Generation
One
1. James1 ROSS, birth date and place
unknown,
married Ruth ROBINSON, daughter of William ROBINSON and probably (although not
confirmed)
Rachael PARKE, 10 December 1767 in St. James
Episcopal
Church, Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They may not have
been
married in the church in Lancaster, but rather by a circuit riding
minister who
was of that church and who then recorded the event in church records
In 1768 Ruth inherited 45 acres of land and five pounds from her
father
William. The land was in Caernarvon
Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and was laid off adjacent to
property of
Jacob Morgan, Esq., the founder of Morgantown.
Between 1770 and 1778 James ROSS is found on tax duplicates
for
Caernarvon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. By
at least 1777 he saw service in the military in the
Revolutionary War as one of two Court Martial men in the 8th Company,
5th
Battalion, under command of Captain David Morgan. Serving
as 1st Lieutenant in that company was John Robinson, his
brother-in-law. James may have died of
injuries suffered in the war. He is
deceased by 14 November 1798, the date Ruth, his widow, and John
Robinson, his
brother-in-law – co-administrators of his estate – filed the second
announcement of administration of his estate in the Office of the
Register for
the Probate of Wills, County of Berks. His
burial place is not known and he may have died in battle some distance
from
Berks County. In 1779 Ruth Ross
replaces James on tax duplicates for Caernarvon Towship, and her name
continues
to appear until 1794 when her son William comes of age and takes her
place on
the tax rolls.
Children of
James1 ROSS and Ruth ROBINSON were as follows:
+
2 i.
Rebecca2
ROSS; born 22 December 1769 in Lancaster, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania;
married Benjamin BAREFOOT.
+
3 ii.
Margaret ROSS; born circa 1770 in Caernarvon
Township,
Berks County, Pennsylvania; married Edward WELLS.
4
iii.
William
ROSS was born 14 October 1772 in
Caernarvon
Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
In 1794 William first appeared on the tax list for
Caernarvon Township,
Berks County, Pennsylvania, replacing his mother Ruth as head of
household for
tax and census purposes. (A male needed to be aged 21 to be listed.) He is on the censuses of 1800 and 1810
in
Caernervon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvnaia.
William
was a prominent merchant in Morgantown, Berks
County, Pennsylvania. He was on the
list of tavern petitioners in Uwchlan Township, Chester County,
Pennsylvania
from 1813-1817, first listing his tavern as 'The Compass' and then as
'The Sign
of the Compass.' William bought the
tavern from Abraham Wells, the brother of his sister Margaret's husband
Edward.
William married Mary, last name unknown, between 1805 and 1809. In 1810 William and Mary Ross purchased a
property from John Mengle on Main Street in Morgantown (where the Odd
Fellows
Hall now stands). In 1813 they sold it
to Margaret Morgan and her daughter Elizabeth Rees.
William
died childless and intestate 9 Feb 1818 in
Caernervon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, at age 45. Administrators of his estate were Mary Ross,
his wife, James Graham, Jr., and David Stisteler. William
was buried in St. Thomas Episcopal Church Cemetery,
Morgantown, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Mary, William’s widow, remarried David McKnight.
He died and sometime after the 1830 census
Mary moved to Coles County, Illinois; for what reason it is not known. She died circa 1840/41.
+
5 iv.
Mary
Ann ROSS; born 11 Jun 1776 in
Caernarvon Township,
Berks County, Pennsylvania; married John W. BRINLEY.
Generation
Two
2. Rebecca2 ROSS (James1ROSS)
was born 22 December 1769 in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She married Benjamin BAREFOOT, son of Samuel BAREFOOT and Jean\Jenny PALMER, 28 April 1787 in Lancaster
County,
Pennsylvania. Rebecca died 22 January
1853 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, at age 83 and was buried in
Quaker
Cemetery, East St. Clair Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
It is likely, based on the sex and ages of those in the
household, that
Rebecca and her children were living with her brother William in the
1800
federal census, in Caernarvon Township, Berks County.
Rebecca’s husband Benjamin was in Fayette County in western
Pennsylvania for this census. It is not
known why he was away from the family, nor if he returned.
