The Lippincotts, England And America

THE

LIPPINCOTTS

ENGLAND AND AMERICA

Edited from the Genealogical papers of the late

James S. Lippincott of Haddonfield,

New Jersey, 1843 – 1880

Edited and Transcribed by Brandon Trey Lippincott, on September 30, 2012.

Born January 19^th, 1990 in Chicago Illinois.

Note from the Editor: The following documents are the most accurate transcription of documents that were passed on to me (Brandon Trey Lippincott) in September of 2012 by Richard Rudderow Lippincott III, which was given to him by Richard Rudderow Lippincott Jr. To the best of my knowledge, I do solemnly and sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. May these records preserve the rich history and heritage of the Lippincott family for generations to come. No thinking individual can go into the Lippincott History without wanting to know where and how he or she can learn something about this great family. To meet this longfelt want, prepared is the most detailed history of the Lippincott family, so that the busy Lippincott can quickly acquire knowledge of the Lippincott family without the drudgery of long study and research. The real work has been done and is placed before you in such  shape that it will be a pleasure to inform yourself on practically every question that will arise in your quest for more truths. – Brandon Trey Lippincott, Calabasas, CA 2012.

Richard and Abigail Lippincott removed from Devonshire, England, in 1639, and settled in Boston, New England. He associated with the early settlers of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and was admitted a Freeman of the General Court of Boston, May 13, 1640. In 1641 Richard and his wife Abigail, resided at Dorchester near Boston, where their eldest son Remembrance was born June 15, 1641.

In 1641 having been excommunicated from the church at Boston for non-conformity, he returned with his family to England and settled in Plymouth, Devon, and early thereafter became a member of the Society of Friends, then emerging from the various sects about them, and in consequence endured much persecution for the testimony of a good conscience.

In 1663 he returned to New England, and lived for several years in Rhode Island, and finally in 1669 established himself in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, New Jersey, where he died November 25, 1683. His widow Abigail, died there in 1697 leaving a considerable estate.

Richard Lippincott, the ancestor of the Lippincott family in America, was the largest proprietor among the Patentees of the new colony, and was a member of the first English colony in New Jersey.

The name is one of the oldest of local origin in England, and was derived from Lovecote, which is described in the Doomsday Book, or censes, made by order of William the Conqueror in 1086 of lands held by Edward the Confessor in 1041 – 1046. The Saxon name implies that a proprietor named Love held the house (Cote) and lands, hence called Lovecote, which was probably ancient. Surnames were not settled until about this date, and Lovecote, through the variations in spelling, has descended to be fixed in Lippincott through the last two centuries, and undoubtedly is of great antiquity.

FIRST LIPPINCOTT FAMILY IN AMERICA

AND THEIR ANCESTORS

RICHARD LIPPINCOTT (Born – Died, November 25, 1683) AND ABIGAIL (Born – Died, 1697) – married probably in 1659 when they can to American.

I.                    Remembrance (Born, June 15, 1641 – Died, November 21, 1728) – Born Dorchester, New England. Baptized July 19, 1641. Married Margaret Barber.

II.                  John (Born, September 9, 1644) – Born Boston, New England. Baptized November 10, 1644. Married Ann Barber – 1^st. Married Jannette Austin – 2^nd.

III.                Abigail (Born, November 17, 1646 – Died January 9, 1647) Born Boston and Baptized.

IV.                Restore (Born, May 3, 1653 – Died 1741) – Born Plymouth, New Jersey. Married Hannah Shattuck (Born, July 8^th 1654 – Died, 1726) 1^st wife – Mont Holly New Jersey. 8 Children. Married Martha Shinn (Owen) 1829, Burlington, N.J. No Children.

V.                  Freedom (Born, July 1, 1665 – Died 1697) – Born Stonehouse, Plymouth, England. Married Mary Curtis, 1680, Burlington N.J. 5 Children.

VI.                Increase (Born, October 5, 1657 – Died September 29, 1695) – Born Plymouth, England. Married Samuel Dennis, February 1680.

VII.              Jacob (Born, March 2^nd, 1660 – Died, November or December 6, 1686) Born Stonehouse, Plymouth, England. Married Grace Wooley

VIII.            Preserved (Born December 25, 1663 – Died 1666) Born Rhode Island, New England.

Lippincott

The Escutcheon is one of the eight Coats of Arms granted to the Lippincotts by the College of Harolds. It belongs to the Wibbery branch and was in possession of Phillip Luppingcott Esq., of North Devonshire, England in 1620, when visited by the Harolds, and was at the time already ancient.

