| Notes |
- The following material was suggested by Bryan S. Godfrey:
The following information on Nicholas Newlin is quoted directly from "The Newlin Family: Ancestors and Descendants of John and Mary Pyle Newlin" (1965) by Dr. Algie I. Newlin and Harvey Newlin, pages 7-17:
Neither history nor tradition has produced the name of a parent of either Nicholas Newlin or of his wife, Elizabeth Paggott Newlin. William Penn's "Irish Journal" raises a hope and then leaves it imbedded in unanswered questions. On March 7, 1670, while in Youghal, in the eastern part of County Cork, Penn makes the following entry: "I visited M. Newlon's father, a fine old man and civil. He lives highly as to the outward..."
A study of Penn's writing shows that the capital N is sometimes indistinguishable from the capital M. When either is used as an initial of an unidentified person one cannot be sure whether an M or an N is intended. So questions are left unanswered. Was this the father of Nicholas Newlin of Mountmellick? Did William Penn know Nicholas Newlin? Has Penn been with Nicholas when he was in Rosenallis and Mountmellick for three days, October 29 to November 1, 1669? Nicholas Newlin's name was sometimes written "Newlon." And certainly the qualities of character and standard of living attributed to the elderly Newlon in County Cork are found in the life of the younger Newlin in Mountmellick. Was their relationship that of father and son? Some general treatises on Newlin genealogy give the undocumented statement that Nicholas was from Cork.
One tradition says Nicholas Newlin was "possibly" a descendant of a Nicholas Newlande of Gloucester, England, whose will was proved in 1557, and who had a "messuage" (estate; land and necessary buildings) outside "le Blynde Gate." Another would have him a descendant of "...Newland of Carroll," England, who owned large estates in both North and South Ireland, and to which his descendants moved. As yet there is a missing link between Nicholas and any definitely identified ancestor.
One possible lead is that Nicholas possessed a finger ring that bore the coat of arms of one of the Newlands of Newland Manor in County Essex. Of course this does not prove that Nicholas was a descendant of the Essex Newlands but it does definitely leave the question of relationship. It is well known that Quakers were in Essex in the 1650's. Colchester, twenty-five miles from Newland Manor, became a Quaker center. James Parnell, a noted Friend, was tried in 1654 in the town of Chelmsford, only five miles from the old manor. The Mountmellick Meeting records give the names of several Quakers who went from England to Ireland following 1650. Though there were Newlands in Essex it is not known if those who fled from persecution included the family of which Nicholas was a member. He was probably twenty years of age in 1650. It is known that there was a Nicholas Newlyn in Cambridge, just north of Essex, in 1579. Certainly these facts raise questions which hover over Nicholas Newlin but they furnish no specific clue to his ancestry.
The possibility that Nicholas was in Cromwell's army and was among the great numbers of his soldiers who settled on land taken from the Irish, has not been overlooked. A search of the names of the men in Cromwell's army has not revealed a Nicholas Newlin (or Newland).
The index to "Irish Landed Gentry" gives Henry, James, and William Newland among those who had served in Cromwell's army. These three must have had large landholdings in Ireland, most likely land which the English Government had confiscated from the conquered Irish. Many who had served in Cromwell's army were later converted to Quakerism. William Edmundson, one of the early converts, had been in Cromwell's army. In the settlement of Mountmellick, soon after 1650, there were veterans of Cromwell's army and also English people who went to Ireland at this time to buy land and settle in that area. Myers says: "The certificates of removal which Irish Friends brought to Pennsylvania show that many emigrants were natives of England and lived but a few years in Ireland..." Many of these Irish Friends had been officers and soldiers in Cromwell's "New Model." Not a shred of evidence has been found to connect Nicholas Newlin with any of these possibilities.
It seems most unlikely that Nicholas was Irish (Celtic). No historian has found among the early Quakers in Ireland a single Celtic convert to Quakerism. Some of the Neylands trace their ancestry back to the Irish name O'Neillan but no relationship to the Newlands under consideration has been found.
There were many Newlands (Newlins) in Ireland who were contemporaries of the Nicholas Newlin family but nothing has been found to show that any one of them was related to the Mountmellick family. There is the unconfirmed report that Newlands were in North Ireland in 1641 at the time of the noted massacre of Protestant descendants of immigrants from Scotland and England. According to this story, members of a Newland family, marked for death, were warned by a conscientious Irish servant girl and were able to escape to the woods and eventually made their way to Dublin. Some Friends, among them William Edmundson, later went from North Ireland to the Mountmellick area, but again it must be said that Quaker records reveal no trace of Nicholas Newlin in this migration or in the northern part of Ireland at any time. The closest approach to it is a report, of unknown source, to the effect that Nathaniel Newlin, son of Nicholas and Elizabeth Paggott Newlin, was born at Lisburn, a few miles southwest of Belfast. While it cannot be said definitely that this statement is not true, no trace of any Newlins (Newlands) has been found in any of the seventeenth century records for that part of the island.
In Dublin the story is slightly different. There, Quaker records carry the names of several Newlands, among them a George Newland, born 1662, died 23-X-1712; son of Henry and Jane (Dawson) Newland of County Wexford (south of Dublin). He and his wife Susanne (Rushbee) Newland had seven children. Their son, George, became a very noted Friends minister. He began his ministry at the age of thirteen and died at the age of nineteen. One biographical note says of him: "...there would commonly be great meetings where he was, both Friends (Quakers) and others."
Eighteenth century records produce a sizeable number of Newlands in Cork as well as in Dublin. The "Index of Prerogative Wills to Ireland from 1536 to 1910" gives names of Newlands in Dublin and Cork, but none of them was born before 1680. For the area of Cork, Friends records of births for the years between 1625 and 1810 record the names of many Newlands, but all of them born after 1700. A search of the records of seventeen Friends meetings in various parts of Ireland reveal no clue to any relationship of the Mountmellick Newlins to anyone else.
On the "29th of Third Month, 1680," Nicholas Newlin was a witness at the wedding of John Sawyer and Elizabeth Ball at Knockballymagher, a place in County Tipperary, to the southwest of Mountmellick. If this was Nicholas of Mountmellick he might have been attending the marriage of a relative, or perhaps he was there as an appointed representative of his meeting to attend the wedding of a member of the Mountmellick Meeting.
After the departure of Nicholas and family for America, his daughter, Elizabeth, was married to Thomas Burton at Mountmellick Meeting. No Newlin signed the wedding certificate as a witness. This is almost certain evidence that none of her Newlin relatives was there.
There is just one Nicholas Newlin (Newland) listed in the records of Dublin Meeting: on the 12-II-1682 a Nicholas Newland married Jane Munday in Dublin and died that year. That is all that is known of him. Could he have been the son of Nicholas of Mountmellick- perhaps the oldest of the children. And could he have had a son named Nicholas- perhaps born soon after the death of his father- who was named in the will of Nicholas I by the following curiously worded bequest: "I give to my son Nicolas his son Nicolas thirty pounds to be paid unto him or his heirs..."?
