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Indeed, people in the genealogical line of Norcrosses that leads to the four Norcross brothers Joseph Jr., Page, Norman, and Charles Norcross came to North America in the 1630s. The confirmed line of descendants begins at least a generation before that, however. Phillip Norcross Gross did extensive research on the early Norcrosses. His work often clarified what I found.

There was a George Norcrosse born in 1480 in England, who might have been a progenitor of this line, but it is not certain. He was in the right place at approximately the right time is about all we can say. His spouse is unknown. Some histories say he had a son named Henry. There was a Vicar Henry Norcrosse who was well known in the following century, but there seems to be an unexplained gap in time. More likely, the famous Henry was a generation later, or a different branch of the family amig Gege bih year is correct.

Henry Norcrosse was apparently born about 1550, which would be too late to be Gege . In 1573, Henry was inducted by the Bishop of Chester to the parsonage of Ribchester. He is shown in the records of the church as Viccar Henry Norcrosse. His name is engraved in stone inside the church. The church records show he resigned his position in 1616. Records survive of his battles with the hierarchy of the Catholic church. He is recorded to have died in Ribchester, Lancashire, England in 1623. He is buried there in he S Wilfed Chch

The two Norcross brothers who first came to North America can both be traced back to Ribchester in Lancashire, England. The Ribchester area has been settled since at least Roman times. The Roman fort, Bremetennacum, occupied the site. The fort was built to guard a crossing point of the River Ribble, for which Ribchester is named. This is Ribchester from Google Earth taken in 2015.

Thi i S Wilfid Chch i Ribchee Lacae Eglad The building dates from the 13th Century (though the church goes back to the 6th Century), though major editions and repairs were made through the 18th Century. It is built close to the site of the original Roman fort. The name of Vicar Henry Norcrosse is engraved in stone inside the church. According to Phillip Norcross Gross, who has studied this line extensively, stories suggest that the Vicar had up to 40 children, not all legitimate. The ame f He spouse(s) is unknown.

He bih ea i ima deadig his relationship with prior and future generations. His death in 1623 is well documented. Records show that that was (also?) a Henry Norcross, who was born about 1528. There is also record of a Henry Norcross who had legal trouble in the mid 16-teens. Ae hee hee diffee ele I had k

I al ible ha Gege Nc abe b i faheed He (1) Norcross in 1528, then Henry fathered Henry (2) in 1550, who would becme Vica The dae d lie ell hee ih he e generation.

About 1560, a Thomas Norcrosse was born in the Parish of All Hallows, in London. There are reports that Thomas was the son of Henry, but he could have been a nephew, cousin, or other relation of Vicar Henry Norcross. If Henry was born about 1550, clearly Thma elaihi a mehig other than a son, maybe even a brother. In any case, he is the first person that we can document is in the line of Norcrosses leading to the four Norcross brothers of Burlington, New Jersey.

Thomas Norcrosse married Mary Chappell of London around 1585 in the township of Dilworth, near Ribchester. (In the next century, Dilworth and

Ribchester would merge into one township Dilworth cum Ribchester.) Mary apparently came from money. Her mother, Elizabeth Bedell, inherited land north of London from her parents, which passed down to Mary.

It is known that Thomas was a London merchant in 1600 and a member of the Haberdashers Company. Company records show he was freed from his apprenticeship in 1579, when he would have been about 19 years old, if he was indeed born in 1600. It was customary for an apprentice to be bound at the age of 14 to serve for seven years, so he was released early, or his birth date is incorrect. Some summaries show his birthdate as December 24 or 25, 1558.

A Thomas Norcrosse, who lived in the Parish of St. Dunstans in West Fleet Street in London, is listed as having died in 1617. He was buried in St. Da He lef me Vica He chch i Ribchee he migh have been the same Thomas.

Thomas and Mary had at least three children: John born about 1590, Jeremiah born about 1595, and Thomas Jr. born about 1597. There are a few mentions of an Elizabeth born in 1614. Thomas Jr. died in London in 1620.

John and Jeremiah would be the progenitors of two lines of Norcrosses that branched out across America.

