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THOMAS LAPSLEY a 1772 Settler in Southwestern Pennsylvania Revised November 2005 Dean Froehlich Compiler © 1983, 2005

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THOMAS LAPSLEY a 1772 Settler in Southwestern Pennsylvania Revised November 2005 Dean Froehlich Compiler © 1983, 2005 THOMAS LAPSLEY A 1772 Settler In Southwestern Pennsylvania Revised November 2005 Dean Froehlich Compiler © 1983, 2005 Preface to Revised Edition This revision has come about as a result of new evidence being found which sheds additional light on the family of “The Widow Martha Lapsley”. This evidence was found after 1999 and provides answers to questions (i), (iii), and (v) in Mr. Froehlich’s introduction on p v of his 1983 compilation. Question (i) asks: “When and where were Martha Lapsley and her son Thomas born?”. The new evidence discovered consists in part of the wills of Martha’s father and brother. Her father was William Irwin, who signed his Last Will and Testament1 on 17 Sep 1743 in Chester Co., PA. The will identifies his widow, Mary, daughter Martha as an “unmarried minor” and three sons: Samuel, Thomas and William. Martha’s brother Thomas Irwin, signed his Last Will and Testament2 on 13 Sep 1756, also in Chester Co, PA. This will initially identified him as “Thomas Erwing” but later as “Thomas Irwin” and identifies his sister Martha’s children as: “John Lapsly”, “Thomas Lapsly” and “Jean Lapsly” and further identifies his “brother” as “William Lapsly”. It should be noted here that there are over sixty known variant spellings of the surname “Irvine”3; of which nine are the most common spellings found in this country and are: “Erwin”, Erwine”, “Erwing”, “Irvin”, “Irvine”, “Irving”, “Irwin”, “Irwine”, and “Irwing”.. Checking the index to the Wills and Intestate records for Chester Co., PA from 1714 to 1850 indicates the use of “Irwin” only. It would not be out of line to presume that Martha and her three identified children were all born in Chester Co., PA.: Martha sometime after 17 Sep 1722 (best guess at this time is ca 1730-31), and all three of her children sometime prior to 13 Sep 1756 (best guess here is ca 1750-55). Question (iii) asks: “Who was Thomas Lapsley’s father?”. As indicated by Thomas Irwin’s Last Will and Testament above, his name was obviously William Lapsley. As to his date and place of birth, more research is needed to verify this, however it’s likely he was one of the original three brothers to migrate to the Colonies (ca 1735) from wherever. The three brothers were most likely Joseph Lapsley of VA, Thomas Lapsley of NC, and William Lapsley of both PA and VA. From Thomas Irwin’s will we see that William Lapsley and Martha Irwin were married, sometime prior to Sep 1753 at the latest (assuming no twins were born), possibly in Chester Co., PA. Question (v) asks: “When and where did he die?” (referring to William Lapsley). Published information indicates that William served in the Augusta Co., VA militia company of “Capt. Joseph Lopsley” [sic] in Aug 175645. William acquired 95 acres of land in Augusta Co., VA in Nov 1762 , 1Chester Co., PA. Will Book “B”, pp 149-150; Market & High Streets, West Chester, PA – 19380. 2Chester Co., PA. Will Book “D”, pp 98-99; Market & High Streets, West Chester, PA – 19380. 3George F. Black, Ph.D., The Surnames of Scotland, Their Origin, Meaning, and History, pp 378-379; (Edinburgh, Scotland: Birlinn Limited, 1996); ISBN: 1-874744-83-1. 4Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1988); ISBN: 0-8063-1219-X. Hereafter referred to as Bockstruck.. 5Peter Kline Kaylor & George Warren Chappelear, Abstract of Land Grant Surveys, Augusta & Rockingham Counties, 1761 - 1791, (Salem, MA: Higginson Book Company, date unk); p 10 in which the author cites p 24 of the County Record, but doesn’t mention which book. Originally published by Rockingham Historical which was approximately 10-20 miles south of the original 400 acres acquired by Joseph Lapsley. William was court-martialed on 17 Apr 1767 in Augusta Co., VA6 for failing to attend a militia muster. The last dated entry (found to date) for William is a tax list in Botetourt Co., VA dated simply 177178 . From the foregoing, it’s almost a certainty that William and Martha moved from Chester Co., PA to near Lexington, VA sometime prior to Aug 1756 and remained there until his apparent demise ca 1771-1772. Because William served with the county militia from ca Aug 1756 until at least Apr 1767 in Augusta Co., VA, it’s probable that he was part of the VA expedition sent to help put down the “Cherokee Uprising” of 1760-1762 along “The Carolina Frontier”9. He may have received a land warrant for this service that he used to acquire the 95 acres above. That Martha (Irwin) Lapsley moved from VA to near Pittsburgh (then Ft. Pitt), PA may have been influenced by the fact that a James Irwin was living in that area – see the map on p 8 