James Anderson Polly Franklin Thomas Stubbs & Peter Cox James Cook John Stubbs Phebe Cook Latia Manru Olivia Burnley Dorcas Mote Rachel Dennis Rebecca Hinshaw Mary Vaugn Michelle? Mitchell? MarthaBrown,SarahFouts, Martha Miller Rachel Jones Jonathan Randal John Seybold SarahHuffman,HannahStubbs |
Joseph Maddock 1720 ~ 1794 |
William Penn, Quaker & Founder of Pennsylvania |
Joseph
Maddock's grandparents were Abel and Alice Maddock of Chester Shire,
England. He was a baker. Chester was a strong Quaker area. Joseph's
parents were Nathan and Hester Maddox who made the big move from England
to New Castle Co., Delaware, in America. It was there at Brandywine
Creek in 1720 that Joseph Maddocks was born. Around 1742, he married
Rachel Dennis/Tennis at Haddonfield, Camden Co., New Jersey, just across
the state line from Philadelphia. They settled in Chester Co., PA, near
Philadelphia. For a time, Joseph was a magistrate there. In 1746
Rachel Maddox was received as a member of the Newark Quaker [also called
Friends] Monthly Meeting. As more and more non-quakers moved into Pennsylvania, many Quakers migrated to the newly-opened Carolinas, including Joseph. The Cane Creek Quaker Meeting was established in 1751 Orange Co., what is today's North Carolina and Alamance Co., near the Virginia state line. And the New Garden Meeting was established in nearly Guilford Co. three years later. Quakers continued to pour into the Carolinas between 1750 and 1770 |
On
November 2, 1754, Joseph and Rachel Maddock along with daughters,
Daborah and Mary, were received into membership by a certificate of
transfer from the Newark Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania dated September
3, 1754. It was located fourteen miles south of today's town of
Graham, Orange/Alamance Co., NC. Joseph and his family settled ten or
fifteen miles northeast of Cane Creek on the Eno River near today's
Hillsboro in Orange County. There he built a grist mill on the Eno
River. Joseph did well and made friends with several influential community leaders, all Quakers or sympathetic to the Quakers. Between 1762 and 1763 there was a congregational dispute about re-instating a member, Rachel Wright. After this time, she was re-instated, but the hurt feelings among members continued. (I do not know if she was related to the governor of Georgia, James Wright.) Because of this and some political differences regarding British taxes, Joseph and his friends grew restless for a new beginning farther west. On September 1, 1767, his friend Joseph Stubbs, presented to Georgia Governor, James Wright, a petition of "Sundry families at present residents in Orange County in the Provence of North Carolina but lately from Pennsylvania," requesting a reserve of land for the Quakers. As a result, 12,000 acres were reserved for them, and five months later another 12,000 acres. The head of a family could be granted 200 acres, plus 50 acres for his wife and 50 acres for each child. In late 1767 and early 1768, Joseph led about 70 Quaker families to Georgia to get away from the politics of North Carolinians rebelling against the British government. They named their new community Wrightsborough after the governor of Georgia. It was in today's McDuffie County. |
A stone house built in Wrightsborough in the typical New Jersey-eastern Pennsylvania style. |
Although
someone else arranged for the two land grants, Joseph Maddock
established the community and was a commissioner for the sale of the
Ceded Land to prospective settlers. He was named deputy governor and
magistrate. For a copy of the petition of February 7, 1769, and list of
people Governor Wright granted land to,
go here. There, at Sweetwater on the north fork of Briar Creek, Wrightsborough Twp., Joseph built another grist mill in 1768. Joseph also bought Lot #66 in the town of Wrightsorough on July 3, 1770. The town itself was located on Twon Creek, now known as Middle Creek. The township and town included all of today's McDuffie County, and portions of Warren and Columbia Counties. The community grew so fast that in 1768, Joseph Maddock and Jonathan Sell presented another petition to Governor Wright for more land, a road be built through it, and that the land be surveyed and warrants issued to the owners. But the Creek Indians stole so much of the settler's horses and cattle that they had difficult planting crops. In 1771, twenty-five families left the settlement; eventually all returned but thirteen. But their situation grew worse. So in 1774, the governor ordered that a fort be built there to protect the non-violent Quakers. During the Revolutionary War, the non-violent Quakers remained neutral, which irritated both sides. Further, in 1779, a band of countrymen turned raiders looted and burned everything in their path. |
This Methodist Meeting House was built where the Quaker Meeting House had been burned, and still stands today. Several of the pews are from the Quaker Meeting House of 250 years ago. |
In 1775,
part of Joseph's property was sold by the marshall of Savannah and
Joseph went bankrupt. The Quakers continually refused to fight for
either the British or Americans. In 1779 Maddock spent several months
as a prisoner of the Americans for having aided Loyalist colonel James
Boyd in the Battle of Kettle Creek. In 1780 all of Georgia and most of
South Carolina was restored to the British. But in 1781, it was
returned to American rule. That same year, another band of guerrillas
killed and plundered anyone not fighting for the American side. In
March 1781, Joseph's plantation and mill were burned by the raiders.
