Thomas Purcell (1662 - bef. 1738)

Born 1662 in New Town, Queens, New York

Husband of Styntie Van Woggelum — married 1695 in Brooklyn, Kings, New York

Descendants

Died before 25 Jul 1738 before age 76 in Dover, Kent, Delaware

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Biography

The date of arrival of Thomas Pursell, his place of birth, date of birth and date of marriage are not a matter of record. His first officially recorded residence was on Staten Island which is now Richmond County, New York, which was formed in 1683, the area having been a Dutch colony since 1625.^[1]

Dr. George McCracken did an outstanding compilation of information on this, the often referenced Thomas Line. Dr. McCracken, a Pursell/Purcell descendent, stated "our Pursells appear to have been rolling stones; the progenitor, Thomas, himself resided in four colonies and his immediate known descendents added two more before the Revolution. In the process they probably gathered little moss but their imprint was left on a Virginia town (Purcellville) and in the nineteenth century, a descendent, James Gillespie Blaine, became a U.S. Senator, Secretary of State, an ambassador, and narrowly missed the White House itself." In the original documents the name appears as either Pursell or Pursley with the usual variants of each but the latter form seems to have died out.^[1]

Because of the lack of absolute continuity of records, variant spellings, time lapse between actual family removals and related recordings of land transfers, and the residual Dutch culture in transition from Dutch to English colonialism, it is difficult to pin point happenings. In 1647 Pieter Stuyvesant took his place on the stage and played his part in the history of North America. He was a sincere and earnest Calvinist. According to tradition, his amputated leg lost earlier in an attack against the Portuguese in Brazil depicted as wood was actually mounted with silver. Pieter Van Minuit had earlier bought the Island of Manhattan from the Indians for essentially twenty four dollars worth of trinkets or trivial merchandise.^[1]

Under Pieter Stuyvesant, New Amsterdam doubled in population from the 700 inhabitants which it boasted between his arrival and when the English squadron appeared in 1664. He capitulated, not to the English, but to New Amsterdam's citizens. He returned to Holland to justify his actions, later returning to New Amsterdam where he lived out his life in seclusion.^[1]

A monument was erected to his memory in 1955 at Wolvega near Scherpenzeel, the place of his birth, in Friesland, Holland. The dedication speech was made by Professor Dr. A. J. C. Riter of Leydon in the Dutch Reformed Church at Wolvega 12 July 1955.^[1]

Sometime within the period of Dutch rule or shortly afterward Thomas Pursell arrived in the now renamed village of New York where he married Christiana VanWoggelum. She was baptized at the Brooklyn Dutch Reformed Church on 30 Oct. 1667. Assuming Thomas to be of approximately the same age, we can theorize his birth at about this same date. Dr. McCracken in his writings reports the late Dr. George M. Cummins, in his history of Warren County, New Jersey (1911) and following him, Vida Miller Purcell, a teacher in Bloomsburg, Pa. in her history and Genealogy of the Miller and Purcell Families (1939) claim our Thomas stems from one Thomas Pursell, aged 16, entered on the 24 October 1635 passenger list of the ship Constance, Clement Campion, master bound from London for Virginia. Dr. McCracken could find no evidence to connect our Thomas with a Hempstead, Long Island family of Pearsall or the Virginia settler. It is understood Vida Miller Purcell maintained the name Pearsall was used instead of Pursell/Purcell by the Quakers, and was the same family.^[1]

We purposely prefaced this story of the Thomas line with the Dutch connections, church records, use of Dutch names due to intermarriage with the Dutch as well as being noted in the early marriages. The earliest records of our Thomas Pursell is the assignment of a cattle mark issued to him 15 May 1697 which had previously been assigned to Elisha Parker, this in Liber A of the records of Richmond County, New York: The earliest volume of Staten Island Records 1678-1713 (New York 1942, page 126, "John E. Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany 1:26). The knowledge that Christiana Pursell was the daughter of John (Jan) VanWoggelum and her baptism in 1667 would indicate her family was very much a part of Niew Nederland during the time Pieter Stuyvesant was Director- General. Dutch accounts tell of the unpaved streets and paths, the livestock that had its stable in the town was not kept confined and trampled down the walls of the fortress.^[1]

At an unstated date in 1698 Thomas had his son John (Jan) baptized at the Port Richmond Dutch Church.^[1]

It is stated on page 16 in notes from "Shipman, Rand, Purcell and Van Hook Families," typed in Binder files at the DAR Library, Washington, DC:^[1]

About 1677 Thomas Pursell appears in Flatland, L. I. He was appraiser of that town in 1679 and was one of the Patentees of Newtown, L. I. He or a son of his with the same name removed to Raritan, Somerset County, New Jersey, before 1703 and had children baptized at the Readington Dutch Reformed Church.^[1]

Other places of residence were recorded in Middlesex, Essex, Somerset and Hunterdon Counties in New Jersey. By 1728 he had been living in Bucks County, Pa., because on 12 August 1728, he sold land in Wrightstown Township to Jonathon Cooper. He then removed to Kent County, Delaware, where he lived the rest of his life, accompanied by sons, Daniel, Peter, and for a time by son, Dennis. So far as is known his son, John, did not accompany him to Delaware, remaining in Bucks County from whence his son, Thomas, eventually removed to Loudoun County, Virginia. These are highly condensed accounts of the movement of this family within the environs of New Jersey, Pa., De., Md., and Va.^[1]

Timeline

1679 Thomas acts as an appraiser in Flatlands, Long Island

1686 Thomas was one of the patentees of Newton, Long Island

1703 Thomas or a son of his with the same name moved to the Raritan, in Somerset county, New Jersey prior to 1703

1710 Thomas purchased a large tract of land in Somerset county, though then living in Middlesex

1719 Thomas conveyed one half of it to his son Daniel

1728 son Daniel conveyed a part of it to Gysbert KROM, of Amwell township, Hunterdon County

1726 on May 12, Thomas bought 225 acres in that township of John Cooper, on Randall's run.

Thomas was born in 1662. He passed away in 1738.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} PFA March 1995, Volume 24, p 12-14

• PFA: The Purcell Family of America Journal, Published by The Purcell Family Genealogical Association
• New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Publication: Name: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society; Location: New York, New York
• McCracken, Dr. George E. Easy-Going Van Woggelums, The American Genealogist, Demorest, Georgia; Date: 1956r:
• New York Genealogical Records, 1675-1920 (Ancestry.com)

See also:

• Find A Grave: Memorial #107165287 - undocumented, no photos
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHLW-12S