Did Thomas Phelps of Limerick Ireland Go to Pennsylvania?
As of 7/26/2008, By Brenda Emery brenda.emery AT fuse.net xx
NOTE: the original pdf/gif for this paper were misplaced. An attempt to reconstruct was done in 11/2014. Some may be in error. Revised 11/24/2014 09:50 PM
11/2014: Brenda's records of the Limerick quakers is confirmed by the naratives in Phelps Family of America.
After a careful study of all materials available to me at this time[ also confirmed 11/2014] I believe that Thomas Phelps, Quaker [of Limerick Ireland], born 1623 did not come to America. It appears however that his son Thomas likely traveled to Pennsylvania, claimed the land his father had purchased from William Penn, married, and died sometime before 1704. [Records show only a daughter who died early]
Given Thomas Phelps sr. age, a voyage to America would not have been practical. Thomas Jr born in 1656 would have been a more likely candidate for the adventure, being the eldest of the brothers, and the only son over the age of 21. There is a Thomas Philips/Phelps of Philadelphia who married in Rhode Island 1684-5 to the widow Mercy Jefferson and disappears from Philadelphia records at about the same time. No record of Thomas Jr of Limerick has surfaced that gives his whereabouts or his date of death . It is possible that Thomas jr. came to America and died prior to 1704 . John Phelps , "son and heir" of Thomas Phelps sells Thomas' land in Philadelphia in that year.
Evidence is based on the fact that in all of the published Quaker References Thomas Phelps had strong associations with fellow Quakers in Limerick: Craven, Holmes, Tavenor, Pierce. These men are all granted land in Pennsylvania by William Penn in 1682. Penn had established the area to be a safe haven for Quaker worship and many Quakers were seeking refuge from the persecution they faced in Ireland and England.
Pennsylvania records indicate that in 1682 a group of Quaker men from Limerick were granted 1000 acres each by William Penn See the Early Penn Land records Minute book G and See the 1683 Penn to Thomas Philips grant (scroll down) . . Among those men were Samuel Tavenor, Richard Pierce, James Craven, Thomas Phelps . These men were a strong group of Quaker men in Limerick who had suffered persecution of various sorts.( For further info see the Limerick papers posted elsewhere [to be made available]
The 1682 original grant has vanished. According to records in the law suits filed over this land a search was done to find them but to no avail. Other records had to be used to review the case.
In the Original Purchasers register for Philadelphia there is a listing for Thomas Phelps and his 1000 acre grant. Indexed with Thomas Phelps is Thomas Philips as grantee.
After reviewing the records seen below I suggest Thomas Philips is Thomas Phelps jr - of Limerick.
7/2008- findings now point to the likelihood of a Thomas Phelps of Limerick in Pennsylvania.
ADDED 2014 by D. Phelps Near the northern area of Baltimore Co., Md (where Thomas Felps of the known Felps/Phelps line0 was Pennsylvania, a strong Quaker settlement. See this PDF account of a Quaker Thomas Felps in Limerick Ireland around 1681. It would link well with his earliest recorded time in Baltimore Co of 1699. " Chester County, as one of the original PA counties. was where William Penn arrived aboard 'The Welcome' in 1682, from when we may date the beginnings of Chester County. And while many other faiths eventually were part of Chester County, its origins are firmly based in the Quaker faith." Since his property was so very close to Pennsylvania and the Parris kids were from Delaware, those states - pre-1699- need to be researched. In May 2008 Brenda Emory and Doug Phelps began an intensive research in these areas. Others are encouraged to help.
Time Line
By Brenda Emery
Missing links should be reported to dphelps61 AT alumni.wfu.edu
1682 Thomas PHELPS purchaser of 1000 acres in Pennsylvania from William Penn [Record lost] But see Early Penn Land records Minute book G naming Thomas Phelps of Limerick.
See original purchasers list- pdf [1683] (Note that it has "Thomas Phelps" [as purchaser] then next to it "Thomas Philips" [to whom granted] , also note that it does not say “himself” [as seen in the top recording] meaning this is not Thomas the man in the original grant from Penn. ) Evidence will point to it being his son Thomas Jr which also may account for the difference in the spelling of the name. Phelps in Ireland-Philips in America.
Note also Richard Pierce on this page, a name in the Limerick Quakers]
Thomas Phillips is in Pennsylvania acting as an arbitrator in dispute
over passage in One of Penn’s ships
Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Volume 23 #2
pg. 41 CURRENTLY NOT SEARCHABLE. TO BE REVISED
1683 Thomas Philips is granted the land, and begins the process of “taking
up” the land. See dated
original purchasers list, 1683
land doc pdf.
Thomas Phillips acts as
attorney for Mercy Jefferson of Rhode Island (widow of Edward) Pennsylvania
Genealogical Magazine Volume 23 #2 pg. 98
1684- Thomas Phillips continues the process of taking up the
lands.
