Thomas L. Antrim (1686-1732)

Thomas L. Antrim was born on 30 Nov 1686 in Northampton, Burlington, New Jersey as the third child of John Antrim and Frances Butcher. He had six siblings, namely: John, James, Ann, Mary, Isaac, and Elizabeth.

Burlington county was, at the time, part of what was known as West Jersey. The area was first settled by English Quakers less than a decade or so before Thomas’ birth. The Quakers were persecuted in England and, in many cases, forced to move to America. The first ship of Burlington settlers arrived there in 1678, after traveling up the Delaware river. The Friends started holding their Monthly Meetings right away.

Antrim, Antram, Antrom, Antrum… the surname was spelled a variety of ways in the records. Thomas was born into a Quaker family. At the time, the Quaker year started on March 15, so the first month of the year was March. They didn’t use the names of the months, but rather referred to them by their number. So, Thomas was born on the 30th of the 9th month of the year 1686, or in our terms, on 30 Nov 1686. He and his siblings were the first of our Antrim family to be born in America.

When he was 28, Thomas Antrim married Sarah Zelley, daughter of Daniel Zealy and Martha Eldridge, on 02 May 1715 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. They lived in Springfield, which was first settled in the early 1700s.

Thomas L. Antrim and Sarah Zelley had the following children:

1. Isaac Antrim was born in 1716 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. He married Ann Crusher on 17 Nov 1742 in Burlington, Burlington, New Jersey. He died on 18 May 1760 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey.
2. Martha Antrim was born in 1718 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. She married John Osmund on 16 Jan 1736 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. He died. She married John D. Branson on 06 Feb 1749 in Burlington, New Jersey. She died in 1805 in Frederick, Virginia.
3. Mary Antrim was born in 1720 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. She married Soloman Shinn in 1739. She died in 1782.
4. Daniel Antrim was born in Aug 1721 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey.  He married Susanna Weaver on 30 Mar 1758. He died on 03 Jul 1819 in Virginia.
5. Thomas Antrim was born in 1723 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. He married Prudence Hancock in Mar 1747. He died in 1812.
6. Rachel Antrim was born in 1724 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. She married John Crusher on 24 Jun 1742 at Burlington, New Jersey.
7. John Antrim was born about 1732 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey. He married Elizabeth Foster in 1753 in Burlington, Burlington, New Jersey. He died in 1819 in Virginia.

Thomas L. Antrim died on 5 Jan 1732/33 in Springfield, Burlington, New Jersey at the age of 46. When he died, he left his wife with seven minor children, ranging in age from an infant to sixteen. He left a will dated 24 Nov 1732.

…I Thomas Antram of Springfield and county of Burlington provence of New Jersey being sick and weak in body but in perfect mind and memory thanks to God called unto mind the mortality of my body knowing that it is appointed for all men to die I make and ordain this my last will and Testimony…”

After asking that his body be put in the earth in a Christian-like manner and his debts and funeral charges be paid, he divided his estate.

• Oldest son, Isaac, was to be given 150 acres of land from Thomas’ plantation that had previously been purchased from Thomas’ father. But, he had to wait until he was 21 years old.
• Isaac then had to pay his brother, John, a sum of 15 pounds. Half of the payment was to come when John turned 21 and the remainder two years later.
• Isaac was also to receive the new brick house that sat on the plantation, but Isaac’s mother, Thomas’ widow, was to have rooms in the house to use during her widowhood and she was to be allowed to enjoy the said lands.
• The second oldest son, Daniel, was given 88 acres of land. He too was to make two payments totaling 15 pounds, to his brother, John.
• The third son, Thomas, was given eight acres of meadow and the remainder of the plantation. Again, he was to make two payments totaling 15 pounds, to his brother, John.
• Oldest daughter, Martha, was given ten pounds.
• The other two daughters, Mary and Rachel, were also given ten pounds each.

Thomas Antrim was buried at Saint Andrew’s Graveyard, Mount Holly, Burlington, New Jersey.

Where is he in the tree?

Source:

Ancestry.com, New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com, U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I–VI, 1607–1943 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013), Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014), Ancestry.com, Haverford College; Haverford, Pennsylvania; Minutes, 1677-1777; Collection: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Minutes.

Antrim, Harriet Stockton, Records of the Antrim Family of America, (Burlington, NJ, 1899) (Burlington, NJ, , 1899).

Gordon, Thomas Francis, The history of New Jersey: from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the federal Constitution (New Jersey, D. Fenton: 1834), Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=BnIFAAAAQAAJ.

Hills, George Morgan, History of the Church in Burlington, New Jersey (W.S. Sharp Print Company: 1885), Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=geFDAAAAYAAJ.

Salter, Edwin, A history of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, embracing a genealogical record of earliest settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their descendants (Bayonne, N.J.: E. Gardner & Son, 1890), ancestry.com.