as well as Record No. 77 on p 75 of this revised compilation. It’s entirely possible that James Irwin may have been a son of one of Martha’s brothers. While the foregoing information sheds some light on the life and times involved, it also raises still more questions. Several published works and public records, too numerous to list here, report that Joseph Lapsley settled near the town of Lexington, VA ca 1740 and married Sarah Woods. It’s possible that William and Martha had more than just the three children listed above, some of whom may have been incorrectly listed as the children of Joseph and Sarah Lapsley. It is expected that in time, many of these additional questions will be answered by the discovery of new facts and relationships. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Mr. Froehlich for his excellent advice and assistance in my research efforts over the years, as well as his overseeing my efforts in preparing this revision for uploading to the internet. Clyde Lapsley Colorado Springs, Colorado Society in 1938. 6Bockstruck, p 335. 7Unknown Author, The Virginia Genealogist Vol. 10, # 3, p 116; (Virginia: Publisher Unknown, 1966). 8Lyman Chalkley, Chronicles of The Scotch-Irish Settlements in Virginia Extracted From The Original Court Records of August County 1746 - 1800, Volume 1, pp 95-96; (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1965); which can now be found on the internet at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~chalkley/index.htm. 9James C. Neagles, U.S. Military Records, A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present, pp 396-397; (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1994); ISBN: 0-916489-55-8. PREFACE THOMAS LAPSLEY ii THOMAS LAPSLEY PREFACE PREFACE Readers not acquainted with the number of governing bodies that successively and sometimes simultaneously administered the area in which the Lapsleys settled will find the compilation perplexing. At times the records seem to suggest the existence of more than one Thomas Lapsley or the existence of more than one seems needed to reconcile incompatibilities in the records that seem to appear when it is assumed all refer to the same person. The confusion is caused by the records having been made by six different civil authorities. Prior to the appearance of the Lapsleys, the area around Pittsburgh was considered by the British Government and its colonial governors to be a part of the Crown Colony of Virginia. Thus, references to the Lapsleys prior to September l780 are found in Virginia county court records: first in Augusta County, later in the District of West Augusta and finally in Yohogania County. Following the settlement of the Virginia-Pennsylvania boundary dispute, in September 1780, records of Lapsleys seem to appear in Pennsylvania county records: first in Washington County and, after 1788, in the newly created Allegheny County. No record of a Lapsley made between 1772 and 1780, the period of time when their lands lay in the Pennsylvania county of Westmoreland, has been found in that county – such was the dominance of Virginia. A single land record is the only exception to this rule: Thomas Lapsley recognized the authority of Pennsylvania, not Virginia, to grant land in the area in 1772. Thus, records made within the lifetime of a settler in this area can be found in four counties of Pennsylvania and two in Virginia – one of which no longer exists – even if, as in the case of the Lapsleys, the person resided continuously in one place. For this reason the name of the civil jurisdiction from which each record is taken is reported as part of the record. The records have been numbered consecutively and arranged chronologically without regard to content.. To further simplify use of them five categories of content have been defined and the numbers that correspond to records of similar content grouped together. The result is the Record Group Guide or directory to the five record groups that can be used to scan selectively only those records that are of special interest. iii INTRODUCTION THOMAS LAPSLEY iv THOMAS LAPSLEY INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The earliest known record of Thomas Lapsley is dated 23 October 1772. It consists of his application to the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania for a warrant to have land surveyed in his name. The survey of the land and subsequent records show it is located in what is now West Mifflin Township of Allegheny County on the southern side of the Monongahela River opposite the eastern section of Pittsburgh. The last record of Thomas Lapsley, made during his lifetime is his last will and testament which was probated 11 January 1808. The earliest record of his mother, Martha Lapsley, is dated 20 May 1775. It is a record of her having appeared in court to eject a neighbor from land to which she claimed title.
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