John, Jeremiah, and some other members of their family sailed for New England sometime about 1638 some summaries say it was a bit earlier. King Charles had decreed that all subject had to conform to the Roman Catholic Church, and that created the so-called Great Migration of English Puritans. Many went to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

These brothers and their family were the first known Norcrosses to step foot in the New World.

John Norcrosse bought 22 acres of land in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Jeremiah apparently bought property in nearby Charlestown reportedly 16 acres on the Charles River.

Jeremiah stayed in New England and founded the Massachusetts branch of the Norcrosse family along with an Elizabeth Norcrosse (who might have been his sister hgh Ie ee fim eidece hee a a ie) who came some time later. He moved to Watertown, Massachusetts before 1642 where he bought property.

In 1654, Jeremiah returned to England. He died there in 1657. An Elizabeth Norcrosse died hee i agai ibl Jeemiah ie

It is unclear exactly ha haeed Jh Jeemiah ill efe Jh daughter, Anna, with no reference to John, so it appears he had died by the time Jeremiah wrote the will in 1654. There are references to Jh death being in 1642 in England, but without specifics.

John had at least two children by an unknown wife: Thomas born in 1613 and Anna born about 1615. There is also mention of a Sarah with various birth dates, but I find little other information.

Anna married Samuel Davis in 1631 in London. She and her husband emigrated to Cambridge with her father John and remained there when he left. Anna and Samuel had at least six children.

Thomas Norcrosse apparently stayed in England. He is listed as a linen manufacturer in Barton, which is characterized as a small town near Manchester. (There is a Barton-upon-Irwell in metropolitan Manchester da b I d k if ha i he ame ) The Manchester area was and is a textile-manufacturing center, so it makes sense.

Barton-upon-Irwell is about 35 miles southeast of Ribchester, where many Norcrosses remained. Thomas died in 1662 and was buried in Ribchester. The name of his wife is uncertain, perhaps Elizabeth.

Jh Thomas had at least three children: William born in 1650, Judith, and Margaret.

Thma William is the one that leads directly to the Norcrosses of Burlington, New Jersey and the four Norcross brothers.

It appears that William Norcrosse married Elizabeth (Jane) Freeman of Rye, Sussex, England about 1682. It is known that they joined a Quaker organization in the Ribchester area in 1683. William and Elizabeth had at least six children, though only four survived: Jane born before February 11, 1683, John, William H. Jr., and Thomas born April 10, 1697.

In 1699, William (Sr.) is listed as living in Alston-cum-Hothersall in Ribchester Parish. (Today, Hothersall is an area west of Ribchester along the River Ribble.)

In late May of that year William (Sr.), wife Elizabeth, and his four surviving children sailed for America from Liverpool aboard the ship Britannia, along with at least 200 other Quakers again part of the Great Quaker Migration. Just in 1682, some 2,000 Quakers came in 23 ships, and tens of thousands came in the decades around the turn of the 18th Century.

The Norcrosses were heading for Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where William had been given 500 acres of land the previous April by a fellow Quaker. The ship was over-crowded, and smallpox broke out. About 20 percent of the passengers died.

William (Sr.) was stricken and died at sea or just after the ship landed at New Castle, Pennsylvania just south of Philadelphia now in Chester, Pennsylvania, on the Chester Creek. In any case, this was the beginning of the Burlington, New Jersey branch of the Norcross family in North America.

William S made a ill he hi hile he a eak f bd b f d ad efec mem The ill diided he Pennsylvania acres among his wife and four children. The will was written on June 12, 1699, and the ship docked in New Castle on August 24, 1699. It appears that William (Sr.) died during that time b i clea.

The land was originally deeded by William Penn to a Leonard Fell, a fellow Quaker from County Lancaster, England (where Ribchester is). In April of Fell gae he lad hi ad ell beled fied William Nc Thi became he igial Nc hmeead he bak f he Delaware River.

Bensalem Township in Pennsylvania is three to four miles downriver and on the other side of the Delaware River from Burlington, New Jersey, which would end up being the home to future generations of Norcrosses.