In the Marriage Records of Mountmellick Meeting there is the important statement that Elizabeth Newlin, daughter of Nicholas Newlin of "Rosenagh," Queens County, married at Mountmellick, Thomas Burton of "Rosenaugh," Queens County, on "2 mo 8, 1683." This quite definitely locates Nicholas Newlin and family in a little village, today known as Rosenallis, three miles from Mountmellick. This is the only place in Ireland, or in the British Isles for that matter, which history definitely stamps with documentary evidence as the home of Nicholas Newlin. This stamp covers a period of less than three years. It is easy to visualize the Newlin family walking to Mountmellick each Sunday morning to attend meeting for worship. William Edmundson, the most noted Quaker in Irish history, lived in Rosenallis and most likely these neighboring families often walked together this three mile stretch of winding road. The old Mountmellick Meeting House is still standing. On July 26, 1964, Eva Miles Newlin (wife of the author) attended a Friends meeting for worship in this old meeting house. It now belongs to the town of Mountmellick and is used by the Y.M.C.A. of that town.
A search of the records of other Friends meetings, scattered over Ireland, has not shown that Nicholas Newlin ever was a member of any of them. The minutes of his meeting give no indication of the time of his joining. Albert Cook Myers says Nicholas Newlin "...had resided for many years within the limits of Mountmellick Meeting, Queens County, Ireland." The famous certificate gives no indication of the duration of the family's residence there. Its use of the term "...since they frequented our meeting..." is of little help. If the family had been there for as many as thirteen years William Penn did see Nicholas there in 1669 and that would lend some support to the assumption that it was Nicholas Newlin's father that Penn saw in Youghal, County Cork.
Again the tradition may be recalled which names Lisburn, eight miles southwest of Belfast, as the birthplace of Nicholas Newlin's son, Nathaniel, but no documentary evidence has been found to corroborate this.
Many Irish Quakers, contemporary with Nicholas Newlin, were quite wealthy. This is shown by their large houses staffed by many servants; their great estates, extensive agricultural operations with large flocks and herds, their tenants and hired help. It is not believed that Nicholas Newlin was among the most wealthy of these. The picture of his home is not preserved in Quaker history as many of the largest are. The Mountmellick Friends characterized him as "...well settled with his family, and having sufficient substance for food and raiment." This must be a rather conservative description of his economic status for one historian describes him as "...a prosperous farmer with large flocks and herds and with several servants." If this very brief evaluation is accurate he must have been established in the upper middle class. In his refusal to pay the tithe he attracted the government officials to his estate on several occasions for the purpose of seizing livestock or farm produce to compensate for his tax delinquency; and it is assumed that the property appropriated was of several times the value of the delinquent tax. His servants were beaten for driving the livestock out of reach of the government officials, but there is no record of their touching Nicholas.
The decision to leave the area of Mountmellick where the Newlin family was "well settled" was one of the most significant and certainly one of the most difficult decisions in Newlin history. It must not have been made on the spur of the moment. Many Quakers were leaving Ireland at that time and the number increased as Pennsylvania became more settled and better known. The forces which generally operated to induce Friends to emigrate from Ireland to new Quaker communities in America certainly did not bypass Nicholas and his family. It was made more difficult by the knowledge that the corporate judgement of Friends in Mountmellick Meeting was not favorable to their departure. Among those who discouraged the move was William Edmundson, their neighbor in Rosenallis and the most "weighty Friend" in Ireland. These Friends believed that Nicholas was running away from persecution or "courting worldly liberty," which means about the same thing. Their feelings were written into the certificate for the transfer of his membership, a sort of Quaker passport showing good standing among the members of his meeting and recommending him to the Friends in the community to which he is moving. Since this historic document is one of the very few relating to the family in Ireland and may be considered the bridge in Newlin history between the Old World and the New, it commands an important place in this study.
"At the request of Nicholas Newlin we do hereby certify, that the said Nicholas Newland acquainted our mens meeting with his intention of removing himself and family out of this Nation into New Jersey or Pennsylvania in America, and we have nothing to charge against him or his family as to their conversation in the world since they frequented our meetings, but hath walked honestly among men for aught we know or can hear of by inquiry, which hath been made, but our Friends' meeting is generally dissatisfied with his removing, he being well settled with his family, and having sufficient substance for food and raiment, which all that possess godliness in Christ Jesus ought to be contented with, for we have brought nothing into this world, and we are sure to take nothing out. And he hath given us no satisfactory reason for his removing, but our godly jealousy is that his chief ground is fearfulness of sufferings here for the testimony of Jesus, or courting worldly liberty- all of which we certify from our mens' meeting at Mountmellick, 25th of 12th Mo. 1682. And we further certify that inquiry hath been made concerning the clearness of Nathaniel and John Newland, sons of the said Nicholas Newland, from all entanglements of marriage, and that they are released for aught we find. Signed by the advice and in behalf of the meeting.
Tobias Powell
William Edmundson
Christopher Rofer
(and others)"
Myers was not able to locate the original certificate but had access to a copy made from the original in 1820. Albert Cook Myers (in "Immigration of the Irish Quakers") gives the following short treatise on the certificate:
"I have tried to find the original certificate, intending to reproduce it in this work, but my search has been in vain. It is stated in a footnote of the 'Jackson Genealogy' (Pub. 1878), page 118, that the copy printed in that work 'was taken by J.J. Parker, of West Chester, Pa., 1 Mo. 19, 1874, from the original which was in the possession of Nicholas Newland's granddaughter, Mary Mifflin of Harford Co., Md., then in her 79th year'; but Gilbert Cope, of West Chester, in a letter dated 2 Mo. 17, 1901, corrects this statement. He writes: 'The Jackson Genealogy is in error when it says that John J. Parker copied the original Newlin certificate in 1874, as I am satisfied he never saw it. In 1888 I made an effort to locate the old document, but without success. I have two copies form different sources and have known of others, but believe no copy has been made from the original since 1820. Amongst others I wrote Joshua Husband, Dublin, Harford Co., Md., aged about eighty, a grandson of Mary Mifflin, and got a copy made in 1820. He obtained his copy from someone in Washington, and perhaps I should have tried to trace back on this line but did not."
A manuscript written by James W.M. Newlin, dated November 11, 1865, says: "The original of Nicholas Newlin's certificate of membership from Mount Mellick (sic) Meeting, in 1820, was in the hands of Mary Mifflin of Hartford (sic-Harford) County, Maryland. She was then in her 79th year; a great-granddaughter of Nicholas Newlin.
This tends to corroborate Gilbert Cope's statement. In view of the mild rebuke for leaving Ireland to escape persecution and to enjoy the liberty that Pennsylvania offered, one wonders why the Mountmellick Friends granted the certificate. Was it because Nicholas was held in such high esteem, as the certificate intimates? Perhaps they knew that for thirty years Friends in England and in Ireland had been tearing themselves from communities in which their roots were deep to save themselves and members of their families from the terrors of the religious persecution of that day. Could that have brought Nicholas to Mountmellick, from Northern Ireland, or from Essex, or Cambridge in Eastern England?
