Margaret (Pulford) Lightfoot (abt. 1670 - 1732)

Born about 1 Jan 1670 in England

Wife of Joseph Stidman — married after 2 Nov 1681 in Ridley, Cheshire, England

Wife of John Blunston Sr. — married after 25 Aug 1699 in Chester, Pennsylvania

Wife of Thomas Lightfoot — married 1724 in Chester, Pennsylvania

Died 11 May 1732 at about age 62 in Darby Township, Chester, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Margaret (Pulford) Lightfoot was a part of William Penn's Pennsylvania Settlers community.

Margaret was a Friend (Quaker)

Margaret Pulford and Joseph Stedman first pronounced their intention to marry on 'ye 2d of 9th mo /81' (2 Nov 1681) at the house of John Sharlples in Hatherton, England, amongst Quaker Friends. Margaret and Joseph were both from Ridley, Cheshire. The couple were apparently approved, followed through with their marriage and immigrated to the Pennsylvania colony before 1684. They may have voyaged with Joseph's mother who was documented at the first Quarterly Meeting of Friends held in Chester on "12 mo. 4, 1683-4" (4 Feb 1683) when widow Stidman was paid 12s 6d from a regional collection of 1£ 9s 5d.^[1]

A decade after their arrival Joseph wrote his will on "eight day of the 10th mo. 1694" (8 Dec 1694). It was proved in Philadelphia County on 12 May 1698. The will names family members including Joseph's mother Elizabeth Stidman, wife Margaret Stidman, brother John Stidman, sister Sarah Thomas, and "my brother-in-law Thomas Pullford, my said wife's brother". No offspring of Joseph and Margaret are identified. Joseph left his estate, both real and personal, to his wife Margaret.^[2]

See the Will of Joseph Stidman, Chester County, 1698

Margaret married second John Blunston of Darby. The marriage was authorized by the Chester Monthly Meeting on "6 mo. 25, 1699 (25 Aug 1699).^[3] In 1711 Margaret and John Blunston sold the 100 acres of real estate bequeathed to her by the Will of her former spouse, Joseph Stidman. They sold the property to Joseph Stidman (yes that is correct, same name as former spouse), presumably Margaret's nephew by brother-in-law John Stidman.^[4][5]

John Blunston died in 1723. Margaret married third Thomas Lightfoot in 1724. She was about 54, he was 79. Thomas died the next year.

Sources

1. ↑ Genealogy of the Sharpless family, descended from John and Jane Sharples, settlers near Chester, Pennsylvania, 1682: together with some account of the English ancestry of the family, including the results of researches by Henry Fishwick, F. H. S., and the late Joseph Lemuel Chester, LL. D.; and a full report of the bi-centennial reunion of 1882. Comp. by Cope, Gilbert 1840-1928; Fishwick, Henry, 1835-1914; Chester, Joseph Lemuel, 1821-1882, Philadelphia: For the family, under the auspices of the Bi-centennial committee, 1887, p116. Repository: West Virginia University; americana. https://archive.org/details/genealogysharp00cope/page/n157.
2. ↑ Pennsylvania Probate Records, Philadelphia County Wills 1682-1916, Will Book A, 1683-1693, image 479-80, p403, record 173. FamilySearch.org, online database, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9B2-RH7Y-J?i=478&cat=353446
3. ↑ The Literary Era: A Monthly Repository of Literary and Miscellaneous Information, Volume IV, No. 1. Porter & Coates, 1897, p380 citing Authorized Marriages of Chester Monthly Meeting, Pennsylvania, 1682-1700 by Albert Cook Myers. Entry 77 of 79. https://books.google.com/books?id=v-s5AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
4. ↑ FamilySearch.org, Chester Co., DB C, p402, image 217
5. ↑ FamilySearch.org, Chester Co. DB L, p519 & 520, image 561+. Deeds recount chain of custody.

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