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RecordIdNumber: MH:N207
Note: Notes http://www.hadleysociety.org/index230.html Joshua was the second son and third child of Simon and Ruth Hadley. He was born in Ireland and was nine years old when he came to Pennsylvania with his parents and family. Joshua married Mary Rowland on 7 mo. 2, 1725 at the New Garden, Chester County, Pennsylvania Society of Friends Meeting House. Mary was the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Mason) Rowland. Mary Rowland's mother purchased 700 acres of land in the northeast corner of Steyning Manor in 1708. Her father was possibly a close relative of John and Thomas Rowland, brothers who came to America in 1682 with William Penn in the ship, Welcome. Following the marriage to Mary Rowland, Joshua was given a tract of land by his father and purchased an additional Pennsylvania tract. Mary died in 1733, leaving Joshua with three small children. After Mary's death, Joshua was accused of fathering a child out of wedlock with Margery Lindley. In 1735 Joshua married Patience Brown, born 5 mo 25, 1712, died 5 mo 23, 1783. Patience was the daughter of Jeremiah and Mary (Royale) Brown of Nottingham, Pennsylvania. Their marriage was performed by a priest, which was contrary to Quaker principles, and they were disowned by the New Garden Meeting on 2 mo. 24, 1736. Patience (Brown) Hadley regained her membership by making acknowledgement and received a certificate to New Garden monthly Meeting on 5 mo 30, 1737. Joshua and Patience moved near the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia about 1748. At the time of his father's death in 1756, he was in Augusta County, now in Botetourt (Bote) County, at the junction of Craig Creek and the James River, just across the river from the present day village of Eagle Creek, Virginia. Joshua purchased other lands in the vicinity. In 1756, at the age of 53 and within a few months after his father's death, he joined his sisters Ruth and Hannah and their families at Cane Creek, North Carolina. Patience applied for a certificate for her family to transfer to Cane Creek with the New Garden, Pennsylvania Meeting which was granted her and her children 8 mo 28, 1756. In the Cane Creek minutes we read "10-2-1756 Patience Hadley with husband received on certificate for New Garden MM, PA". It would appear that Joshua was not as well received as was Patience. It is possible that Joshua was still upset with the local chapter for kicking them out of Meeting as newlyweds. They had apparently been removed from the influence of the Friends while in Virginia, and it was Patience who petitioned for certificate, not Joshua. Joshua lived only about four years after going to North Carolina. He accumulated several tracts of land and built a mill in Alamance County. He apparently established a reputation as an earlier founder of that area, because in 1931 the South Alamance Pioneer Association erected a memorial monument to him and his wife Patience at Spring Meeting near Snowcamp, North Carolina. The memorial is actually misplaced, as Simon and Patience are buried at Cane Creek Meeting cemetery and not the Spring Meeting cemetery. Joshua died in 1760, around September 17, the date on his last will and testament. The Spring Meeting wasn't established until 1762. It was not the custom of Quakers to have headstone markers in their cemeteries, so there are only the records of the Society of Friends to verify Joshua's and Patience's resting places. The two branches of Joshua Hadley's family diverged widely. The children of Mary Rowland were very active in the Revolution and were therefore disowned by the Quakers. This branch also became slave owners. Earlier Hadley writers have intimated that this was possibly due to the mother, Mary Rowland. The children of Patience Brown remained devout Quakers, took no part in the war, and were against slavery. This is more likely the effects of the qualities and efforts of the mother, Patience Brown Hadley.
UniversallyUniqueID: 819660F9-2FAF-4D9F-9C32-26700A18C7A1
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