William Thomas Jr.1

b. 1723, d. July 1764
William Thomas Jr.|b. 1723\nd. Jul 1764|p2411.htm|Reverend William Thomas|b. 1678\nd. 6 Oct 1757|p2402.htm|Ann Griffith|b. 1680\nd. 5 Nov 1752|p2403.htm|||||||||||||

3rd great-granduncle of Louise Underwood.
5th great-granduncle of Laura Jane Munson.
Family Background:
Underwood and Allied Families
     William Thomas Jr. was born in 1723 in Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.1 He was the son of Reverend William Thomas and Ann Griffith.1 He and Abigail Day obtained a marriage license on 17 January 1751 in Pennsylvania.2,3 He died in July 1764 in Hilltown.2 He was buried in Lower Hilltown Baptist Church Cemetery.4
     
     Tradition is that William Jr. was intemperate, the only one of his father's children to go astray. His death was of a "tragical character," causing great sensation at the time. He had been out drinking one night and was found the next morning in the doorway of his home, apparently strangled to death as there was a dark streak around his neck. If tradition is correct, his wife stood trial in Newtown, but was acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence.2,5

Additional Data
William Thomas was mentioned in his father William Thomas's will dated 11 December 1753 in Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.6

When his father died in 1757, William Jr. inherited the homestead, "where I now live," comprising 290 acres bordering the county line, and would later get 100 acres more that had been willed to his sister, Anna Rowland. This was out of the 440 acre Langhorne tract purchased in 1718, and was Reverend William Thomas' original homestead.7,6

William Thomas Jr. made a will on 20 January 1763 in Philadelphia County (now Montgomery), Pennsylvania, in which he mentioned wife Abigail and children William, Joseph and Martha.2

Children of William Thomas Jr. and Abigail Day

Citations

  1. [S329] "A Memorandum Containing some account of the birth, life and Ministry of Joseph Mathias. With a diary of his Exercises and various events which came under his notice. Together with an account of his Progenitors and Connexions. Likewise a short notice of the First settlement of the part of the Country, which gave him birth, and where he still resides," (MS, 1831-1851; Bucks County, Pennsylvania), 14, 43, The Bucks County Historical Society; Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
  2. [S371] Mildred L Lewis, comp., A Walk Through Historic Hilltown with Edward Mathews (n.p.: Adams Apple Press, 1994), 135.
  3. [S349] John B. Linn and William H. Egle, comp., Names of Persons for whom Marriage Licenses Were Issued in the Province of Pennsylvania Previous to 1790 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Volume II, Second Series, Pennsylvania Archives, 1890), Pennsylvania Marriage Licenses, Issued By Governor James Hamilton, 1748-1752.
  4. [S329] "Mathias Journal", 17.
  5. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a (Lansdale, Pennsylvania: Arthur K. Thomas, 1884), 50.
  6. [S373] William Thomas will (1753), Bucks County Will Book B: 315 #919, The Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
  7. [S371] Mildred L Lewis, A Walk Through Historic Hilltown with Edward Mathews, 134-135.
  8. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 52.
  9. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 53.
  10. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 53-54.