Jonathan Pidcock (1729 - 1812)

Born 1729 in Solebury, Solebury Township, Bucks, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 18 Jan 1812 at about age 83 in Amwell Township, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Albert Taylor [send private message]

Biography

• Johathan Pidcock is one of the grandsons of Jon (John) Pidcock Pidcock-224 *https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pidcock-224
• DNA testing evidence conducted by the Pidcock Family Association dispels the theory that Jonathan Pidcock had a wife by the name of "Ankey" Ankey-6 who is the daughter of "Spike Anke" of the Native American the Lenni Lenape Delaware Tribe.
• Jonathan was born in 1729. He passed away in 1812.
• Served in the Revolutionary War.
• PIDCOCK, JONATHAN
• Ancestor #: A091165
• Service:
• NEW JERSEY
• Rank(s): PRIVATE
• Birth: 1729
• Death: ANTE 1-18-1812 AMWELL TWP HUNTERDON CO NEW JERSEY
• Service Source: STRYKER, REG OF OFFICERS & MEN OF NJ IN THE REV, P 719
• Service Description: 1) CAPT JOHN PHILLIPS, COL DAVID CHAMBERS, 3RD REGT, HUNTERDON CO MILITIA
• Spouse:
• Number: 1)
• Name: ANKEY X

• Burial
• Jonathan Pidcock
• BIRTH 1729
• DEATH 1812 (aged 82–83)
• Bowman's Hill Cemetery
• Solebury, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
• PLOT Base of Bowman's Tower

On FamilySearch.org 3 sources of information for: Name Jonathan Pidcock

Sources • Tag 2 Close url: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJ5-QJVJ?cat=277313 Citation FamilySearch Bucks Co. Tax Records 1693 Notes Taxes 1693 Jonathan Pidcock of Makefield Twp.

October 3, 2018 by Klara R. Petersen Reason This Source Is Attached • Edit Establishes residency of Pidcocks at a place Property is probably his father's, aka Johnathan Pidcock

The controversy over Johnathan Pidcock (1729 - 1812) who is his father and grandfather who is alleged to be an immigrant from Ireland.

His father: John Pidcock born about 1700 – Deceased: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KNQN-W7T

"If anyone has proof that Phebe (Phoebe) Marshall (Marshal) really did marry John Pidcock and that their son is Jonathan Pidcock, b. 1729, please share it. The Pidcock Family Association has not been able to definitively prove this relationship.

We do know, however, that John/Jonathan Pidcock who d. 1735, owned land in 1684 which was the same land on which Jonathan b. 1729 lived and kept the tradition of being a trader until he moved to New Jersey sometime prior to 1750, when the land was sold to William Coleman.

There are a great many years of age between Jno (Jonathan/John) Pidcock, who d. 1735 and Jonathan Pidcock who was b. 1729, so we do suspect there was, indeed, a generation in between." Birth Name jr John Pidcock Reason This Information Is Correct: One generation was missed. Their are John Sr and John Jr and Jonathan 3 different people Last Changed: December 30, 2014

His grandfather: Jonathan Pidcock died about 1680 – 1735: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G49N-6PQ

The Pidcock Family Association knows that John/Jonathan Pidcock who d. 1735, owned land in 1684 which was the same land on which Jonathan b. 1729 lived and kept the tradition of being a trader until he moved to New Jersey sometime prior to 1750, when the land was sold to William Coleman. (We have the records to prove this, and is the land upon which Washington Crossing Historic Park, Bucks County, Pennsylvania currently resides.)

