Walter Pumphrey (1655 - abt. 1721)

Born 23 Nov 1655 in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Riddall) Pumphrey — married 5 Dec 1675 in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, England

Descendants

Died about Mar 1721 at about age 65 in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland

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Walter was a Friend (Quaker)

Biography

Walter Pumphrey immigrated from England and arrived in Burlington, New Jersey, on a "boat load of Quakers" in 1678.^[1]

Walter Pumphrey is mentioned numerous times in the American Legal Records: The Burlington Court Book Of West New Jersey 1680-1706 ^[2]

Walter was considered a Pioneer and Prominent Man in New Jersey^[3]

Birth

23 NOV 1655 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England^[4]

Death

1721 Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, USA^[5]

Marriage

Husband: Walter Pumphrey

Wife: Hannah Ridall

Child: Joseph Pumphrey

Marriage 05 DEC 1675 Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, England^[6]

Notes

Quaker records in Gloucester, England record the marriage of Walter to Hannah Riddall in 1675, and the birth of their daughter Hannah in 1676. There are no clear records on the mother of the other children, and their birth dates. As entered here, they are the conclusions of genealogist Larry Pumphrey, living in 1998, from years of research.

THE PEDIGREE OF WALTER PUMPHREY

A reprint of a January 1987 Pumphrey Press article written by Larry Pumphrey.

Recent research among the records existing in England have uncovered much about the origins of the Pumphrey family in general and Walter Pumphrey in particular.

As was stated in the last issue of the Pumphrey Press, (July 1986) the Pumphrey family originated in Gloucestershire before 1538. This was the year that Henry VIII decreed the parish churches must record all baptisms, marriages and burials. Prior to 1541, the shire of Gloucester was part of the diocese of Worcester. This being the case, there are few surviving wills from Gloucester before it was created as a bishopric in 1541. Thus, it may become impossible to trace our family with any degree of reliability before the beginning of the l6th century.

Unfortunately, even some of the early parish registers have become lost so that even tracing back to 1538 is impossible. It is fortunate, however, that the parish of Charlton Kings (near Cheltenham) where Walter was born on 23 November 1655 is complete, so it has been possible to create a 5 generation pedigree chart for him on some of his lines.

It is interesting that Walter's birth is listed in the parish register as most of the registers contain baptisms instead. The reason for this is that Walter was born during the period of the Commonwealth, between 1650 and 1660, when Oliver Cromwell was the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and the monarchy ceased to exist. Cromwell decreed that the parishes should record births rather than baptisms to help bring the non-conformists (many of whom like the Quakers didn't believe in baptism) into the Commonwealth. The practice was abolished upon the restoration of the monarchy.

The Society of Friends (Quakers) were formed by George Fox during the period of the Commonwealth; but there is no evidence that Walter was born into the Quaker religion. In fact, there is no evidence that his father, Richard Pomfrey, ever embraced Quakerism. In any even, the next record of Walter after his birth is that of his marriage to Hannah Riddall during a meeting of the Gloucester chapter of the Society of Friends on 5 Dec 1675. He would have just barely achieved his 20th birthday at that time. The marriage record states that he was "of Gloucester" so he must have recently moved to Gloucester from Charlton Kings (about 10 miles) as his parents and siblings remained in Charlton Kings. They apparently never affiliated with the Quaker religion as the burial records for both his father and mother are among the parish

records of Charlton Kings.

The next record of Walter Pomfrey occurs again among the Quaker records of Gloucester. The birth of his daughter, Hannah, was on 26 Oct 1676. There are no further records of Walter or his family among either the parish records or the Quaker records of Gloucester. The next known record for Walter is that of his arrival in the colony of West Jersey at Burlington in 1677 or 1678. In the absence of any death records for Walter's wife or daughter among the English records, it can be reasonably assumed that they came to America with Walter. If fact (as was suggested in the previous issue of the Pumphrey Press in an article dealing with Walter's will), it is quite likely that Walter's 3 oldest sons (viz. Walter, Sylvanus and Lazarus) are issue from his first wife, Hannah Riddall.

