THE THIRD GENERATION OF HEACOCKS

Pages 54-58

The third generation of Heacocks in America lived their adult lives during the period of the American Revolution. Being Quakers, their sympathies with the patriot cause only increased the difficulties in which they found themselves. Forced by their religious principles to decline participation, they might have bought peace by the payment of military fines and the taking of the Oath of Allegiance of 1777, and it is recorded that many influential Quakers followed this course. A number of the younger men actually joined the Continental Army. Samuel Foulke at Richland resigned as clerk and elder, and took the oath of allegiance, as did others, but there is no record of a Heacock having departed from the strict observance of the principles of his faith.

It is interesting to note that the Quakers in this period adopted testimonials against slavery, an evil which had been the subject of attention by George Fox and other early Friends. The Richland meeting disowned one of its members in 1781 for holding slaves. This meeting also adopted resolutions against the selling of spirituous liquors, and was proud to report in 1802 that only two of its members were engaged in the traffic.

Lloyd Manuscripts relates a story of Jonathan Heacock of the third generation, son of John of the second, in connection with the Revolution:

"The following was related by Annabella W. Lloyd (his granddaughter): Jonathan Heacock, like many others who were members of The Society of Friends was non-combatant during the War of the Revolution. Ann Williams told her daughter Annabella, that her father's farm was overrun by both armies; but suffered most from the Hessian troops. Her mother would bake bread for the use of the family, and the Hessian soldiers would come in the kitchen and carry it off on their bayonets. One of the soldiers took one of their best cows. Jonathan complained to the commanding officer, who took him through the camp to identify the thief, which he said he could easily do. After seeing the men he recognized the one who had taken the cow, but as the officer said that if he knew who it was he would make an example of him, Jonathan decided not to identify the thief, as he did not want the man severely punished."

This Jonathan Heacock (there were three Jonathans in the third generation, sons of John, Jonathan and William) lived near Darby Creek, in that part of what is now Delaware County called Calkoon Hook, below the Borough of Darby. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was aged 88 years at the time of his death. The year of his death was the time of a cholera epidemic, and his daughter Ann and her husband Howard Williams and their family, were spending the summer with him to escape the disease. The later part of August having arrived they concluded it would be safe to move back to Philadelphia. Howard Williams had a business at the corner of Broad and Spruce Streets, and the daily journey back and forth to the Darby farm was a considerable undertaking in those days. Jonathan Heacock, however, remarked to his daughter "Do not go just yet, I cannot spare thee, wait a couple of weeks!" They remained, and during this time he died.

He was a constant attender of Darby Meeting, and an overseer. In 1774 he was assessed at 112 acres and buildings, nine acres of marsh, two horses and three cattle. His wife to whom he was married at the Concord Meeting on 11 mo. 19, 1766, was Hannah Pyle, sister of the Esther Pyle, who married his cousin, John. She was a large fine looking woman and was found dead on the floor of her house on the return of the family from a visit in the neighborhood; supposedly from apoplexy. This was 1 mo. 12, 1808. Her husband lived until 9 mo. 1, 1832.

Jonathan Heacock of the second generation and Susanna Morgan Heacock had at least six or seven children. Their son, John, who married Esther Pyle was born September 19, 1761. The three daughters, Sarah, Ann and Rachel were much older, as they were mentioned in the will of their grandmother, Deborah Morgan, in 1749. A son, Nathan, died young, and another son, Jonathan, moved to Canada. Of the three daughters, T. Reece Heacock says: "One sister went with her brother John to Redstone, another went with Jonathan to Canada, a third went off and was not heard of afterwards by her relatives." A letter from Lee F. Heacock, who was preparing a family history in 1931, however, tells a different story. Lee Heacock had received 26 pounds of manuscript records compiled by a William Heacock of Philadelphia, who died about 1900, and Lee wrote: 'Incidentally, this record gives birth dates, etc. of about 1000 descendents of the four sisters of John Morgan Heacock (i. e. daughters of Jonathan Heacock and Susanna Morgan), who married and migrated to Canada, one in 1782 and the other three with Jonathan Heacock (their brother) in 1788. Ambrose Coho, husband of one of these girls, Deborah Heacock, died of starvation in the year 1789 in what was known among the Canadian pioneers as 'the year of starvation.' His wife and seven children survived, however--Deborah living to be 99 years old."

According to the Sharpless Genealogy of 1816, John Heacock, of Bucks County (Richland), married Esther Pyle about 1781, but the true date was either December 1 or December 4, 1783. December 4 is given in the 1882 Sharpless genealogy, and December I in John Heacock's family bible, which is in the possession of Joel Gale Heacock. The December 4 date was taken from the records of Christ Church (Episcopal) of Philadelphia, where the marriage occurred. These records have been published in Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series. The entry reads "December 4, 1783, John Haycock and Esther Pyles." Esther was disowned by the Concord Meeting 1 mo. 4, 1786 for marriage by a "priest." Disownments for this reason were not infrequent. Quaker marriage procedure was slow and cumbersome, requiring the couple to obtain the permission of the meeting, after investigation by a committee, as well as to affirm their intention at subsequent Monthly Meetings before the marriage could be concluded. Many couples therefore obtained speedier action by going to a "priest", which usually resulted in loss of membership in the meeting.

After their marriage, John and Esther settled in Lower Darby Township, Delaware County, presumably on a farm near their cousin and sister, Jonathan and Hannah. The 1816 genealogy, which was published during the life-time of John states that he and Esther settled in Chester County (now Delaware County), "and have had seven children,--Nathan, Samuel, Amy, Benjamin, Anna, and John. After which they moved to Redstone, where they had one child." This would fix the date of the migration to western Pennsylvania as between the birth of their last two children.

