Hon. Charles W. Wolverton, Sr.

Charles Woolverton, Gentleman, who sailed from Dorsetshire, England for America about the year 1680, was the progenitor of the family of Woolvertons in America. The family seems to have been an old one in England, appearing under various forms of spelling, as for example, Wolferstan, Woolverstone, Wolverton, and Woolverton. There is a town called Wolverton in middle England, and a station of that name near Sandringham. Woolveraton Park and gardens at Ipswich is one of the largest and most beautiful estates in Suffolk. Perhaps the oldest traces of the name in England appear near Blackgary in the southern part of the Isle of Wight. One family descended from Robert Wolferston or Woolverstone, who made his will in 1492 lived in Staffordshire, England and occupied Statford Hall. In an old Book of Heraldry in the Library of the University of Toronto in 1868 I found a coat of arms of the Woolverton family, which contained on the face three wolfsheads d'argent with broad band d'or, and which I roughly copied. It had as motto: 'Que sera sera.' Another shield belonging to a family of Wolvertons in Wolverton county, Buckinghamshire dating back to the time of Henry III bore arms described as Az; an eagle displayed or over all a bend ga (i.e. a rend bend viz., two lines drawn across, representing a shoulder belt). There are six parishes of the name Wolverton in England, viz., One each in Somerset, Bucks, St. Georges (Bucks Co.), Hants, Norfolk and Warwick. In the Books of the Preragative Court of Chancery, London, England, many very similar names appear between 1650 and 1720 and among these Fraser Woolverton, Stafford, Oct. 1712, Humphrey Woolverton, Middlesex, 1718 Leeds 73), Eleanor Woolverton, Stafford, 1712 (Aston 129), Fraser Woolferstone, Stafford, 1715. At Basingstoke, there is the Wolverton rectory, and the following is a letter from the rector Rev. A. H. Cave, addressed to Dr. Theron Woolverton, Grimsby, Ontario. {#13}{#13}'My Dear Sir: I am very sorry I was not at home when you called here, but my daughters have told me the purport of your visit, and since my return home a short time since, I have been unable to find your name in the registrar books of this Parish. There is another Wolverton Parish in Bucks. The name of my Parish has been variously spelt, sometimes Woolverton. In Domesday Book it is Wolfre-ton, the town of Wolfre, who from his name was probably a Saxon invader who possessed himself of these lands.' Concerning Charles Woolverton, our ancester, tradition is that he came to America about the year 1682 along with Sir William Penn, and that he came from Wolverhampton, England, the 'ham' meaning town; the 'ton' a mound of earthwork for defence, hence meaning The fortified town of Wolfre. This would not conflict with the statement that he sailed from Dorsetshire. Very early records of the family are to be found in some books on the early history of the Isle of Wight, which in September,1909, were in possession of Mr. Mellor, an old resident of Black Gary. Near this place in the Parish of St.Lawrence is 'Old Woolverton' a building so old and so far in ruins that it puzzles the antiquary. The name 'Woolverton House' is on the gateposts; while at Sharewell, near Chale P.O. is a very ancient stone house called the Woolverton Manor House. Here lived in the 14th century, Sir Ralph de Woolverton who owned four hundred acres of land around the house. At Woolverton Undercliff are to be seen the remains of a chapel built by Sir Ralph de Woolverton in 1370 A.D. Sir Ralph also paid tithes for his domaine to the priory of Carisbrooke. In the list of armed men made in the reign of Edward III the name of Sir Ralph appears as having contributed two bowmen for the defence of the island. It would appear from his name that Sir Ralph was of Saxon origin or perhaps one of the followers of William the Conqueror who came across from Normandy in 1066 and apportioned out grants of land to his faithful followers, among whom may have been Sir Ralph of the town of Wolfre or in short: de Wolfre-ton'. During the reign of Charles II of England, there was little religious liberty for Protestants. Many men of strong convictions looked toward America whither some sixty years previous the Pilgrim Fathers had gone and founded a colony. These men were of various parties such as Puritans, Independents, Quakers and Churchmen and among them such men as William Penn and George Fox who secured from the Crown large estates in what is now known as Pennsylvania and New Jersey. No wonder that the example of so many brave men and true setting out for America, led Charles Woolverton to dispose of his property in England and come along with his friends Fox and Penn to invest in American lands. So about the year 1682 we find Charles sailing from Dorsetshire to America. Charles is called 'Gentleman' in