Nicholas Newlin (abt. 1630 - 1699)

Born about 30 May 1630 in County Tyrone, Ireland

Descendants

Died 5 Jun 1699 at about age 69 in Concord, Delaware, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Nicholas Newlin may have been born on May 30, 1630, in Mountmellick, Laois, Ireland,. His parentage is uncertain. (See reference to the Newlin Family book below.)

Nicholas Newlin^[1] left "Mountmellick, in the county of Tyrone, Ireland" in 1683^[2] with his family. He was (grudgingly) certified by the "men's meeting at Mount Mellick, 25th of 12th mo. 1682" as having "walked honestly among men for aught we know or can hear of by inquiry which hath been made.... And we further certify that enquiry hath been made concerning the clearness of Nathaniel and John Newland, sons of said Nicholas Newland, from all entanglements of marriage, and that they are released for aught we find."^[3]

He and his wife, Elizabeth, had the following known children:

• Nathaniel^[4][5]
• John (died unmarried)^[6]
• Rachel (Mrs. Ephraim Jackson)^[7]
• Elizabeth (Mrs. William Pagett)^[8]
• Mary Newlin^[9]

Elizabeth's will also named grandchildren:^[10]

• Nicholas Newlin "late of London"
• Elizabeth Lewis

children of son Nathaniel:

• Nicholas
• Nathaniel
• John
• Jemima (also spelled Jamima^[11])
• Kezia
• Mary

Nicholas Newland passed away in May 1699 in Concord, where he's buried.^[12]

Occupation

Occupation: Concord, PA; Occupation: Constable

Occupation: Chester County, PA; Occupation: Provincial Officer

Date: 2 Nov 1689^[13]

Burial

Friends Cemetery, Concord, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Sources

1. ↑ Newlin-249 has record of Newlin in England; Newland-180 showed Newland in Ireland and Newlin in America
2. ↑ USGenWeb biography
3. ↑ Delaware County PA Archives, Certificate Of Removal from Mount Mellick Meeting (Ireland)
4. ↑ Certificate Of Removal
5. ↑ Elizabeth Newlin's will
6. ↑ Certificate Of Removal, Nicholas Newland's biography
7. ↑ Elizabeth Newlin's will
8. ↑ Elizabeth Newlin's will
9. ↑ Elizabeth Newlin's will - it's perhaps noteworthy that Mary was not included in Nicholas's biography
10. ↑ Elizabeth Newlin's will
11. ↑ her father's biography
12. ↑ Nicholas Newland's biography
13. ↑ Source: #S347 Page: p. 676 Quality or Certainty of Data: 3

"The Newlin Family, Andestors and Descendants of John and Mary Pyle Newliln," Part 1, Page 7, Paragraph one. by Professor Algie Newlin, and Harvey Newlin, (1965)

Research Notes

The above reference states , "Neither history, nor tradition has produced the name of a parent of Nicholas Newlin or of his wife, Elizabeth Paggot Newlin."

• Information for initial Newland-180 profile from contributions to USGenWeb Archives for Delaware and Pennsylvania.

• Certificate Of Removal
• USGenWeb biography
• Nicholas Newland's biography
• Nathaniel Newlin biography

• Source: S340 Abbreviation: Newlin-Mendenhall Alliance Title: Newlin-Mendenhall Alliance Paranthetical: Y
• Source: S341 Abbreviation: World Family Tree Volume 13, pre-1600 to present Title: World Family Tree Volume 13, pre-1600 to present Author: Family Tree Maker Publication: Broderbund Software, Inc., 1997 Repository: #R9 Paranthetical: Y
• Repository: R9 Name: Cheryl Varner Library Address: Cheryl Varner Library Gray Court, SC Name: Cheryl Varner Library Address 1: Gray Court, SC
• Source: S342 Abbreviation: The History of Alamance County of North Carolina Title: The History of Alamance County of North Carolina Author: Stackard, Sallie Walker Publication: 1900 Paranthetical: Y
• Source: S343 Abbreviation: The Newlin Family Title: The Newlin Family Author: Newlin, Algie I. Publication: Greensboro, NC 1965 Paranthetical: Y
• Source: S344 Abbreviation: Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania 1682-1750 Title: Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania 1682-1750 Author: Myers, Albert Cook Publication: Swarthmore, PA, 1902 Paranthetical: Y
• Source: S345 Abbreviation: History of Chester Title: History of Chester Author: Martin Publication: Family Tree Maker CD193, County and Family Histories: PA, 1740-1900 Paranthetical: Y
• Source: S347 Abbreviation: Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. IX, Provincial Officers for the Three Original Counties, Chester, Philadelphia and Bucks Title: Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. IX, Provincial Officers for the Three Original Counties, Chester, Philadelphia and Bucks Author: Family Tree Maker CD193 County and Family Histories: PA, 1740-1900 Publication: Broderbund Software Paranthetical: Y