What is known is that in 1809 Rebecca is
working to support her family at Joanna Furnace, an iron works close to
Morgantown in Berks County. The nature
of this work was not included on the payroll ledger where Rebecca’s
name
appears. Further, it is Rebecca, not
Benjamin, who was recorded as head of household on the census of 1810
in
Caernervon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Listed were one male
10-16,
one male 16-26, one female 10-16, one female 26-45 and one female over
45. All the children (minus James who it
is
known had gone to Bedford County) are accounted for except one male
16-26. It’s unknown if this is Samuel or
William. The female over 45 is very
likely Rebecca's mother Ruth.
The descendants of James Barefoot (eldest son of Benjamin and
Rebecca)
have asserted for the past 80 years that Rebecca Ross was the daughter
of Maria Sabina Kuhn and James Ross, son of George Ross, Signer of the
Declaration of Independence. In fact,
the Barefoot Reunion Association placed a marker on Rebecca’s grave in
Bedford
County to this effect, and DAR membership has been granted based on
this line
of descent. It must be said, however,
that DAR standards were once very lax and procedures for checking out
claims
were not rigorously followed, so DAR membership should never, under any
circumstance, be taken as proof of lineage.
Indeed, evidence gathered by this researcher and Sharon Sheldon,
a
descendant of Rebecca’s son James, clearly and unequivocally refutes
the
undocumented claim that Rebecca Ross is the granddaughter of a Signer.
According to St. James Episcopal Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
records, a James Ross (NOT the son of George Ross, Signer) and a Ruth
Robinson
were married 10 December 1767. Later in
Caernervon Township, Berks County census and tax records, a Ruth Ross
is listed
as a property owner, beginning in 1779 and continuing until at least
1806,
where she is listed as a widow living with William Ross, who first
appears in
these records in 1794. William is her
son.
Rebecca Ross' personal bible (once in the possession of Carl
Barefoot of
Muncie, Indiana; its whereabouts now is unknown) has a handwritten
notation for
'William Ross, Decest February the 9, 1818, aged 45 years, 3 months, 25
days.' (I have a photocopy of the page
with this
information.) In a Petition for the
Partition of the Estate of William Ross, deceased, dated 3 August 1818,
made to
the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Chester it
states
that'...Edward Wells in right of his wife Margaret, one of the sisters
and
heirs at law of William Ross late of the township of Uwchlan in the
County
aforesaid, deceased, Humbly Sheweth That your petitioner's said
brother-in-law
lately died intestate leaving a widow to wit Mary Ross but no lawful
issue, but
leaving three sisters to wit your petitioner's said wife Margaret,
Rebecca now
Rebecca Barefoot and Mary now Mary Brindley...'
Also, among the names listed in administrative accounts for the
estate
of William Ross, Uwchlan Township, Chester County, filed 27 December
1820 are
Job Barefoot, Rebecca’s son (Job Palmer); William Barefoot, Rebecca’s
son, and
John Brinley, Mary Ann’s husband.
Reconfirming the relationship of Rebecca to William Ross and
consequently
to this Berks County Ross family, in an excerpt from 'The Brinleys of
Pennsylvania' by Robert M. Brinley, CLU ( 1967), Library of Congress
#SC71.B8594, page 10 it states: 'vi. John Brinley, the sixth child and
third
son of James and Mary, was born on Wednesday, January 31, 1781 at the
family homestead
in Robeson Township. On May 29, 1806,
John married Mary Ann Ross, born June 11, 1776, and died on June 9,
1834. She was the sister of William Ross,
born
November 14, 1772 and died February 9, 1818, a prominent merchant of
Morgantown, Pennsylvania, a small town in Caernervon Township, founded
by Col.
Jacob Morgan, her father-in-law's commandant in the Revolutionary War. Mary's sister, Rebecca Ross, married into
the Bearfoot family, a prominent Caernervon family of Irish origin.'
Perhaps the most convincing proof, only recently uncovered, is
the death
certificate for Rebecca Barefoot, returned by her grandson William
Barefoot of
St. Clair Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in which she is
listed as a
spinster, daughter of (-blank-) and Ruth Ross; born 1769 in Berks
County; died
22 Jan 1853 in St. Clair Township, aged 84 years and one month. Buried in Quaker Graveyard, St. Clair
Township. Spouse: Benjamin Barefoot.
The proofs cited above leave no doubt that Rebecca was not the
granddaughter
of George Ross, SDI. The Berks
County
Ross family may tie into the Signer’s Lancaster County Ross family at
some
point further back in time, but certainly not in a direct line from
George, to
James to Rebecca. Sadly, for whatever
reason the Barefoot Family Association and organizers of the annual
Barefoot
Family Reunion in western Pennsylvania continue to endorse this claim
in the
face of the above-mentioned proofs, brought to their attention over the
course
of the past four years.
