1791 LAND PATENT ANDREW FORSYTH TO THOMAS REES (COPY DATED 1839) PENNS VALLEY NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA
Know ye, that in consideration of the monies paid by Andrew Forsyth to the late Proprietaries at the granting of the warrant herein after mentioned, there is granted by the said Commonwealth Thomas Rees a certain tract of land called "Security" situate in Penns Valley Northumberland County Beginning at a white oak, thence by land of William and Mordica Matlack south ninety six perches partly by vacant land to a post, thence by the foot of a Mountain East one hundred eighty four perches to a pine tree, thence by land of John Price, north ninety six perches to a spruce pine thence by the same and land of Daniel Topham west one hundred and eighty four perches to the Beginning, containing one hundred and four acres and allowance of six per cent for roads, etc., with the appurtenances.
Which said tract of land was surveyed in pursuance of a warrant granted to the said Andrew Forsyth dated 23 February 1773 whose right became rested in John Brady the commissioners of the said County having taken the said tract in execution for taxes by deed dated 20th December 1787 conveyed the same to the said Thomas Rees in fee.
To have and to hold the said tract or parcel of land, with the appurtenances, unto the said Thomas Rees and his heirs to the use of him the said Thomas Rees his heirs and assigns forever free and clear of all restrictions and reservations, as to mines, royalties, quit-rents, or otherwise, excepting and reserving only the fifth part of all gold and silver ore, for the use of this Commonwealth, to be delivered at the pit's mouth, clear of all charges.
In witness whereof, Thomas Mifflin, Governor, of the said Commonwealth, hath thereto set his hand, and caused State seal to be hereunto affixed, the third day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred ninety one and of the Commonwealth the sixteenth.
Attest: David Kennedy, Land Office
Enrolled the 14th November 1791
Thomas Mifflin (seal)
[On reverse side] Pennsylvania, I do hereby certify that the within is a copy of a patent granted to Thomas Rees as inrolled in the Land Office in Patent Book No. 18 Page 209.
Attest: Geo Henderson, February 9, 1839.
Andrew Forsyth arrived in Philadelphia as a young man from Scotland about 1765. He worked himself into the position of being one of Philadelphia's leading merchants. He also took his business to Lebanon, Maiden Creek and Hamburg, sometimes working in partnership and sometimes on his own. Forsyth was a Private in Captain Wills Company, First Battalion; in the American War of Independence. He married his second wife, Agnes Loughead, the daughter of Col. James Loughead in 1780. He spent the last years of his life in Danville, PA, where he died about 1810.
William Matlack and Mordecai Matlack were children of Timothy Matlack and Ellen Yarnell. William was born August 1759 and died 1796 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Mordecai was born 1761 and died 1778 in the Atlantic Ocean (a sea fight in the Randolph fighting the British frigate Yarmouth.)
Col. Timothy Matlack was born March 26, 1736, in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and died April 14, 1829. He married Ellen Yarnell November 5, 1758 in Friends Meeting House. He married Elizabeth Capper August 17, 1767. Col. Timothy Matlack wrote out the copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Timothy Matlack, a Delegate from Pennsylvania, attended Quaker schools in Haddonfield and Philadelphia; engaged in mercantile pursuits in Philadelphia; was in command of a battalion of Associators during the Revolution and took part in the battle of Princeton; member of the provincial conference held in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, June 18, 1775; delegate to the convention of July 15, 1776, and appointed secretary of state; member of the committee of safety in 1776; in 1777 was appointed keeper of the great seal; member of the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in 1779; Member of the Continental Congress in 1780; moved to Lancaster, PA; master of the rolls of Pennsylvania 1800-1809; moved to Philadelphia and was prothonotary of the district court for several years; member of the board of aldermen 1813-1818; died at Holmesburg, near Philadelphia, PA; interment in the Free Quaker Burial Ground, Philadelphia, PA; reinterment in 1905 in Fatlands, on the Schuylkill River, opposite Valley Forge, PA.
John Price who appears 1790 & 1800 Census of Northumberland Co. PA, served in the Revolutionary War.
Captain Daniel Topham, commander of military stores, on Major General Sullivan's expedition of 1779.
Capt. John Brady was born in 1733 near Newark, Delaware and died April 11, 1779 near Muncy, Pennsylvania, in an Indian attack. He is the father of the famed frontier scout Captain Samuel Brady. Capt. John Brady fought in the French and Indian War. John Brady was commissioned as a Captain on July 19, 1763 in the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiments, commanded by Governor John Penn, which Regiments fought in Pontiac's War. John Brady actively fought against the Indian forces that were attacking and killing many frontier families in Bedford and Cumberland Counties, Pennsylvania. John Brady received a land grant which was awarded to the officers who served in the Bouquet Expedition. He chose land west of present day Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He built a private stockade on this land in the Spring of 1776, close to present day Muncy, Pennsylvania, which he called "Fort Brady." When the American Revolution broke out, Captain John Brady took his sons Samuel and James with him to fight in the trenches with General George Washington in Boston. Captain John Brady was promoted to Major on March 3, 1776.
PRICE: $250