It is quite likely that Nicholas was able to sell much if not all of his property before leaving Ireland, for he was able to buy large tracts of land in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth, the older daughter, remained in Ireland to marry Thomas Burton. This must have added to the heartaches which accompanied the departure of the five members of the family. The reason for leaving before the wedding is not known. It is possible that the shortage of shipping made it imperative for them to take the first space available. Since no member of Elizabeth's family signed her wedding certificate it is quite safe to assume that they left Mountmellick before the wedding. If additional evidence were needed Nicholas was noted as being present at a Friends meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania, just one month after the date of the wedding. This was not sufficient time for the members of the family to make their way to the seaport, probably Cork, complete the voyage across the Atlantic, and make their way from the American port to their future home in Chester County. The famous certificate for the transfer of membership was issued eleven weeks before Nicholas is known to have been in Pennsylvania.
Descendants of the noted family must be content with following them in imagination only, as they dispose of their property, take leave of Elizabeth and their friends in Queens County, and make their way, day by day, and week by week, along the three thousand mile course by land and sea from the Old World to the New. The three children known to have been with their parents were old enough to withstand the disease and hardships of the sea voyage. Nathaniel was eighteen years of age, Rachel was nine, and John was somewhere between them.
Not a word is available to give a glimpse of this Newlin family as it tossed, pitched, and rolled on its way from Ireland in a little seventeenth century sailing boat. However, history shows that it was most likely a hazardous experience; an ordeal which only the strong could survive. The mortality rate on these immigrant boats was extremely high; sometimes nearly half of the passengers died en route and were buried at sea. In 1680 the survivor of a voyage just completed to Virginia described the journey as, "...a most tedious passage of eleven weeks and two days, full of death, scurvy and all sorts of fevers." "...Children from 1 to 7 rarely survive the passage."
They sailed on the Levee of Liverpool--James Kilner, Master--but from what port--Dublin or Cork? From Mountmellick, Cork was almost twice as far as Dublin, and Waterford was a few miles farther than Dublin. If the starting point of the ship's voyage were known, a more intelligent guess might be made. If the voyage began at Liverpool the Levee might have called at either, or all three, of these Irish ports. If it began at Southampton, the southern ports, and possibly only one of them, generally Cork, might have been touched by the ship. History offers at least two clues which may be used as bases for the guess. Tradition says Nicholas Newlin went from Cork to Pennsylvania. It is known that on two occasions William Edmundson went from Mountmellick to Cork for passage to America.
On the "7th of 7th Mo. 1683" James Kilner, master of the Levee of Liverpool was tried before the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania for excessive cruelty to a member of the crew. This took place on the voyage which brought the Newlin family to Pennsylvania and Nicholas Newlin saw one incident which caused him to give the following testimony in the trial, as described in the Council records ("Pennsylvania Colonial Records," Volume I, page 79).
"Nich Newlin declareth between both that there was a Caske wch (sic) wanted a pegg, That was almost out, and ye Master spoke to Edward Jones (James?) to put a pegg into it, which he did, but still it run out whereupon the Mr (Master) struck him several blows."
This is the only event that history has revealed that had any relation to any member of the Newlin family on this significant voyage. There is evidence, however, that all of the five members of the family survived the hazards of the journey.
Other Newlands who came to Virginia before 1683 were: Rebecca, in 1639; Mary, 1646; and Richard in 1653. These settled in different parts of Virginia and could have gone there as indentured servants.
In 1710 Will Newland was a witness to a will in Chowan County, North Carolina. In the same colony in 1723 and in 1735 James Newland bought tracts of land in Bertie County. These could have been in the well known migration from Virginia to North Carolina, during the half century following 1663.
The known history of Newlands in New England starts with 1643. The history of Massachusetts, between that date and the time of the arrival of Nicholas in Pennsylvania, reveals references to more than twenty Newlands. Some of them were members of the Society of Friends, drawn to that faith by bold Quaker missionaries in that colony. Several of them suffered persecution for their faith.
One of the many unknowns in this story is the exact date of the arrival of the Newlin family in Pennsylvania, after what might have been a hazardous voyage. Another question is--where did they land? It seems quite likely that the Levee of Liverpool stoppped at Chester. This port was fifteen miles below Philadelphia and only ten miles from Concord. A few months earlier William Penn, just from England, in the Welcome, stopped first at New Castle and then landed at Chester. The town, then known as Upland, was older and larger than the emerging Philadelphia. Penn is said to have changed the name to Chester during this first stop there. There is evidence that he held his first Provincial Council meeting in Chester. This seems the logical place for Nicholas to leave the Levee of Liverpool. Of course history does not always follow logic.
Though the exact date of the arrival of the family in not known a study of the first recorded acts of Nicholas Newlin in Pennsylvania may give a comfortable approximation. From a genealogical study of the descendants of John and Mary Palmer comes the statement that a tract of land in Chester County was surveyed for Nicholas Newlin on "the 24th of 2nd. mo., 1683," eight weeks after the Mountmellick Friends granted a certificate for the Newlin family. Is is possible that Nicholas, following the example of other Irish emigrants, had made arrangements for the purchase of land before leaving Ireland. The survey could have been made before he reached America. On the "...11th of 3rd mo., 1683" Nicholas Newlin was recorded as being present at Chichester Friends meeting. This is the earliest record yet found that definitely ties Nicholas to America. It was eleven weeks after the famous certificate was issued.
On the "24th of 7th mo., 1683" Nicholas Newlin acquired a second tract of 500 acres of land in Concord. It is quite evident that one of his first concerns was to purchase sufficient land to enable him to support his family and carry on a sizeable agricultural operation.
Nicholas had been in Concord for about four months before he appeared before the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania to testify in the trial of the Master of the Levee of Liverpool for severely beating one of the crew during th evoyage which brought Nicholas and his family across the sea, to have a part in building a new society, Penn's "Holy Experiment."
So the three earliest references to Nicholas Newlin in the New American society show him relating himself to three very important functions. In the first he was associating himself with a Friends Meeting; in the second he was providing for his family by acquiring land for his home and livelihood; and in the third he was aligning himself with justice and the humane treatment of people, even those of a lower economic and social class.
Almost immediately after getting settled in Concord, Nicholas Newlin was called to position of leadership in Chester County and in the province of Pennsylvania. Gilbert Cope referred to him as the most prominent person of his age in the Concord Meeting. In another treatise he says "Nicholas Newlin and his son Nathaniel...were the most prominent Friends in Concord Meeting" (Myers, "Immigration of the Irish Quakers," page 116). Concord was outstanding for the number of leaders in its membership. Albert Cook Myers has characterized him as one of the six most prominent persons of Pennsylvania's immigrants from Ireland. Judged by the standard of that day he was reputed to be "wealthy."
