William FARQUHAR

1705 - 1778  (72 years)

• Name	William FARQUHAR
  Birth	29 Sep 1705	Dublin, IRELAND   [1, 2]
  	1705, 7m, 29d
  Gender	Male
  Note	Upon arriving in America, he became a member of the New Garden Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers) located in Chester County, Pennsylvania. On April 19, 1733 he married Ann Miller, daughter of James and Katharine Lightfoot Miller at the New Garden Meeting. The Millers had also emigrated to America from Ireland although their roots were in England. In 1735 William and Ann Farquhar removed to Pipe Creek, then Prince George's County, Maryland taking a certificate from the New Garden Monthly Meeting to Hopewell Monthly Meeting in Virginia and settled on land left him under his father's will, "...provided he would move from Pennsylvania to Maryland and occupy same." This land was located near the present town of Union Bridge. It is said that William was a tailor and made buckskin breeches which he sold at Annapolis, and with the proceeds bought more land. In 1760 he owned 2,000 acres. When the Fairfax Monthly Meeting in Virginia was established his membership at the Hopewell Meeting was transferred there. He established the Pipe Creek Monthly Meeting in 1759 and its first meetings were held in his home. The minutes of the Pipe Creek Monthly Meeting contain the following testimony from Ann Miller Farquhar, following the death of her husband: "He was born in Ireland the 29th of the seventh month 1705, and came to America about the sixteenth year of his age and settled in Pennsylvania, where he was convinced of the truth, and married among Friends. In the year 1735, he removed and settled at Pipe Creek, when there were very few inhabitants in those parts. Some years afterward he was concerned that a meeting might be settled which was allowed to be held at his house at times for several years; when the number of friends increasing, they concluded to build a meeting house which our said friend zealously promoted. His house was much resorted to by travelling friends and others, both in that early period and since, to whom he was courteous and kind. Some years after the settlement of a monthly meeting at Fairfax of which he was a member, he was appointed to the station of an elder, which he filled with propriety and reputation; being an example of plainness, and anxiously careful for the education of his children. He was, at times, concern'd in meetings to exhort friends to keep the testimony of truth, and particularly the youth, for which he seemed zealously concerned, that as they grew in years they might grow in grace. For some months before his decease, he was in a weak state of body, yet frequently attended meetings, and the last time of his being there was about four days before he died; the night following being in much pain, he several times cried out, `O Father! mitigate my pain if it be Thy will;' and was favored to keep in the patience and resignation, waiting for his change. The day before he died, his wife leaning over him mourning; he said to her, `Weep not for me, but for thyself and others. The Lord is near.' He departed this life, the 21st of the ninth month 1778, and was buried in the family burying-ground on the 23rd of the same month; aged near seventy-three years. P. S. I am willing to communicate a few hints of what has often passed through my mind concerning my dear husband, whose memory, to me, remains precious. He was much concerned for the welfare of the young and rising generation, often cautioning and exhorting friends in their several stations, strictly to examine the great duty and charge committed to their trust; and in a particular manner, his offspring, that they would mutually live and love with each other, and that they might be careful to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ann Farquhar A Testimony" Sources: The Testimony is from the minutes of the Pipe Creek Monthly Meeting, Union Bridge, Maryland. Other sources are THE SHARPLESS FAMILY by Gilbert Cope, 1887 and IMMIGRATION OF THE IRISH QUAKERS INTO PENNSYLVANIA 1682-1750 by Albert Cook Myers. The Fairfax Monthly Meeting minutes confirm that William and Ann Farquhar "removed to Pipe Creek, Frederick Co., Maryland, taking a certificate from New Garden MM, Pa. to Hopewell MM, Va." in 1735. The Hopewell Monthly Meeting minutes state: "Farquer 1736, 5, 31 William & wife Ann granted certificate to Hopewell MM, Virginia by New Garden MM, Pennsylvania settled near Monocacy."
  Death	21 Sep 1778	Pipe Creek Monthly Meeting, Frederick Co., MD   [2, 3]
  	1778, 9m, 21d
  Person ID	I5188	MM
  Last Modified	22 Sep 2017

  
  

  Father	Allen FARQUHAR,   b. Abt 1681, Aberdeenshire, SCOTLAND d. 20 Dec 1738, Prince George's Co., MD (Age 57 years)
  Mother	Susannah PATTERSON,   b. Abt 1681
  Family ID	F1760	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Ann MILLER,   b. 1705   d. 1778 (Age 73 years)
  Marriage	19 Apr 1733	New Garden Monthly Meeting, Chester Co., PA   [1, 2]
  	1733, 2m, 19d
  Family ID	F1761	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	23 Jul 2023

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 29 Sep 1705 - Dublin, IRELAND Marriage - 19 Apr 1733 - New Garden Monthly Meeting, Chester Co., PA Death - 21 Sep 1778 - Pipe Creek Monthly Meeting, Frederick Co., MD  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S97] American Quaker Genealogy, (Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1936), 97. [S98] Descendants of Allen Farquhar, 98. [S97] American Quaker Genealogy, (Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1936), Vol VI, p.490, 97.