BIDGHAPIIICAL NOTICES. 



449 



and Esther, emigrated from Nether 

 Gournall, parish of Sedgeley. Stafford- 

 shire, (near Birmingham), Enpliind, in 

 the year 1084. He arrived in Phihi- 

 delphia, and while detained there in 

 making arrangements for a permanent 

 Settlement, he |)resented two certifi- 

 cates to a Friends meeting, "held at 

 the governors house" on the 4th of the 

 yth mo. (November) 1G84. One of 

 these certiticates is from the monthly 

 meeting of Dudlej', and is dated the 

 ir.th ot the 11th mo. 1G83. The other 

 is from " his dealers & Correspondents," 

 and is dated January 14th, 1683. They 

 were accepted by the meeting. Having 

 made two separate purchases of two 

 hundred and two hundred and fifty 

 acres of land, he, in 1685, had them 

 located adjoining each other in what 

 is now Birmingham township ; the lo- 

 cation which was then a little outside 

 of the bounds of civilization, having 

 been selected on account of the supe- 

 rior quality of the ground. Here he 

 erected his cabin, and during the first 

 winter, which was a severe one, suf- 

 fered great privations, the Indians min- 

 istering to his necessities by bringing 

 timely supplies of game. William Brin- 

 ton was born in 1630, and was fifty- 

 four years of age when he arrived in 

 this country. His wife, who was the 

 daughter of Edward Bagley, was five 

 years younger. The year before his 

 arrival William had suffered religious 

 persecution in having goods distrained 

 to the value of £5 lis. to satisfy a fine 

 of 26s. imposed under the non-con- 

 tormity act. After other settlements had 

 been made in his neighborhood, meet- 

 ings were sometimes held in his primi- 

 tive dwelling, generally designated " the 

 Cabin.' William fora time sided with the 

 Keithites, but upon reflection resumed 

 his former position with Friends. He 

 was a man of a religious turn of mind, 

 but withal managed his affairs so well, 

 that at the time of his decease in 1700, 

 he was possessed of a large estate, 

 particularly in lands. His wife died 

 one year before him. In a narrative 

 of her life drawn up bj- himself, he 

 says •• she was much respected in old 

 England as well as in these parts of 

 the world." They were both buried 

 on the mansion farm. Besides their 

 children mentioned, he had a daughter 

 Ann, who intermarried with John Ben- 

 nett in England in 1684. They immi- 



29 



grated shortly afterwards and settled 

 on a part of her father's purchase. Of 

 the other two daughters, Elizabeth 

 married Hugh Harris, and Esther, John 

 Willis. William, the only son, married 

 Jane Thatcher. The descendants of 

 W'illiam Brinton are very numerous, 

 and very many of them occupy highly 

 respectable positions in society. It is 

 believed that all bearing the name of 

 Brinton in Pennsylvania are descended 

 from him. For more than a century 

 the name was pronounced Branton. 



Bristov, Willi.\m, the only son of the 

 above William, was born about the year 

 1667, emigrated with his father, and in 

 1690 was married to Jane, the daughter 

 of Richard Thatcher, a neighboring set- 

 tler of Thornbury, in accordance with the 

 good order of the Society of Friends. 

 In 1704 he built a stone house on the 

 mansion tarm to supply the place of 

 the cabin of his father, which is still 

 standing and in a good state of preser- 

 vation ; he was also one of the pro- 

 jectors and owners of a company mill, 

 the first built in Concord township. 

 In 1713 he represented Chester County 

 in the Provincial Assembly. Both 

 William and his wife were children at 

 the time of their immigration ; both 

 saw the country an unbroken wilder- 

 ness, and both lived to see it well set- 

 tled, cultivated, and improved. Will- 

 iam died in 1751, aged 84 years, and 

 Jane in 1755. aged 85 years. Their 

 children were Joseph, William, Edward, 

 Mary, Ann, and John. Joseph was a 

 man of more than ordinary ability, and 

 was frequently employed in public 

 trusts — was a Justice of the Courts of 

 Chester County from 1730 to 1751, the 

 time of his death, and frequently repre- 

 sented the County in the Provincial As- 

 sembly. Though born in this country, 

 it is said he possessed the appearance, 

 disposition, and character of an Eng- 

 lishman. Edward, the third son, born 

 in 1704, succeeded his brother as a 

 Justice of the Court, and also repre- 

 sented the County in the Provincial 

 Assembly. He died in 1799. 



Bristow, John, was settled in Chester 

 township as early as 1686. He pur- 

 chased and resided on a tract of land 

 next below the Wade tract on the river. 

 His occupation was that of an edge- 

 tool manufacturer, and as there was a 



