David Abraham Coryell

Notes:

Tidbits about Abraham Moses Coryell
Abraham served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, enlisting as a private in the Middlesex County Troops. Abraham served as a private in Captain John Phillips 1st Company, Colonel David Chambers 3rd Regiment, Hunterdon Co. Militia, N.J. Records in the office of the Adjutant General at Trenton, N.J. show that he received certificate #612, amounting to 3:12:6, for the depreciation of his Continental pay during the Revolutionary War. Abraham is said to have furnished shirts and bread for Washington's army at the beginning of the war, later becoming a Minuteman and taking part in several tours of defense on the frontier; he is also said to have been a scout for General Washington from June 19th-December 15th, 1779, while the army occupied Hunterdon Co., N.J. New Jersey was the field of some of the hardest fought battles of the Revolutionary War and Washington and his soldiers were often encamped in the sections of Middlesex and Hunterdon Counties where the Coryell's lived. In the winter of 1776, also in May 1777 and again in the spring of 1778/79, his army was encamped at Middlebrook {Bound Brook} just across the line in Somerset Co. A camp at this point prevented the English from reaching the mountains on the north, to which Washington might retreat if it became necessary. A large fort was located nearby but the exact spot is unknown. Washington's army, or a portion of it, encamped at Quibbletown {New Market} where David Coryell father of Abraham lived and at the Ver Meulen plantation nearby.

Abraham was a farmer and lived in Randolphville, formerly Newton, Middlesex Co., N.J. He was well known in the community, serving in the Township as a Collector in 1784, Constable in 1789 and on the Town Committee in 1802.

Abraham died at the age of eighty-four. He was mourned by a large scattered family of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He had been born in the Royal Colony of New Jersey during the reign of King George II and died in the State of New Jersey of the United States of America during the administration of President Monroe. He was buried in the Coryell Family burying ground on his farm in Randolphville, the home plantation of his father, David Coryell, which was part of the land bequeathed him in his father's will. His gravestone may now be seen in the Baptist Cemetery in Plainfield, New Jersey.

The farm home of Abraham has since changed owners several times. The part where the family graveyard was, became the property of a German named Fred Wessels about 1880 and he took away all of the grave stones and removed all traces of the burying ground. Many of the stones were used for building purposes. Among these were those which had marked the graves of the two brothers - Abraham and David Coryell, Revolutionary soldiers, their wives and many of their descendants. An old house that stood by the road was moved back among the farm buildings for a wagon house, the walls of which were built on a foundation of tombstones from this cemetery. A carpenter, in making some repairs around the house, found a stone in the yard. Richard E. Coryell, of Plainfield, New Jersey, being notified, went to the farm and found, extending partly under one of the buildings, a well preserved stone inscribed; D.C. In Memory of David Coryell, who died September 22, 1803, in the 68th year of his age. Three other large stones were found in a ditch which had been used as a watering place for horses, where they had been placed to hold the banks from caving in. They were almost hidden in weeds and mud. One was inscribed; Elisabeth, wife of David Coryell and another recorded the death of one of their sons. Another was inscribed; Sacred to the memory of Abram Coryell, who died September 22, 1826, aged 90 years. A verse on the stone read; "Come look upon my grave, all of you that pass by. When one dothlive to such an age, thousands do die." These two Revolutionary soldiers, Abraham and David Coryell, were the ancestors of nearly all fo the Coryell's living in the eastern part of New Jersey.

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/1391136/person/-1949760817/story/c2d15741-30c0-442c-9956-eece6812763c?src=search

Abraham married Esther Heath about 1758. Esther (daughter of Richard Heath and Sarah Wilson) was born on 22 Jun 1738 in Quakertown, Bethlehem Twp., Hunterdon Co., New Jersey; died on 20 Mar 1796 in Randolphville, Middlesex Co, New Jersey; was buried in Coryell Bur., Gm, Randolphville, Middlesex, New Jersey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

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Notes:

