JOHN MORGAN FAMILY

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John Morgan, the father of Susanna Morgan Heacock, and thereby our ancestor in the same generation as Jonathan Heacock the emigrant, was probably a native of Wales, and a brother of Joseph, William and Morgan all of whom settled around Gwynedd. Pennsylvania. John Morgan was a member of Abington Monthly Meeting in 1716, and his name appears on the records of that meeting several times prior to 7 mo. 26, 1720, when he is reported as having married out of unity and his apology therefore was rejected "whereby he remains out of unity". This marriage was with Deborah Woodruff; subsequent records, including his will, show that he had been previously married. He was a tailor by trade, but seems to have been more of a farmer. He purchased a tract of land in Abington township, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in 1699, and other lands in the same locality in 1706.

He removed to Richland soon after his second marriage, purchasing 400 acres of the Peter Lester tract in 1724 from Thomas Greasley. He continued to reside on a plantation of 200 acres, part of this purchase, until his death in 1743. His widow, Deborah made application for membership at Richland in 1745, and their children seem to have been recognized as members when they came to adult age, but there is no record of their birth at Richland. The will of John Morgan dated January 11, 1741, was probated March 9, 1743, and is of record at Doylestown. He described himself as "aged and infirm". To "Deborah, my present wife late Deborah Woodruff" he gives use of all his real and personal estate for life or widowhood. At her death or marriage the 200 acres upon which he lived is to go to his son, James, and the other 200 acres to be divided equally between his other two sons. Isaac and John. He also devises to his wife Deborah 25 acres of land at Abington for life, at her death to pass to his daughters Sarah, Susanna and Deborah. Some of his children were still minors, and William Nixon and Morris Morris were named as guardians for them, and his wife Deborah was named sole executrix. Deborah continued to reside on the plantation in Richland until her death in 3rd mo. 1750. Her will made 9 mo. 11, 1749, devises to her son-in-law, Jonathan Heacock, all her estate, real and personal, to be sold to pay her just debts, the residue to be distributed, and he is made executor. She, however, devises to her son John Morgan, 100 acres of the land that is within the 200 acres that his father left him and Isaac, but "which I purchased of Joseph Jones, after my husband's death". Title to this land was disputed. John Morgan seems to have regarded it as part of the tract he acquired from Thomas Greasley, while Peter Lester, Jr., had a deed for 200 acres from his father, which he conveyed to Joseph Jones in 1741. Peter Lester had sold the same land to Thomas Greasley in 1724, but it cannot be determined whether this sale was made by Peter Sr. or Jr., as the deed itself is not of record, being only cited in the deed to John Morgan, Jr. Deborah Morgan also gives legacies to her three daughters, Sarah Dennis, Susanna Heacock, and Deborah Morgan, and to her three granddaughters, Rachel, Ann and Sara Heacock, who were the children of Jonathan and Susanna Heacock, and the sisters of John Heacock, our ancestor in the Third Generation.