Rather than continuing with Walter's exploits in the New World (which will be left for some future issue of the newsletter) it might be interesting to explore what is known at the present time concerning his ancestry. Walter's father, Richard, was born, married and died in Charlton Kings parish as also was his paternal grandmother Joan Lewis. His paternal grandfather, Gabriel Pornfrey, first appears 'in Charlton Kings 'in 1609 when he married Joan Lewis. My personal thoughts are that Gabriel was born in the neighboring parish of Leckhampton where there are known to have been several members of the Pomfrey family living prior to 1600. Unfortunately, Leckhampton happens to be one of the parishes whose records before 1601 have become lost. There are numerous wills from Leckhampton in the l6th century and attempts are currently being made to reconstruct the Pomfrey family from these documents. Land records have not yet been examined.

The parents and grandparents of Joan (Lewis) Pomfrey all lived in Charlton Kings so it has been relatively easy to reconstruct those lines as shown on the pedigree chart. This reconstruction required both parish records and wills. Work is also proceeding on filling in the gaps on the maternal side of the pedigree chart. All of these ancestors appear to have been from the parish of Cheltenham, which borders upon both Charlton Kings and Leckhampton. The records for Cheltenham go back to 1558 so this is not as good as Charlton Kings, but far better than those of Leckhampton parish.

All of the children of Gabriel and Joan (Lewis) Pomfrey were born in Charlton Kings parish... The third child, Richard Pomfrey, is Walter's father. The PUMPHREY PRESS, January 1996.

WALTER PUMPHREY 1655-1721

The Common Ancestor of Many American Pumphreys

Although there are Pumphreys whose linage can be traced directly to other Pumphreys, many Pumphreys can be traced back directly to Walter Pumphrey. Other Pumphreys seek a missing link connecting their linage to Walter. Fortunately, Walter left a trail through court records, land deeds and a will. We need to "read between the lines" to gain a further understanding of this ancestor. This article will attempt to give a lit-tle perspective to Walter's life and legacy.

Walter Pumphrey was born in Gloucester County, England, on November 23, 1655 near the town of Cheltenham. His father Richard Pomfrey (1615-1671) married his mother Margaret Lane (161?-1691) in 1635. His grandfather was Gabriel Pomfrey (158?-1644) married Joan Lewis (1584--1667) in 1609. They lived near the Severn River, which runs through Gloucester Coun-ty.

A family legend goes that the Pumphre-ys in England are descended from King Richard III, through his illegitimate son John of Gloucester known as the "Lord Bastard". It is known that the family originated in the area of Pontefract Castle, a main residence of Richard III, and that the Pumphrey name is derived from Pontefract. Although there is cir-cumstantial evidence supporting the Pump-hrey connection to Richard III, there is probably no way of ever documenting it.

Walter became a member of the Society of Friends, known as Quakers. At age 21, he married his first wife Hannah Riddall at a meeting of the Society of Friends in Gloucester on December 5, 1675. Their first child, a daughter Hannah, was born October 26, 1676. The birth of his daugh-ter and his marriage are recorded in the Quaker records in Gloucester, England.

Walter was 23 years old when he ar-rived in the colonies with his wife, Hannah Riddall and their daughter. They arrived at Burlington, West Jersey, (now New Jersey) in either 1677 or 1678 aboard one of the boats bringing Quakers to the colonies. Their arrival at Burlington was one hundred years before the Revolutionary War, thus Walter was born a British subject in England and died a British subject some 50 years before the revolution.

The Quakers started arriving at Burl-ington, West Jersey, in 1677 when the ship Kent, with 230 passengers, arrived in the Delaware River, to establish Burl-ington. Several other ships arrived in 1677 bringing a couple hundred more. In 1678, two more ships arrived, the Mary and the Shield. Walter and his family arrived aboard one of the vessels during the two year period. In the subsequent years more ships arrived and by the year 1881, 1400 Quakers had arrived at Burl-ington to make a substantial and growing community.