The name of the Concord community (and township) was a product of the state of society in the new community. "Both Dr. George Smith and H.G. Ashmead, Esq., in their histories of Delaware County, state that the name (Concord) was bestowed because of the harmonious feelings which prevailed amongst the first settlers" (Lewis Palmer, "Reminiscences," page 89).
To the Newlins, and others, who had suffered much abuse and persecution in Ireland, this must have been a fitting name for their new community. One can imagine that they were animated by the deepest feeling of gratitude for the unusual sense of peace, liberty, and security of person and property which they experienced in these early days of Penn's Holy Experiment.
From his earliest recorded act in Pennsylvania, the attendance at a meeting of Friends in Chichester, through the remainder of his life, he (Nicholas Newlin) seems to have been a faithful attender of Friends meetings. For several years before the construction of Concord Meeting House the meetings for worship were held at his home. This may be taken as an indication of the esteem with which members of the meeting held him, and it could have been partly because his house was large enough for the meeting. The following extracts from Quarterly Meeting Minutes give the actions of the meeting relative to this matter:
"At a quarterly Meeting held at Chcihester, 9th Month 1, 1685...
It is agreed that ye Meeting formerly held at John Gibbons house should from this time forward be held one first day and one fourth day at John Gibbons house and another first day and fourth day at Nicholas Newlands until further order."
Nine months later: "6 mo. 2, 1686"..."agreed yt ye Meeting formerly ordered to be one first day at Nicolas (sic) Newlands and ye other first day at John Gibbons be from this time forward removed and kept at Nicholas Newlands only, till further order (viz) first and fourth day meetings."
From this it appears that Concord Friends held their meetings for worship twice each week at Nicholas Newlin's home. After the building of the meeting house it is known that some of the monthly business sessions continued to be held in Nicholas Newlin's home, even after the date of his death ("Concord Meeting Minutes," Book A76). After Concord Monthly Meeting was established, in 1685, the names of Nicholas and Nathaniel Newlin appear in the early minutes of the meeting.
Nicholas Newlin forged into political leadership along with his leadership in other phases of the colonial society in Pennsylvania. In 1685, two years after settling in America, he was elected to represent Chester County on the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania. This body served in a dual capacity; it was the advisory body for the Governor and it served as the upper chamber of the legislature of th ecolony. Members of the Council were picked as persons "...of best repute for wisdom, virtue, and ability."
In 1684 William Penn commissioned Nicholas Newlin as a justice in the colonial court along with eight others from Chester County. This commission was renewed four times and it seems quite clear that he served in this capacity for at least six years.
On the "30th of ye first Month 1685" Nicholas Newlin and two other members of the Provincial Council were "...attested to keep secret the debates of the Council." This was the first reference to him as a member of the Council; the last was the "9th of 7th mo. 1687." On the "31st of 2nd mo., 1686" the Council appointed Nicholas Newlin as a member of a committee to study the laws of Pennsylvania and to recommend changes as needed. At different times he directed the construction of roads, served as constable, tax collector, and as the guardian of children of one family.
In both Ireland and Pennsylvania Nicholas Newlin was classed as a man of considerable wealth. One history of Delaware County says he was "reputed to be a very wealthy man."
The bronze plaque at the grave of Nicholas Newlin carries the erroneous statement that he was given 7,000 acres of land by William Penn (in some accounts this has been stretched to 10,000 acres) and that this tract later became Newlin Township. It is definitely known that his son, Nathaniel, bought 7,100 acres of land after his father's death and that this is the tract that later became Newlin Township.
Nicholas Newlin did acquire a very large amount of land in three different tracts and at three different times. The total of these acquisitions could have been 1250 acres. In his will he disposed of 1045 acres. A genealogic study of the descendants of John and Mary Palmer says a tract of 500 acres of land in Concord was surveyed for Nicholas Newlin "on the 24th of 2nd mo., 1683." Gilbert Cope says, "he purchased 500 acres toward the northern part of the Township (Concord) by survey Ninth Month 24, 1683, and patented Third Month 1, 1685, and settled thereon."
In his will he bequeathed to his daughter, Elizabeth (Newlin) (Burton) Paggott, 245 acres of land in Birmingham. The deed for this land calls for 250 acres in Birmingham. Nicholas continues in his will: "I give unto my son Nathaniel Newlin my five hundred and fifty Acres of Land with the Improvements Lying in Concord..." This tract of land had been purchased in 1683 as 500 acres. "I doe also give unto my son Nathaniel Newlin that two hundred and fifty Akers of Land which he now Lives upon.." It is known that Nathaniel lived in Concord Township. It is possible that this two hundred and fifty acre tract in Concord is what remained of the other 500 acre tract purchased in Concord soon after arrival from Ireland.
Did Nicholas Newlin invest some of his money and wisdom in the industrial economy of Pennsylvania? Four historians who delved into the early history of Chester and Delaware counties say that Nicholas built a mill in his early years in Pennsylvania. Whether this early mill was a flour mill, corn mill, or saw mill they do not say. Usually "mill" referred either to a flour mill or a mill for making corn meal. On of the four historians puts it this way: "He had a large estate in Concord and Birmingham and built a mill at the former place in very early times." This must not be confused with the mill that Nathaniel later owned in Concord Township. That mill carries the inscription, "Nathaniel and Mary Newlin 1704." Was this a rebuilding of a mill that Nicholas had built? Or did Nicholas really build a grist mill? Ashmead says he built a saw mill in 1696. This was three years before his death and not in his "early years" in Pennsylvania.
In the collection of funds for the building of the Concord Meeting House, Nathaniel Newlin was the largest contributor and his father Nicholas was next.
For some reason, most likely negligence, several of the Friends who brought certificates from their respective meetings in Ireland failed to present these documents to their meetings in Pennsylvania until 1687, when requests were made for them. Concord Meeting's Minutes give the following report on the response by Nicholas Newlin: "At a meeting held at John Hardings in Chichester ye 12th of ye 10th mo., 1687...Nicolas Nulin of Concord brought in a certificate from friends from whence he came which recommended him to this meeting."
The picture of Nicholas Newlin as shown through the scattered scraps of historical evidence, portrays him as a man of determination, or marked intellectual strength, moral stamina, and wisdom. It seems quite obvious that he was a leader of recognized ability. However, there were two incidents recorded in his biographical data which, seen as isolated incidents, might cause questions to rise.
The charge by the Mountmellick Meeting that he was running away from persecution might be interpreted as an indication of weakness, but one Pennsylvania historian says, whether this charge is "correct or not, his conduct here showed him to be a man firm in the performance of what he believed to be his duty."
In the genealogy of a prominent American family a sort of guilt by intimation statement is found: "There is also a court record of 4 mo 1686 in which is a noted difficulty between Nicholas Newlin and (name omitted) and (name omitted) concerning a hog."