We do not have any records for proof of his currently listed son, John Pidcock who married Phebe (Phoebe) Marshall (Marshall). If anyone does possess these records for proof, we are hoping you would please share them. Thank you. Karen L Pidcock Price, Genealogist, The Pidcock Family Association

I created this Wikitree profile page of Jon Pidcock ( born ? died 1735) based on information from several sources: Pidcock-224

Biography:

The grandfather of Jonathan Pidcock (1729 - 1812) is believed to be of Scots/Irish/English ancestry and left from North Ireland to America. It is unclear as to when Jon (John) Pidcock Pidcock-224 arrived on the shores of the Delaware. Some local historians say 1679 while others believe that he came prior to 1678. All agree that by 1684 he had established himself at the mouth of the creek which bears his name, Pidcock Creek which empties into the Delaware River in Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Upon his arrival he made friends with the Lenni Lenape, Delaware Native American Indians who occupied the vicinity, set up a trading post, and built some sort of abode almost exactly where the Thompson-Neeley House is now located. According to the Records of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas of Bucks County, 1684 - 1700, for 25 June 1686, Jon (note spelling) Pidcock was accused by Gilbert Wheeler of trespass. Jon defended his position stating that Wheeler owed him 25 pounds for services rendered and that he had come to collect. Wheeler lost the case and was ordered to pay John the money. However, John was fined 3 pounds and was bound over to his good behavior. This was the first of many altercations between John Pidcock and Gilbert Wheeler. Confusion also exists over the purchase of the Thompson-Neeley tract. Certain local historians have claimed that John did not own the land, officially. William Ely, curator at the Spruance Library in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, mentions in a letter to Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, dated 13 August 193l, that "John Pidcock secured a Warrant of Survey for 500 acres, comprising the site of the present Thompson-Neeley House quite early, at least by 1686." Dr. Fackenthal, in an address presented on 19 October 1931, in ceremonies at the Thompson-Neeley House described the contract and the problems involved: It appears that part of the tract (the Thompson-Neeley Tract) was claimed by Thomas Rowland who had been granted a Warrant of Survey l68l for 2,500 acres by William Penn. On September 9, 1690, the heir at law of Thomas Rowland, deceased, conveyed the Pidcock Tract to Gilbert Wheeler. It further appears that John Pidcock took squatter possession of the tract, which he seated and improved and thereon established as a trading station. This gave him a good title as against any one except+the Penns. There was some litigation between Wheeler and Pidcock in regard to the title, or to establish lines between their properties, or possibly it may have been an attempt to dispossess Pidcock, but the Court of Bucks County decided in Pidcock's favor, and to clear his title Wheeler by deed dated 1 March 1701, conveyed the entire tract to Pidcock. A copy of the deed is on file in the Register of Deeds, Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. (See Grantee Index, Vol. I, p. 4.) It should also be noted that the center portion of the Thompson-Neeley house was built by John Pidcock in 1701. However, Warren Ely, declared in his letter to Dr. Fackenthal that the title never became valid since Pidcock never paid Wheeler the required sum of 24 pounds for the land; hence Pidcock held the land only under Warrant of Survey. Ann Hawkes Hutton, writing in her book The House of Decision records that "John Pidcock sold his entire property to one Jeremiah Langhorn in 1735. Upon Langhorn's death, the estate passed to Lawrence Crowden, his legatee. After John Pidcock's death, in 1735, his son John went to court claiming the estate, on the basis of the deed of 1693. The court held that, the deed was invalid and that Crowden's title was good." The assumption which Mrs. Hawkes Hutton made does not coincide with those of Ely and John Richardson who claim that the Pidcocks remained on the property until 1740 when it was sold to a John Simpson. According to Ely, the transaction was made between Simpson and Pidcock, not Simpson and Crowden. Be that as it may, John Simpson did obtain the property and has been credited with having erected the Mill and to have occupied part of the present Thompson-Neely house. He died intestate in October, 1747, and letters of administration were granted to his widow, Hannah Delaplaine. Six months after his death, Robert Thompson, a journeyman miller for Simpson, married Simpson's widow and became administrator, per