Hugh and Jane Lowndes the Gawsworth, England Quakers

By Howard G. Lownes Sr.

The story is about a couple in England that were Quakers and prosecuted numerous times while preaching. Then after paying the fine to be released went back to preaching again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781982244866

Howard G. Lownes Sr.

Howard is telling a story of his ancestors.

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Copyright © 2020 Howard G. Lownes Sr.

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-4485-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-4486-6 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:  03/17/2020

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 Generation One The Gawsworth Quakers Hugh and Jane Lowndes and Their Life in England

Chapter 2 Generation Two Jane Lownes and Her Family of Four Children in Early America

Chapter 3 Generation Three

Chapter 4 Generation Four

Chapter 5 Generation Five

Chapter 6 Generation Six

Chapter 7 Generation Seven

Chapter 8 Generation Eight

Chapter 9 Generation Nine

Chapter 10 Generation Ten

Chapter 11 Generation Eleven

Chapter 12 Generation Twelve

Chapter 13 Generation Thirteen

Chapter 14 Generation Fourteen

Chapter 15 Generation Fifteen

Chapter 16 A final thought

Chapter 17 The Connection to William Penn

Chapter 18 Quaker Men of the Eearly Movement

Chapter 19 The Lownes Tree

Appendix I From the History of Chester County, Pennsylvania

Appendix II Pocket-wallet Facts about Your Springfield Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania

Appendix III Excerpts from Springfield Township

Appendix IV The Trial of William Penn(1670)

Appendix V Blue Church Marks 12⁵th Anniversary

Appendix VI Official Pennsylvania Emblem The State Coat of Arms

Appendix VII About the Nelly Curtis Serving Spoon

Appendix VIII Lownes – Frick-Van Fossen Families

Appendix IX Lownes and Donaldson

Appendix X From the Records of the Parish Church St. James, Gawsworth, Eng.

Appendix XI Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Hinshaw Vol. II 1938

Appendix XII Card File Data from Swarthmore College Museum

Appendix XIII Abbreviations

Appendix XIV The Dirary

Appendix XV List of Lownes Personnel in the Armed Forces of America

Appendix XVI Maps

Appendix XVII Chronology

Appendix XVIII References

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Author Howard G. Lownes Sr.

DEDICATION

This book is being dedicated to my beloved wife, Verna, who passed away prior to me writing this book.

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Verna M. Lownes

I also want to dedicate it to my son, Howard Jr., as he passed away prior to me completing the book.

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Howard G. Lownes Jr.

I also want to deicate the book to my daughter, April Lynn (Lownes) Hostler, for her understanding and dedication in helping me with this effort.

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PREFACE

I, Howard G. Lownes Sr., wrote the book, often referencing Charlotte Lownes Olewiler’s work. Without her contribution this could not be as complete as it is. Charlotte’s hard work back in the 1970s, before the internet, had to be a challenge. Early parts of her work that she wrote are reveled as part of this book. Without her dedication, it might have been more of a challenge to me, but she did a great job with what she contributed to this effort. Since she was several years older and I never met her, she had to be a beautiful, wonderful woman, with fortitude, and I wish I could have known her. Suzan and Conny, two of Charlotte’s daughters, also inspired me and helped with the editing of the book. Our cousin, Thomas Lownes Jr., was also an inspiration and mentor to help with information about the family. I also want to thank Bette Ferris for her efforts in the George branch of the family. There was also Steve Lown from Ohio, Coral Heyl from Georgia, Mary Kaiser from North Carolina, and Randall Lownes from Lafayette Hills, Pennsylvania, not to mention Barbara Burke of the Springfield Historical Museum in Springfield, Pennsylvania.

This book is divided into generations; discussing various people and how they fit into the story I want to tell. In this way, we can step through the family of each branch as it unfolded through history. Provided are photographs of people, houses, and maps as they relate to the story. There are a number of missing people in some stories, making the stories incomplete. As you will see, there have been many famous people with whom our ancestors came in contact, as well as ancestors who became famous in their own right. We should all be proud of our ancestors and the hardships Hugh and Jane endured starting out in a world of turmoil in England and believing God as our savior, who guided them through the hardships while trusting God and never giving up.

There have been several stories written by others, but some were conflicting, so they are pieced together in this book to reflect a more realist story. Some of the stories indicated that Hugh sailed with Jane and the children dying at sea, but there is documentation that he died in prison in England. There also were stories that Jane came over to America with four boys not three boys and a girl, but again there is documentation showing that there were three boys and a girl. There is also an indication of a fourth boy being born to Hugh and Jane, but not sailing with them to America.