Believing that a genealogist should search the court records as well as the church records for material, the Pennsylvania court records for the period indicated were consulted and the following discovery made: "(name omitted) and (name omitted), convicted before Robert Pile for stealing a Hogg from Nicholas Newland of Concord...the jury finde them Guilty. Whereupon judgment is granted that they pay Nicholas Newland 40s; as also to receive 12 strips a peece well laid upon their bear backs."
Indentured servants were numerous in the colonial period. How many Nicholas Newlin had is not known but the court records tell of one. "John ffox Pettitioned the court against his former Master Nicholas Newland for bad and cruel usage but was rejected for want of proofe."
In addition to indentured servants children might be placed in homes ("bound out") until they reached a certain age. This could be done by court action. "Nicholas Newlin brought a boy whose name is William MacDonald, who was adjudged to be sixteen years of age, and to serve five years and a half if taught to read and write, or else to serve but five."
Contemporary and later evaluations of Nicholas Newlin invariably characterize him as a man of integrity and an able public servant. John Hill Martin's character study of the justices who served in the early Pennsylvania courts covers those of the days of Nicholas Newlin. "These Justices were not only Justices of the Courts but of the Peace also; and they were gentlemen of larger intelligence and of more weight and influence in the community, and of more dignity of character, than the majority of men who are now elected Justices of the Peace." He goes on to say that they were among "the leading men in the country." Nicholas Newlin was classed as one of the most eminent persons in the Society of Friends of Pennsylvania of that day.
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The following information on the theories surrounding the birthplaces and origins of Nicholas and Elizabeth Newlin is quoted by Newlin researcher Paul R. Newlin of Charlotte, NC:
Numerous suppositions on the ancestry of Nicholas Newlin have been put
forward. Datewise the best candidate known is Nicholas son of Nicholas (& Jane
Hyde, possibly) baptised in 1631 in Hampshire, England. However, no proof or
circumstantial evidence has been forthcoming on when or why he or his father
came to Ireland. We must also consider that the 19th century Irish
Historian/Genealogist B.W. DeCourcy reports that the name Newlin is of English origin and
first appears in the Irish records in 1586. Unfortunately the Dublin records
fire may well prevent us from gaining more information on these earliest
Newlins. This would mean though, it could have been Nicholas' grandfather or
great-grandfather who immigrated to Ireland and both Nicholas and his father could
have been born in Ireland.
It is unknown whether Elizabeth was a Pigot/Piggott or Paget/Padgett.
Both families came to Ireland in several 'waves' between the 1570s and 1630s.
The Pigot line received land in the Eastern Central andNorthwestern areas of
County Queens/Laois and the Pagets lands in the Southeastern Laois and Northern
Carlow around the town of Carlow. When Nicholas & Elizabeth's daughter
Elizabeth married Thomas Burton, she is listed as being from Rossnaugh, a small
community across the River Barrow from Carlow (not an early name for Rosenalis as
assumed by Algie Newlin). It is quite possible that the Newlin family was from
this area prior to moving to Rosenalis and Elizabeth, Jr., having taken
position in a neighbors household had remained in Rossnaugh. In this scenario
Elizabeth Sr. Would most likely have been a Paget/Padgett. Alternatively
Elizabeth could have been related to the Pigots who controlled land near Rosenalis
and through inheritance this could account for references to Nicholas being
well set.
Nicholas and Elizabeth married approximately in 1655 (definitely before
1660). Elizabeth most probably bore children, who did not survive
infancy/childhood, as many as 8 times, in addition to the 5 children we know. With the
exception of Nathaniel's birth date all other children's births are estimations.
Nathaniel's birth date comes from information recorded by Gilbert Co
being contained on a horoscope cast for Nathaniel found in the "Taylor Papers". It
is unfortune that the Dublin fire may also keep us from finding this
horoscope and that Gilbert Cope did not copy the entire chart, just the heading, as
the chart could be 'retro' calculated to shed possible insight into the
birthplace of Nathaniel.
Paul R Newlin
11th Generation in NC
----- Original Message -----
From: PRNEWLIN@aol.com
To: bryangodfrey@msn.com
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 11:13 PM
Subject: New Nicholas Newlin research
Hi Bryan,
Got a report back from Eneclann, the genealogy branch of Trinity College Dublin (though I can't recommend them for their price versus quality). I had asked them to confirm and send me copies of the marriage certificates for Elizabeth Newlin & Thomas Burton and for Nicholas Newlin & Jane Munday, as well as the complete quotes from Stockdale's "Great Cry of Oppression" about suffering for tithes and any mention of the name Newlin in the Dublin, Carlow, or Mountmellick records or the Yearly Meeting records. Results: Nicholas Newlin in Dublin is Jr. and Nicholas Newlin Sr. did not live in Rosenallis.
In the Yearly Meetings registry of Sufferings for Tithes for the year 1682, the year after the last year included in Stockdale, Nicholas is listed as "Nicholas Newlin of Coole". Checking back from 1682 to 1673 I found that the priest for Mountmellick & Rosenallis was George Clapham and he was the one responsible for the men that took tithes from William Edmondson, Robert Jackson, John Jackson, Thomas Beale and Tobias Pleadwell. All founders and residents of the meetings in Mountmellick and Rosenallis. Nicholas Newlin's tithes were taken by men from Richard Segar (priest of Clonenagh Parish). This places Nicholas at Coole, small town south of Mountrath, east of Castletown near Kilbricken. He would have attended weekly worship meetings at Mountrath which in the 1670s-1690s was under Mountmellick Monthly Meeting, therefore his Certificate of Removal issued from the monthly meeting.
The error appears to date back to Gilbert Cope in the 1880s. He stated that Rosenagh was an alternate name for Rosenallis. It is actually a townland near Carlow where Harristown is located. Thomas Burton was from there and a member of Newcastle Meeting, a meeting under Carlow Monthly Meeting. Cope apparently read the listing of the Burton/Newlin Marriage wrong and thought both Thomas and Elizabeth were from Rosenagh. Next he apparently noted that the first announcement of intention was made at Rosenallis. Because in the US the intention to marry is normally done at the bride's meeting, he must have assumed that Elizabeth belonged to the meeting at Rosenallis. But in the 1680s in Ireland, if the bride and groom were from different monthly meetings the intentions were made at the Provincial Meeting held every six weeks (similar to the US Quarterly Meeting but twice as often). The Provincial Meeting was to have 2 or more attendees from every meeting and changed location each time to spread the cost of travelling and hosting the attendees more evenly across the meetings. This allowed for a quicker response from both the bride's and groom's meeting. Thus the first intention was made Wed. Dec. 9 1682 at Rosenallis and the second intention was made six weeks later, Wed Jan 20 1683, at Castledermot in Kildare. The attendees at Castledermot then set the wedding date for Thurs. April 8, 1683 at Mountmellick.