se, of the estate. This led to a series of suits by the heirs of Simpson, who, nearly a half century later, secured a substantial verdict in their favor. However, the story of the Thompson-Neeley House did not end with its acquisition by Robert Thompson. In 1753, a number of Philadelphia capitalists including James Hamilton, Governor of Pennsylvania, Chief Justice William Allen, Lawrence Crowdon of Bucks County, Langhorne Biles, Joseph Turner, William Plumstead and William Coleman, became interested in the supposed deposit of copper and other ores on the plantation and with the connivance of Thompson, secured a transfer of the old Warrant of Survey for the Pidcock tract and on 18 January 1753, a patent was granted there under by the Proprietaries's Commissioners to William Coleman of Philadelphia, merchant, for the whole tract of 505 acres. Thompson was allowed by the group to remain on the property. There is a old exploratory copper mine shaft horizontally into the hill in a Northerly direction by about 15 to 20 yards then down to an unknown depth filled with water at the Eastern side of Bowman's Tower Hill next to Pidcock Creek that I have been inside of it in 1966-1967. I had to dug dirt out of the entrance to gain entry. Once it became "discovered again" the Park Ranger Service finally sealed it up with concrete a few years later. Solebury Copper Mine, Bowman Hill, Solebury Township, Bucks Co., Pennsylvania, USA, https://www.mindat.org/loc-242259.html In 1757 Robert Thompson erected an addition to the house. Prior to his death in November, 1804, he devised the mill and plantation to his daughter, Elizabeth Simpson and her husband, William Neeley. Neeley had emigrated from Ireland where he was born 31 August 1742. He was in charge of the grist mill operation at the time of Washington's Encampment and there ground grain for the Continental Army. Somehow, the property was obtained from Coleman, for it remained in the Neeley family for years. It was finally subdivided and the greater part purchased by Reuben High whose heirs on 12 July 1918, sold 190 acres, 40 perches to Irwin M. High from whom the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 15 October 1926 purchased 125.9 acres for $35,000. The original house is presently on the list of Historic Places in Pennsylvania. Another mystery surrounding the personage of John Pidcock concerns his relationship with a Dr. John Bowman whose body rests in a grave at the top of Bowman's Hill. The hill, by the way, marks the boundary between the plantation of John Pidcock and the "London Tract" which is now the line between Solebury and Upper Makefield Townships. According to tradition this Dr. John Bowman had been appointed as surgeon in an English fleet which set out after William Kidd, the pirate. Bowman came to Bucks County after Kidd was hanged in 1700. He built a cabin at the foot of the hill and by request was buried on top of the hill. There was even a rumor that a portion of Kidd's treasure was buried with Bowman. In Place Names of Bucks County we read that "John Bowman was an associate and friend of Jonathan Pidcock, first actual settler near the north of the hill." (There are several sources in which John Pidcock is referred to as Jon or Jonathan. It is entirely possible that the Jonathan Pidcock referred to here is John, the Irish immigrant.) J.E. Scott, MD, of New Hope, in speaking before the Bucks County Historical Society on 27 May 1913, refuted the story so long believed by the local inhabitants. He maintained that the Bowman from whom the hill gets its name was Thomas Bowman and not John Bowman. He writes, Thomas was not a pirate, but an erratic merchant from England, who in 1683 purchased of Peter Jegou Lessa Point and the Island over against Burlington, New Jersey, where he had warehouses and traded with such vessels as Jegou and other Swedish and Dutch traders had done for a half century before. His name appears on the records of Bucks County courts as early as 1684 and at intervals thereafter down to his death at the house of John Pidcock in 1697 or l698. His will dated December 25, 1692, at the 'fawles of the Delaware' was probated in New Jersey and letters granted to his brother-in-law Edward Hunloke, who on September 14, 1698, brought suit in Bucks County Court to compel John Pidcock to yield up to him certain goods and chattels belonging to the estate of Thomas Bowman left in his possession at the decease of said Bowman. John Pidcock in defense of the suit acknowledged he had such goods and chattels but declined to deliver them until he was compensated for the funeral charges of said Thomas Bowman and for attendance on him in his last illness. The court directed that he surrender the goods and that the administrator pay his proper charges for services to the decedent, etc. Had