Motto: “Secudis Dubiisque Rectus”

Translation: Upright in prosperity and adversity.  Or – Firm in every fortune.

Lippincott

This is copied from a paper or pamphlet “State of New Jersey.”

The name of Lippincott is one of the oldest of the English surnames of local origin, having been traced back to the “LOVECOTTE” of the Doomsday Book of William the Conqueror, compiled in 1080. The place still bears its ancient name and is an estate lying near Hinghampton, Devonshire, England. Its earliest known derivative occurs in the name of Roger de LOVECOTTE, who is recorded in the rolls of the king’s court of the time of King John, 1195. In 1274, in the reign of Edward I, the names of Jordanus de Loginggetot and Robertus de Lyvenscot and Tomas de Lufkote appear in the Hundred Rolls; while the manor of Luffincott, now in the parish of that name, on the west boarder of Devonshire, and twenty miles distant from Lovecotte, ------ estate comprising nearly one thousand acrese, was in 1243 the property of Robert Lughencot, and remained in his family until 1415, the property being also described in 1346 as “pertaining to Robert de Lyvenscot.” Another branch of the family resided at Webworthy, pronounced “Wibbery” in Northewestern Devon, where they held extensive estates for three hundred and fifty years. The name in this case is spelt Luppincott (Henry), who lived at Barcelona, Spain, and died 1779. A branch of this family moved from Webworthy to Sidbury in East Devon about the middle of the sixtieth century, and from then was descended from Henry Lippincott who became a distinguished merchant of Bristol, was made a baronet in 1778 by King George III, and through his son, Sin Robert Gann Lippincott, baronet, became the ancestor of Robert Gann Lippincott, whose decedents are probably the only living male representatives of this ancient branch of the family in England. The residence of this branch of the family is at ----court, near Bristol.

That the Lippincotts of England held a good position on the world is evidence by the numerous coats-of-arms granted to them, no less than eight coats appearing to have been bestowed upon gentlemen of the name, some of them almost if not quite as early as 1420, in which year John Lippingcott, of Webbery, is found bearing his, from which by modification several of the late later coats seem to be derived. Another arms, which differs widely from the rest, and was most probably granted as early as the Crusades to one whose name spelt Luffyngcotte, is thus described: “A black eagle, sprinkled with drops of blood and displayed upon a shield of silver.” In still another branch of the Devonshire Lippincotts the name appears to have gone through the transformations of Leppingote, Leppingcotte, Leppyncott, and Lippincott according to the latest authorities it is from this branch that the American Lippincotts are descended although the earlier authorities favor one of the other lines.

(I)                 RICHARD LIPPINCOTT, the founder of the family in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, although belonging to a branch of the family of his contemporaries and fellow believers of too mild and peaceable a disposition to be either happy or contented amidst the conditions that prevailed in England during the latter years of the reign of Charles I, inconsequence and associated himself at an early date with settlers of the new colony of Massachusetts Bay, and taking up his residence at Dorechester he became a member of the church there and April 1, 1640 was chosen to one of the town offices, being made a Freeman by the court of Boston, May 13, 1640. Here his eldest son was born and was baptized September, 1641. A few years later, however, he removed to Boston where his second son and eldest daughter were born and their baptisms entered on the records of the First Church at Boston; in the entry of the son the father being noted as “a member of the church of Dorechester.” This baptism was November 10, 1644. Even New England Puritanism, however, was of too militant a character for Richard Lippincott, and he began to differ more and more from his brethren of the church in regard to some of their religious doctrines, and so tenacious of his opinions was that on July 6, 1651, he formally excommunicated. About a year later, 1652, Richard Lippincott returned to England in the hope that under the Commonwealth he might find a greater degree of religious liberty than was obtainable among his fellow-colonist in Massachusetts. That to some extent at least his hopes were gratified seems evident from the name of his third son, Restore or Restored, who was born at Plymouth, England, in the following years, 1652, as there can be no doubt that he received his name in commemoration of his father’s restoration to his native land and to the communion of more congenial spirits. Just what Richard Lippincott’s religious views at this time were can only be a matter of conjunction, but they evidently harmonized more or less with those of George Fox and his adherents as shortly after his return to England he became a member of the Society of Friends, and soon after his profession of faith became a partaker with his fellow believers in their sufferings for the principles and in the persecutions to which they were subjected. In February, 1655, while he residing at Plymouth, Devonshire, the mayor of that town caused his arrest and imprisonment in the town jail near the castle of Exeter, his offense being it would appear that he made the assertion that “Christ was the word of God and the Scriptures a declaration of the mind of God.” Several months later, in May, 1655, according to Sewell’s History of the Quakers, he with others testified against the acts of the mayor and the falsehood of the charges brought against them. In commemoration of this release from imprisonment he named his next son, born that that same year, Freedom. The following few years seem to have been comparatively quite ones with him, the only noteworthy events in his life being his making of a home for himself and family at Stonehouse, near Plymouth, and the birth of his daughter Increase in 1657, and of his son Jacob in 1660. In this last mentioned year he was again imprisoned by the mayor of Plymouth for his faithfulness to his religious convictions, being arrested by the officers as and taken from a meeting of Friends in that city, His release was brought by the solicitations of Margaret Fell and others whose efforts on behalf of imprisoned Friends were influential with the newly restored King Charles II as to obtain liberation of many. In comparison with this treatment in Boston, Richard Lippincott’s experiences in Plymouth were such that he at length determined to make another trial of the New World, and once more bidding farewell to his native land he sailed again for New England in 1661 or 1662, and took up his residence in Rhode Island, which he found to be a Baptist colony very tolerant of varied forms of belief. Here his youngest son, Preserved was born in 1663, and received his name in commemoration of his father’s preservation from persecution and from the perils of the deep. It is a curious fact, omitting the name of his third child, Abigail, who lived only a few weeks, the names of the children of Richard and Abigail Lippincott, taken in the order of their birth, form the words of a prayer, which needs only the addition of another son, called Israel, to be complete, this: Remember John? Restore Freedom? Increase Jacob? AND PRESERVE (ISRAEL): Whether this arrangement was accidental or was due to a premeditated design cannot be determined; it is probably coincidence, as although in strict accordance with the ways in fashion among the Puritans of that day, so complete an arrangement as this is extremely rare.