Notes

Note NI660!Came over on LEVEE from Liverpool about Feb. 1683. Man of considerable wealth. Devout memb er of Society of Friends. Member of the Provincial Council 1685-8. Died in 1699 leaving a w ife, Elizabeth, and four children. [Roots Research Bureau]

 !Russell Newlin Abel

 !Justice of the courts of Chester county, 1685-91. Prior to emigration from Ireland he had s uffered many distraints of goods for participating in the Meetings of Friends. This determin ed him to remove with his family to Penn's colony. Settled on a tract of land in Concord whe re he built and operated a mill and was an important man of affairs. The early Meetings of t he Society of Friends were held at his house as early as 1687 and continued after his death i n May 1699. [Marshall, p. 615]

 !Resided for several years at Rosenallis, Queens County (now Leinster) in east central Irelan d (about 45 miles west southwest of Dublin). Was living there at the time of the Massacre o f 1641 when from 8000-40,000 English Protestant settlers were massacred by the Irish Catholic s. Warned by an Irish servant girl, he and his family escaped to Dublin. [Newlin-Mendenhall Alliance, p. 236-7]

 !Man of considerable wealth as he brought a pack of hounds and 20 horses with him when he emigrated. [Chester Hist. Soc.]

Son of Nicholas Newlin and Jane Hyde; m. Elizabeth Piggott. [WFT vol 13 Ped 742]

The name Newlin is thought to have been derived from the name Newland and originated i n England as early as 1150, when some people were named after the Manor of Newlande Halli n Essex England.1

The Newlins were Quakers, starting with Nicholas Newlin and possibly his father i n the mid 1600s until the present day there are still many Newlins that are Quakers. Edit h Newlin was disowned by the Quakers because she and Thomas Stafford were married by Civi l Authorities. During that period, the Quakers disowned about 1/3 of their members for th at reason. That practice has been discontinued. That is over 300 years of Quakers.

The Quaker religion was founded by George Fox in about 1650 in England. In this period there was a constant struggle between the main religious groups to have their religion accepted by the government authority and be declared the only religion. There was also a constant struggle between different groups of people who claimed the thrown and wanted to dictate the state religion. All persons were required to pay a tithe to the official state religion. This made many people so unhappy that by 1660 there were 199 religious sects in England, Quakers being one of them. The Quakers objected to giving tithes to stat e churches and oaths to the crown or any person. In 1681 the territory which is now Pennsylvania was given to William Penn to settle a debt owed to his father by the king of England . William Penn then created Pennsylvania as a Quaker Colony.

Nicholas Newlin had resided for many years prior to his emigration within the limits of Mountmellick Meeting, Queen's County, Ireland. In Ireland Nicholas had a wife , Elizabeth Paggott, and at least 5 children, Nicholas, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, John and Rachael. From Stockdale's account of his sufferings for tithes, and for other reasons, it is evident that he was a prosperous farmer with large flocks and herds and several servants. In 168 0 there was taken from him for tithes, seventeen "truckle-loads of hey, and nineteen sheave s of beans, and thirty-three sheaves of small barley, all worth one pound one shilling"; seventeen "fleeces of wooll" and five lambs valued at one pound seven shillings. The church-warden took from him on April 13, 6 lambs worth 15 shillings etc..2

On April 25 a church officer "brought a pair of sheep shears and took a sheep an d shore it, then said Nicholas caused the pen to be broken, and the sheep to be driven out , as he had done before, to hinder their intent; the said person struck many blows wit h a stick on the back, arms and hands of those that drove out the sheep; afterwards the sai d persons penned up the sheep again, and shore and carried away with them again five fleece s of wooll. With the hope of ending these persecutions he made ready to remove his family to Pennsylvania. Mountmellick Meeting signed a certificate on him and his family dated December 25 1682 stating that he had "worked honestly", but that Friends were "generally dissatisfied with his so moving, he being so well settled with his family, and having sufficient substance for food and rainment..  ; but our Godly jealousy is that his chief ground [for removal] is fearfulness of suffering here." He sailed the early part of 1683 (7/168 3), in the Levee of Liverpool, (listed as The Liver) James Kilner, Master, and settled o n a large tract of land in Concord, now Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

It is quite likely that Nicholas was able to sell much if not all of his property before leaving Ireland, for he was able to buy large tracts of land in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth, the older daughter, remained in Ireland to mary Thomas Burton. This must have added t o the heartaches which accompanied the departure of the five members of the family. The reason for leaving before the wedding is not known. It is possible that the shortage of ship ping made it imperative for them to take the first space available. Since no member of Elizabeth's family signed her wedding certificate it is quite safe to assume that they left Mountmellick before the wedding.