Thomas Bowman been in actuality Dr. John Bowman, it would have been a more interesting story. But as one can see, tradition is often far from accurate. As a frontiersman John Pidcock led an interesting and sometimes exciting life. On one occasion he was taken into court because he and his Indian friends had been involved in a wild party. John was fined one hundred and ten pounds for keeping a disorderly house. (See Records of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas of Bucks Co., 1700-1710, Vol. II, p. 377.) On another occasion, John discovered that his neighbor Gilbert Wheeler had been selling rum to the Indians, so he reported Wheeler to the authorities who took him into court and fined him a sizeable amount of money. Accounts of John Pidcock's other exploits may be found in the Records of the Courts of Bucks Co. Another mystery pertaining to John Pidcock is that no mention has been made of his wife in the various accounts of his life. Some have said that she was an Indian maiden. Certainly, his association with the Indians was very close. Again, she could have been the daughter of one of his friends, or simply an acquaintance. No record of his marriage has been found. The earliest account of a Pidcock marriage in America occurred in 1640 when a George Pidcock married a Sarah Richards in Scituate, Massachusetts. However, it was not until 1715 that the account of a Pidcock marriage appears again. In the Marriage Record of Christ Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, PA Archives Series, Vol. VIII, p. 202, we read that on 30 December 1715, Robert Pidcock married Ann Smith. The next time we hear of Robert was when he appeared in the Bucks County Court in 1730. He was listed as a resident of Makefield Township and as a laborer. It is entirely possible that Robert was a son of John Pidcock. The name "Robert" can be seen in the report of Dr. John Tallmadge who stated that a Robert Pidcock left Bakewell and moved to London in the 1640's and died there in 1652. Other Pidcocks living in the Bucks County area in the early 1700's were Emanuel Pidcock, Benjamin Pidcock, John Pidcock and Stephen Pidcock. In the Pidcock Family History, First Edition, we read that Emanuel Pidcock married a Rachel Ruchman (Buckman). According to the Early Register of Wills of Bucks County and the Index of Wills for Bucks Co., p. 125, Rachel died in 1727, many years before Emanuel, the son of Jonathan Pidcock was born. It is probable that she had married an Emanuel Pidcock who was living in the area prior to the birth of Jonathan Pidcock. Very likely, it was the same Emanuel Pidcock who was mentioned in the Bucks County Court Records. When Rachel died, she left her estate to her children, one of whom was STEPHEN PIDCOCK. (See Will of Rachel Pidcock, No. 248.) Since her children had not reached their maturity, Rachel proposed that her brother, John Ruckman (Buchman), administer her wishes in the will. We later read in a report given by Bruce Morgan, Esq., that Stephen moved to Amwell, New Jersey, where he raised his family. He died in 1742. Mentioned in his will were his two sons, John and Thomas. (Since Rachel does not mention Emanuel in her will, it seems likely that he had died prior to her demise in 1727. Until her death, she was responsible for the estate of her husband.) Another Pidcock who lived in Solebury during this period was Benjamin Pidcock. His name appears in the Bucks County Court records as early as 1729 and as late as 1735. Unlike Robert and Stephen, he owned property in Solebury and was listed as a yeoman, i.e. a freeholder, in the community. *The Tax Records of Bucks County show that he had paid taxes between 1762 and 1787. He died in 1789. The Records of the Orphan's Court of Bucks Co. reveal that he was married to a Sarah Burger and that he had four children; Mary who married James Lear, Elizabeth who married William Boyd, Hannah who married Abner Ely and Joseph, who married Jane _______. Following the death of Benjamin, Sarah his wife petitioned the court to appoint Isaiah Paxon as Joseph's guardian, since Joseph had not reached his maturity. Hannah Pidcock Ely, had a daughter, Sarah Ely and a son Barnet Pidcock. She requested that the court appoint a guardian for her daughter Sarah which the court did, naming Watson Sill as her guardian. Elizabeth Pidcock Boyd also had children, William Mariea and Sarah, both of whom attempted to claim their share of the Pidcock estate. When Joseph Pidcock died in 1846, his wife Jane requested that the court find a guardian for their daughter, Ann Elizabeth. Jonathan Kinsey was appointed as guardian. Since Benjamin Pidcock lived in the Solebury-Makefield area at the same time as Emanuel, Robert, and Stephen, it is likely that he, too, was a son of John Pidcock, the immigrant. (There is an account of