the records of that time, which in those days signified a man of such means as to be able to live without work. It appears that Charles was then identified with the Quakers, as we find in Consultation with the Secretary of the Friends' Library in Philadelphia in March, 1912. He reported as follows: 'Charles Woolverton was a member of the Society of Friends, as his name is mentioned in the Minutes of Burlington Monthly Meeting about twenty four times, the first mention being made in the year 1704. The records of Chesterfield Monthly Meeting of Friends show that 9th month, 4th day, 1731, Charles Woolverton produced a certificate from the Burlington Monthly Meeting of Friends and that in the 10th month, 2nd day, 1731, he was appointed overseer of the Friends settled in Bethlehem (Frenchtown) which is not far from where the tract of land purchased by the same Charles was located.' (Col. M.D. Woolverton, Vancouver Barrack, Washington Terr. 1897). There are some reasons for believing of Charles Woolverton having emigrated from England with his brothers John and Gabriel, and after living for a short time on Long Island moved about 1690 to the Pennsylvania bank of the Delaware River from which he moved soon after to Burlington County on the opposite bank. Besides being a man of considerable means, he appears to have been one of the leading men of the community. On the erection of Hanlerder County, he was in 1721 elected one of the first five Justices of the Peace and was thereafter frequently called upon to witness his neighbors' wills. {#13}The following memoranda was furnished by H. E. Deats, Flemington, NJ. 'Woolvertom Memo Furnished by H.E.Deats of Flemington, NJ.' Charles was witness to will of Richard Caine (Keine) of Arnell, Nov.7, 1727. Charles was witness to will of John Mills, of Chesterfield, Burlington Co., April 17, 1709.' Charles bought 1666 acres March 2, 1714 of Wm. Riddle, near present village of Rosemont, Delaware, Hunlerder County. He is said to have come from Wolverhampton, England, but stopped on Long Island for a time. A number of his descendents still live in this county, but not all have the name of Woolverton. There are probably fifty families who have been internamed with them. {#13}{#13}Marriage Licences, N.J. List suplied by H.E.Deats, of Flemington, N.J. WOOLVERTON. Charles of Arnell, Mary Drake of Hopewell, Aug.8, 1763. John of Arnell, Elizabeth Wilden, Arnell, Nov.8, 1768. Eliza, Hunterden Co. Joseph Lambert, Hunterden Co. Mar.22, 1774. Mary, Sussex Co. Samuel Crowell, Sussex Co. Oct.8, 1762. Mary, Kingwood, Geo. Smith, Kingwood, July 27, 1770. Susannah, Kingwood, Henry Matthis, Hunterden Co. May 22, 1782. Mary, Kingwood, Daniel Bray, Hunterden Co. May 2, 1772. Married May 14, according to Daniel Bray's bible. This is General Bray who gathered the boats for Washington to use in crossing the Delaware Dec. 25, 1776. He left numerous descendents which I am now engaged in tracing, most of them residing in their county. Note: Arnell and Kingwood were names of rather undefined districts which later became townships in Hunterden Co. {#13}{#13}WOOLVERTON WILLS, New Jersey's Secretary of State's Office Vol. Page Date Charles W. Intestate 11 447 1763 Charles Will 12 250 1765 Daniel Intestate 28 247 1786 Dennis Will 16 421 1777 Joel Will 36 151 1796 John Will 16 171 1773 Morris Will 15 86 1770 Thomas Intestate 9 392 1759 Hunterden County Anna Intestate 1808 Joel Will 1804 In the Colonial Records of New Jersey, West Jersey liber B, page 361, of Pt 1 quoted a purchase which Charles Woolverton made of William Biddle, Aug. 20, 1693, of one hundred acres of land in Burlington County, N.J., and between this date and his death in 1746 there are records of about sixteen transfers of real estate by him. In Book A.A.A. 19 Charles is grantee of fifty acres near Mount Carmel in Burlington County, N.J.,from John Dixon and wife Elizabeth (Chadwick)(her second husband) to their son-in-law Charles having married Mary Chadwick, daughter of John Chadwick, who purchased land in Burlington in 1689. On March 2, 1714, Charles purchased 1665 acres of land in Township of Arnell (vide Book of Deeds B.B.B.P. 429) beautifully situated along the east bank of the Delaware River, a portion of which is still in Woolverton hands, as the farm of Rev. W. H. Woolverton, near Stockton, N.J. This old estate extended from Rosemont nearly to Prattsville. In May 1719 Charles sold 284 acres of this land to George Fox and in August 25, 1745, there was land conveyed to Dennis Woolverton, which he willed to his son Jonathan. The graves of George Fox, Dennis Woolverton, and probably the first Charles, with many others, these early inhabitants are in Rosemont Cemetery

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Ancestry Family Tree  http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=105394700&pi...

