Joseph Wiley (1692 - 1751)

Born 1692 in Aghalee, County Antrim, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Lightfoot) Wiley — married 16 Mar 1716 in Waterstown, County Westmeath, Ireland

Descendants

Died 17 Oct 1751 at about age 59 in Maiden Creek, Maidencreek Township, Berks, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Joseph was a Friend (Quaker)

Birth and life in Ireland
Joseph Wiley or Wylly was a Quaker. He was probably born in Aghalee in the barony of Upper Masserene, county of Antrim, where his parents lived. This was very close to Lisburn, the home of Thomas Lightfoot. Thomas's second wife Sarah was herself a widow, and her first husband had been the brother of Joseph's father.^[1] (See research notes below and their parents' profiles.)

In 1694, the families moved to Westmeath. The new Wiley family farm at Annagh was next to Ballyheeran where the Lightfoots lived. When William Lightfoot (1675-1725) married in 1706, he stayed at Ballyheeran, and the other Lightfoots moved a couple of miles north to Benown or Bunown. In Antrim and later in Westmeath, his father was a farmer.

Marriage and emigration
Thomas Lightfoot's son Michael and his stepson (Joseph's cousin) John Wiley (abt.1687-1754) both migrated to Pennsylvania in 1712.^[2] Other members of the family plainly also planned to move there.

In 1715/16 Joseph Wiley of Annagh in the county of Westmeath and Abigail Lightfoot of Bunown went to the Moate monthly Quaker meeting and later the Leinster provincial meeting, seeking permission to marry. Noting the approval of the Moate meeting and of the couple's parents, the Leinster meeting gave its approval, but only after expressing concern about the couple's relatedness 'the young woman's mother being aunt by affinity [marriage] to the man she intends to marry.' ^[1]

The couple were married in a Quaker ceremony held in Waterstown, county Westmeath on the 16 March 1716. ^[3] The only Wileys signing the marriage certificate were from John Wiley's family; top of the mens' signatures were Thomas Lightfoot and John Wiley; top of the of womens' were Sarah Lightfoot and Margaret Wiley, parents to the bride and groom.^[3] Abigail was probably about 22 and Joseph about 23.

Joseph and Abigail migrated to Pennsylvania in 1716 shortly after their marriage, arriving in June of that year. They received a very fulsome removal certificate from the Moate monthly meeting on 28 1m (March) 1716 ^[4] which referred to the newly married Joseph Wyly son to John Wyly, a Friend of our meeting and Abigail shee daughter to said Thomas and Sarah Lightfoot. They travelled with Abigail's parents Thomas and Sarah Lightfoot and that couple's unmarried children. The two families were received by the Quaker meeting on 6 4m [June] 1716.^[2] Lightfoot's daughter Katherine and her husband and family followed in 1729. ^[2]

Family and life in Pennsylvania
Joseph and Abigail and the family of Thomas and Sarah Lightfoot established their homes near the newly constructed Newgarden Quaker meeting house, also close to where their relatives Michael Lightfoot and John Wiley had settled. ^[5] Joseph, describing himself as 'husbandman' (essentially the lowest grade in the heirarchy of the time after aristocrat, gentleman and yeoman) purchased 200 acres of land by deed dated 10 August 1716. ^[5] The couple sold this land to Michael Lightfoot fifteen years later for the sum of £200. They moved to Maiden Creek, now Berks county, which had recently been released by native Americans and which was being settled by Quakers. ^[5]

The couple had four children^[6][5][2]

• Sarah born 6 January 1717 who married Joseph Penrose in 1735
• Ann born 6 November 1718 who married William Penrose in 1738
• John born 19 January 1721/2 (named after his paternal grandfather) who married Mary Lee in 1755
• Jane who was under 21 in 1750 and married Jonathan Hughes in 1759.

Death and will
John Wily of Maiden Creek, yeoman, signed his will on 16 June 1750 and an inventory of his estate was taken on 26 September of that year.^[5] He left Abigal my Dealy Beloved Wife £6 pa together with two Cows and a Riding Horce and six Sheep and My bead on which I now ly and a clothes press for her own use. He left daughter Jane £60 when she reached 21, together with a chest of drawers and some clothing. His elder two daughters, Sarah and Ann, who had undoubtedly received their portion when they married, received 1 shilling each. Ann's son Thomas Penrose received £10. The real estate went to son John who was named sole executor.^[5] The inventory valued his estate at £696 7s.

Joseph Wiley was probably about 58 when he died. Abigail, a Quaker minister, survived for a further seventeen years.

Research notes

There is no record available of Joseph Wiley's birth because the birth, marriage and death records of early Quakers in the Ulster region of Ireland have not survived.

A 'genealogical record' ^[6] produced by Berks County Quakers lists Joseph Wily (and his wife and family) below the family of John Wiley (abt.1687-1754) and shows both as the children of Sarah maiden name unknown and an unknown father. The implication is that the two were brothers. This cannot have been true, since Joseph Wiley's wife Abigail (Lightfoot) Wiley (1693-1767) was John Wiley's sister.