In the "Testimonies of Sufferings for Tithes" taken in the fall of 1680, Nicholas states that he had not paid tithes for 4 years. That would be 1677, 1678, 1679 & 1680 as tithes were normally collected in the summer months. This also indicates that Nicholas became a Quaker in the fall/winter/spring of 1676-77. While Samuel Driver, Nicholas' neighbor, had tithes taken from him in 1674, Stockdale does not report that he had any tithes taken again until 1680, the same year as Nicholas' first listing. So we don't know when Nicholas moved to Coole, only that he was there in 1680-1683 and that he had been a Quaker 7 years when he left for America.
One possible hint of where Nicholas may have been is that Nicholas Jr is listed in the Dublin meeting records as Nicholas Newlin Jr of Kilkenny. Unfortunately this could be where he was born or where he had last lived, whether or not it was with his father. Also this could indicate Kilkenny county, Kilkenny City in Kilkenny County, Kilkeny townland in Queens County next to Rosenagh near Carlow, Killenny a hamlet just north of Portlaoise, Kileany a hamlet near Abbeyleix.... so it doesn't get us any closer unless we can find where Jane Cavanagh lived, who was interviewed as possibly having been being courted by Nicholas Jr. before he moved to Dublin.
That's what's new that came out of the report.
Paul Newlin
Below is Mr. Newlin's report that he presented for the 50th Southeastern Newlin Association Reunion, August, 2010:
Research Summary on Nicholas Newlin, Prior to Arrival in America.
The earliest record we have for Nicholas Newlin is from 1680. In that year he witnessed a wedding between Elizabeth Ball and John Sawyer at Knockballymayer (now simply called Knock), a preparatory meeting under Mountmellick located southwest of 'Borris in Osary' just over the Laois (Queens) County line into Tipperary. On October 31th of that year, Nicholas attended the Leistner Provincial Meeting held at Mountmellick and testified
"…My testimony is I gave noe tithes this foure years past to priests or Impropiators butt deny to give them for itt doth appeare to my understanding that if I give them any tithes I should thereby procure to myself the lords displeasure therefore I give them none directly or indirectly."
As this was a formal way of stating how long one had been a member of the Society of Friends, we can deduce that Nicholas had become a Quaker in the Summer/Fall of 1676. We should, from this, expect that his son John's birth, around 1679, would be recorded in the Mountmellick Family Records, unfortunately the original book was destroyed in a fire and what we have today is a 'reconstruction' done in the early 1700s, shortly after the fire, by descendents of the original members. The Burton Family restored records of Thomas and Elizabeth (Newlin) Burton's daughter Mary's birth and Thomas' death (even though these were records of Carlow Meeting). But there were no descendents of John, nor apparently Nicholas, that made the effort to travel to Mountmellick to restore John's name to the new record book.
For more than 100 years it has been told that Nicholas and family lived at Rosenallis, a couple of miles from Mountmellick. This, however, raised a question as to why the authors of Nicholas' Certificate of Removal from Mountmellick didn't seem to know him very well, even though he was a close neighbor. The confusion can be traced back to Gilbert Cope, one time president of the "Historical Society of Pennsylvania" and co-author of "A History of Chester County Pennsylvania". He took references to Rosenallis and Rossenaugh in the marriage records of Nicholas' daughter Elizabeth to Thomas Burton Jr. as being one and the same place. He stated that Rossenaugh was an alternative or older version of the name of Rosenallis, however that is not the case. I will come back to this in a moment.
The oft quoted records of tithes taken from Nicholas in 1680 & 1681 are copied from Stockdale's "A Great Cry of Oppression", a published compilation of Quaker complaints taken from the Yearly Meeting's 'Record of Sufferings' for the years 1672 through 1681 with a summary/commentary. If we turn to the original 'Record of Sufferings' we find one more entry for Nicholas in 1682.
"Nicholas Newlin of Coole had taken from him for tithe the 12th of the 4th month by Edmond Broe and Dennis Kerin tithe mongers under Richard Segar Priest and William Coghran farmer of tithes eight lambs worth 17 shillings and up on the 17th of the said month the said persons drove away his sheep and shore twenty two of them unwashed and the wooll being worth one pound eleven shillings.
He had also taken from him for tithe at several times in the fourth and fifth months by Thomas Fischer tithe monger under Richard Segar priest and William Coghran farmer of tithe twenty three car loads of hay and one load of small barley: all worth one pound four shillings."
It is easy to see why Stockdale reported that repartee's took from the Quakers 2 to 5 times the actual tithing amount, a sort of legalized thievery.
So Nicholas lived in a townland called Coole. Unfortunately, there are three townlands named Coole in Queens (Laois) County Ireland: one in the eastern part of the county, one near the center between Abbeyleix and Portlaoise and one on the River Nore near Castletown just south of Mountrath. To determine at which one Nicholas lived, I consulted the names of tithemongers, priest, etc given in Stockdale and the 1659 Irish Census for Queens County. The only area of Queens county that contained more than one or two of the tithemongers surnames (Brohe, Kelly, Perkinson, Costykin, Macaboy, Beigni and Brureton) was Castletown, about 2 miles west of Coole on the river Nore. The priest under whose auspices the repartees acted was Richard Segar. He first appears listed as a Justice of the Peace in a complaint in 1678 from Iron Mills, a small village between Castletown and Mountrath. In 1680, he is listed as the priest of Connenaugh (Clonenagh), a parish that extends from just south of Portlaoise west to Mountrath and down to the River Nore, much of which was confiscated lands . This would indicate that Nicholas was a member of the Mountrath Meeting, which at the time he was a member, was a preparatory meeting under Mountmellick Monthly Meeting. This explains the lack of familiarity with the members of Mountmellick and Rosenallis Meetings and fits well with other history.
In 1672 Charles Cootes, Earl of Mountrath, assisted William Edmondson in procuring the release of several Friends from the prison at Marybourough (Portlaoise). Impressed with the sobriety and work ethic of the Quakers, it is said that he wrote an open invitation to the Quakers to settle in the confiscated lands under his jurisdiction. He also extracted a promise from the area priest, Father Dweegan, that the Quakers would not be harassed or tithes taken by repartees, by making the priest personally responsible for any occurrence. By 1680 however, Charles Cootes had become an absentee landlord, living in Dublin and the priest had become ill (He died in 1681). His replacement was Richard Segar (sponsored by Henry Brureton, one of the repartees) and was not bound by the agreement with the Earl. It is also worth noting that several Dublin merchants purchased land from Cootes to have as lease farms. Among them Anthony Sharp, Clerk of the Dublin Meeting and Clerk of the Leistner Provincial Meeting and Amos Strettell, both of whom we will hear more of in Nicholas' story.
So we know that Nicholas had moved to Coole by 1680, yet we don't know exactly when or from where. There are several clues in the rest of Nicholas' story that give hints. We can make an educated guess from these hints that Nicholas moved from southeast Queens County near Carlow to Coole in the mid to late 1670s. The first hint comes from the marriage records in Dublin for his eldest son Nicholas, Jr. in 1681-1682.