Walter was a carpenter by trade and helped build the Quaker colony on the banks of the Delaware River. He lived there for some thirty years and probably wasn't only a carpenter, but also a busi-nessman operating a construction busi-ness.

Walter probably did reasonably well financially and acquired land while building homes and other buildings in the Town and County of Burlington. He and James Fenimore, the grandfather of the writer, James Fenimore Cooper, built houses together on contracts at Burlington. [From the Jesse Newton Pumphrey history]

Walter appears among the Quaker re-cords and the Colony of West Jersey. He was on the first English jury in 1680 as Walter Pomphrey, and at other times was referred to as Walter Pumphary. He was a witness to a marriage of an Indian girl and one Zane in 1679. Walter was the only man convicted of using free speech. His wife Marcy (or Mercy) Pumphrey appears first as a witness be-fore the grand jury.

From the birth dates of his children we could assume that Walter married Marcy or Mercy (or possibly Mary) in the early 1690's at about the age of 35. Little is known about her except her first name and that she was alive at the time of his death. There are no marriage records prior to 1705, therefore we do not know her last name nor when Walter married her. From the birth of his first child Ebenezer in 1693, it must be that they were married around 1691 or 1692. His first wife Hannah Riddall may have died in the proceeding years bearing him no further children. We don't know what happened to his daughter Hannah, she could have either married in New Jersey or died young. It seems that he had no more children by his first wife. In early families, not only could a young wife die from complications of childbirth, but also many children were lost at an early age from childhood diseases or infections. There was little or if any record that they ever existed, maybe only in a long gone family Bible.

Learning of the building of a new city on the Chesapeake Bay, Walter moved to the Baltimore area in 1713.

Why did Walter move to Baltimore? Maybe the town of Burlington had peaked in its immediate growth and Baltimore would be more lucrative. Maybe building a new city would be a new challenge. Maybe a friend or neighbor had gone there be-fore and told him what a great future there was for building at Baltimore. Maybe he was just squeaking by with a house full of children and moved to the Baltimore area for a fresh start.

Whatever the reason for the move, Walter is now fifty-eight years old. His oldest son Ebenezer is now 20, and the youngest Joseph only about 7 years old. By age 58 he could have been well established, maybe with a sawmill and a construction business. At least he was well experienced, by then has sons able to help him in the carpentry and building business.

These forefathers were resourceful people, and survival was tied closely to their family group. There was also a strong interdependence between them and other members of their community. This was often also their religious community. As people did in those days, he probably made the move to Baltimore with his family along with friends, and neighbors remember the wagon trains with pioneers going out to settle the west.

Walter moved to Baltimore and in the year 1713, Walter purchased one hundred and fifty acres of land on the headwaters of Curtis Creek in Baltimore Co., Maryland. Now the southern part of the City of Baltimore.

Walter Pumphrey, carpenter, appears as a grantee on a deed from John Frizzell in 1713 - land now in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just outside Baltimore. Whether these two 150 acre tracts were the same, we don't know at this time. These facts come from two different sources.

He then bought 200 acres called the Saw Mill Supply Tract to supply lumber for his business. By the time he died 8 years later, in 1721, he had acquired other large tracts of farmland, often taking land in trade for the desperately needed houses, and other buildings, that he constructed in the Baltimore area.

[The following quote is from the Arundel Sun, Aug 14, 1980] There is a saying among American Quakers that "Our people came to do good, and did well." Walter and Sylvanus were no exceptions, amassing property until by 1900 their descendants owned the better half of Anne Arundel County. "The half they didn't own, they controlled," said John H. Pumphrey, a former county zoning department official.

In Maryland we find the town of Pumphrey named for his family. Names such as the Severn River and the town of Cheltenham, the area in England where Walter was born, could have come from Walter or his descendants, we don't know. When he died in 1721, at the age of 66, and his will, written in his own hand, was probated in Baltimore County with the names his sons Walter Jr., Sylvanus, Lazarus, Ebenezer, Nathan and Joseph. There was one daughter Deliverance.

