William's life can be divided into 2 parts, NJ and NC. I am going to ID him as: William, C, of NJ and as Willm, C, of NC.

William,C, of NJ

Very early, about 1634, there migrated to the new world several groups of people. Those concerning us arrived in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. These were English religious dissenters termed: Quakers, Calvinists, Puritans, Pilgrims, Congregationalists, Convenaters, etc. Among these were a group known as: The Reverend John Lothrop's Church. This group initially arrived in six ships. Some surnames in this group were: Lothrop, Dennis, Crowell, Pike, Kent, Scullard, Bishop, Parker, et al. Later on some of these moved to Woodbridge, Middlesex Co, NJ, c1674. There several became leaders in the community. The Pikes, Parkers, Bishop and Dennis family located at the eastern base of what was known as Strawberry Hill. I have found this site on a modern aerial photo today. fig2

New info has been accessed and it is now necessary to add another class of religious dissenters to the above list. These people were Scottish with some being called Scotch-Irish(Ulster Scots). About 1670, many Scots were persecuted for their refusal to pledge allegiance to the English King. Some of these took sail to America in what became known as the Scots invasion about 1680 to 1715. It has been estimated that in the period of 1670-1690 about 20,000 of these Scots arrived both rich and poor and of different classes some being termed fugitives. The eastern ports including Perth-Amboy were their objectives. They came undocumented, landed, and disappeared into the country. These people wished to remain mostly anonymous due to their status. Jana Inglis may have been among this group as no document of her early life has been found. The fact that she married Samuel Parker(c1709) is the first mention found. Next was a bare mention in a book dated 1719. The rareness of the name Jan(n)a helps.

In the town of Woodbridge, NJ, 1729 is where we find the 1st document of our ancestor, William.

William, was apparently living at home in Woodbridge, NJ, before 1725. This area was known as Strawberry Hill as it is today. It is not known where he was born but he seems to be Scottish(mother) and well educated. Nothing is known of his earlier life.

We have concluded, from other sources(see below), that William Paschal married as his first wife, Reliance Dennis of Woodbridge about 1725.

In Woodbridge,1729, William signed as a witness to the will of neighbor, Thomas Pike. The original will exists and a photocopy of William's signature has been obtained. The signature shows 2 final L's and the name William is fully written out and no final flourish is used in the surname. fig1

A book has the only known reference to Jana's early life yet found:

This book was reprinted from an earlier article and is still available online. new cost $82 to $126; used from $64. I have gotten a copy as a birthday present.

Google: book: Genealogies of New Jersey Families A-Z; 1156 pages; Samuel & Jana Parker, p687-688

Note: A prior suggested marriage by Samuel Parker to a Foord is rejected by this book. This seems to indicate that this article is the 1st to name Samuel & Jana's marriage. The book suggests the info came from the Bible, c1719, but does not state this exactly. Also the book is a reprint of a previous article by Lewis D Cook, a friend of the Bedford family. The reference to DAB:(vol)14,(page)226 is incorrect; I have not found this elsewhere. All of these references need to be located. .The book has typos: ie, Boock? 1719 likely refers to Jana's Bible(a page? dated 1719?). This Bedford line ended with Henrietta Bedforrd; none of her family ever married. The Delaware Historical Society has the Bedford papers but you need to appy($$$) to get acess to them. Somebody needs to do this, preferably someone local.

A NJ supreme court document states that William was the son of Jana. This means her sons were half siblings. William very likely named his children for them. The odd signature(1734) of Jana in her Bible, thought by historian Gordon Bond to be Jana's mother is more likely hers. This is confirmed by son, James Parker's 1770 will in which he mentioned a sister(in law). Thus all 5 of Jana's children signed the Bible. Jana does not seem to have had a daughter. This idea likely came from her son, James who in his will and a letter relates how his widowed sister(in-law) came to be in Woodbridge, her being the helper at his printing office. James was a fine printer but his poor efforts at preserving family history are astronishng

The acute observer will note that William named all of his son's for relatives except one. Who was Isaiah, F,named for?

When William wrote his will he did a remarkable thing which until now was not recognized. See daughter, Dianna, M,in Willm's will.

William, with the Samuel Dennis family next door, met and married Reliance Dennis..a case of the girl next door.

William wrote his signature twice, one dated 1730, in the 1566 Bible in which Jana wrote that it was her Bible. fig3

This color photo is from Gordon Bond who sent me several pages from the Bible. Gordan has given his permission to use the photos from his B2 appendix to his book, "James Parker, printer". These are better than what I now have in the genealogy.

William then, 1730, bought 100 acres of land in Essex Co, NJ, from Joseph Al(lin). This was witnessed by his then step-father, Nathaniel Paine. This title was likely defective for some reason.

Samuel Dennis(the son of the more famous one) of Woodbridge, in his will of 1719 fig5-21 fig5-2 named an unmarried daughter as Reliance. Also, another, younger, daughter was named, Elizabeth. William named his 7th son, Dennis, possibily(note this word) because William married secondly, Elizabeth Dennis, sister to Reliance. Among the witnesses at the 1725, NY, indenture of James Parker, son of Jana, was Elizabeth Denne(s).

