Thomas Massey (1663 - 1708)

Born 1663 in Cheshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Phebe (Taylor) Coppock — married 20 Oct 1692 in Springfield Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 8 Sep 1708 at about age 45 in Marple, Chester, Colony of Pennsylvania

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Thomas Massey was born in England.

Biography

Thomas Massey was baptised on 1 October 1665 in Saint Mary's Church, Nantwich (near Marple), Cheshire, England, where the Massey family had established themselves in the eleventh century, when a knight surnamed Massey came over to England from Normandy in the service of Wiliam the Conquerer. Thomas is believed to have been the son of Thomas Massey and his wife Hannah Sidebotham. Thomas Massey died in 1675 leaving a will, requesting that his son Thomas be apprenticed, as he was yet under age. Thomas was baptised and brought up in the Church of England (Anglican).

Thomas did not become a Quaker until his association with Francis Stanfield, who invited him to sail along to the New World and lent him the money for the fare. Thomas is recorded as a passenger on the Ketch Endeavour out of Liverpool, England. The Endeavour left England sometime after 11 July 1683 and arrived in the Delaware river on 29 September 1683. The passengers disembarked at Upland, which is now Chester, Pennsylvania. They were members of the new Quaker sect, most being from Cheshire. Many had been persecuted for their beliefs, fined, imprisoned and their property confiscated. William Penn had promised them religious freedom in his new colony called Pennsylvania (i.e., Penn's woods: silva means woods in Latin.)

Twenty three Quaker families with children and servants were aboard the Endeavour. They had purchased land before leaving England. On the Endeavour passenger list were entered the names of Francis Stanfield and his wife Grace, their six children and eight servants, amongst whom, Thomas Massey. Thomas Massey served out his term of indenture to Francis Stanfield and, as was usual, received fifty acres of land from his master, and another fifty from William Penn.

By 1692, at the age of 29, Thomas had saved some money and sought to marry. With Thomas on the Endeavour was a thirteen year old girl, Phebe Taylor, who had come with her mother and seven brothers and sisters to join their father, Robert. On 20 October 1692 at the Springfield Meeting, Thomas Massey married Phebe Taylor. He was then twenty nine years old, she was twenty two. In 1696 Thomas Massey bought 300 acres of land in Marple Township from James Stanfield, son of Francis Stanfield. At this time he began to build a fine brick house for his wife Phebe as an extension of an existing log house, and he called it Marple Plantation (probably named after Marpoole, a village in Cheshire, England). ^[1]

Seven children were born at Marple Plantation to Phebe and Thomas before his death on 8 September 1708. The children of Thomas and Phebe (Taylor) Massey were:

1. Esther, born in 1693;
2. Mordecai, b.9 Aug 1695;
3. James, b. 13 Sep 1697;
4. Hannah, b. 7 Aug 1699;
5. Thomas, b. 21 Jan 1702;
6. Phebe, b. 20 Apr 1705;
7. Mary, b. 3 Feb 1708.

Nota bene: the above dates of birth have been converted from Old Style to New Style. For example, "the 21st of the 11th Month 1701" is actually 21 January 1702. [Link to Image of Birth Records of Thomas Massey's Children]

In his will Thomas Massey left his plantation to his eldest son, Mordecai, with the provision that his widow Phebe should have the lower room in the brick end of the house, a horse and a cow as long as she remained a widow. Mordecai was thirteen when his father died and his youngest sister was less than a year old. With seven children to bring up, two years after the death of her husband Thomas Massey, Phebe married Bartholomew Coppock Jr., a widower with two children of his own. Four girls were born to this union: Rebecca, Sarah, Esther, Martha. Phebe Taylor Massey Coppock died on 27 December 1749 at Marple Plantation. ^{[2] [3][4] [5] [6]}

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia. Article on Marple Township, Pennsylvania. With mention of our Thomas Massey and his 300-acre Marple plantation and House that still stands today. [on-line] Marple Township, Pennsylvania Text: "One of the settlers that arrived on the Endeavor was Thomas Massey. He obtained a 300-acre plantation in the township from William Penn. The house he built on the land is still preserved today, as well as some of its surrounding gardens."
2. ↑ Violetta May Hill, The Massey Genealogy, Descendants of Thomas Massey, Genealogical Format, 28 Mar 1990, pp. 1, 25
3. ↑ The Thomas Massey House [on-line] Thomas Massey House
4. ↑ Judge Frank A. Massey, Massey Families in America, 1974
5. ↑ Karen and Kim Massey, Descendants of the Thomas Massey House, Genealogy Publishing Service, 2009, page 4. Note: information from this book has been used with permission of the author. - Albertus, 17 Apr 2015
6. ↑ Ancestry Family Trees, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members Thomas Massey

Acknowledgements

William Smith imported the data for WikiTree profile Thomas Massey from Smith-Hunter.ged on 10 March 2011. Click to the [Changes page] for the details of edits.