The dates of birth of the children of John and Esther are given in John's bible as follows:

     1. Nathan Heacock was born August 3, 1784. 
     2. Samuel Heacock was born 8th month 3rd, 1786. 
     3. Amy Heacock was born 12th mo. 3rd 1788. 
     4. Benjamin Heacock 5th mo. 16th 1795. 
     5. Annie Heacock, born 6 mo. 21st 1792. 
     6. John Heacock born 8th mo. 13th 1804. 
     7. Hannah Heacock, daughter of John and Esther Heacock born 
        4th mo. 20, 1798. 

The bible record of birth dates is in conflict with the 1816 Sharpless book, and with the Heacock family history of 1869, both of which list John as the sixth child, without giving the dates of birth of any of them. The entries in the bible were apparently made years afterwards, as they are in the same handwriting and ink as is the record of birth of Mary Heacock, daughter of Charles Clement Heacock, in 1876. Benjamin is also listed as the fourth child in all records, and the bible record of his birth in 1795 may therefore be presumed false; he may have been born in 1790.

The contemporary record contained in the book printed in 1816 is certainly essentially correct, and while it cannot be determined whether Hannah was born before or after John, it is very likely that the westward migration occurred just prior to the birth of the last child, around 1804. A glance at the map will show that the trip from Chester County to Redstone, near Uniontown, was much greater than the subsequent removal from Redstone to eastern Ohio, which was only about 100 miles away.

The migration of John's brother, Jonathan, to Canada in 1788 was told in the Buffalo (N.Y.) Evening News in 1930 in an article written by Lee Heacock:

Six years after Ezekiel and Ann Dennis prodded their oxen westward from Richland, her brother Jonathan, with a numerous party, followed  in the trail they had blazed. Tradition has it that besides Jonathan's three inarried sisters, Deborah, wife of Ambrose Coho: Susannah, wife of William Lloyd, and Amy, wife of James Crawford, with their husbands and families, his brother, John Heacock, with his wife, she who had been Esther Pyle, and numerous progeny, started with Jonathan also. Arrived at the Niagara, so tradition runs, John looked askance at the swift current-- which then as now rushes toward its plunge over the brink at from six to eight miles an hour.

"Does thee think it prudent to venture over, with the beasts and the baggage and the little ones?" he is said to have queried.

"We are in the hollow of God's hand," Jonathan is said to have replied. "If he willeth it, we shall find safe crossing."

John turned westward with his party, settling presently in Stark county, Ohio. A century afterward John's grandson, Joel Heacock, minister for many years to the Quaker meeting at West Branch, la., is said to have imparted to the child Herbert Hoover his early knowledge of the tenets of that faith, which, in all the pomp of power and his place as president of a great nation has never wavered.^(*)

Jonathan, with the rest of the party intact, turned northward and followed the river from what is now Buffalo to a point below Niagara Falls. With an improvised windlass the heavy ox-carts were lowered down the steep incline which, nowadays known as the Lewiston hill, still presents plenty of difficulty even for panting motorcars, and building a raft of logs hewn on the bank, passed safely to the other side.

Insofar as John and Esther are concerned, the account is open to some question since their journey was from Chester County, south of Philadelphia, to Redstone, almost due east, and not to Ohio. If they accompanied their brother Jonathan to Niagara Falls, they made a long detour. Furthermore if they went west as early as 1788, all but three of their children would have been born in Redstone, and the contemporary record in the 1816 genealogy probably would not have erred to that extent.

Both John and Esther had parents without much property for distribution among their children, and both had many brothers and sisters. There were Quaker settlements along Redstone Creek before 1800, and there was still plenty of cheap land for newcomers. John and Esther probably transferred from Eastern to Western Pennsylvania simply because they needed more good land for farming to feed their family.

The bible of John Heacock contains the following entry, apparently in John's own handwriting: "Esther Heacock, consort of John Heacock

(*)This is a good story but unfortunately untrue. Joel Gale Heacock met Herbert Hoover at his 70th birthday celebration in Long Beach, California, at which time Mr. Hoover stated that he had not known Joel Heacock during his boyhood days at West Branch.

departed this life July 3rd, 1831"; and these entries in the same handwriting "Mary Heacock, 2d wife of John Heacock was born the 16th of Dec. 1792", and "Second marriage of John Heacock to Mary Bowers March 15, 1832." Since John was born September 19, 1761, he was 70 years old at the time of his marriage to Mary Bowers, who was 39. An entry in the bible "1821 moved to Carroll Co., Ohio" and the following entries complete the story of his life, as far as it is known:

"John Heacock husband of Esther and Mary Heacock departed this life February 17, 1846 at 1 o'clock A.M. aged 84 years 4 months and 29 days."

"Mary Heacock wife of John Heacock departed this life Dec. 20, 1855."

Apparently John and Esther Heacock did not reestablish unity with Friends after her disownment for morriage by a priest, for there is no record of their reception into membership in Redstone, nor of their departure for Ohio. Their son, Nathan, was not recognized as a birthright Friend, for the Westland minutes (Washington county, Pennsylvania) contain these entries: 9 mo. 28, 1805. "Pikerun informs that Nathan Heacock requests to become a member: Henry Mills, William Hilles and John Couzens to visit him." 2 mo. 22, 1806. "Nathan Heacock attended and is received into membership." Had his parents been members in good standing, Nathan would have been automatically recognized as a member of the meeting upon coming of age. Nathan's application for membership and his admission preceded his marriage by only a few months, and was probably a necessary preliminary to marrying into the staunch Quaker John family.