Ruth Palmer

     Ruth Palmer was born 18 7m 1693 (18 September 1693) according to the Quarterly Meeting records of births and deaths for Bucks County, Pennsylvania.² Her birth was also recorded, probably years after the fact, at Middletown Monthly Meeting.^3,1,4 She was the daughter of John Palmer and Christian (—?—) (Palmer).¹ She married first her brother-in-law George Hulme Jr., son of George Hulme and Ellen (—?—) (Hulme), on 7 January 1711/12 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.^5,6,7 She married second William Shallcross, son of Leonard Shallcross and Ann Ellet, circa 1733 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.^4,8 She died after 1759, probably in Bucks County.⁹
     
     Ruth was a Quaker by birthright, and members of her family appear regularly in the records of Falls and Middletown Monthly meetings in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Right up until the time that Ruth decided to marry George Hulme, the former husband of her deceased sister Naomi, there is not the slightest hint in the records that the Palmers were anything but devout members of their strict Society.

     It is easy to conclude that the relationship between Ruth and George grew out of mutual sorrow over the premature death of Naomi. When 17 year old Ruth approached her father for permission to marry George Hulme, probably in the early summer of 1710, John consented, or at least he later acknowledged he had consented. Perhaps he was ignorant of Quaker law that forbade marriage to a deceased sibling's spouse, calling it incest, or perhaps he knew the young couple would marry with or without his consent. Another possibility is that he did not consent, but later acknowledged that he had to lend an air of legitimacy to his daughter's marriage.

     In 6th month (August), Middletown Monthly Meeting disapproved George's intention to marry Ruth. He appealed to the Quarterly Meeting, but the earlier decision was sustained just days before Ruth's eighteenth birthday. Now that she was of age, there was little anyone could do. They were married several months later and Ruth was immediately disowned by Falls Monthly Meeting.

     Friends who were disowned often continued to attend worship, but they were not eligible to participate in meetings and were no longer entered in the records. Reinstatement was possible upon acknowledgement and condemnation of oneself for the offense, but it was not automatic. There is nothing to indicate that George and Ruth ever applied for reinstatement, and their children are not recorded. This is especially unfortunate because without knowing the birth dates or order of the Hulme children, it is impossible to determine if she or Naomi was the mother of the oldest child. However, George and Naomi were apparently members in good standing during their marriage, and if they had a child, the birth is not recorded in the records of Falls or Middletown meetings.

     George died in 1729, and Ruth married William Shallcross. There is no record of reinstatement, but she once again begins to appear in the Middletown and Falls records.

     NOTE: The births of the three Shallcross children are not recorded at Middletown or Falls. Ruth was nearing forty when she married William, and though it's possible, but just barely, that she had these three children, I find the births of the girls problematic for other reasons. Considering Ruth's age, the girls must have been born no later than say 1738. For the sake of argument, lets call them twins. If they were born that year, Ann was 48 years old when she was disowned for marrying out of unity, and Ruth was 38 years old when she was disowned for the same offense. That both would marry so late seems improbable. It appears much more logical that the girls were daughters of William Shallcross, Jr., and granddaughters of Ruth (Palmer-Hulme) Shallcross.