Sunday Search: Another Rediscovered Surname In The Revolutionary War

The Noblit surname is one that was lost to my family for well over 100 years until I started digging into this lineage. We were well aware of John Uttley, whom I have previously written about, but his parents were a bit of a mystery. It wasn’t until I found his death certificate that this new branch of the family tree was discovered. And to say that this has been an interesting journey would be an incredible understatement. But, for the time being, we are going to focus on the three generation prior to my 2nd great grandfather, John Uttley, beginning with his mother, Charlotte Noblit.

According to Charlotte’s obituary, she was the oldest living person in Manayunk at the time of her death in 1903 at the age of 93, which was not surprising given the longevity of her uncle, Dell Noblit, who exceeded the century mark. My grandfather was one of 16 children between her two marriages (first to Joseph Miller and later to John Uttley) and her father, Thomas Noblit, was noted to have served in the War of 1812. What has proven to be an invaluable tool at this point in the research process was that Charlotte was the most recent generation mentioned in John Hyndman Noblit’s book “Genealogical Collections Relating to the Families of Noblet” which also provided generations of additional information.  

Focusing more precisely on my lineal line, my next ancestral subject was Charlotte’s father, Thomas Noblit. While I was unable to find any information related to his service during the War of 1812, I did manage to find an interesting document. In 1855 Ann Pearce, Thomas Noblit’s widow, filed a Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application in which she states that Thomas Noblit, who died in 1850, served as a “private in the Revolutionary War from Chester County, Pennsylvania, and served at Chadds Ford and Battle of Brandywine commanded by Colonel Wallace, she thinks” and that he was drafted at Chester County, Pennsylvania in June 1777. While additional evidence is provided through a letter from the State Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania noting the pension that Thomas, and now Ann, was receiving, I could not find any additional information regarding his service in the war. However, his father, John Noblit, was a completely different story altogether.

Born in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania in 1734 to Tavern and Inn Owner (The Black Horse Hotel) William Noblit and Mary Parke, the first mention of John Noblit that I found was in the depredation claims stemming from when the British Army occupied his land during the Philadelphia Campaign in September of 1777. However, there is much more information available outlining his service in Captain William Britton’s Company commanded by Colonel Oliver Spencer (also known as Spencer’s Regiment of Continental Troops) from March of 1777 until May of 1778. During his service he fought during the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown before spending the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. It seems as though he returned home in the spring most likely to help his family recover from the depredations suffered in the fall and later moved to the adjacent Ridley Township in Delaware County where he died in March of 1786.

And this is just the beginning of this part of my family history as there are pages and pages of documents that have survived the centuries to tell the story of this surname. From the United States and Ireland to Great Britain and France, there is a lot that have yet to learn about this family and about this part of my heritage. But, for now, I guess I will be working on pulling together all of the aforementioned documents and additional materials for my first supplemental application for the Sons of the American Revolution. And, once approved, I will have patriots on both sides of my family.

Firearms Friday: Time To Ban Paper

This counts too!

The fear of inanimate objects continues to run rampant across the country and my state, Pennsylvania, is not immune to these ludicrous sentiments. While there has been progress made over the past year and the commonwealth is still seen as firearms friendly, there are areas in the keystone state that seem to be shaped from a different rock. A prime example of this was the recent announcement regarding “Shooting Range Legislation” made on January 8^th by State Representative Thaddeus Kirkland which states the following (note that this is only one the many loopy proposals that he has made):

In the near future, I will introduce legislation amending Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, which will address the use of human silhouette targets at shooting ranges.

Rather than perpetuate violence by continuing to allow individuals to practice their target shooting by shooting at human silhouette targets at shooting ranges, my legislation will prohibit the use of targets that depict human silhouettes at shooting ranges across the Commonwealth. Instead, silhouette targets could include, but are not limited to the following: white-tailed deer, black bear, wild turkey, and elk.

My legislation creates a new section under Title 18 Chapter 61 regarding firearms and other dangerous articles. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of human silhouette targets at shooting ranges across the Commonwealth except by law enforcement officers, military personnel or other public safety personnel in line with their official duties. If a person violates the provisions of the new section, he or she will commit a summary offense.

So basically, if this lunacy passes, you have to pretend that the person breaking into your home and trying to harm your family is a deer. That just doesn’t make sense. Nor does pretending to see a target on the perpetrator. Given the revolutionary history of the commonwealth, I can just imagine the command given to the militia (not covered in this proposal) sounding something like “Don’t shoot until you see the white of their tails!”

Of course, this irrational idea doesn’t just have implications to the practice range. If passed, this would drastically affect the shooting sports that have thrived within our borders. So, the actions of one man from Delaware County can both limit the sporting culture in the commonwealth as well as put citizens at a significant training disadvantage putting them in a situation that could endanger their lives as well as those of their family. Training is crucial to the safe ownership, carrying, and operation of a firearm and training with silhouettes is integral to proper training. After all, criminals don’t have four legs.

Preparing For The Summer Travel

Some days, especially on a weekend after a long week, you just have to get out of the apartment for the day and drive a little bit. While the longer day trips will start back up again next month, now is the time to gradually get back into the routine of putting some miles on the car during our weekly days off. This is why we decided to head down route 1 late this morning to find a new place for lunch. Last weekend we had passed Hank’s Place in Chadds Ford on our way back from Lancaster. While we didn’t take much notice of the “Luke’s” looking place during our return, it immediately resurfaced in our mind when we search for new places to dine in the area.

After about a rumble strip cruse down City Avenue, and through the succession of towns, we arrived in Chadds Ford just after noon. With one spot open in the parking lot and one table just opening up as we walked in the door, it seems as though we got there just at the right time. What would have made the short trip a little better would have been if this really was the first time each of us were to eat there… as it turns out and resurfaced in my wife’s mind as we pulled into the parking lot was the fact that she had eaten there previously after a day out with one of her friends at Longwood Gardens. Fortunately, she approved of the repetition and we didn’t have to search for a new dining destination for the afternoon.

Given the clear warm weather just beyond the windows, it was no surprise that the dining room was packed. With the gardens down the street in bloom, antique stores with their doors open, and the Brandywine River lined with lush with vibrant green trees everyone was out and about for the day exploring the beauty and attractions of the area. While that was not on our schedule for the day, it will be at some point over the summer as we continue our explorations of the Commonwealth. Actually, as you may have noted in that blog/list, we will actually explore that area just over the boarder as well.

I recommend grabbing breakfast or lunch there sometime… great to be near mushroom country. As for the return trip, the drive was relatively uneventful around the area. Of course, the traffic was a little heavier than usual but that is to be expected as people are still trying to shake off the last vestiges of cabin fever. So, the driving has begun. It was a small/short trip but one that awakens our next weekend routine so that we are ready for the longer travel this summer. Especially for me as I have a couple of much longer trips mapped out for next month. But that is a subject for another blog (with pictures).