Walter and Mercy's wills were probated in Baltimore or Baltimore County, Md. All these records are now in the State Archives, St. John's College, Annapolis, Md. His death was 2/23 or 3/23 1720/21. Her death was 1724/25.

In an earlier Pumphrey Press the question arose about Walter's will not having the traditional flowery beginning typically, various versions of "In the name of God". Quakers were adamant in not giving oaths and would not have given an oath, either verbal or written oath. In courts they had a special way of getting Quakers to give testimony without having them swear an oath, especially on the Bible.

The children of Walter were Ebenezer b. 1693, Nathan b. 1695, Deliverance b. 1697, Walter Jr. b. 1699, Sylvanus b. 1701, Lazarus b. 1703, and Joseph b. 1705. [Dates from the Mississippi Pumphrey Heritage Book.] [See THE WILL...PRESS, January 1997.]

From the sons of Walter came most of the Pumphreys in the United States.

Ebenezar, a son of Walter, owned a number of tracts of land as he was a carpenter and needed timber for his contracts. Their son, Sylvanus, finally settled Walter and Mercy's estates.

Nathan married Mary Cockey and appears to remain in Anne Arundel County. They had no children.

Deliverance his daughter married Andrew McAlpin in Annapolis, Maryland, and probably remained in the area.

Walter Jr. married and remained in Anne Arundel County but had no children.

Sylvanus moved to North Carolina, and appears to die in Dauplin County. His descendants continued to spread out across the south.

Lazarus appears to have remained in Anne Arundel County along with some of his children. One son Sylvanus appears to have gone to Pitt County, North Carolina.

Because of the similarity of names there may be some confusion surrounding which Sylvanus was where in North Carolina. Both descendants of Lazarus and Sylvanus trace a Sylvanus to Pitt County.

Joseph Pumphrey was the youngest son of Walter Pumphrey. He married Ann Cockey in 1728. They had nine children, and one of the most documented, the third of the nine children, Reason, ended in West Virginia. He had at least 100 grand-children who spread first through Ohio, then Indiana and other western states.

There are many Pumphreys residing today in Maryland, descended from Walter various sons and grandson's who remained in the area. Other descendants of Walter spread out across this country. They have pioneered on the frontiers, served in the military and helped in many ways to build this great country. (s- Galen M. Pumphrey). The PUMPHREY PRESS, January 1994 .

MORE ON WALTER PUMPHREY

The following is based on excerpts from THE BURLINGTON COURT BOOK A record of Quaker jurisprudence in West New Jersey 1680-1709, supplied to the Pumphrey Press by Robert Naylor.

It is difficult reading. It includes a number of entries about Walter. Some of which I copied as written, with original spelling.

A sailing ship, a sloop called Beaverwick ran aground, either accidentally or on purpose. It seems the master of the ship and the crew made a deal with one John Peake to take the rigging and what goods they could find for the sum of 25 pounds in current Spanish money.

There were some valuable things such as chests, rigging, iron ware and chests of drawers. In one of the chests there was a Silver Tankard, and a bag of wampum. (a means of exchange of the American Indian which was often used as money in the colonies)

Other items taken from the boat were such items as 2 pairs of shoes, several pairs of stockings, a number of hand-kerchiefs, one marking iron, a "furr cap," combs, a hat, several knives and it "a knife thats broke", old shirts and several pairs of gloves. All this was divided up among 8 people.

It seems that Walter Pumphary ended up with, "an old shirt, an old hand-kerchiffe, a payre of Gloves and a knife." Such items seem of little value to us today, but at that time such things were hard to come by. You didn't just go down to the local Kmart and buy what you needed. Items had to be made by hand.

Two important items taken were a silver tankard and a silver plate.

Later in court a Henry Grubb and Edward Hunloke testified.