Doubtless trying to make sense of the Bucks county record, others have supposed that Joseph's parents might have been Sarah (Adams) Wiley (1677-1770) and Allen Wyly (abt.1664-bef.1735). However this too does not meet the facts. Reluctantly, one has to conclude that the 'genealogical record' is wrong. It was not a contemporary record, just an attempt to produce a family tree for the Bucks county Quakers produced many years later, and unfortunately it does not cite any sources for its conclusions.

His marriage ceritificate^[3] clearly describes Joseph 'of Annagh' where John Wyly (abt.1654-1729) and Margaret (Courtney) Wyly (abt.1670-1732) lived. They signed the certificate together with the bride's parents at the top of the list of witnesses. The two families lived next to each other in Westmeath and had done so in Antrim before they had moved together in 1694. Joseph is described as a nephew in the will of Jane (Wyly) Miller (1658-abt.1740) and a very specific Quaker minute^[1] regarding his marriage states that his proposed bride's mother Sarah Lightfoot was 'aunt by affinity [marriage] to the young man she proposes to marry'. ie Joseph's father had been the brother of Sarah Lightfoot's first husband. The only explanation for these facts is that he was the son of John Wyly, almost certainly via his second wife Margaret Courtney. Also very specific is the removal certificate from the Moate monthly meeting which describes him as son to John Wyly, a Friend of our meeting.^[4]

He must have been born after his parents married in 1691 and before they moved to Westmeath in 1694 - children born to them after then were recorded on the Westmeath meeting's family list - as were his brothers, John and William.

For more information about the Irish Quaker Wiley family see space Irish Quaker Wylys.

His wife's family is described in many publications some of which are discussed in the profile of Thomas Lightfoot (abt.1645-abt.1725). Many of these, such as the background note in 'The Lightfoot Papers' are distinctly inaccurate as regards the family's history in Ireland and should be ignored. Also inaccurate and to be ignored are the family tree shown on FamilySearch and the description in 'A Siver Spoon'. ^[7] Much the best of the bunch, at least from a genealogical perspective, is Six Columbiana County, Ohio, pioneer families, by William Brooke Fetters ^[5] which has been cited extensively above.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ireland, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Congregational Records, image, FindMyPast (https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FQM1A-2%2F0089&parentid=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FCONG%2F988417 : accessed 06 February 2024), minutes dated 3d 1mo (Mar) 1715 (1716), The meeting considered and approved the proposed marriage of Joseph Wiley and Abigail Lightfoot, which had already been approved twice by the Moate monthy meeting, despite expressing some concern about the couple's relatedness 'the young woman's mother being aunt by affinity to the man she intends to marry.' (Aunt by affinity means aunt by marriage.); citing Leinster Province 6-weeks Meeting Minutes 1706-1760, Religious Society Of Friends In Ireland Archives.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Myers, Albert Cook, Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania, 1682-1750 : with their early history in Ireland, the author, Swarthmore, Pa., 1902. Section on Thomas Lightfoot ff p 338 (https://archive.org/details/immigrationofiri00myer/page/338/mode/1up?q=Lightfoot&view=theater : accessed 11 February 2024)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Ireland, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Family Lists, image, FindMyPast (https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FMM1VM-1%2F0149&parentid=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FMARR%2F3252B : accessed 06 February 2024), marriage of Abigail Lightfoot of Benown, co Westmeath and Joseph Wiley of Annagh, co Westmeath in Waterstown, co Westmeath on 16d 1mo (Mar) 1715 (1716); citing Moate MM family lists 1660-1782 with testimonies and minutes, Religious Society Of Friends In Ireland Archives.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Ireland, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Congregational Records, image, FindMyPast (https://search.findmypast.com/record?id=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FMM1VA-2%2F0195&parentid=IRE%2FQUAKER%2FCONG%2F453994 : accessed 02 March 2024), minutes dated 28d 1mo (Mar) 1716, Removal certificate for Thomas Lightfoot and family; citing Moate MM minutes of Men’s Meeting 1732-1755; Sufferings 1660-1687, Certificates 1715-1751, Religious Society Of Friends In Ireland Archives.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6} Fetters, W. B., Six Columbiana County, Ohio, pioneer families, The author, Bowie, Maryland :, c1991-2003, v 5, pedigree chart image 4, Chapter VII 'The Lightfoot and Wiley Families' pp 264- 304 (notes pp 648-655) (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/492279/?offset=0#page=4&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q= : accessed 16 Feburary 2024)
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935"
   Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry uk Record 2189 #2653053 (accessed 23 February 2024)
   Joseph Wily death 1750, child of Sarah Wily, in Berks, Pennsylvania.
7. ↑ Rich, Katharine Harsell, A Silver Spoon, the author, not dated (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/493897-a-silver-spoon?offset= : accessed 23 Feburary 2024)