GEDCOM Note

1689-Came to colonies up Delaware river to Philadelphia

GEDCOM Note

Charles Woolverton was Justice of the Supreme Court of West Jersey eleven years before George Washington was born. He reigned from 1721 to 1729. His son, Thomas was also a Justice of the Supreme Court of West Jersey. He lived at Newton in Sussex Co. General Daniel Bray who gathered the boats together for Washington to cross the Delaware River that Christmas Day 1776 for the battle of Trenton, was married to Mary Woolverton, who was the daughter of Dennis the son of Charles. The Brays and the Woolvertons were close friends of George Washington. It is said that avery time George Washington visited New York and Philadelphia, from his home in Virginia, he visited the Brays and Woolvertons and made their places his stopping place, usually paid an extended visit.

Historical Note: The provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey were incorporated into one New Jersey in 1702. The "West Jersey" citations, above, should be "New Jersey.

Charles Woolverton, a Quaker (probably) from Staffordshire, sailed from Dorsetshire in 1682. He brought his two brothers Gabriel and John, but no records remain of either. This is a tradition of one authority. The family tree of Charles Woolverton, 1660, the Progenitor of all Woolvertons of the United States and Canada is as follows: A Quaker emigrant who sailed from England to America in 1682, on the Vessel "Welcome", as Gentleman, a man or means, 'traditions'. He landed at Newcastle on the Delaware River, province of West Jersey. He was overseer of a Quaker Colony, under George Fox and William Penn. George Fox was the founder of the Quakers or Friends and also organizer. The brothers with Charles, were Gabriel and John who are not mentioned again and the traditions are that they may have died of smallpox on the way over. In this convoy there were twenty boats and over 200 emigrants. The Flagship was the 'Welcome' William Penn's ship. Over one-third died of smallpox. All Woolverton's in the United States and Canada trace back to Charles and his seven sons and two daughters who were: Charles, Roger, Mary, Daniel, Isaac, Dennis, Dinah, Joel and Thomas. Charles Woolverton, the Progenitor of the Woolvertons of America, married Mary Chadwick, daughter of John and Elizabeth Chadwick of Virginia. He was married at Darby, Penn., 1697.

Charles Woolverton after landing at Newcastle on the Delaware River, stayed but a short time, then went up the river to Burlington and later to Long Island. Then he returned to Burlington, West Jersey, 1693. He bought from William Biddle 100 acres of land. Many transactions are recorded from this time on. In l714 he purchased 1665 acres of land near Rosemont, N.J. and there raised his family. He died in 1746 and is buried at the Rosemont Church Cemetery together with many of his children and grandchildren. Several of the family served in the Revolutionary War and there are records where they served in all wars of this country including the Indian Wars. Many were officers and many privates. Charles, 1742, served in the Revolutionary War. He served in New Jersey as Quartermaster, (then Wagon Master and Supply). Thonas Drake, his wife's father, was in the same company. They were direct descendents of the family of Sir Francis Drake.

The Woolvertons have married into most of the early prominent families of the United States and in Canada. They are married into thirteen President's families of the United States, including Washingtons, on both sides, Lincolns on both sides, Polk, Grant, Hoover, 30 times, General Sam Houston, President of the Lone Star State of Texas, John Nance Garner and Gaston Wolverton married sisters, and also Daniel Boone and many others. They are connected in all walks of life, up to Federal Judges and many of them have been Federal Judges. Now, offsprings number 100,000. Charles Woolverton owned a very valuable Bible, printed in Switzerland in 1560 by R. Hill, which is still in existence and owned by Mrs. Francis James Tomlinson, widow of the Rev. Tomlinson. His ancestor, Rev. Francis J. Tomlinson, married Dinah Woolverton, daughter of Roger Woolverton.