Bible passages quoted in this book are from

A 1611 translation of the King James Version of the Bible

(Earlier or more recent translations have slighly different wording)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I want to thank Suzan Jill Strader and Conny Crisalli, daughters of Charlotte Lownes Olewiler who wrote the first book of our ancestors back in 1978; special thanks goes to Charlotte for the tremendous effort she put in digging up all the things she did back in the days before the internet, including going to Northern England during a cold January. She had to have spent many hours and days digging up information that was hard to find. I also want to thank Conny for providing the expanded family members of Charlotte, as well as the additional members of our family under Charlotte’s father. Second, I want to thank Barbara Burke of the Springfield Historical Museum for all the information she provided, in addition to introducing me to Corel Heyl from Georgia and Steve and Katherine Lown from Ohio, who helped expand the family tree and stories beyond what I might never have found. I also want to thank Mary Kaiser for her input of the area I didn’t know existed, namely the areas of North Carolina.

Also, I want to thank my cousin, Thomas Lownes Jr., for introducing me to Linda Hytha and Bette Ferris of the George branch of the family. I thank them for all the information they and their family provided to aid me in writing the George Lownes branch of the family in writing this book.

My appreciation is given to both of my children, Howard Jr. and April Lynn, who have been supportive in this endeavor as I have spent many hours and days pulling together information that expanded the family, mostly the James Branch. As for others, there are so many from various historical museums, the internet, and Quaker Meeting Houses who have provided vital information that might not have been available to Charlotte back in the 1970s. At the back of the book, in Appendix’s there are references that have provided me with some of the information to write this book.

For those that may have had a chance to met Charlotte and or read her work, you have to know what a great woman she was and what she wrote is incorporated into this book and acknowledged throughout. Without her insight and diligence, this book would not be as complete as it is.

INTRODUCTION

This is the story of Hugh and Jane Lowndes and the descendants that followed. Charlotte Lownes Olewiler’s writings had a lot of descriptive stories of those early years that followed down the family tree to her generation, with little information on the outreaching branches. In this book, I will be extending the family with as many stories as I can obtain about the other branches that Charlotte didn’t cover. I have also copied parts of Charlotte’s work to provide a complete story for future generations. Since Charlotte spent time in England back in the 1970s, her descriptive stories are included. This has the blessing of both Suzan and Conny, two of Charlotte’s daughters who have informed the other four siblings regarding the inclution of her words. There are some descriptive passages of George Fox and William Penn’s trials in England that tell the hardship of what those early Quakers experienced, as well as our beloved Hugh and Jane preaching the Quaker religion and knowing that incarceration was part of what they endured as they continued in their belief of God and freedom of religion in England back in the 1600s.

The story of our ancestors is broken down into various sections to have a complete story, without causing confusion between the two main branches of the family. As we have been told and found documentation, Hugh died in prison in England, and later that same year, his wife Jane sailed to America with their four children. There were three sons and a daughter. As you will note, one son died within several years after arrival, and the daughter was hard to trace so, I will concentrate on the two remaining sons. We start in England using Charlotte’s work that gives a good understanding of their lives as they started out together.

In the appendix there is a list of all the members of the Lownes famly that served in the military, despite the fact that as Quakers, of the early members, they were against military service.

At the end of the book, there is a document showing names and dates of the members in tree form from generation one through generations fifteen. They are noted as (G 1) on through to (G 15). There may be more names and dates that I haven’t been able to locate at this writing, but to the best of my knowledge, it is as complete as I have found.

The information has come from many sources, ancestry. com, Quaker Monthly Meeting that has been posted on the internet, the Springfield Historical Museum, the Swathmore Historical Museum and Library, the Historical Museum of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and family and friends as noted in the preface.

From My Heritage Lowndes Meaning and Origin. English: patronymic from Lown. There are two possible sources for the name: the first and most generally applicable being from the medieval name Lovin. This derives from the Old English preceding the seventh century: Leofhun, which is composed of the elements Leof, meaning dear beloved then hun meaning bear cub. The second source is a habitation name from the city of Louvain in Belgium (Flemish name Leuven)." Habitation names were often given to those who left their original residence and went to live or work in another village or town or, possibly in this case, country.

There has been some indication of the name datimg back to the eleventh century; however, this has not been verified, I did find a few names and dates as early as the fourteenth century..

Since Hugh Lowndes and his wife Jane Lowndes followed George Fox and the Religious Society of Friends in its early stages, you will see how they suffered and persisted in their belief in God and our Lord Jesus Christ and how it impacted their lives and the hardships they suffered.

