Ancestral Glimpses » Thomas Lightfoot (± 1645-1725)

Personal data Thomas Lightfoot 

• He was born about 1645 in Cambridgeshire, ENGLAND.
• He died on April 9, 1725 in Darby, now Delaware County, Pennsylvania, British America.
• This information was last updated on February 19, 2014.

Household of Thomas Lightfoot

He has/had a relationship with Sarah Wiley.

Child(ren):

1. Margaret Lightfoot  1702-????

Notes about Thomas Lightfoot

Thomas Lightfoot, from Moate Meeting, County West Meath, Ireland, received 6 Mo. 4, 1716.

Thomas Lightfoot,1 a highly esteemed minister of the Society of Friends, was born about 1645, perhaps in Cambridgeshire, and may have been the son of another Thomas Lightfoot who suffered persecution for his Quaker belief at Cambridge, in 1653,2 and was a companion of George Whitehead in his religious journeys. In 1692, the younger Thomas was living in the neighborhood of Lisburn Meeting, County Antrim, Ireland; for on 8 Mo. 27 of that year he was appointed on a committee to buy the Friends graveyard at Lisburn from Robert Richardson. In 1694, he removed from the north of the Island to Moate Meeting in County West Meath.3 Thence in 17164 he came to New Garden, Pennsylvania. Early in 1724 he paid a religious visit to New England. He died at Darby, now Delaware County, 9 Mo. 4, 1725, "greatly beloved" says his intimate friend Thomas Chalkley,5 "for his Piety and Virtue, his sweet disposition and lively Ministry."
The name of his first wife is thought to have been Mary, after whose death he married Sarah Wiley, a widow, about the time of his removal to West Meath. Toward the close of 1724 he was married to Margaret, widow of John Blunston, of Darby, to which place he removed. He had at least nine children:
Catharine, m. 1700, James Miller, and arrived in Philadelphia in 1729, where she died a few days later.
Michael Lightfoot,6 b. about 1683, m. in Ireland, Mary Newby, daughter of John Newby, of Dublin, and came to New Garden, Chester County, in 1712. He was appointed an elder in 1725, and recommended as a minister in 1728. He traveled extensively in religious service in America, Great Britain, and Ireland. In 1743, he removed to Philadelphia to take the post of Provincial Treasurer, an office he held until his death, 12 Mo. 3, 1754. His children were: Sarah, b. 4 Mo. 30, 1707, m. John Hutton; Elinor, b. 10 Mo. 16, 1708, m. 3 Mo. 2, 1734, at New Garden, Francis Parvin; Mary, b. 1 Mo. 20, 1710-11, m. Samuel Clarke; Katharine, b. 6 Mo. 12, 1714; Thomas, b. 5 Mo. 16, 1716; William, b. 3 Mo. 22, 1720. m. Jane George.
William Lightfoot, m. 2 Mo. 24, 1706, Isabel Holmes, of Lahinchey, King's County, Ireland. He made a visit to his relatives in Pennsylvania, in 1725.
Abigail, m. Joseph Wiley, in Ireland, in 1715, and came to Pennsylvania with her father. Children: Sarah, b. 11 Mo. 6, 1716; Ann, b. 9 Mo. 6, 1718; John, b. 11 Mo. 19, 1721.
Elizabeth, b. 1 Mo. 11, 1695-6, at Bally Kieran, County West Meath, m. 2 Mo. 1717, Arthur Jones, of Merion Meeting, Penna.
Sarah, b. 5 Mo. 29, 1698; d. 1702.
Samuel Lightfoot, b. 2 Mo. 5, 1701, m. 7 Mo. 30, 1725, at New Garden Meeting, Chester County, to Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Abbott) Head, and afterwards settled in Pikeland Township, Chester County. He was a prominent surveyor and Justice of the Peace; d. near Chester, 2 Mo. 26, 1777. Children: Benjamin, b. 6 Mo. 28, 1726, also a surveyor; Thomas, b. 2 Mo. 7, 1728, d. 10 Mo. 5, 1793; Samuel Abbott, b. 1 Mo. 7, 1729-30, d. 7 Mo. 30, 1759, at Pittsburgh; William, b. 1 Mo. 20, 1732, d. 11 Mo. 25, 1797.
Margaret, b. 12 Mo. 18, 1702; m. 12 Mo. 20, 1723, Isaac Starr, of New Garden. 9. Jacob Lightfoot, b. 10 Mo. 16, 1706, at Bally Kieran, near Athlone, Ireland; m. 3 Mo. 21, 1735. at Darby Meeting, Mary, daughter of Obadiah and Sarah (Bethel) Bonsall, of that place. He took a certificate from New Garden to Chester, in 1733, and removed thence, about 1735, to Maiden Creek, Berks County, where he died 6 Mo. 17, 1781. His wife, who was a minister among Friends, died at Maiden Creek, 8 Mo. 10, 1777. Children: Joseph, b. 6 Mo. 30, 1736, d. 9 Mo. 27, 1784, m. Deborah, daughter of Nehemiah Hutton; Sarah, b. 10 Mo. 28, 1738, d. 7 Mo., 1775, m. Francis Parvin, 5 Mo. 16, 1759; Thomas, b. 7 Mo. 21, 1742, d. 12 Mo. 24, 1821, m. Hannah Wright, 5 Mo. 11, 1774; Ann, b. 1 Mo. 3, 1745, d. 4 Mo. 17, 1807; Grace, b. 7 Mo. 17, 1748, d. 9 Mo. II, 1784, m. William Tomlinson, 5 Mo. 12, 1773.
1. Gilbert Cope, Genealogy of the Smedley Family, 194-6, History of Chester County, 637; A Collection of Memorials, 63-4 (Phila. 1787); Bowden, II., 260-1.
2. Besse, I., 85.
3. At Ulster Province Meeting, 5 Mo. 31, 1697, Thomas Lightfoot is mentioned as having the custody of £15 of meeting funds.
4. Proud, II., 188.
5.Journal, 163. 6. Cope, Genealogy of Smedley Family, 195; Proud, II., 232; Bowden, II., 387.

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