Thomas Mendenhall

  General Notes:

Notes

Two sons and a daughter of Thomas emigrated to America; Benjamin, John,
and Mary. They landed at Philadelphia in the fall of 1682. Benjamin and John
purchased two thousand acres of land from William Penn for the sum of three
pounds per hundred acres and a tax of ten shillings a year to England on every
one hundred acres. The land was located on both sides of the Brandywine River
in Chester County, PA. Later it was divided into farms and occupied by a number
of the descending families. It has all passed out of the family name, except
Springdale Farm which is located among the hills and fertile fields of
southeastern Pennsylvania, close to the beautiful historic Brandywine where
Washington and Lafayette played an important part during the Revolutionary War.
Another son, Moses and his older sister Margery and her husband, Thomas Martin
and their four young daughters, arrived on the ship, Unicorn, from Bristol,
England on 16 Dec 1685.

As the Mendenhalls were Quakers or members of the Society of Friends, of
high standing, they were opposed to war, refused to bear arms and were not
active participants in the Revolutionary nor Civil Wars. However, they often
provided medical care for the wounded of the battles and some of the
Mendenhalls used their teams to haul cannon and supplies at the Battle of
Brandywine which was fought upon and around the original Mendenhall farm. Some
of them were cast out of the Friends Meeting at Kennett, PA, for their
activities in the revolution, helping Generals Washington and LaFayette.

Thomas' will, dated 2 Jun 1682, was proved in Perogative Court of Canterbury
at Somerset House, London, England, 17 Nov 1682.

Sources

Charity G. Monroe, 4315 W. Lora Ann Lane, Peoria, IL 61615

Carol Mendenhall Duffy, 8190 13th Street #308, Westminster CA 92683-1965

Cheryl Mendenhall, 9622 177th Avenue SE, Snohomish WA 98290,
mcgee@accessone.com

Thomas married Joane Strode.