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Henry Comly (1674 - 1726)

Henry Comly aka Comly, Comley
Born in Bedminster, Somerset, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 17 Aug 1695 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 51 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniamap
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Profile last modified | Created 7 Nov 2021
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Biography

Henry Comly was a part of William Penn's Pennsylvania Settlers community.
Henry was a Friend (Quaker)

Henry Comly, Jr. was born October 25, 1674, in Bedminster, Somerset, England, [1] a son of Henry Comly Sr 1615-1684 & Joan English Tyler 1630-1689. Henry arrived to USA in 1682, age abt. 8 years, with his parents. [2] Prior to journey to USA, his father Henry Sr, purchased 500 acres of land from Pennsylvania founder William Penn, (19 July 1681). The family settled on land in Warminster, Bucks, PA.

  • Emigration records are indexed as year being 1683, as year of arrival to Philadelphia. Source: U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. [3] [4] [5]

Henry's father died only two years after arriving in Bucks County, and in his will he left to his son Henry "two hundred acres bought by me of the Governour besides the House and Hundred which I now live in." His widow, Joan, married Joseph English in 1685.

  • Henry Comly is an ancestor of actor, Kevin Bacon. In an episode of the television program "Finding Your Roots, Kevin Bacon reads from a document provided to him by host, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Henry bought 500 acres from William Penn." 300 acres were in Bucks county and 200 acres in Philadelphia, probably the Byberry area.

Henry Jr. married Agnes Heaton, on August 17, 1695, at Langley, Middleton, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania. [6] Record of the Quaker marriage ceremony appears in the Comly Genealogy, page 18, and includes the names of the 35 persons who witnessed the ceremony. From the Heatons, Henry and Agnes Comly obtained two tracts of land totaling 900 acres of the Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia County, situated on what in 1939 when the genealogy was published, and maybe still today, is Tomlinson Road near Somerton. Henry retained ownership of the 300-acre Warminster property, but it was at the Manor of Moreland where Henry and Agnes settled and raised their 11 children.

Henry Comly was very active in religious affairs of the Quaker Meeting and in civil affairs as well. In 1711 he was the collector of county taxes. In 1721 his name is found on a list of subscribers for maintaining the poor who belonged to Byberry Preparative Meeting. His signatures of 1695 and later in 1717 which appear in the Comly Genealogy (p.21) indicate that his penmanship far exceeded that of many of his descendants.

The births of all 11 children were recorded in the Henry Comly Bible. This Bible was brought to America in 1682 by Henry Comly, Sr. and his wife, Joan. It is still intact and provides dates & times born. Abington MM records, Pg. 32, recorded birth dates for nine children: Alice, Mary, Henry, Robert, John, Joseph, Walter, Agnes, Isaac, James, Grace.

From Comly Genealogy: John Comly, his great-grandson, John Comly stated: "Henry Comly appears to have and supported through his life the character of an honest and upright man. He carried his temporal concerns with vigor and was successful in his business, so that he might be regarded as wealthy for a farmer at that early period. We find that he was employed in adjusting differences about property against his neighbors and was considered a serviceable member of the religious society." He also noted that "All of his (11) children were married according to the order of Friends."

Henry Comly, Jr. died March 16, 1726. Handwritten burial recorded at Abington Friends; Henry Comly Jr of ye Manor of Moreland in ye County of Philadelphia, a friend belonging to Byberry Meeting, departed their life the 16th day of 1st month, 1726. Wife Agnes, daughter of Robert Heaton, departed their life 30d 10m 1743. [7]

Henry is buried in the Abington Friends Cemetery, also known as Friends Burial Ground, at Greenwood Avenue and Meeting House Road, in Jenkintown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 19046.

  • The meeting house was first called Neshamina Mtg, then Middletown Mtg; 1st meeting house was built 1690 on Neshaminy Creek; 1734 moved to Langhorne. [8]

Montgomery County was created on September 10, 1784, from part of Philadelphia County, and named for General Richard Montgomery. (note: after Henry's death). There are photographs of the meeting house and source documents, including photocopies from the Comly Family Bible, on Henry's Find A Grave memorial. [9]

Sources

  1. Source: #S132 Page: Source number: 207.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: IEG
  2. SHEPPARD, WALTER LEE, JR., compiler and editor. Passengers and Ships prior to 1684. (Publications of the Welcome Society of Pennsylvania, 1.) Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970. 245p. Reprinted by Heritage Books, Bowie, MD, 1985. Page 199.
    Name Henry Comly (SR), Arrival Year 1683, Arrival Place Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Family Members Wife Joan; Son Henry Jr.
  3. Source: #S155 Page: Place: Pennsylvania; Year: 1683; Page Number: 113
  4. Bibliography BALDERSTON, MARION. Pennsylvania's 1683 Ships and Some of Their Passengers. In The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, vol. 24:2 (1965), pp. 69-114. Page 107
  5. Supplement to Comly Family in America, additions and corrections p 2;Comly, George Norwood Comly Family in America (Comly, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1939)
  6. Source: #S132 Page: Source number: 207.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: IEG
  7. Abington Monthly Meeting (death) Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Births and Deaths, 1682-1809 Vol. 1; Collection: Quaker Meeting Records; Call Number: MR Ph 2
  8. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1994 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014
  9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181875003/henry-comly
  • Source: S132 Yates Publishing Title: U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
  • Source: S155 Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Gale Research. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.

Acknowledgments

  • Ancestry member: daveshoemaker1 originally shared this on 03 May 2007. Title: Life in America.




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Henry by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Henry:

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Comely-6 and Comly-37 appear to represent the same person because: same
posted on Comely-6 (merged) by Mary (Spradley) Morken