In Rhode Island colony each of the settlements was at first regarded as an independent establishment; but in 1642 it was determined to seek a patent from England, and Roger Williams having gone to the mother country for that purpose, obtained in 1644, through the influence of the Earl of Warwick, a charter from Parliament uniting the settlements as the “Incorporation of Providence plantations in the Narragansett Bay in New England.” Complete religious toleration was granted together with the largest measure of political freedom, but owing to jealousies and exaggerated ideas of individual importance, the settlements did not become really united until 1654 and it was nine years later that they sought and obtained their charter of “Rhode Island and the Providence plantations” from King Charles II, which served as the constitution of the colony and state down to 1843. In the following year, 1664, the Dutch Colony of New Netherland came into the possession of the English, and the next year, 1665, an association was formed Newport, Rhode Island, to purchase lands from the Indians, and a patent was granted to them. This movement had been initiated by the people of Gravesend, Long Island, but the residents of Newport were considerably in the majority and the success of the movement is mainly due to them and to pay their efforts in raising the greater part of the money to pay the Indians for their land and in inducing persons to settle on it. 

Of the eighty-three Newport subscribers who contributed towards buying the Monmouth County, New Jersey, lands from the Indians and towards defraying the incidental expenses in treating with the natives. Richard Lippincott gave by far the largest subscription, £16, 10 Shillings, which was more than twice that of any other contributor except Richard Borden, whose amount was £11, 10 Shillings. The first deed from the Indians is dated March, 25, 1665 and is for the lands at Nevesink, from the sachem Popomora and his brother Mishacoing to James Hubbard, John Bowne, John Tilton Jr., Richard Stout, William Goulding and Samuel Spicer, for and on behalf of the other subscribers, April 7, 1665, Pompora and his brother went to New York and acknowledged the deed before Governor Nicolls, and the official copy is in the office of the secretary of state, New York, liber 3, Page 1. Another copy is preserved in the records of the proprietors of East Jersey at Perth Amboy, where there is also a map of the land embraced in the purchase, while still a third copy may be found in the office of the secretary of state at Trenton. 

Two other deeds followed and on April 8, 1665, Governor Nicolls signed the noted Monmouth patent, one of the conditions of which was “that the said Patentees and their associates, their heirs of assigns, shall within the space of the three years, beginning from the day of the date hereof, manure and plant the aforesaid land and premises and settle there one hundred families at the least”. The reason for the founding of the Monmouth settlements is given in the patents as the establishment of “free liberty of Conscience without any molestation or disturbance whatsoever in the way of worship.” In accordance with the terms of this patent, Richard Lippincott and his family removed from Rhode Island to Shrewsbury, New Jersey, among the earliest settlers of the place. With him went also a number of other members of the Society of Friends and they at once formed themselves into the Shrewsbury Meeting, which for a long time met at Richard Lippincott’s house. He himself was one of the most active of the Friends in the meeting and he was also one of the most prominent in all public maters. 