We must be content with following the family in imagination only, as they dispose d of their property, take leave of Elizabeth and their friends in Queens County, and making their way, day by day, and week by week, along the three thousand mile course by land and sea from the Old World to the New. The three children known to have been with their parents were old enough to withstand the disease and hardship of the sea voyage. Nathaniel was eighteen years of age, Rachel was nine, and John was somewhere between them.

Not a word is available to give a glimpse of this Newlin family as it tossed, pitched and rolled on its way from Ireland in a little seventeenth century sailing boat. However , history shows that it was most likely a hazardous experience; an ordeal which only the strong could survive. The mortality rate on these immigrant boats was extremely high; sometimes nearly half of the passengers died en route and were buried at sea. In 1680 the survivor of a voyage just completed to Virginia described the journey as, "... a most tedious passage of eleven weeks and two days, full of death, scurvy and all sorts of fevers." " ... Children from 1 to 7 rarely survive the passage."

It seems quite likely that the Levee of Liverpool stopped at Chester, Pennsylvania . This port was fifteen miles below Philadelphia and only ten miles from Concord. The town, t hen known as Upland, was older and larger than the emerging Philadelphia. William Penn i s said to have changed the name to Chester during his stop here a year earlier. A tract o f land was surveyed for Nicholas Newlin on February 24, 1683, this should have been before t heir arrival. Then on July 24, 1683 Nicholas Newlin acquires a second tract of 500 acres of land in Concord. It is quite evident that one of his first concerns was to purchase sufficient land to enable him to support his family and carry on a sizeable agricultural ope ration.4

From Nicholas Newlin's earliest recorded act in Pennsylvania, the attendance at a meeting of Friends (Quakers) in Chichester, through the remainder of his life, he seems t o have been a faithful attender of Friends meetings. For several years before the construct ion of Concord Meeting House the meetings for worship were held at his home. This may be taken as an indication of the esteem with which members of the meeting held him, and it could have been partly because his house was large enough for t he meeting.5

Nicholas Newlin forges into political leadership along with his leadership in other phases of the colonial society in Pennsylvania. In 1685, two years after settling in America, he was elected to represent Chester County on the Provincial Council of Pennsylva nia. This body served in a dual capacity; it was the advisory body for the Governor and i t served as the upper chamber of the legislature of the colony. Members of the Council were picked as persons "... of best repute for wisdom, virtue, and ability." In 1684 William Penn commissioned Nicholas Newlin as a justice in the colonial court along wit h eight others from Chester County. This commission was renewed four times and it seem s quite clear that he served in this capacity for at least six years.5

On January 30 1685 Nicholas Newlin and two other members of the Provincial Council were ".... attested to keep secret the debates of the Council." This was the first reference t o him as member of the Council; the last was July 9 1687. On May 31 1686 the Council appointed Nicholas Newlin as a member of a committee to study the laws of Pennsylvania and to recommend changes as needed. At different times he directed the construction of roads, serve d as constable, tax collector, and as the guardian of children of one family.6

In addition to the 1045 acres that Nicholas farmed, he built a mill in Concord i n the very early times. He had at least one indentured servant, John Fox, and was given another boy whose name was William MacDonald, who was adjudged to be sixteen years of age, to serve five years and a half and to be taught to read and write. Nicholas Newlin died in 16 99, and bequeathed to his daughter, Elizabeth (Newlin) (Burton) Paggott, 245 acres of la nd in Birmingham, and the rest to his son Nathaniel Newlin.7

Contemporary and later evaluations of Nicholas Newlin invariably characterize hi m as a man of integrity and an able public servant. John Hill Martin's character study o f the justices who served in the early Pennsylvania courts covers those of the days of Nicholas Newlin. "These Justices were not only Justices of the Courts but of the Peace also; and they were gentlemen of large intelligence and of more weight and influence in the community, and of more dignity of character, than the majority of the men who are now elected Justices of the Peace." He goes on to say that they were among "the leading men in the country." Nicholas Newlin was classed as one of the most eminent persons in the Society of Friends of Pennsylvania of that day.8

Notes

1. The History of Alamance County of North Carolina, by Sallie Walker Stackard, 1900, pa ge 138.

The Newlin Family, by Algie I. Newlin, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1965, pages 1-8.

2. Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania 1682-1750, by Albert Cook Myers,Sw arthmore, Pa., 1902, pages 271.

3. The Newlin Family, by Algie I. Newlin, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1965, page 11.

4. ibid, pages 13, 14.

5. ibid, page 14.

6. ibid, page 15.

7. ibid, pages 15-17.

8. ibid, page 17.

From the Hampshire Record Office in the section for 1630 reads: "Nicholas Newlin the sonne o f Nicholas Newlin juniour was baptized May 30. [Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winch ester, Hants S023 8TH <sadeax@hants.gov.uk]

Nicholas Newlin and his wife Elizabeth Paggott were Quakers attending meetings at Mountmellick, near Rosenallis, Ireland. Prompted by religious persecution, which may have been what brought them to Ireland in the first place, Nicholas, Elizabeth and most of their children left Ireland for American in February 1683. They went aboard the ship "Levee of Liverpool from Cork , Ireland, and likely disembarked at Chester, Pennsylvania, 10 miles from where they settle d in a community named Concord. Nicholas was from the beginning a financially and politically prominent individual in this area, and his son Nathaniel eventually became even more so. [Crystal Newlin <crystaln@CTAZ.COM]

The Religious Society of Friends in Ireland has a "disownment" for a Nicholas Newlin dated 16 82 and a copy of a certificate of removal for a Nicholas Newland from Mountmellick dated 1682 . [Crystal Newlin <crystaln@CTZA.COM]

Nicholas Newlin brought a boy whose name is William MacDaniel to Court. William was adjudge d to be 16 years of age, and was to serve five years and a half if taught to read and write , or else to serve but five years. Mrs. MacDanile, with the assistance of the Court, seems t o have got rid of all her children. Pehaps she was planning to remarry to a man who objected to a ready-made family. In regard to the MacDaniels, it may be observed that then as now, t he name was a corruption of McDonald, the children mentioned being those of Owen McDonald. [F TM CD193, Martin's History of Chester, p. 75]

Constables and Supervisors wre appointed by the Court. It appears that at the expiration of t heir term of office, it was the practice for them to come into Court and report that "All wa s well." This was Nicholas' report: "Nicholas Newlin, Constable for the last year from Concord, made his return, 'All was well,' whereupon George Stroad was elected to serve in his stead ." [FTM CD193, Martin's History of Chester, p. 48]

Acknowledgments

• Thanks to Tom Greene for creating the WikiTree profile Newlin-249 through the import of tgreeneftdna1.ged on Jun 29, 2014 (prior to import, this record was last changed 08:09 31 Jan 2011). The profile included the user ID 211F8C20E7D449B2B779F95F5F4EED541881, "Reference: 1664" and "Note: NI660" (although no additional information was given associated with that note).
• Thanks to Liz Shifflett for entering the WikiTree profile Newland-180 on May 21, 2013 for Nicholas Newland (aka Newlin), born about 1634 and married to Elizabeth Paggott (location for birth; no date or location for marriage; death information: 1699 in Concord, Pennsylvania). The profile also included that he was the father of Nathaniel Newlin.

Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Tom and others.

Inscription

Near This Spot Were Buried NICHOLAS NEWLIN Born 1619, died 1699; He purchased 7000 acres of land in Pennsylvania and emigrated from Mount Melick, County Tyrone, Ireland, Settling in Concord Township: He was one of the founders of this Meeting; served in William Penn's Provincial Council, 1685-89; sat as a Justice in the Courts at Chester, 1685-91; Elizabeth Newlin, his wife, died 1719, prominent in this Meeting; their son

NATHANIEL NEWLIN Born in Ireland, 1665, died 1729; A member of this Meeting,, served in the Assembly of the Province during fourteen sessions, 1698-1722; sat as a Justice in the Courtns of Chester at various terms, 1703-26; Founder of Newlin Township on the Brandywine 1724, and his wife, Mary Mendenhall Newlin, who came from Wiltsire, England, with her brothers. Joined this Meeting and was here married in 1685.

This marker was placed here in 1916 as a record by the descendants, Lewis Palmer and William C. Sproul.

Gravesite Details Birth year has also been reported as circa 1630

Research notes

"The Newlin Family, Ancestors and Descendants of John and Mary Pyle Newlin," Part One, Page 19, 1965, by Algie I. Newlin, states that no one knows the real date of Nicholas Newlin's birth. It also states that there is no proof of who Nicholas's father was. William Penn visited a man who might have been his father, when Penn went to Ireland, but there is no documentation to prove the man was his father.

Estimates run from 1619 on his Find a Grave Memorial to 1630. These dates are only estimates.