CHAPTER ONE

Generation One

THE GAWSWORTH QUAKERS

HUGH AND JANE LOWNDES AND

THEIR LIFE IN ENGLAND

There are sections in this chapter that came from the book that my cousin Charlotte Lownes Olewiler wrote in the late 1970s and are repeated here for a more complete book of reference to the Lownes family. Charlotte’s children have given their blessing to allow me to include her story; they are thrilled that their mother’s legacy is being carried forward. This is our story.

It hasn’t been confirmed, but all we know of Hugh Lowndes is that his father may have served Sir Edward Fitton in some capacity at the Gawsworth Hall until the nobleman was killed in the Civil War in 1643. When the Earl of Macclesfield (grandson of Sir Edward) recovered the Gawsworth property, possibly Mr. Lowndes was a gardener, groom, or attendant at the Hall in Gawsworth, Cheshire, England.

At any rate, Hugh’s father, no doubt, was a member in good standing in the formal, proper, cold St. James Church of England, which stood on the hill by the hall, surrounded on three sides by the graves of its faithful and sometimes scandalous worshippers. The parish’s records show the birth of Humphrey, son of Hugh Lowndes, in 1551 (most likely Hugh’s grandfather) along with the birth, baptism, and burial of many other Lowndeses. There were indications that Christopher Lowndes may also have been Hugh’s grandfather, however, records show that Edward Lowndes (1566 – 7/5/1608) was our Hugh’s Grandfather. He was born in Gawsworth Cheshire, England, and died in Odd Rode, Cheshire, England; Johanne (1568 – unk) was his Grandmother.

I have been able to trace back to a Thomas Lowndes with dates unknown. He had to have been born in the late 1300’s since I did find his son John Lowndes being born in 1416. On pages 16 and 17 are trees showing early ancestors. Below is a dirct line up to our Hugh and Jane Lowndes.

As can be seen on page 3, the chart shows our Hugh Lowndes had eight siblings It shows a William Lowndes being born in 1663 and dieing in 1759. I have to assume that at age 17, he chose to stay in England rather than sailing to America with his mother and siblings..

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Hugh became acquainted with Jane Stretch, a Quaker, and sister to Thomas Stretch Hugh’s best friend, who lived in the next village. As Hugh Lowndes and Thomas Stretch had been friends for a long time, and they had gone to another village on several occasions witnessing George Fox speak about the Lord.

It was believed that one evening after super, Hugh’s father ordered him out of the house, since Hugh refused to sign the Oath of Abjugation because he followed the Quaker believes. Hugh went to Thomas’s place for somewhere to go. Hugh then went to live in the back room of the bakery where he worked. Jane then joined him and they lived there for a short while. Hugh and Jane were married in Cheshire County, England, on October 2nd, 1658, at the home of William Davenport of Leeke Parish. Hugh and Jane both loved the Lord, their Savior, and adhered to the Quaker belief, although there were few Quakers in their village. In the early 1650s, the Quakers were stoned, flogged, and imprisoned for insisting that God dwelled within the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit. They believed that all men are equal in the sight of God. Their mission was to turn people from darkness to light by receiving Jesus Christ who died for all men as their Savior. They were attempting to help build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. The grace of God who brings salvation teaches us to live godly, righteously-sober lives and deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. The Quakers refused to bear arms and tried to keep peace at any cost.

Many laws were passed in England to try to stop the spread of Quaker views. In 1655, everyone was required to take the Oath of Abjugation (an oath to give up their rights). Quakers refused to take the oath on scriptural principles (Matthew 5:35, 36). There were four laws passed which forbade the teaching of any but the Anglican catechism and forbade the assembling for the purpose of worship except the formal church. In 1661, the Quaker Act was announced, and all Englishmen had to sign the Oath of Allegiance or be guilty of treason. All Quakers had to consent to everything in the dreaded Church of England Prayer Book. Strong penalties were inflicted on all other forms of worship. During these oppressive years, Hugh and Jane started to raise a family in 1660; Hugh was about twenty-five years old. In 1665 the dreaded Plague swept through England, and seventy thousand died. Most likely, they lost one or more children to the black disease. Hugh continued to preach, despite the fines and threats of imprisonment and lived the teaching of the gentle way. He was a stubborn, faithful, and persistent believer.

