William Paxson

source: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~paxson/Paxson4Gen.html#48William

"*48. William4 Paxson, eldest son of William3 (William2, William1) and Anna (Marriott) Paxson, was born 26 Fourth Month [June] 1743. He married 18 Sixth Month [June] 1772 Mary SUBERS, two months after she had been accepted into membership in Middletown Monthly Meeting.[1] See note on Old Style and Quaker dating system.

Mary was the daughter of Jacob and Anna (LAREW) Subers. Her father lived in Northampton Township, and styled himself a yeoman in his will signed in 1777. It was proved in 1780, and he left something to Mary.[2] As a widow Anna Subers removed to Middletown. Her will was signed 12 Eighth Month 1799, with a codicil on 4 January 1802. It was proved 19 October 1804, and she, too, left something to Mary.[3] Mary requested membership in Middletown Meeting 6 Second Month 1772, and was accepted on 2 Fourth Month that year.[4] Friends at that time did not approve of “mixed marriages”, believing that both spouses needed to be grounded in the faith of Friends in order to support each other in Friends’ practices. They also felt it was important for both parents to be Friends to bring up their children within the Religious Society. Therefore it was not uncommon for someone hoping to marry a Friend, like Mary, to seek membership first.

William was a trustee of the meeting property like his father and grandfather, and was given a small committee assignment (to forward a certificate of removal to its intended recipient).[5] This would have been the early steps toward finding his place within the meeting’s structure.

Then the war broke out against Great Britain. On 4 Third Month 1779 it was reported to Middletown Meeting that William gave in to the pressure to take the affirmation of allegiance and abjuration “under this present unsettled government.” From the beginning of Quakerism Friends had refused to take oaths. They pointed to the clear Biblical statements in Matthew 5:33-37 and James 5:12. They understood God was calling Friends to be a people who always spoke the truth, not just when they were under oath. In the previous century during the tumultuous years of the English Civil War, when each change of government brought pressure to swear an oath of allegiance to it, Friends alone stood firm that allegiance could not be commanded by words, and they could not give allegiance to one party one day, and another party the next week. Many Friends suffered considerably for refusing to swear. During the American Revolution a similar situation prevailed, with the British and the Patriots at different times demanding oaths of allegiance. Again, Friends stood firm in their witness against this. Those who, like William, were unable or unwilling to maintain Friends’ testimony were seen as not in unity with Friends’ witness, and so could not be “owned” as Friends; they were “disowned”. They could continue to attend meeting for worship, but they could not participate in the meeting for business. A small committee was named to speak with William, but they reported not much progress was made at first. Then several months later there appeared to be some satisfaction, and in September more time was requested. Friends continued to labor with William until it became clear that he was not going to condemn what he had done. He was disowned by Middletown Meeting 6 April 1780.[6] As someone who was disowned no longer appeared in Friends’ minutes or records it is harder for the historian to keep track of such individuals. However, Mary and their four children were not disowned for William’s inability to uphold Friends’ testimonies, and it appears likely that William continued to attend meetings for worship and to participate in the Quaker subculture. He would not, however, have been permitted to participate in meetings for discipline (as meetings for determining the business of the faith community were called then).

William upheld Friends’ peace testimony even after he was disowned. He was fined several times between 1780 and 1783 for refusing to participate on muster days. The Pennsylvania Archives list him with fines of £9.15.0, twice for £72 during the period of high inflation, and for £11.5.0.[7] Since William was no longer a member of the Friends meeting, there is no way now to know if he paid the fines or refused on principal and had goods distrained.

It is possible to trace some of William’s economic life through the tax records created during the Revolutionary War. In 1779 he owned 181 acres in Northampton, with seven horses. No doubt there was other livestock, as well. In 1781 he had sold some of his land, owning only 97 acres, but also having a tan mill. He had three horses and four cows. The next year, with the same acreage he had one less horse and one less cow. This may have been the result of having them seized in lieu of payment of military fines, simply confiscated by one of the armies, or sold. They would no doubt have been worth much more than the face value of the fine. He also owned a saw mill. In 1783, the last year of the war, William was assessed £4.13.7. As these were non-military taxes, he would have paid them. But things don’t seem to have been going well for William, because the next year he owned no real estate at all. In 1786 his tax was only £1.10.2, and the following year £1.17.5.[8]

In 1789 William decided to cut his losses and move to Bradford Meeting in Chester County. Mary requested and received a certificate of removal for herself and their four children that was signed by the men’s meeting on 5 Second Month 1789. Things may not have worked out as well as William had hoped, because the family returned in late 1792.[9]

Mary was disowned 10 Eleventh Month 1796 for consenting to her daughter Anna’s marriage to a non-Friend. Mary said she was not sorry, and it may be that the family was drifting away from Friends by this time. Anna, having been “precautioned” against it, was disowned, as was her older brother, William, for attending the wedding.[10]

I have not discovered the dates of death from either William or Mary. But there is an 1813 tax record in Middletown for a Mary Paxson that might refer to her as a probable widow. She had four acres valued at $88 per acre for a total value of $352 on which a county tax of $.70 was owed."

Children of William and Mary (Subers) Paxson:

• 119 i. William5, b. 27 Mar. 1773; m. Mary __?? After he attended the wedding of his sister, which was held out of unity with Friends, a minute of disownment was signed on 4/1m/1798.[11] William was named co-executor of his grandmother Suber’s will, along with Friend William BUCKMAN.
• 120 ii. Anna, b. 3/8m/1776; reported on 9/6m/1796 married out of unity with Friends to __ TOMLINSON. Her disownment was signed 7/7m/1796.[12] Anna was remembered in her grandmother Suber’s will.
• 121 iii. Samuel, b. 13 Oct. 1781; probably unmarried. He was disowned in 1809 for militia activity.[13] Samuel was remembered in his grandmother Suber’s will.
• 122 iv. Amos, b. 31 Jan. 1786. There is no further mention of Amos in Friends’ records after he accompanied his parents to Bradford in 1789 and back in 1792. He was remembered in his grandmother Suber’s will, signed 12 Eighth Month 1799. In the 1809 Bucks County tax Amos was listed as a blacksmith, a single man charged $.75. The Middletown Tax Record for 1813 listed Amos with no dogs, a lot rather than acreage, one horse and one cow, and his (unspecified) occupation taxed respectively at .85, .15, and .30 for a total amount of $1.30 and a county tax of $.25.[13a]