Children of Rebecca2 ROSS and Benjamin BAREFOOT were as follows:
+
6 i.
James3
BAREFOOT; born 20 May 1788 in Chester
County,
Pennsylvania; married Mary SLEEK/SLICK
+
7 ii.
William BAREFOOT; born 10 December 1791 in
Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania; married Mary SHEAFFER.
8
iii.
Samuel
BAREFOOT was born 2 August 1793 in
Pennsylvania;
baptized 2 Jul 1797 in St. Gabriel's Church, Amity Township, Berks
County,
Pennsylvania. He died 15 March 1814 in
Pennsylvania at age 20 and was buried in Leacock Presbyterian Church
Cemetery,
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
+
9 iv.
Isabella BAREFOOT; born 11 Nov 1795 in Lancaster
or Berks
County, Pennsylvania; married Daniel RUTTER.
+
10 v.
Job Palmer BAREFOOT; born 29 May 1798 in Berks
County,
Pennsylvania; married Agness MCCASKEY.
3. Margaret2 ROSS (James1)
was born circa 1770 in Caernarvon
Township,
Berks County, Pennsylvania. She married
Edward WELLS 24 May 1797 in Berks County,
Pennsylvania;. Margaret died 18
December 1831 in York County, Pennsylvania and was buried in Crone's
Cemetery,
Fairview Township, York County, Pennsylvania.
Edward WELLS, Margaret’s husband, was born 21 Jan 1771, likely
in Berks
County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer
and a carpenter and for years was successfully engaged in building and
taking
contracts for construction of bridges, including the long bridge across
the
Susquehanna River at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
After marrying, he and Margaret lived for several years in
Martintown,
Berks County, Pennsylvania. By 1814
they had purchased a farm and relocated to Warrington Township, York
County,
Pennsylvania, where they attended Warrington Friends’ Meeting. Six years after Margaret’s passing, in 1837,
Edward and his youngest son George visited Tippecanoe County, Indiana
where
Edward purchased 217 acres of land in Sheffield Township.
By 1838, he and his children had settled in
Indiana. Edward did not remarry. He died
30 August 1843 and is buried in Greenbush Cemetery, Lafayette,
Tippecanoe County,
Indiana.
Children of Margaret2 ROSS and Edward WELLS were as follows:
11
i.
James3 WELLS was born circa 1798 in Berks
County,
Pennsylvania.
12
ii.
Henry WELLS was born circa 1807 in Berks
County,
Pennsylvania.
13
iii.
Jesse
WELLS.
14
iv.
Ross WELLS.
15
v.
Mary Ann WELLS was born circa 1810 in Berks
County,
Pennsylvania.
16
vi.
Levi B. WELLS was born circa 1812 in
Pennsylvania.
He may have had sons Alfred and Albert.
17
vii.
Edward
WELLS.
18 viii. George
Ross WELLS was born 16 September 1814 in
York County,
Pennsylvania;. He married Tamson
WESTLAKE.
19
ix.
Margaret A. WELLS was born circa 1815 in York
County,
Pennsylvania.
5. Mary Ann2 ROSS (James1)
was born 11 June 1776 in
Caernarvon
Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
She married John W. BRINLEY 29 May 1806 in Berks County,
Pennsylvania. Mary Ann was enrolled in
the 1822 Sunday School class of Harmony Methodist Episcopal Church, but
a short
time later both she and her husband John became active members of the
St.
Thomas Episcopal Church of Morgantown, one of the oldest parishes in
the
American Episcopal Church, founded in 1740.
In 1823 an epidemic claimed the lives of three of Mary's
children within
a two-week period. The 1830 census
shows all the surviving children still at home.
Mary Ann died 9 June 1834 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, at age
57. She was buried in St. Thomas Episcopal
Church Cemetery, Morgantown, alongside her husband John in an
impressive plat
next to the tomb of Jacob Morgan, founder of Morgantown, and the grave of William Ross, Mary's brother.
John BRINLEY was born 31 January 1781 in Robeson Township, Berks
County,
Pennsylvania, the sixth child of James and Mary Brinley.
