The "English " surname was given in Scotland, and Ireland,

      to distinguish the family of some English settler.

 

    "The Englishman " from the Celtic or Gaelic meaning "local".

 

     Variations: English, Inglis, Ingells, Angle, Anglicus.

 

     In the ancient family records, the name Anglicus is often mentioned.

 

Joseph English was born about 1600 in Horsley, Gloucestershire, England. The name of his first wife is unknown. His son, Joseph English Jr., daughter Mary, and their spouses accompanied him to America in the mid 1600’s. It is not known if his first wife died in England, if she died en route, or if she perished in America.

The following information was researched and compiled by Jan Pedatella. She is a Great great great great great granddaughter of Silas Miller who married Jane English soon after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War.

All Jan's edits are in red type.

 
Back to Miller Family Page        Back to Robert Phillips story

 THE ENGLISH FAMILY

On Feb 26, 1684/5 he married the Widow Joan Tyler Comley in Bucks County Pennsylvania. (The dates are written oddly, because the New Year started in April, with the coming of Spring)

Joseph Sr. died the next year, on Oct 10 1686. Joan Tyler English died Dec 20 1689. They are buried together at Middletown Meeting, a Quaker Church in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

 

2Joseph English Jr. was born in 1645 in Horsley, Gloucestershire, England. He married Hannah Clift in England. They came to America in the mid 1600’s to escape religious persecution. The Quakers were settling in William Penn’s Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. Joseph and Hannah later moved on to Burlington, New Jersey (across the river).

        Their children were: 3John, Rachel, Joseph, William, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Anne.

3John E. English was born in 1690 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His family moved to New Jersey sometime during his childhood. He married a woman named Sarah. He received his inheritance by 1714. The land at Great Egg Harbor was purchased by his father in 1709, possibly for him. He settled on the land in 1713, and it was deeded to him in 1714.  John E. English became the Judge in Egg Harbor, New Jersey in his later years. (picture on the right ►) He went to Canada after the war. He was a Tory. John and Sarah (her last name perhaps Carpender/Carpenter, b. 1685) had the following children:        

       4John, Hannah, Mary, Susannah, Joseph (1730-1806), and Isabel (b. 1737?).

English trial

4John English was born 1715 (other sources say 1729). He married Anne Inskeep, b. Feb 1 1724/5. They married on Sept 30 1749 in Gloucester County, New Jersey. She was the daughter of John Inskeep and Sarah Ward. The Inskeep Family were Quakers, who came to America in the early 1700’s. They later became Presbyterian. John Inskeep’s father, also John, died in 1729 in New Jersey.

Two known children of John English and Anne Inskeep are: 5Jane (Our ancestor) and John.

4John English became the Justice of the Peace for Gloucester County. When the Revolution broke out, he sided with the British. At the Revolutionary War’s end, he was tried as a traitor. Some notes of his inquisition follow just below:

 

 

 

 

Jane English was born about 1755. She married Silas Miller of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Silas Miller was the son of Isaac Robert Miller Jr., who set sail for America in 1751. He first settled in New Jersey, then moved on to Westmoreland County. Isaac Robert Miller Jr. was killed by Indians while working his fields, and his son Isaac Carswell Miller was captured and taken by the Indians. (I would be willing to bet that the families of Isaac Robert Miller Jr.  and John English were acquainted with one another before the Miller family moved from New Jersey to Big Cove in Fulton Co. PA. M.H.)

At the outbreak of the war, Silas volunteered for the Continental Army. He was wagonmaster for the New Jersey Militia. He was a lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment under Colonel Thomas. The 2nd Regiment was charged with defending New York, the Lake Champlain area, and Northern New Jersey.

Now it may seem strange for the daughter of a Tory, a Loyalist who was prosecuted for supporting the King, to fall in love and marry a Patriot. But given the place and the times, New Jersey was at the crossroads of the Revolution, because it was at the center of the new nation, and the armies of both sides were in or crossing through it constantly. There were hundreds or thousands of small battles, skirmishes, raids, ambushes, etc. involving regular troops, militia units, and loyalist units. New Jersey men used whaleboats to raid British shipping and territories. Many small ships were used by privateers. Support for the Revolution was decreasing. Many people were "disaffected" as they called it.

The Revolution was actually a Civil War, neighbor against neighbor, and it took years to settle the old hatreds. The Patriots looted the Tories, raided their strongholds, confiscated their lands, homes, and businesses under the Treason Act. The Loyalists paid them back with interest, and passed information to the British about the Rebels. Both sides thought of the other as little better than murderous thieves.

Wealthy landowners often had one son in the Continental Army, and one in the Loyalist Army, in an effort to play both sides, so no matter what the outcome of the war,(they believed), they would not lose their property and holdings. However, as it turned out, we won our freedom from the British, and the Loyalists were banished. Jane’s father and grandfather (a man in his 80’s) were both exiled, and lost everything, because Jane’s father said:

"Let us put an end to so many calamities. You and ourselves have the same origin, the same language, the same laws. Beware then, of breaking forever the links and ties of a friendship whose benefits are proven. United in equality, we will rule the Universe. We will hold it bound, not by arms and violence, but by the ties of commerce...the lightest and most gentle bonds that human kind can wear."

He urged his fellow citizens to help England to end the war.

"I have this consolation, that I acted from upright and conscientious principles, doing my duty to King and Country."

In 1783, Loyalists were forced to leave America in a mass exodus to Canada. They received a land grant known as Block 12 from the British in Frederickton, New Brunswick, Canada. Once there, they started their lives over. John English’s last words were:

"Those who have sold their King for a Republican Government have adopted all the frivolity, intrigue, and insincerity of the French, and in relinquishing their allegiances, resigned at the same time almost universally, religion and morality!"

Back to Jane and Silas: They married, moved to North Huntington, Greensburg, Westmoreland County, and had the following children: 6Joseph, Robert, Silas Jr., James, Margaret, Martha, Jane and Nancy.

The following corroborating information is from:

"A Genealogy of the English Family" by H. M. English - 1970 (929.2 Eng)

"John E. son of Joseph and Hannah E. (Clift) was born 1690 in Bucks Co., PA. (birth possibly earlier.) Received inheritance by 1714. Land at Great Egg Harbor was purchased by his father in 1709. Possibly purchased for him. He settled on the land in 1713 and it was deeded to him in 1714. Sons John and Joseph not appeared to be born before 1725.  Joseph and Hannah moved to Maidenhead in 1695 and Labour Point in 1698 both in Mansfield Twp., Burlington Co., NJ.  Son John located on this track of 550 acres at Great Egg Harbor in Easter, NJ in 1713 and married Sarah".

"Went to Canada or England after the War

Military: Tory during Revolution"