"Henry Grubb desposeth the as hee and another was takeing up the Floore of the house where Walter Pumphary (the last inhabitant dwelt) the Cup being Silver cup, was by them found under the Plankes of the floore, And when hee the said Henry brought it home, his wife seeing it said surely this is the Cup that was wanting in the sloope that was Cast on Shore. "

Edward Hunloke Deposeth that Walter desired him to sell a peece of Plate for him at Yorke which Mr. Hunloke received and wirghed and tooke to Yorke and offered it to sale, which when the Goldsmith has tryede said it is not melted from Minerall as Walter had suggested but from silever plate and that if hee did not know Mr. Hunloke well he should question him where he had it: further Mr. Hunloke saith hee sold the plate or Bullen for 5s. per ounce and that it weighted 6 ounces and 1/4."

Walter pleaded not guilty to the charges of selling the silver, and requested a trial by jury. The charges had been dropped about having the old shirt, gloves, handkerchief and a knife.

Walter refused to tell the court how he came by the melted piece of silver and was supposedly evading the question.

"The Jury finde the Prisoner guilty of putting a peece of melted Silver to Sale, and receiving the returns thereof."...

"The Bench fyne said Walter Pumphary Ten pounds and to be kept prisoner untill the same be paid: And to pay all Court charges."

Note the interesting spelling and random capitalization in the following from the book. At the time spelling and puncuation was left up to whoever was doing the writing or often printing.

"John Allen and Mary his wife Complaynes against Walter Pumphary an Action of Tresspasse. The Complaynants appeare not; And forfeit their Recog-nizance. The defendant Walter appeares and produces a paper in Court: wherein the said Mary declares that what shee charged and accused the said Walter of, touching his reputation, is altogeather falce, and that she is sorry shee had soe wronged him; ... She submitts to the Judgment of the Bench: The Bench give Judgment That the said Mary Allen bee forthwith taken and sett in the Pillory and there to stand halfe an hower, as a perjured person: And order the Recorder to signe and Seale a warrant to the Sheriffe for Execution accordingly; And to write a paper in Capitall Letters (A falce perjured infamous woman) to sett upon the Pillory with her."

Jonathan West Plantiff Walter Pumphary Defendant Action Case Evidences Eliakim Higgins Attested sayth that the Defendant Walter, said hee gave the Plaintiff Jonathan for his worke 4L. (4 pounds) per Moneth this was the Defendant spoke about May last.

Joshua Newbold Attested sayth that at the same time that Elakim Higgins mentios, Walter said hee gave the said Plaintiff 4L. per moneth and if it had beene 5L. the said Plaintiff deserved it in regard hee minded his worke soe close ...

Juryes Verdict The Jury finde tofr Paintiff and give him hsi Debt declared for and costs of suite.

Att a Speciall Court called and held the 31st of March 1688 upon the Accompt of Edward Hunloke Plaintiff against Walter Pumphary Defendant: ...

Edward Hunloke Plantiff Walter Pumphary Defendant Action Debt being for 500L. per bond Defendant appears not ...

The Jury finde for the Plaintiff and bring in the 500L. by Bond appeareing forfeit.

Walter was in a number of other little suits and complaints. Some he lost some he won. It is difficult to understand from the records exactly what was happening based on the legal proceedings. The Pumphrey Press, July 1995:

A SKELETON IN WALTER'S CLOSET?

For sometime, we have read about Walter Pumphrey (1655-1721 ) and his some times questionable activities, often in the form of court records. We now have some more information on Walter.

Walter's second wife, only known as "Marcy", has been a mystery. After Walter arrived in America in 1678, with wife Hannah and daughter Hannah, we hear nothing more of either Hannah.

The following information was provided by Robert H. Naylor. He ran across it while doing some genealogical research.

It brings up some interesting questions about the ancestor of many Pumphreys. Could Mary Skeane be "Marcy", and an ancestor of Walter's descendants? Did he mary her to "make her an honest woman"?

Has anyone traced the descendants of Walter Pomfret (Pomphray) and Mary Skeane?

The master database on disk compiled by Galen Pumphrey and available from Russell Zaccarl lists Walter as having been married twice: Ist to Hannah Ridall, from whom there issued one daughter, born in England in 1676, and 2nd to Marcy [last name unknown], from whom there issued nine children, all born in Burlington, New Jersey, between 1693 and 1705.