He was a carpenter by trade. In
1815 John purchased a tract of land in
Northern Liberties Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and
moved his
family there. Five years later the
family returned to Caernarvon Township, Berks County, and settled on a
farm one
mile north of Morgantown. John died 8
Mar 1855, at age 74, and was buried next to his wife in St. Thomas
Episcopal
Church Cemetery.
Children of Mary Ann2 ROSS and John W. BRINLEY were as follows:
20
i.
Ann Ross3 BRINLEY was born 20 March 1807 in Berks
County,
Pennsylvania. She died 16 February 1842
in Caernarvon Township, Berks County, at age 34, and was buried in St.
Thomas
Episcopal Church, Morgantown, Berks County.
She never married.
21
ii.
Mary Maria BRINLEY
was born 2 December 1808 in Berks
County,
Pennsylvania. She died 7 September 1870
in Caernarvon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, at age 61, and was
buried
in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Morgantown.
Mary was also known as Maria. She never married and stayed
with her
parents in the family homestead north of Morgantown.
She cared for her father until his death.
22
iii.
William
Ross BRINLEY was born 24 September 1810 in
Caernarvon
Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
He died 14 February 1853 in Salisbury Township, Lancaster
County,
Pennsylvania, at age 42.
William married Margaret, last name unknown, in 1838 and moved
to
Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where he is found in
the
1850 census as an assessor. He had a
son named George Harrison, born circa 1840, a son John, born circa
1842, and a
daughter Elizabeth A., born circa 1838.
Margaret is found in the 1870 Pennsylvania census in Lancaster
County,
Salisbury Township. Also, in this
census is John Brinley, age 28, carpenter, born Pennsylvania, his wife
Mary,
age 24, son Harry or Henry L., age 2, and son Charles E., age 1. This John Brinley is William's son.
23
iv.
John Castleberry
BRINLEY was born 25 July 1812 in
Caernarvon
Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
He died 6 January 1839 in Berks County, at age 26, and was
buried in St.
Thomas Episcopal Church, Morgantown, Berks County.
John Castleberry was named for his paternal grandmother
Casselberry, but
his name was misspelled. There is no record of a marriage.
24
v.
James BRINLEY was born 1 April 1814 in Berks
County,
Pennsylvania, and died 24 September 1823 in Berks County, at age nine,
in an
epidemic that claimed two siblings. He
was buried in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Morgantown, Berks County.
25
vi.
George Ross BRINLEY
was born 19 March 1816, probably in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. He died 12 June 1882 in Berks County, at age
66, and was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery, Geigertown, Berks County,
Pennsylvania.
George married Mary Ann LIGGETT of Union Township, Berks County,
in
1837. She was born 30 September 1816
and died 7 October 1876. After
marrying, George and Mary Ann first lived in Union Township, then moved
to
Geigertown, Robeson Township, Berks County.
They settled in Reading, Berks Township in 1853.
In 1865 the family moved to Birdsboro, Berks
County, where George built a dry goods store.
In 1871 he made his only surviving son a full partner and
conducted
business under the name of George R. Brinley & Son.
George Ross was the administrator of his
aunt Rebecca Ross Barefoot's estate.
26
vii.
Elizabeth
BRINLEY was born 7 June 1818 in
Caernarvon Township,
Berks County, Pennsylvania. She died 23
February 1843 in Caernarvon Township, Berks County, at age 24, and was
buried
in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Morgantown, Berks County.
Elizabeth did not marry.
27 viii. Isaac
BRINLEY was born 11 Aug 1820 in
Caernarvon Township,
Berks County, Pennsylvania and died 4 October 1823 in Caernarvon
Township,
Berks County, at age three, in an epidemic that claimed two of his
siblings. Isaac was buried in St.
Thomas Episcopal Church, Morgantown, Berks County.
28
ix.
Rebecca BRINLEY was born 1 April 1822 in
Caernarvon
Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
She died 17 September 1823 in Caernarvon Township, Berks County,
at age
one, in an epidemic that claimed two of her siblings.
Rebecca was buried in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Morgantown,
Berks County.
29
x.
Ross BRINLEY was born 30 July 1824 in
Caernarvon
Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and baptized 14 Jan 1854 in
Elverson
Methodist Episcopal Church, Berks County.
He died 25 January 1854 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, at age
29, and
was buried in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Morgantown, Berks County,
Pennsylvania. It is not known if he
married.
Prepared by:
Rebecca J. Barefoot
201 Allis Ranch Road
Sedalia, Colorado 80135