Two years after the death of William (Sr.), his wife Elizabeth married Stephen Sands, a Quaker who had settled in Middletown Township, just to the north of Bensalem, even before William Penn himself arrived in 1682. Penn was granted land icldig da Pelaia ad Delaae by King Chale II ele a deb ha he Biih geme ed Pe fahe

William Norcross S Thma died g aael befe Daughter Jane married Jeremiah Scaife and eventually moved to Maryland.

In 1712, son John Norcross married Mary Antram of Burlington, New Jersey at the Quaker Meeting there. This is the first mention I see of the Norcrosses involvement with Burlington.

Son William H. Norcross (Jr.) was very young when his father William Sr. died, and his mother remarried. He was brought up in the Quaker household of his mother and stepfather Stephe Sad Whe hi fahe eae a finally settled in 1711, he apparently inherited at least 100 acres of the Bensalem property.

William (Jr.) married Rebecca Petty at the Burlington Quaker Meeting on April 30, 1720. The Pettys were also Quakers who had come from England. They arrived in 1682 in the original migration and bought land in Burlington.

By the time of the marriage, William Jr. had already moved to the town of Burlington, according the official record of the marriage. In 1739, there is a record of him voting in Burlington, but by 1743 he had moved to Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, which is just across the county line, about 15 miles northeast of Burlington.

William was baptized in the Presbyterian church there on June 5, 1743. As noted, Freehold is not far from Hightstown, where Joseph Sr., father of the Norcross brothers, told Joseph Jr. he was taken as a child.

On April 25, 1744, William bought two acres of land in Freehold, where he (probably) died, sometime before 1763. It is known that Rebecca was a widow on April 20 of that year, and was living back in Burlington at that time.

William Jr. and Rebecca had at least six and perhaps eight children: William III in 1724 in Burlington, John in1724 or 1725, Joseph B. born about 1725, Jane born about 1726, Susanna born about 1728, Joshua born November 3, 1730, Elizabeth born about 1735, and Abigail born about 1739. It appears that Joshua and Elizabeth did not survive to adulthood, if they were, indeed, offspring of William and Rebecca.

On October 4, 1756, son John Norcross married Ann Stevenson, but she died in 1763. John and Ann had at least four children: Susanna in 1759, Abigail in 1758, Elijah in 1760, and John A. on July 8, 1763.

Two years later, on September 18, 1765, John married Rachel King Fenimore in Burlington, New Jersey. John and Rachel had ten or eleven children, all born in Burlington County: Edward in 1766, Isaac in 1767, Simeon in 1769,

Levi in 1770, Deborah in 1772, Mary in 1773, Hannah in 1775, Susanna in 1778, William in 1780, Rachel in 1782, and Elijah born in 1783. Hannah, William, and Elijah did not survive past childhood.

The story of Elijah is unclear. John and Ann apparently had a child named Elijah in 1760. Some records show that Elijah lived until 1783. But it also appears that John and Rachel had a son named Elijah in 1783. Mostly likely, the first Elijah died young, and the second Elijah died as an infant in 1783. Thee i ecd f him afe ha I al ible ha he fi Elijah died in 1783, and John and Rachel named the baby born that year the same name.

Son Levi Norcross becomes a prominent player in this story.

Levi was born in Burlington, New Jersey on November 2, 1770, and is known to have been living in Northampton Township which comprises Mount Holly, New Jersey and the area immediately around the town in 1800. He married Mary Stockton in Burlington on March 1, 1801. Mary was born in England on June 15, 1784, so she was 16 at the time of the marriage.

Levi and Mary had seven children: Elijah in 1801, Samuel in 1806, John S. in 1811, James M. in 1814, George Washington in 1816, Charles S. in 1820, and Martha Ann in 1824.

Charles S. Norcross was born December 25, 1820 in Burlington County, New Jersey likely in or near Mount Holly. He was the fifth and youngest son of Levi and Rachel Norcross.

Charles S. was the great-grandfather of Joseph S. Jr., Page, Norman, and Charles Norcross.

See the autobiography for details on the following generations.