Is there another line of descendants from Walter Pumphrey who haven't been traced? Are there descendants from the child of Walter Pumphrey and Mary Skeane, born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, ca. 1693?

In Grand Jury testimony from a provincial court held the 14th day of the 2nd month, 1693, Bucks County, Pennsylvania we find the following. The quotes from the court records, are translated into modern English, with explanatory notes in brackets:

"Said Mary Skeane, being examined con-cerning a bastard child brought forth by her, said she was forced by one Walter Pomfret who is father of it, the said Pomfret living in West Jersey.

Being according to her attestation and examination, formerly taken before A. Cook". [Abra Cook was a member of the grand jury]

"Ann Oxley [a midwife] attested and examined, said she [Mary Skeane] confessed the same to her [Ann Oxley] about 24 hours after the said child was born."

Source: The Colonial Society of Pennsylvania. Records of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas of Bucks County Pennsylvania 1684-1700. (Meadville, PA: The Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, 1943). pp. 182-83 referring to original page 178 and following unnumbered page (178a).

Note that entries on pages 4-6 of Records of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas of Bucks County Pennsylvania 1684-1700 refer to debts of Walter Pomfret of Burlington, West New Jarsey (sic) in 1684 and that entries on pages 324 and 349-50 refer to land transactions for Walter Pomphray where he acquired land in Bucks County in 1697 and 1698, showing that he was involved in Bucks County from at least 1684 through at least 1698.

Robert H. Naylor II

In a letter replying to Robert Naylor's letter, association genealogist, Larry Pumphrey, replied in the following excerpts from his letter.

... I think that you may very well have uncovered the most significant piece of Walterian data since the discovery of his birth record 20 years ago. Incidently, the actual date of the record you found would be April 14, 1693. The Quakers always referred to months by number because many of the months were named after what they considered heathens. Also, the old style or Julian calendar was still used in England and her colonies in 1693 and in that system New Years Day fell in March.

First, I was totally unaware of the bastardy record which you found although I knew that Walter appeared in Bucks Co. PA for both business (carpentry) and church affairs (Quaker). I plan to pursue the Skeane line and see if anything turns up; but hold on to your hat -- I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Mary Skeane and "Marcy" (Walter's second wife) are one and the same. I have seen one other instance where Mary and Marcy (or Mercy) were used interchangeably.... The Pumphrey Press, January 1997

(continued in "More About Hannah Ridall - Notes")

Walter was born in 1655. He passed away in 1721.

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumphrey,_Maryland
2. ↑ http://www.westjerseyhistory.org/docs/Burlington_court/Burlington%20County%20Court%20Book.pdf
3. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/historyofburling01wood/historyofburling01wood_djvu.txt
4. ↑ Source: #S77 Data: Text: Ancestry.com. One World Tree (sm) [database online]. Provo, UT: MyFamily.com, Inc.
5. ↑ Source: #S77 Data: Text: Ancestry.com. One World Tree (sm) [database online]. Provo, UT: MyFamily.com, Inc.
6. ↑ Marriage: "England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers, 1578-1837"
   The National Archives; Kew, England; General Register Office: Society of Friends' Registers, Notes and Certificates of Births, Marriages and Burials; Class: RG 6; Piece: 1469
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 7097 #283900 (accessed 31 July 2022)
   Wolter Pumphrey marriage to Hannah Riddall on 5 Dec 1679 in Gloster, England.

• https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=phawkins&id=I1106
• Source: S77 Title: OneWorldTree Repository: #R1 NOTESource Medium: Ancestry.com CONT

Acknowledgements

• Pumphrey-179 was created by Richard Douce through the import of WaltonEllisGrovesFamily_2014-12-06.ged on Dec 6, 2014.
• Phyllis Linton, firsthand knowledge.
• L.N. Pumphrey, The Pumphrey Pedigree, 2003, Gateway Press