Jane Munday and Nicholas Newlin, Jr. published their first intention of marriage at the Dublin Women's and Men's Meetings on Dec.5 & Dec.6 1681, respectively. On March 14 1682, two gentlemen were appointed to interview one Jane Cavanaugh to see if she had any hold or promise of affection from Nicholas. In this entry Nicholas is referred to as Nicholas Newlin, Jr of Kilkeny. On March 28th, 1682, it was reported that Jane Cavanaugh cleared Nicholas of having any attachment to her and the certificates of clearness to marry have been received from their friends where they used to live and from their parents. Though the parents apparently agreed to the marriage, it became clear that Nicholas had not spoken with either Jane's parents or his own before discussing marriage with Jane and publishing their first intention. Therefore the meeting did not accept the publishing of the second intention. On April 2nd & 6th Nicholas and Jane, respectively, wrote and signed condemnations of (and apologies of) their behavior for not having spoken with their parents. On April 11, 1682 the Dublin Meeting accepted Nicholas and Jane's second intention and they wed on April 14,1682. Anthony Sharp signed as the first witness (as Clerk of the Meeting this was normal). The second and third signatures are normally the parents, however here we have the signature of Anthony's wife Ann as the second signature (Normally in Ireland the men sign first and then the women at the bottom of the certificate). Was Ann signing as a representative of Jane's family or Nicholas'? Did one of them live with the Sharps? Other notable signatures are Amos Strettell and Lawrence English.
Tragically, it was a short marriage, as we find the burial record entry for Nicholas Newlin listed in 1682 as well. Though no month or day is given, judging from the entries on either side this occurred between mid October and late November. Nicholas, Jr. left behind not just a bride of only seven months, but she was pregnant. Unfortunately there is no further record known for Jane in Dublin. We do not know if she returned to her family or remarried. From Nicholas Sr.'s and Elizabeth's wills we know that Jane had a son, Nicholas III, who survived and was last known to be in London in 1715. Could this be the Nicholas Newlin that married Elizabeth Bates in Westminster on June 19, 1714?
The reference to Kilkeny in the Dublin Meeting records regarding Nicholas Jr. might at first direct us to Kilkenny (the city) or County Kilkenny, until we began looking at his sister Elizabeth's marriage to Thomas Burton Jr. In the Record of Sufferings, we find that the farm owed by Thomas Burton Sr lies in the townlands of Rossenaugh and Kilkeny. The researchers at Eneclann (the genealogy & history division of Trinity College Dublin) confirm that Kilkeny (Killeny) was a townland next to Rossenaugh in Slievemargy Barony, Queens County. Thomas Burton, Jr. requested a certificate of release to marry at the Newgarden Meeting (a meeting under the Carlow Monthly Meeting) on Oct 19, 1682. He was probably informed that a rule was passed in 1680 by the Leistner Provincial Meeting that the intentions to marry between parties that were members of different monthly meetings must be presented at the Provincial Meetings. The next Provincial Meeting was on Oct 28, 1682, however Elizabeth's brother Nicholas was gravely ill or recently deceased and the family had probably gone to Dublin. So on Dec 9, 1682 at the Leistner Provincial Meeting held at Rosenallis, Thomas and Elizabeth published their first intentions. Six weeks later on Jan. 20 1683, when the next Provincial Meeting was convened at Castledermot, County Kildare, they published their intentions for a second time. With no contrary reports the meeting set a wedding date for a Monthly Meeting at the bride's home meeting of Mountmellick. They wed on April 8 1683.
It is true that neither Nicholas nor Elizabeth Sr. signed the wedding certificate. They were probably in Dublin making final preparations to sail for Pennsylvania. The signature we find immediately after Thomas Burton Sr., in the third position, is Samuel Driver, Nicholas' neighbor and fellow Quaker in Coole. It is probable that Nicholas had appeared on behalf of his daughter at the Leistner Provincial Meeting in Rosenallis or at Castledermot. He was in Mountmellick in February to receive his Certificate of Removal and had probably traveled back and forth to Dublin several times between October and February to settle his property in Coole. When Nicholas last returned to Dublin, Elizabeth Jr. stayed behind with their neighbor Samuel Driver, who acted as her 'guardian'.
This marriage, as well, was short. Thomas died May 3 1684, leaving Elizabeth with their 2 month old child Mary. Destitute, Elizabeth, using Thomas' small estate as a bond, arranged for Mary to be raised by Thomas Weston of Athy, a prominent Quaker merchant. She then accepted a marriage proposal from William Padgett (possibly a relative of her mother) in 1685. Since it had not been 2 years since Thomas' death, they were married by a priest, for which she was condemned and she submitted a Condemnation of her action to Newgarden Meeting. With William, she had 11 children, of which only 3 daughters survived to adulthood.
So Elizabeth Jr. married someone from the southeast corner of Queens County and Nicholas Jr. is referred to as coming from there. A third clue, that this is the area where Nicholas and family may have lived before moving to Coole, is that one of the most common English names in the area is Padgett (Paggett) Elizabeth Sr.'s maiden name. While this does not prove that they resided there between 1650 and 1675 or earlier, it does make a strong case for speculation.
The infant mortality rate in Ireland at that time was very high. It is possible, that from their marriage around 1655 and the birth of John in 1679, Nicholas and Elizabeth may have had up to eight additional children, who didn't survive to adulthood. In 1680, the tithemongers began taking from their farm in growing excess. In 1682, their eldest son died, shortly after his marriage and leaving a virtually destitute and pregnant wife. With the fall harvest in, Nicholas, probably, left his sheep with Samuel Driver and the family went to Dublin for the funeral and to attend to Jane, making sure that she was to be taken care of. It is reasonable to consider that it was at that time in Dublin, that Nicholas was introduced to the idea of immigrating to Pennsylvania, by Amos Strettell (who had purchased a large tract from William Penn), brothers Lawrence and Phillip English (who already was planning to go as Amos Strettell's agent) and others who had invested in the colony as landowners, merchant contacts and immigrants. By late April, Nicholas had sold his sheep, wagon, plow, etc., received his Certificate of Removal from Mountmellick, purchased a tract in Pennsylvania and booked passage on The Liver.
The Liver took on cargo April 10-24, 1683 in Liverpool, bound for "Dublin and the colonies". Signing the tax papers for his own cargo and cargo assigned to Amos Strettell, is Phillip England. The Liver laid up in Dublin till the end of May. We don't know the actual sailing date, but it would have been after May 21,1683, when the Dublin Monthly Meeting issued a Certificate of Removal for Phillip England. The normal sailing time to America was 8-10 weeks, and though we again don't know when The Liver arrived in Chichester, a letter written by William Penn on Aug 6, 1683 (exactly 11 weeks after the Dublin Certifiacte) indicates that The Liver was in port at that time.