In 1667 the inhabitants of Middletown, Shrewsbury and other settlements included under the Monmouth fatten, found themselves so far advanced, with dwellings erected and lands cleared that they had opportunity to take measures to establish local government. Their grant from Nicolls authorized them to “pass such prudential laws as they deemed advisable” and as early as June 1667, they held an assembly for that purpose at Portland Point, now called Highlands. On December 14 following another assembly was held at Shrewsbury; and although Governor Carteret and his council considered these assemblies as irregular they are nevertheless the first legislative bodies that ever met in New Jersey. This “General Assembly of the Patentees and Deputies” continued to meet for many years and its original proceedings are still preserved. In 1669 Richard Lippincott was elected a member of the Governor’s Council as one of the representatives from Shrewsbury, but being unwilling to take the oath of allegiance unless it contained a provision guaranteeing the patent rights of Monmouth towns he was not allowed to take his seat. In the following year 1670, he was elected by the town as an associate patentee, one of the “five or seven other persons of the ablest and discreetest of said inhabitants” who joined with the original patentees formed the assembly above mentioned, which according to Nicoll’s patent had full power “to make such peculiar and prudential laws and constitutions amongst the inhabitants for the better and more orderly governing of them,” as well as “liberty to try all causes and actions of debts and trespass arising amongst the inhabitants to the value of £10;” consequently Richard Lippincott who was chosen to represent his town in 1677, did not attend, and as a result the council passed another act fining any member who absented himself, ten shillings for each days absence. In 1670 the first meeting for worship was established by the Friends; and in 1672 this was visited by George Fox who was entertained during his stay by Richard Lippincott. His residence was on Passequeneious Creek, a branch of South Shrewsbury river, three fourths of a mile northeast of the house of his son-in-law, Samuel Dennis, which stood three-fourths of a mile east of the town of Shrewsbury. Soon after this Richard Lippincott made another and final voyage to England, where he was in 1675 when John Fenwick was preparing to removed to West Jersey; and on August 9, 1676 he obtained from Fenwick a patent for one thousand acres of land in his colony, which he probably purchased as a land speculation since neither he nor his children ever occupied any part of it. May 21, 1679, Richard Lippincott divided this plantation into five equal parts, giving to each of his sons a two hundred acre tract. Having at length found a fixed place of residence where he could live in peace and prosperity, Richard Lippincott settled down to “an active and useful life in the midst of a worthy family, in the possession of sufficient estate, and happy in the enjoyment of religious and political freedom.” Here he passed the last eighteen year of his life of varied experiences, and here he died November 25, 1683.

Two days before his death, Richard Lippincott made his will and acknowledged it before Joseph Parker, Justice of the peace. January 2 following his widow, Abigail Lippincott, gave her bond as administrator, her fellow bondsman being her son’s father-in-law, William Shattock, and Francis Borden. There seems, however, to have been some irregularity in the woll or its provisions, particularly in omitting mention of an executor; for on the day when the widow gave her bond, Governor Thomas Rudyard issued a warrant or commission to Joseph Parker, John Hans (Hance) and Eliakim Wardell: or any two of them, to examine Abigail, widow of Richard Lippincott, as to her knowledge of any last will made by her husband.” An endorsement on the will, dated May 21, 1684, states that the “said Abigail has no knowledge of any other will and that she will faithfully administer the estate.” The inventory of the personate estate, £438, 2 shillings, including debts due £30 and negro servants £60, was made by Eliakim Wardell, William Shattock, Francis Borden, and Joseph Parker.

The Dutch proprietors of New Amsterdam had long been engaged in the slave trade and at the surrender to the English in 1664, the colony contained many slaves, so of whom were owned by Friends. As early as 1652 members of this Society of Friends, Rhode Island, passed a law requiring all slaves to be liberated after ten years of service as was the manner with the English servants, who, however had to serve but four years. In 1683 the court at Shrewsbury passed a law against trading in slaves. These are the earliest instances of legislation in behalf of negro emancipation. Richard Lippincott was the owner of a number of slaves, and in her will, dated June 28, 1697, and approved August 7, following, his widow, Abigail Lippincott, frees most of them besides leaving to her children and grandchildren much real estate and considerable bequests of money.