Nathaniel "Nathan" Quillen

Do not confuse him with Nathan Quillen, of White Clay Creek Hundred who moved to Chester County.

The 1790 census of Worcester County (Maryland) shows two Quillens: Benjamin Quillen (page 126) and Samuel Quillin (page 127).

• Census: 1800 Nathan Quillan, Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, 3 males under 10, 1 male 26-45, 1 female 16-26.
• Census: 1810 Nathan Quillin, Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, 2 males under 10, 1 male over 45, 1 female under 10, 1 female 26-45.
• Census: 1820 Nathan Quellen, South Huntingdon, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, 1 male under 10, 1 male 16-18, 2 males 16-26, 1 male over 45, 1 female under 10, 1 female 10-16. 1 female 26-45, 1 person engaged in agriculture.
• Census: 1830 Nathan Quillin, Ross, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1 male 5-10, 1 male 70-80, 1 female 40-50.

There was also a Nathaniel Quillen in the same area, perhaps his son:

• Census: 1820 Nathaniel Quillen, Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, 2 males 16-26, 1 female under 10, 1 female 16-26, 1 person engaged in agriculture.

He moved from Delaware to southwestern Pennsylvania, probably before 1813 when his son Benjamin is said to have been born in Fayette County.

In 1830 there was also a Nathan Kewllen in Susquehanna County, but he is too far away to be a likely member of this family.

He was probably the Nathaniel Quillen served in the American Revolution:

• "February 10, 1835. Mr. Sangston [representing Fayette and Greene Counties] presented the petitions and documents of Philip Grubb and Nathaniel Quillin, soldiers of the revolutionary war, severally praying for relief. Which were referred to the committee on claims."
• "March 28, 1835. Mr Sangston presented a document in support of the claim of Nathaniel Quillen, a soldier of the revolutionary war."
• "May 21, 1840. Mr. Darsie [representing Allegheny County] presented the petition and documents of Mary Quillen, of Allegheny County, stating the services of her late husband, Nathaniel Quillen, in the Revolutionary war, and praying for relief."
• "June 10, 1840. Mr. Crispin, from the Committee on Pensions and Gratuities, to whom the petitions and documents of Lenah Grubb, Martha Maull, William Hammon, Mary Quillin, Lydia Miller, and Rebecca Easley, were referred, report, that they have had the same under consideration, and find the petitioners have not brought their claims within the rules adopted by this House."

The female age 40-50 enumerated in his household on the 1830 census was probably his daughter or daughter-in-law, while the male age 5-10 was probably his grandson. If so, the woman age 26-45 in his household on the 1820 census was probably the same woman, and some of children shown on that census were probably hers, not his.

He and his wife were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Allegheny.

According to Mrs. H. C. Patton (1939) he was the father of Benjamin and James. Elizabeth might have been his daughter, if she was a sister of Benjamin, in whose household she was living in 1850.

Ancestry

Nathan lived in the same area of Allegheny county as Ambrose Quillen but 30 years later. Ambrose was there 1790 to 1798. Nathan appears there in 1830. Nathan was some 15 years younger than Ambrose, but it does not seem possible he was Ambrose's son. Ambrose married Sidney Evans in 1780, but Nathan was already old enough to serve to in the American Revolution (1776-1789). His age on the censuses shows he was born between 1750 and 1760, a full generation before Ambrose's marriage. Ambrose's will names only two sons John and Alexander. There is evidence on the 1800 census Ambrose had a third, older son but he was born between 1784 and 1790, after Ambrose's marriage to Sidney Evans but a generation younger than Nathan.

It is also not likely Nathan was a brother of Ambrose. Ambrose was a son of Joseph and and Elizabeth (Latcham) Quillen. The births of their children were recorded in Worcester county, Maryland. There is no Nathan or Nathaniel among them.

Nevertheless, Nathaniel was probably a fairly close relative of Ambrose. If so, naming patterns (Nathaniel, Benjamin) suggest Nathan was probably a son of Ambrose's uncle Benjamin and a first cousin of Ambrose,

The 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses report Nathan's son Benjamin was born in Pennsylvania. That is consistent with Nathan's movements (1810 Delaware, 1820 Pennsylvania). However, the 1880 census reports Benjamin was born in Delaware, his father in Maryland, and his mother in Pennsylvania. If true, the pattern could suggest Benjamin belonged to the family of Ambrose Quillen. However, the 1880 mistake in Benjamin's place of birth casts doubt on his parents' places of birth.

Census reports for Nathan's son James are more erratic. The 1850 census reports he was born in Ireland, but the information seems to be switched with James' wife, who is said to have been born in Pennsylvania but was probably born in Ireland. The 1860 census reports James was born in Pennsylvania. The 1880 census reports James was born in Pennsylvania, his father and mother both in Delaware. This 1880 report for James seems to be more accurate than the 1880 report for his brother Benjamin. Nathan and his wife Mary came from Delaware to Pennsylvania sometime before 1813 and both sons were born in Pennsylvania. .

Sources

• Journal. Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Senate. Part 1, pp. 201, 443.
• Journal. Pennsylvania. General Assembly. House of Representatives, Volume 50, Part 1, p. 1100, 1311..