Henry Dennis

"…several Dennisses arrived in New Jersey in the 17th Century. They have grave stones in Shrewsbury. Some moved west to Pennsylvania. Henry Dennis, a Quaker, owned a boat building business on the Delaware River at Solebury Township, County Bucks. His father was John Dennis of Salem. He married first Grace Bacon, who died and then in 1751 Martha Lynn daughter of Joseph Lynn; she was born in 1722 and died in 1774. They have five children including John (born 1758). In the War of Independence the Dennisses backed the losing side; their property was confiscated and they fled to New York with the retreating British army. Henry died in New York in 1791. John was given property first in Nova Scotia, then on the Humber River near Weston, I believe that his son Joseph inherited the property. He died of cholera in 1832 at the age of 73. He later became superintendent of Kingston Dockyard. He married a Martha Brown (not a Quaker) widow of Surgeon McClary [sic] R.N.; their daughter Rebecca married James Richardson. Their daughter Margaret Isabella married John Roaf."

-- Prof. Robert Roaf

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From The Dennis Saga:

The War of Independence which broke out in America in 1775 found the Dennis families in the English colonies there divided. Such men as Captain John and Ensign Ezekiel Dennis of New Jersey and Lieutenant Daniel Dennis of Pennsylvania fought valiantly with the rebels. Others remained on the side of Britain, sometimes not out of any particular loyalty to the Crown but rather to their religious beliefs. Two who refused to enter the revolt because fighting violated their Quaker creed were Henry Dennis, then 55, a wealthy Delaware and Pennsylvania landowner and iron works proprietor, and his 18-year-old son, John. They probably were descendants of Quaker Joseph Dennis from Woodbridge, New Jersey, who had become a pioneer settler at Quakertown, Pennsylvania some 60 to 70 years before. Father and son took refuge within the British lines at New York and were never to see their estates again. Henry died a few years later while encamped with others on Staten Island.