The Passenger list often published for The Liver is actually a list of the men who testified in the trial of John Fawkes, cabin boy vs. Cap't James Kilmer for severe and abusive treatment. If we expand the list for the others that testified in the same manner normally done for Nicholas, we have the following;
•Nicholas & Elizabeth (Padgett) Newlin
• Children: Nathaniel, Rachel, John
•Phillip & Bethsheba (Clibburn) England
• Children: Joseph (& possibly a wife), James, Elizabeth, Martha
•Robert & Sarah ( ) March
• Children: Hugh & wife, Robert, Alice
•Edward & Jane (Roberds) Jones
•George Green
•Thomas Brinket
George Green and Thomas Brinket may have been sailors called to testify. No additional information has been found on them in the colonies.
The court found in favor of John Fawkes and ordered the passengers to make settlement with Cap't James Kilmer. Basically this was Nicholas buying John's remaining indenture. In 1686, as his identure to Nicholas was ending, John Fawkes tried the same ploy, filing suit against Nicholas for severe and abusive treatment. That case was thrown out for lack of evidence and no one willing to testify. (John Fawkes, who was approx. 2 years younger than Nathaniel may be the ancestor of Richard Fawkes who married Nathaniel's granddaughter Rebecca.)
Trying to take the family history further back than Nicholas is a daunting task. Records are sparse to begin with and after the fire in Dublin at the Irish Archives in the early 20th century almost none existent for 16th and 17th century Ireland. B.W. DeCourcy, an Irish historian, compiled a list of non-Irish names found in Ireland in 1883 and when they first appeared in the Irish records. He lists Newlin as being English in origin and first appearing in 1586. This would mean that it could have been Nicholas, his father or his grandfather that immigrated to Ireland. At the time of DeCourcy's writing in 1883, the name was found mainly in the area around the River Shannon where it broadens into a Firth between County Clare and County Limerick. Eneclann reported that the name is still found in Ireland, but declined further specifics. (The spelling Newlin does not appear in any available Irish Census and the Eneclann researches took little note of the difference between Newlin and Newland, to the point of mis-transcribing the spelling in a document more than once)
Records in England are better, but access is difficult without extended stays in specific local areas or expensive employment of local genealogists. Family stories and earlier researchers place the family in several different areas and to date no research has proven conclusive. Without a hint from Irish records or a 'smoking gun' record from England, I decided to have my Y-DNA analyzed in hope of finding a new avenue of research to follow. The results were surprising.
The Y-DNA test showed the Newlin line to be Haplogroup E1b1b1a2 (E-V13 for short). This raised a question rather than answering any. If we were descendent of a Norman invader from William the Conqueror's army, there was less than a 1% chance that we would be E-V13. The vast majority of this haplogroup appears to have entered Britain from the Balkans (specifically the area that is today Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia-Hersagovia) via the Roman Legions, making us descendents of Legionnaires that retired to or remained in England following the evacuation of Roman troops in 410 A.D. The remnant cavalry units (which were primarily Balkan in origin) are a major source for the Vortigan and Pendragon mythos, the Knights of King Arthur. While the DNA doesn't prove our ancestors were in the Roman Legions (we could be due to a sole immigrant any time between say 600 and 1400 AD), it is far more likely that our ancestors were in England for 700 years or more before the Norman Invasion, than to have arrived with the Normans.
This means that it is necessary to reassess the stories that have been passed down to us. The two most important to review are the connection to Newland Hall and Ralph de la Newelande in Essex and the existence of a signet ring of the Newland Coat of Arms. Both of these stories first surface in the late 1800s.
The connection to Newland Hall is based on several assumptions: 1) Newlin is a variant spelling of Newland., 2) The Newlins in Essex in the late 1800s are descendents of Ralph de la Newelande, 3) Newland Hall was the ancestral home of the Newelandes. While New-land is one possible orginin for the name Newlin, there are others; New-lin, a small, valley headed by a spring of waterfall. New-lyn, a flax field, New-line, obvious meaning, New-ling, an inferior, follower or subordinate, Newel –ing, making or being a supportive post or stone. By the late 1500's and early 1600s we find all of these surnames spellings in use in England.
In the mid to late 1800s there were a goodly number of Newlin families in Essex, in particular in Romford and Collierwood not to far from Newland Hall. However these lines do not go back even to the 1600s in the area but come into Essex from Middlesex, Berkshire & Hertfordshire in the 1700s. This makes the 400 year undocumented gap between Nicholas and Ralph de la Newelande even more tenuous. Newland Hall received its name from the property (as did Ralph apparently). Even under King Harold the townland was called Neuuelanda (Newelande), and in the Doomsday Book in 1088, it is listed as belonging to Mauger who receives his rights to the property from Eustace, Earl of Boulogne. In 1232 the property is in the possession of Ralph de la Newelande of Luttewood. Some believe him to be one "Ralf son of Brien" who appears a few years earlier in the English records. This would mean that Ralph took his name from the property not the other way around. His son John de la Newelande has the property in 1247. In 1268 it belongs to Thomas de la Newlande, also known as Thomas de Thurrok. In 1363 a reference to the property (or part of it) reads "no longer belonging to William de Neweland". By the early 1400s none of the townland of Newland belonged to a de la Neweland descendent. Newland Hall was built in 1447, and is the first 'manorial' residence noted on the property. It was never occupied by a de la Newelande. With no paper trail, even a tentative one, from Nicholas back to Ralph, we must consider if there may have been others that got their name from where they lived, creating other Newland lines unconnected to Ralph, that could be a viable an ancestor for Nicholas. To that end we find that there are Newland townlands and parishes not only in Essex, but in Kent, Herfordshire, Worchestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Hampshire, Devon, Cornwall and Northumberland. There are also several Newlyns. The odds that there are Newland lines that go back to one of these townlands other than Ralph's is too high to except Ralph's line without a clear paper trail.
That brings us to the story of the signet ring and Coat of Arms. The story first appears in a newspaper article on the descendents of William Newlin of West Chester, PA in the early 1870's. Written by Mrs. J.J. Parker, Social Columnist for the paper and wife of the founder of the West Chester Historical Society. Her husband had interviewed Mary Miflin, a descendent of Nicholas Newlin, who had reported that she had the original Certificate of Removal from Mountmellick (It later turned out to be a copy). Mrs. Parker started out her article with an unsubstantiated claim that William Newlin and his uncle John, who raised him, were descendents of "prominent Pennsylvanians" Nicholas and Nathani
Inscription
Near This Spot Were Buried
NICHOLAS NEWLIN
Born 1619, died 1699; He purchased 7000 acres of land in Pennsylvania and emigrated from Mount Melick, County Tyrone, Ireland, Settling in Concord Township: He was one of the founders of this Meeting; served in William Penn's Provincial Council, 1685-89; sat as a Justice in the Courts at Chester, 1685-91; Elizabeth Newlin, his wife, died 1719, prominent in this Meeting; their son
NATHANIEL NEWLIN
Born in Ireland, 1665, died 1729; A member of this Meeting,, served in the Assembly of the Province during fourteen sessions, 1698-1722; sat as a Justice in the Courtns of Chester at various terms, 1703-26; Founder of Newlin Township on the Brandywine 1724, and hi
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1619 - 1699 (80 years)
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