Hugh Lowndes of Gawsworth, Chester County, England, was a baker, but later became an itinerant preacher in a land steeped in religiosity and its own kind of legalism. Hugh, along with other Quakers, was persecuted, and fined for their beliefs and arrested for holding their meetings. The records showed that Hugh, Jane, and Jane’s brother, Thomas Stretch, were persecuted, and fined for holding meetings at Newton and Hefly. Hugh married Jane Stretch of Roads in the same county; Hugh and Jane belonged to the Society of Friends.

They were frequently persecuted. As one known statement expresses: As a religion, they professed the principles of Truth held by Friends on which account he (Hugh) suffered much persecution, being often put in prison on account of fines for non-conformity.

The St. James Church in the village of Gawsworth had the walls of the nave built of limestone in 1430 and the chancel and tower of pink sandstone in 1480. The nave roof, barrel; beam in design and unique in this Diocese, is over five hundred years old and shows traces of its original brilliant coloring and gilt. The chancel roof is arch camber beam in construction and has rare paneled sections with tie beams. The church is located in Gawsworth, England near the Gawsworth Hall.

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St. James Church of England, Gawsworth, England

Except for the presence of the Harrington Arms (a Queen Anne hostelry) and the magnificent Tudor style hall known as Gawsworth Hall, this was built built in 1485 in a half-timbered hall built around a courtyard. The medieval hall may have been protected by a moat, but no trace of the moat remains. The mound that once held the Norman house now boasts only the tiny chapel, built in 1369 and is still in use, though it has been much remodeled. Part of the Great Hall now survives as a drawing room, and in the library is a bookcase designed by AWN Pugin, architect of the Palace of Westminister. There are several secrect priest’s hiding holes upstairs, inserted during the 16th century, when Catholic priest were hunted down, and those who harboured them faced stiff penalties. The present house retains the Tudor half-timbering so often encountered in Cheshire houses. Outside the house is surrounded by formal gardens and parkland, which once was comprised of Elizabethan pleasure garden and possibly, a tilting ground for jousting.

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Gawsworth Hall, Gawsworth, England

The village of Gawsworth was hardly discernible. However, the rich farmlands and beautiful countryside surely was a compelling reason to spend a lifetime there planting family roots and traditions deep into the loveliness and strength that was old England.

This hamlet was the birthplace of our ancestor Hugh Lowndes, probably about 1640. However, a specific record has been discovered. More recently, it has been determined that Hugh was born on May 3, 1635.

A lane ambled off the main route from Chester to Macclesfield, passed the pub, bent abruptly to the east, and pointed to the hall, a half mile down the road. On the right was the Vicar’s cottage, next to the great old Anglican Church and then beyond the pond, Gawsworth Hall ruled the countryside. A handful of cottages and farms dotted the meadows, but there was no village.

Here at this rural and historic place, Hugh Lowndes was born and raised. Remote though it was, the little hamlet seldom lacked for excitement. Many highly esteemed men visited the hall down through the centuries. Pepys wrote much about Gawsworth Hall in his diaries. Shakespeare’s Lady of the Dark Sonnets is believed to be Mary Fitton, the wayward maid of the hall. Mr. Shakespeare, himself, likely visited here. Hayden composed some of his beautiful music in its great drawing room. It is also believed that King Charles II slept at Gawsworth Hall at least once.

Little Hugh must have been drawn to the estate where carriages carrying guests were constantly hurrying up and down the lane. The jousting and tilting grounds, no doubt, held a special fascination for a little boy. How many times did he climb over the park wall and imagine he, too, was a knight competing in a tournament?

His father may have watched the last jousts to be held publicly in England in 1626, right there at Gawsworth.

The list where the competitions were held was a lone rectangle about 650 feet long by 250 feet wide with a barrier in the center. Close to the riding land stood a quintain, a spinning wooden figure of a man with arms extended. If charged by the knight and struck on the chest, the lance shivered, but if hit on either side of the breast, the quintain spun around on its pivot and cracked the charging knight sharply on the helmet as he passed the wooden figure.

The Harrington Pub, too, must have often overflowed with guests and revelers. Without doubt, the grooms, tradesmen, and visitors alike stopped there frequently for refreshments and passed along to the villagers’- news from distant parts of England.

Next to the vicar’s cottage was a nearly hidden path, clearly labeled to this day Public Footpath to Road. Many evenings, Hugh, as a young man, must have walked through these lovely fields as he courted Jane Stretch, (April 3, 1636 – February 1694) Jane’s father was William Stretch (1580 – May 25, 1658) and her mother was Bridget Gilman (unk – 1665), a Quaker who lived in the next village.

We may never know if their romance blossomed before they fell in love with the Savior or if they loved the Lord first, and He brought them together.