On 02 October 1736 and on 06 November 1736 Richard and Sarah Wilson declared their intention to marry before the Chesterfield Council monthly meetings. This council on 03 November 1739 signed a paper of condemnation against Richard who "having been tenderly dealt with, and much labor in love bestowed on him, neglects making satisfaction". Although a paper received from Richard on 07 December 1739 condemning his "outgoings" was referred to the Council for further consideration. He was finally "downed" on 01 February 1742. His second wife, Mary, was also a Quakress. Richard inherited from his father six-hundred acres on Musconetcong Creek, a branch of the Delaware River. On 09 October 1738 his name appears on the Poll of Freeholders from Bethelem Township to select a representative to theGeneral Assembly of the Province of New Jersey, indicating he had a personal estate or owned one hundred acres of land. On 10 March 1737 he morgaged about ninety-five acres and on 30 April 1741 about eighty acres to the commissioners of the Hunterdon County loan office. The mortgaged land was bounded by his other land and that owned by Samuel Wilson Sr. His widow, Mary, and Samuel Ketchum of Bethlehem Township were granted letters of administration on 10 April 1749. Peter Smoch made the final payments on the mortgaged land after Richard's death,On 16 May 1757 an accounting was made of his estate by Mary Park, formerly Mary Heath, indicating she had remarried between 1747 and 1757. Richard and Sarah had one known child, Esther.

Richard married Sarah Wilson on 6 Nov 1736. Sarah was born about 1703; died after 1759. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

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dau of Father: Samuel WILLSON (AFN: C7F5-F4)
Mother: Hester (Or Esther) OVERTON (AFN: C7F5-G9)

Notes:

Andrew Heath, the progenitor of the Hunterdon County family, emigrated to the Colonies from Staffordshire, England in 1682. He arrived in Bucks County, Penna., on 28 July 1682. He came with William Yardley, Yardley's wife Jane Heath Yardley and their three children,Enoch, Thomas and William. They had been passengers on the ship "Friends Adventure". Andrew came as a bonded servant to William Yardley, a minister among the Friends who had been imprisoned several times. There is an assumption that Andrew was the nephew of Mrs. Yardley. They settled in Lower Makefield Township on a large tract of land, the site of Yardleyville, the name later shortened to Yardley. On 29 July 1686 Yardley released Andrew after four years of bonded service, giving him fifty acres of land plus wages, the condition under which all indentured servants were brought from England at the time.

Andrew's name appears several times in the Bucks County Court Book between 1685and 1699 as a witness, lawyer, etc. In one case he brought charges against a man for selling whiskey to an indian. The last time his name appears in the Court Books in 1699 at which time Andrew, his step-daughter, Joyce, and her husband John Richardson conveyed four hundred acres in Bucks County to John Snowden.

Andrew moved to New Jersey about 1699 when the deed books show he purchased 1700 acres of land in Burlington County, which became in 1711 Hunterdon County. He purchased the land from John Hutchinson between the years 1699 and 1792. On 04 February 1699 he purchased 420 acres near the Falls of the Delaware(now Trenton) and lived on the farm owned in 1877 by Joseph B. Anderson in the present Ewing Township, Mercer County. The present Trenton State Hospital is situated on a portion of this acreage. Other recorded land purchases in New Jersey by Andrew were: 15 June 1701, 400 acres in Upper Freehold Township, Monmouth County; 11 November 1708, 200 acres in Glouster County; 22 November 1713, 200 acres and on 14 August 1714, 420 adres along the Delaware River from the Mahlon Stacy estare.

After moving to New Jersey Andrew and his family resided in Hopewell Township,then part of Burlington County. James p. Snell wrote that Hopewell owes its name to Andrew. He and several other men banded together to build a public meeting house, soliciting and obtaining several acres of land from Thomas Hutghinson in 1703. A log church was built, called Hopewell Church, the first Episcopal Church in the area. The ministers were circuit riders, traveling into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It was in 1705 that one of the ministers baptized four of Andrew's children: Andrew, Elizabeth, John and Sarah. In 1725 St, Michael's Church in Trenton was established, absorbing the Hopewell Church.The old burying ground near the State Hospital was on the easterly side of the highway in Ewing Township between the houses of John Hutchinson and Andrew Heath.

