SAMUEL LEVIS
The Levis were a Quaker family that
emigrated to Pennsylvania because of
religious persecution.
A
note about the Quaker calendar. From the 12th century in
England the year began with the vernal equinox, on March
25th. This lasted until January 1752
as the legal
and civil year. However, from the time of the Norman
Conquest in 1066 A.D. the first of January had been
considered the historical
beginning for the year. It was
customary to use a system of double dating between Jan 1
and March 25, giving both years i.e. 11-8-1747/48. In
Pennsylvania, where friends controlled
the legislation for many years, the numerical form of
dating was commonly used and sanctioned by law, i.e.
eleventh month, 8th day, which would
translate to Jan. 8, 1748 in the new calendar. Whenever
dates were given with numbers we have left them as
we found them.
Samuel Levis was born 30d 7m 1649 (possibly
Sept 30th) in Harby Leicester. I cannot find a
good source for his birth. However, he was married
in 1680 and died in 1734 "of a good age" so that
1649 works. Harby is just inside the
Leiscestershire line, and due east of Nottingham. He
was the son of Chrisopher Levis and Mary Nede, both of the
midlands England.
There is a Lease and Release from Christopher Levis
and Samuel Levis to Richard Levis made in Beeston,
Nottinghamshire, 16-17 Dec. 1671. I have no
idea what a Lease and Release is, but Samuel is
believed to have been the first child and by 1671 he would
have been of adult age. Christopher
Levis died December 1677 in Harby. His will was
dated Oct. 19, 1677
from Leicestershire & Rutland Index of Wills,
Jurisdiction of Broby 1580-1800.
Samuel
is clearly named as a son.
Christopher was a committed Quaker, and had been
persecuted for his convictions before his death.
Samuel Levis married Elizabeth
Clator on
3/4/ 1680. I'm not sure if this was translated to
March or the earlier Quaker dating, which would
translate to May, I believe. Cope Digest of English
Meetings, C10 Warwickshire quarterly Meeting &
England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death
Registers, 1578-1837
Elizabeth and Samuel Levis had 7 known
children: given in The Paper Makers by
Jane Levis Carter
1. Samuel
Levis, born about 1682 in England, possibly
Nottingham he wed Hannah Stretch 1709.
2. Alice Levis,
born about 1684 in England, possibly Nottingham.
3. Mary Levis
born Aug 9, 1685 in Pennsylvania wed Joseph Pennock
4. William Levis born in Pennsylvania wed Elizabeth
Reed 1720
5. Elizabeth Levis born in Pennsylvania wed
William Shipley 1728
6. Sarah Levis born in Pennsylvania wed George
Maris
7. Christopher Levis born 1692 in
Pennsylvania died 1694.
Jane Levis Carter, a descendant of Samuel
Levis and other Quakers who settled in Pennsylvania
wrote The Paper Makers, Early Pennsylvanians and their
Water Mills. The opening chapter is on Samuel
Levis titled The Better Kind of Men. It was
published in 1982. She states that Samuel was a
maltster and his close friend William Garrett was
a weaver. It was speculated that Samuel
trained at the Brewery of Nottingham Castle.
When William Penn advertised for men in a variety
of skills, Samuel Levis and William Garrett
took the opportunity to go to America. They left
England with their families in August 1684 and landed in
Chester PA in the autumn of that year. With Samuel
Levis was his wife Elizabeth Clator,
children Samuel and Alice and perhaps his
younger sisters Sarah and Hannah. On
9th month, 4th day, 1684 Samuel Levis was received by
Philadelphia meeting from Harby MM, Leicester Co.
from the US Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy
Vol II, page 579.
Before leaving England Samuel Levis and Wm Garrett
had purchased 1000 acres, part of which was located in Springfield
township, and 300 years later some of that land is
still in the family name. History of Delaware
county Pennsylvania by George Smith, 1862 page 477. The
Philadelphia Archives Book E has a series of
purchases made by Samuel Levis including Vol
5, col 7, pg 33 where he made a purchase from Wm
Garrett. Springfield is north of Chester,
which is on the Delaware River, so maybe 5 miles inland,
and south of Philadelphia maybe 10 miles. I
don't know how the Penn purchases worked, but they may
have had little say in exactly where their 1000 acres
lay. "The tracks were thin and long ie, in
relation to the river, so each would have a mixture of
water, steep slope, arable soil and wasteland. As
soon as land could be cleared it improved productivity and
settlers here never suffered a starving time as did both
Massachusetts and Virginia settlers" from Nether
Providence Township, A history 1687-1987 found at the
Helen Kates Furness library in Wallingord PA.
Samuel built brick home
and developed a complete colonial plantation. The
house still stands and is call the "checkerboard" house
probably due to the brick pattern. Milling did take
place on the plantation but it was the next generation
that put that project into action.
Samuel Levis became an
active member of the community very quickly. By 1686
he represented Chester County in the Pennsylvania
Provencal Assembly. He also served as a Justice of
the Court of Chester County. And he remained a
zealous Quaker. It was noted somewhere, need to
relocate, that Elizabeth Clator Levis became a
Quaker missionary traveling up and down the east coast.
Elizabeth Clator was
said to have died in 1732, but do not have the source of
that information. Samuel Levis died in 1734.
re Find a Grave An advanced age for the time for
both of them. I believe they were buried on the
grounds of their plantation.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
If you know the answer please CONTACT US
1. where did the Levis family live there first 8
years in Pennsylvania?
2. Get source documents for the children, birth
dates and marriage partners.
3. Find the Will for Samuel.
4. confirm their death dates.
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Doc; gplev01.html
Date created: 8/1/2013
Date Edited 9/21/2017
Date edited 10/16/2017