In the 1735-1737 period William had 3 occasions to visit the NJ Supreme Court sitting in Perth-Amboy or Burlington. These were civil cases, one for which William obtained a jury trial. fig6a, fig6b

Reliance's father, Samuel Dennis or Dennes, and his father before him (also named Samuel) were well-known personages of Woodbridge. The elder Samuel had served in several civil capacities in the town. Reliance's grandfather and his brothers, John and Jonathan along with their father, Robert Dennis, were pioneers in New Jersey. Records indicate that Robert came from Yarmouth, MA, about 1667. Robert was one of the original proprietors of NJ. The John and Samuel Dennis that arrived on a ship in 1664, embarking from Cork, Ireland, were Penn's Friends(not our line) and went to West NJ.

In 1739, a record of the court of New York city fig6c indicated that a runaway indentured servant, Richard Glover, was being held until William Paschall, of Woodbridge, should come to get him.

During these critical years we can show William living in Woodbridge. Obviously he was not the William, B11,(saddler) grandson of Thomas Paschall, B, of Philadelphia. Do I hear death rattles on that idea? This old absurd claim still is found rooted in most of the listings found on the internet. There is no basis or evidence for the claim other than the name William. These claims are made merely because of the desirable known ancestry of Thomas Paschall, B.

From 1739 to 1743 we have found no records in NJ or NC of William. At this time there were two methods of travel, land or sea. If William had remarried and waited until the death of his mother,Jana Parker Paine, he could have sold his property then sailed by packet boat to NC. This meant a journey of months instead of years

Willm Paschal, C, of NC

We find a William Pasqual in Edenton,Chowan Co, NC, the port of entry to NC in 1743 taking an oath of alliegence as required by the colony. No family is listed but two names down is Elisha Parker and family. See Williams notes. The variation in spelling of the surname is likely due to him being the first of the name in the area.

This author used a strange abbreviation after names if it means there was info omitted... we need to access the book.

Our particular thread can now be picked up in the spring of 1743 when Willm took an oath of Rights at Edenton, Chowan Co, NC. This same document appears to have his half-brother, Elisha Parker and 6 whites listed two names below Willm's. Willm appears to be alone as no whites or slaves are listed for him. Elisha and his brother James(the NJ printer) likely wrote each other as James has many letters from this period. However, James was a very poor hisorian rarely naming his relatives. In the fall of 1744, in Granville Co, NC, Willm filed a petition for land. However it was never granted due to problems in England. fig7b

In November of the year 1744, Willm and perhaps his two older sons, appear in Edgecome Co, NC. It may be that the entire family sailed to NC, and stayed on the coast while the three men went on to the wilds of present Warren county.

My own guess(this is a guess, not fact) is that Reliance had died and William remarried. Note: There is a marker(photo) with Reliance's name listed in findagrave.com. It appears to be modern(cenotaph), It seems this is in the Presbyterian Ch cemetery(not found in 1917 index). Whoever did this has made a serious genealogy mistake. It will cause people to cease looking for her burial; no one can show when/where(evidence) Reliance died.

Notice that the names Elisha, Samuel,John, James were given names used in the Samuel and Jana Parker family. There is objection noted to the 7th son's name, Dennis. If, however, he married 2nd'ly a Dennis that objection is removed. Elisha Parker(1630-1717) was a well known and rich person of Woodbridge, NJ.

The question arises: Why did William and family leave their relatives/friends and go to NC? In many cases when a man lost his wife, parents or had business reverses he moved faraway to start a new life. Willm's mother, Jana Paine was buried(1917 index) in Woodbridge on Jan 1, 1744. there is the notation (ae 70) likely a guess for her age. A petitioner had to meet certain requirements. These were: he had to be a loyal subject of the Crown, not bound or criminal, and he had to pledge support to the Church of England. These were laws passed by the English colonial government at New Bern, the capital. From about 1720 land in North Carolina had been given by the Lord Proprietor's in England at the rate of 50 acres for each person present in the family, including servants/slaves. Our petitioner asked for the modest sum of 150 acres which would indicate that only William and possibly two others were present in 1744. The petition, Rights oath, and a cattle mark registration of 1745 are our first records of Willm in NC. The original earmark book is in the NC Archives, file # 37.910. fig7c

The 1748 land survey is our next record of Willm in North Carolina. Note: a survey pole,p, is a length of 16 1/2 feet.

This survey was dated,Mar 11, 1748, and Willm received his first land grant on Mar 25, 1749, in the county of Granville for 625 acres. Willm signed this in 1744. This signature shows the changes in his signature from that in NJ. fig8

Willm's grant of 1749 is a beautiful document. Copies may be obtained from the North Carolina Archives. The document is a large photostat and contains Willm's signature fig9 to attest his agreement to the terms of the grant. Willm's signature of 1749 shows a fair hand and he signed his surname in the anglicized form(2 L's) with a florish under the name as he did in NJ. He abbreviated his first name to 'Willm' as he did on his will and other documents.

Those granting the land were the legally appointed commissioners of Lord Granville, sitting at New Bern.

THE TERMS OF THE GRANT - The grantee was required, within a space of time, to make improvements in the property. He was to clear and cultivate the land at so many acres a year or he was to build a suitable house and graze so many head a year, etc. In all he was required to do exactly as you would expect he would want to do. A token sum, called quit rents, was due yearly, forever. Failure to meet the terms meant expulsion and forfeiture. It is uncertain why terms were imposed; it was not to the advantage of the Crown to enforce them.