John Pidcock's having a child in 1692. The child died at birth and is supposedly buried in the Pidcock plot. Therefore, it is likely that Emanuel and Robert were born around that time.) The fourth Pidcock who lived in the Solebury-Makefield area during this time period was John Pidcock. His name appears in County Court records as early as 1729 and as late as 1732. He was listed as a farmer, not a laborer, and when John Simpson purchased the Pidcock Tract in 1740, he purchased it from a John Pidcock. The elder Pidcock, John's father, had died in 1735. Although much of the evidence presented here has been circumstantial, the possibility that John Pidcock had four sons certainly exists. All of these Pidcocks lived in the immediate area. Four appeared in the Bucks County Court Records for various reasons as early as 1729 and as late as 1738. This indicates that all were in their maturity and were not taken in as juveniles. Two of them, Robert and Emanuel, were married in Philadelphia, but moved back to Bucks County. Both Benjamin and John owned property and paid taxes. For these reasons, one may assume that they were brothers and the sons of John Pidcock, the Irish immigrant who was among the first white men to settle along the Delaware. At the 1936 reunion of the Pidcock Family Association, Bruce Morgan intimated that there was a missing link in the Pidcock family tree. In his research he found half a dozen Pidcocks who were older than Jonathan who was born in 1729. From looking at the evidence listed above, one may conclude that one of these sons is the father of Jonathan and, therefore, the "missing link." There was no account of Robert and Ann Pidcock having had any children. No other Robert Pidcock appears among the names of Pidcocks living in the Solebury-Makefield area in the middle and late 1700's. We know that Emanuel and Rachel Pidcock had children and that their oldest was named Stephen. It is also very likely that he had another son named Moses. There is a record of a Moses Pidcock who owned land in the area around Makefield and who leased a portion of it to the County in order to build a school. This was in the 1760's. There is also evidence of an Emanuel Pidcock who was born in Bucks County in 1742. According to Gladys Pidcock, Emanuel who also spelled his name Immanuel, married Elizabeth Marshall, dau. the celebrated Edward Marshall, who walked out the day and a half Indian purchase. (This event has been referred to in American History as "The Walking Purchase.") Emanuel and his son Benjamin are listed in the 1800 Census as living in Lycoming, Pennsylvania. It was this Benjamin Pidcock who married Anna Heylman. This Emanuel also had a son named Moses who fathered the branch of the family which later changed the name to Pidcoe. Now, we do know that Benjamin of Solebury had four children but only one male heir, Joseph, who died in 1742. Joseph had one daughter, Ann Elizabeth. It was she who became the ward of Jonathan Kinsey. It is not possible, therefore, that Jonathan Pidcock could have been the son of Benjamin of Solebury. Of the four Pidcocks of Bucks County - Robert, Emanuel, Benjamin, and John, only John is left as the possible father of Jonathan Pidcock. We can find no record of John's having had any children, but it is most likely that he did. He was a farmer, and farmers needed children to help run the farm. It is also significant that this John inherited the Pidcock Tract which he sold. Generally, it is the eldest son who inherits the father's estate. It is also likely that John Jr. named his first son Jonathan, after his father, who was also referred to as Jonathan. (None of Jonathan's children were named John. Two were named Emanuel and Benjamin. Jonathan's son Charles named his sons John and Jonathan.) Although the evidence is circumstantial, it seems most likely that John Jr. was the father of Jonathan. The names John and Jonathan have been used consistently by descendants of Jonathan Pidcock through the years.

Sources http://pidcockfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/pidcockhistory-2nd-edition.pdf

Sources

• https://pidcockfamily.org/?page_id=617
• https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A091165
• https://pidcockfamily.org/?page_id=739
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94325589/jonathan-pidcock
• http://www.buckscountyhistory.com/buckingham.html#pidcock

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVL2-XHFW : 13 December 2015), Jonathan Pidcock, ; Burial, Solebury, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Bowman's Hill; citing record ID 94325589, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
• "Ancestry.com - New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817." Ancestry.com - New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2015..