By late Spring, the raiders had killed thirty-five settlers, including
eleven in their sleep. In the autumn of 1781, Joseph Maddock led one-fourth of the settlers of Wrightsboro to the Britsh-occupied Ebenezer, Georgia, near Savannah. British Governor Wright, an old friend of the Friends, provided them with financial assistance. They also appealed for aid from the London Meeting, and it is in this appeal that their story from their migration from Pennsylvania to the present time was told and preserved, with special emphasis on the activities of Joseph Maddock. While away from Wrightsborough, he suffered food shortages, severe weather, and diease. So they petitioned Governor Wright to return to Wrightsborough and face the raiders which they thought better than what they were suffering in Ebenezer. Their request was turned down. But Savannah was evacuated by the British army, and on July 11, 1782, Joseph Maddock and his Quaker followers were allowed to return to Wrightsborough. |
By this time, the following Maddockses had been or were residents of Wrightsborough (provided at www.geocities.com.Heartland/Plains2064/wrightlist): |
Anna Maddock Benjamin Maddock Benjamin Maddock Chloe Maddock Deborah Maddock Eleanor Maddock Elizabeth Maddock Esther Maddock Francis Maddock Hannah Maddock Henry Maddock Isaiah Maddock John Maddock Joseph Maddock Joseph Maddock Jr. Joseph Maddock Joseph Maddock Mary Maddock Mary Maddock Nathan Maddock Nathan Maddock Nathan Maddock Rebecca Maddock Samuel Maddock Sarah Maddock Sarah Maddock William Maddock |
They tried to return to normal. But more and more non-Quakers were moving into the area. Plus, they could not compete when selling their crops with crops raised by slave labor of their neighbors. So a general exodus began once again. This time they haded for Tennessee and Ohio. Joseph remained behind. He died in poverty on April 9, 1794. The exodus was complete by 1805 and no Quakers that we know of were left in Wrightsborough. The town remained in existence until the 1920s. |
Nathan and Michelle Joseph and Rebecca Joseph and Rachel Nathan and Michelle Joseph and Rachel Samuel and Rachel Nathan and Michelle Joseph and Rachel Samuel and Rachel Joseph and Rachel Joseph and Rebecca Joseph and Rebecca Nathan and Michelle Nathan and Hester Joseph and Rachel Joseph and Rebecca Samuel and Rachel Joseph & Rachel Nathan and Michelle Joseph and Rachel Nathan and ____ Samuel and Rachel Nathan and Michelle Joseph and Rachel Nathan and Michelle Samuel and Rachel Joseph and Rebecca |
c. 1741 1787 1740 1779 1720 1775 1778 c.1750 1774 1785 |
NAME |
BIRTH |
PARENTS |
SPOUSE |
Much of the above is from an account given by Ralph Hayes, a Maddock descendant. |