James Family Archives

 

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Children of Sarah James (1711-1805) of Radnor Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania and Rev. John Thomas (1713-1790) of Montgomery & Hilltown, Pennsylvania:

 

1.    Anna Thomas:  born December 28, 1737, in Hilltown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; first marriage circa 1760 to Nathan Brittain (1732-1778), son of John Britton (1695-1784) and Elizabeth Stillwell (1695-1761); second marriage to John Hubbes; died January 30, 1819 (aged 81) in Hilltown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; known children include: Elijah Nathan Brittain (1758-1816). Elizabeth Brittain (1760-1809). John Brittain (1761-1846). Sarah Brittain (1762-1828). Rachel Brittain (1763-1789). Anne Brittain (1769-ukn). Nathan Arthur Brittain Jr. (1776-1864) and Jesse Hubbes.

 

2.    Rebecca Thomas:  born November 27, 1740; married circa 1760 to Daniel Pugh (1731-1813); died June 19, 1819 (aged 78); buried in Hilltown Baptist Churchyard, Chalfont, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; known children include: John Pugh.

 

3.    Leah Thomas:  born March 8, 1744 in Hilltown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; married circa 1760 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Captain Samuel Jones, son of Samuel Jones and Margaret Harris; died after 1794 (aged 48–49) in the village of Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania; buried at Village of Washington, Washington, Pennsylvania; known children include: John Jones, Elias Jones, Erasmus Jones, Leah Jones, Samuel Jones, Isaiah Jones, William Jones, Nathan Jones, Thomas Jones, Daniel Jones, Benjamin Jones and Sarah Jones.

 

4.    Sarah Thomas:  born December 7, 1746; married John Blackwell the Elder (1738-1811) son of Francis Blackwell (1713-1791) and Elizabeth Cornell; died July 12, 1803 (aged 56); buried at Hopewell Baptist Meeting House Cemetery, Hopewell, Mercer County, New Jersey; known children include: John Thomas Blackwell, Lewis Blackwell, Sara Blackwell and Elizabeth Blackwell.

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Notes:

 

Sarah James was the daughter of David James (circa 1660-1739) and Margaret Mortimer of Llandegley and Glascwm parishes, Radnorshire, Wales.

 

"Anna Thomas, eldest daughter of the preacher, was born in the early part of 1739 [incorrect]. About 1760, she married Nathan Brittain, who is mentioned as a taxable in Hilltown in 1774. He was born in 1732 and belonged to a numerous family of that name. He died in the prime of life, during the Revolution, September 2, 1778, in his forty-seventh year. His widow was remarried to John Hubbs, by whom she had a son, Jesse. She survived her second husband also and died January 30, 1819, aged eighty years. Nathan Brittain had several children, viz: Elijah, Nathan junior, Rachel, Sarah, Elizabeth and Anne." (See, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks County, Penn'a, p.33.)

 

John Pugh (1761-1842), son of Rebecca Thomas (1740-1819) was a U.S. Congressman. Born in Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania, he served in the US Continental Army as Captain during the Revolutionary War and after the war, he engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits. He was a Bucks County justice of the peace and a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, (1800-04). In 1805, he was elected as a Republican to the Ninth and Tenth Congresses, serving to 1809. An unsuccessful candidate for reelection, he was register of wills and recorder of deeds for Bucks County, (1810-21). He died at age 81 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.  He is reported as the executor of the estate of his grandfather John Thomas (1713-1790).

 

Sarah Thomas’ (1746-1803) father devised to her 83 acres in Hopewell Township, Old Hunterdon (now Mercer) County, New Jersey. She joined the Baptist Church of Hopewell in 1778.

 

The first name and date of birth of Leah Thomas come from her grandson Jefferson Jones’ family Bible. Only her first name is listed. Her last name “Thomas” is found in the DAR records submitted by her granddaughter Ann L. Jones Butler as well as several other granddaughters who also joined the DAR through her husband Samuel's service in the Revolutionary War; and, her father John Thomas's service in the Bucks County, Pennsylvania militia.

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Sources:

 

See, Recorder of Deeds, Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Estate Settlement, Volume 3, page 235 – “Heirs of Leah Thomas Jones wife of Samuel Jones, heirs of the plantation of Reverend John Thomas willed to Leah, his daughter, to be sold and the proceeds to be equally divided among her children, after her death.”

 

See, Speech by Captain Benjamin T. Jones (Professor) of Cleveland, Ohio about Leah Thomas Jones and read at the 1902 Jones-Thomas Annual Family Reunion in Hilltown, Pennsylvania.

 

See, Last Will and Testament of the Reverend John Thomas – 1788.

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Virtual Memorials on “Find A Grave” Website:

 

Rebecca Thomas Pugh (1740-1819), Memorial, ID No. 49846448 by Tory C., added March 16, 2010.

 

Daniel Pugh (1731-1813), Memorial ID No. 49846418 by Tory C., added March 16, 2010.

 

Leah Thomas Jones (1744-1793), Memorial ID No. 68037601, by Ann Gilmore, added April 7, 2011.

 

Capt. Samuel Jones (1742-1810), Memorial ID No.14413320, by Karen (Billheimer) Fisher, added May 25, 2006.

 

Sarah Thomas Blackwell (circa 1749-1803), Memorial ID No. 115987845, by Joseph R. Klett, added August 24, 2013.

 

John Blackwell (1738-1811), Memorial ID No. 53763674, by Wayne Irons, added June 16, 2010.

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Photos:

Congressman John Pugh (1761-1842), son of Rebecca Thomas (1740-1819).

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Updated: October 26, 2023