See original purchasers list (note in this year the name is again PHELPS yet
in the land doc is is Phillips)
Thomas Phillips high street lot
jpeg ,
Thomas Phillips liberty lands pdf
1684-85-Thomas Phillips, “ late of Philadelphia” marries
Mercy Jefferson in Rhode Island see Vital
Records of Rhode Island 1636-1850 First Series pg.
27 22
1685- Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Phillips and Mercy is born Dec 5 1685
in Newport RI she dies 5 weeks later
Vital Records of Rhode Island 1636-1850 First Series pgs 70, 116
1688- Thomas Philips lot on high street has been surveyed and
returned in 1688 ( note: the deeds were returned meaning the land was
officially theirs)
See
Surveyor
General John Lukens report in Colonial Records of Pennsylvania pg 322
1698- Thomas Phillips is possibly dead. A will for Mercy Phillips
widow is filed in Philadelphia County (circumstantial evidence, but I include it
because of the fact that it appears to be Mercy the wife of Thomas and that she
is called widow in 1698)
Name: Mercy Philips
Residence: Philadelphia, PA
Description: Decedent
Date: 18 Oct 1698
Prove Date: 19 Jan 1733
Title: Widow
BookPage: E:266
Remarks: Mercy Philips. City of Philadelphia. Widow. October 18,
1698/9. Admst. January 19, 1733. E.266. Brothers: Samson, John and
Benjamin Banges. Sisters: Katherine, Jane, Deborah. Exec: Edward
Shippen, James Fox.
1704- lots owned by Richard Pierce, Thomas Pierce, Thomas Philips,
Samuel Tavenor and James Craven [Limerick Quaker names] (which five persons were admitted as
original purchasers by J Lukens ) are sold by: Thomas Pierce son and heir
of Richard Pierce, Thomas Pierce for himself, John Phelps
son and heir of Thomas Phelps, and Samuel Tavenor , to Edward
Lane and James Shattick. (note: the names contained in the same court
session are Phillips/Phelps then even Phelps OR Philips written as
such in the records. Apparently the records indicated to them as they do to me
that the name was used interchangeably and that they were in fact the same
individuals.
See Colonial records of Pennsylvania pgs 322-323
Reports of cases adjudged in the Supreme court of Pennsylvania pg 142 (note the
men who were executing the sale of the land were of the city of Limerick in
Ireland, John Phelps/Phillips, one of the four who were in Ireland
when the sale took place.) Reports of cases adjudged in the
Supreme court of
Pennsylvania pg 143
1708- James Shattick and Edward Lane request that the remaining 480 acres of the
1000 acres of land purchased from John Phelps of Limerick in Ireland be
handed over!
See John Phelps of Limerick pdf and Original purchasers list John Phelps (note
the 1708 date in the table, apparently even though the sale was executed in 1704
the lands could not be surveyed because the remaining acreage had not yet
switched hands.)
Interlude……
Along with the country lands (1000 acres) the original purchasers were entitled
to so many acres of Liberty or city lands. The city lands are the focus of the
law suits. One must be careful to remember that in the 1700’s the city lots in
Philadelphia become very valuable. You know Liberty Bell and all of that! The
suits come about because
although the conveyance of the original lands could not be disputed, the
surveyor general had proved the lots were valid, the question became did the
sale include the Liberty or City lots that were granted as an “extra” with the
purchase of the country lands.
Edward Lane dies and the lands go to James Shattick through survivorship. .Shattick
then sells the land to Richard Hill, ,from there is becomes mass confusion and
no one seems to know who owns the city lots.
1781- Memorial is read on behalf of Hill, Moore, and Wells that the lands
purchased way back in 1704 (note these are heirs of the original people who
purchased that lands from Philips, Tavenor etc. a lot of time has passed since
the sale was executed and still no solution to the problem of who owns the
land!)
See
Colonial Records of Pennsylvania pg 9
Reports of cases adjudged in the Supreme court of Pennsylvania pg 147
Report is heard and it is ordered that J Lukens the surveyor general search the
records and try to get to the bottom of it.
Colonial Records of Pennsylvania pg 49
1782- The surveyor general finally reports back that the city lots were indeed
surveyed and returned making them legal to the original purchasers,Thomas
Philips,John Phelps or Philips
See
Colonial Records of Pennsylvania
pg 322,323
1804- The case finally ends up in the supreme court 100 years after the sale by
John son and heir of Thomas in 1704.
See
Reports of cases adjudged in the Supreme court of Pennsylvania pg 142-156
The key items in these
cases are the spelling of the names from Phelps to Philips back to Phelps. The
fact that the lands had in fact been surveyed and returned are very important.
If they had not the land claim was not valid. Thomas Philips laid claim on those
lands , had them surveyed and they were returned according to the Surveyor
Generals report. His heir John of Limerick in Ireland sold them in 1704 to
Shattick and Lane.