Andrew's parentage remains questionable, but P.W. Adams records that an Andrew Heath. the son of Roger and his second wife, Jane, was baptized on 14 April 1667 at St. John the Baptist Church in Burselm, Staffordshire, England. Roger Heath, the son of William and Margaret Heath was baptized on 12 March 1619/20, and on 07 December 1652 he married first Mary Simpson who died in 1665 leaving two sons. Roger later married Jane in 1666 and Andrew was the first born of the second marriage. It is quite possible Roger and Jane were our subject's parents since Busselm and Leeke, William Yardley's hometown are closely situated, and Yardlry's wife, Jane Heath was related to Andrew, perhaps his aunt. It should be noted however, that none of Andrew's children were named after the presumed parents or grand-parents, which is contrary to the custom of the time.

If Andrew was baptized in 1667 he wa probably about fifteen years old when he left England. His indenture to Yardley could have been arranged in order to pay for his passage, then common practice, and also to have assurance of a home and a guardian in the New World. According to T.F. Chambers there was a tradition that there were four brothers who emigrated , one being Andrew. Presumably one brother was killed in a quarrel at Trenton and another went to Canada; no other record has been found to substantiate this contention.

John Heath, the son of Thomas Heath of Stafford, Staffordshire, England was born there and emigrated to the colonies in 1741. He lived in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and his grandson, Daniel, settled in Mine Brook, Somerset County where his descendents remained for several generations. A connecton between the Hunterdon County and Somerset County families is not known but it is not unlikely that they may have a common ancestor in Staffordshire. The Heath family o Burselm were owners of potteries and coal mines.

Andrew's will dated 03 January 1716/17 at Hopewell, probated 29 December 1720, names his wife Hannah(a widow), and her children from a former marriage: Daniel, Samuel and Hannah Clark. It appears that Hannah was his second wife, his first wife being Elizabeth Barret Venables, a widow. Elizabeth, then the wife of William Venables, arrived in the colonies on the same ship as Andrew with her husband and two young daughters, Joyce and Frances. Wiliam Venables died within a year but she apparently did not marry Andrew until after 1688, the year the Bucks County Court Book refers to her as Elizabeth Venables. Since her name does not appear on the deed, she died prior to 1699, the date of the conveyance of the four hundred acres by Andrew and her daughter, Joyce, and Joyce's husband, as mentioned earlier. Andrew's will names his six children in the following order: Martha(under 18), John, Elizabeth, Andrew, Sarah(under 21), and Richard.It has been deduced that four of the children were the issue of his first marriage to Elizabeth Venables.

Andrew was well-known in New Jersey as he had been in Pennsylvania. He was an active man, owning an in, operating a farm, building a church and serving as a Burlington County judge, Meetings of the Court of Commons Pleas and the Quarterly Sessions were held at Andrew's house in Hopewell. On 02 November 1703 he was appointed interpreter by the Council of Proprietors of Burlington County to accompany the West Jersey Proprietors while they negotiated with the Lenni-Lenape Indians above the Falls of the Delaware.



REFERENCES; Court Proceedings of Bucks County, Pennsylvania 1685-1699
Pennsylvania Magazine

Early Germans of New Jersey,
J.P. Chambers, Dover NJ 1895, pg. 398

Fare to Midlands
H. C. Beck , E. P. Dutton, NYC, 1939, pg. 134

Heath Manuscript- William R. Heath
Hunterdon County Historical Society Library

History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Davis, pg.58

History of St. Michael's Church, Trenton, NJ

History of Hunterdon & Somerset Counties NJ
J. P. Snell 1881, pgs. 196,731

History of New Jersey
Buam, Volume I, pg. 91; Volume II, pgs. 313-319

New Jersey Deeds 1699-1703
New Jersey State Library Collection

Notes on Some North Staffordshire Families
Percy W. Adams

Welcome Claimants, Welcome Society of Pennsylvania
George E. McCracken, Drake University

West Jersey Deeds AAA pg.259

Andrew married Hannah Clark, Mrs about 1701. Hannah was born about 1665; died after 1720. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]