business.

I feel fairly sure that by this time, her mother, Jane, a good and devout Quaker, had taken to her bed from the shock! Dorothy must have thought that was enough excitement for one lifetime, because she lives quietly after the debacle and disappears from the records of the day.

Dorothy’s husband isn’t mentioned in the presentment of the Grand Jury, so whether he was in attendance at the masquerade ball is unknown, but one would assume that as her husband he probably was with her.

However, it was undoubtedly all right for him to stay out until 9 or 10 o’clock. But is it possible that Dorothy might have been really daring and left him at home? Her husband seems to be a staid fellow and little is known about his personal life. We do know that he was a brick mason and owned and operated his own brick factory in Philadelphia, after having arrived in America from England sometime around 1682. He was known to have built the first brick house in Philadelphia.

Dorothy must have recognized a good thing when she saw it -- a man with money and the prospects of making more! That could have been one reason for her to marry out of faith.

I know, by this time, you must be asking yourself what Dorothy Jones and her escapades have to do with Wise County?

Well, a lot!

You see, Dorothy’s son, Joseph, left Philadelphia around 1718 and moved to the New Castle County area in Delaware. His family began the move down the Valley of Virginia, living there around the 1730s. From the Valley, they continued their southward move to Orange County, N.C., where they appeared around 1754. Joseph’s son, Isaac, strayed further from his grandparents’ faiths when he became a devout Baptist preacher. But then, what can you expect from having grandparents who were daring enough to marry out of their faiths?

Isaac, in response to his call to the ministry, moved back and forth between Orange County, N.C., and Spartanburg, S.C. many times. I’ll bet you Isaac never told his congregations about Grandma!

Isaac’s son, Abraham, born in N.C., also inherited the family wanderlust and headed toward Southwest Virginia and the area later to become known as Wise County, with his son Hiram. Abraham and Hiram moved to Pike County, Ky., where Abraham died.

Hiram must have liked the look of Wise County, for he returned and lived out the rest of his life here. The majority of his descendants live here to this day.

The husband of Dorothy Jones, you see, was Richard Cantrell, and according to Cantrell genealogists and historians, all the people of Wise County who have a Cantrell bloodline can trace their roots back to Dorothy and her husband. All I can say is, Dorothy Cantrell was a woman way ahead of her time!

In 1927, one writer indicated that there was strong objection to the marriage. He based this observation on the fact that Mrs. Jones in her will left the children of Dorothy only one shilling each. It was customary in those days to leave each possible heir a minimum of one shilling or another small sum to insure that the will would be safely probated. Richard was at least 12 years older and, from all indications, a successful colonist. The intriguing part is how did they meet, this older artisan and a daughter of the Governor’s weaver. Since we have been unable to locate the log of any ship showing his arrival in America, this seems to corroborate Warren Cantrell’s account that Richard signed on as Penn’s indentured servant in order to leave England. It is more likely that Richard met Dorothy while building the house of Daniel Pegge, her brother-in-law. Source; Warren G. Cantrell, 8/31/1998.

Name

Name: Dorothy /Jones/^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Birth

Birth:

Date: 1672

Place: Flintshire, Wales^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Event

Event:

Type: Arrival

Date: 1682

Place: Pennsylvania^[10]

Marriage

Husband: Richard Cantrell

Wife: Dorothy Jones

Child: Dorothy Cantrell

Relationship to Father: Natural