MySource:Samples 59/Sparks Family Association and Quarterly, Whole No. 192, p. 5450, Dec 2000

The Sparks Quarterly - William and Joslyn Semple

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 2000, Whole No. 192, continuing here at the bottom of p. 5450

Governor Andross, whose principal duty was to govern the colony of New York, then also governed the three Delaware counties, which meant that his Delaware subjects rarely had personal contact with him. In July 1679, four of the New Castle magistrates, including William Sample, agreed to be available on occasion to travel to New York to represent New Castle County before the Governor. It is interesting to note that when the New Castle Court met on July 6, 1681, it adjourned without acting because Justice Otto was ill and "Justice Will Sempill is absent at New York." Sample served as a member of the New Castle Court for the remainder of his life.

References From the New Castle Court Records

Pertaining to Josine Sample

In attempting to gather information regarding Josine Sample in order to tell something of her life, we are fortunate that she was mentioned a number of times in the extant Court records of New Castle. It is also helpful that she was the only person with the forename Josine in these records. Her name is also spelled Josyn, Joslyn, and, on one ocasion, Usyn.

This writer is quite certain that her maiden name was Boyer. She was married, first, to a man named John Marshall by whom she had a number of children; he had died prior to 1675. Josine was married, second, to William Sample; they were the parents of one child, Margaret Sample. With William Sample's death in 1681, Josine again became a widow. Sometime prior to 1686 she was married, third, to William Hamilton. She died prior to March 1696. The Court records revealing her marriage and other events in her life are discussed below.

Josine was doubtless of Dutch origin; she was probably born prior to 1650. Our most important clue that her maiden name was Boyer (or Boeyar or Boeyer) is contained in a curious entry in the minutes of the New Castle Court of November 5, 1678

Josyn Boeyer, the wyfe of Mr William Semple, for hur unhandsome & ill behavior being heretofore bound over to the Court, The Court, (in hopes of hur better behavior) did Continue the prsentment till next Court day.

William Sample, who had been appointed a magistrate in this Court only five months earlier, must have found himself in an awkward situation with this Court's notice of his wife's unhandsome & ill behavior. We will return to this incident later in this article. Our interest at this point, however, is that in this record his wife is identified by, we believe, her maiden name, "Josyn Boeyer." This is given further credence by a Court record dated March 15, 1679/80. As seen in this, in 1675 a man named Justa Andries (also written as Andersen) had purchased a tract of land lying on Christina Creeke in New Castle County, the record of which could not be found because of the neglect of the town's clerk at that time, a man named William Tom. (There are frequent statements in these Court records complaining about Tom's neglect of his duties.) In order to prove that he had purchased the tract (400 acres) of land, Andries prevailed upon the justices of the Court to obtain confirmation from those who had sold him the 400 acres, they being Robert Scot, Josyn Marshall, widow of John Marshall, John Cosins, and John Boeyer. Apparently this tract had been inherited by these four individuals. Of these four, John Boeyer and Josyn Marshall attested in person to the 1775 sale. It is the belief of this writer that John Boeyer and Josyn Marshall were brother and sister, and that Robert Scot and John Cosins were husbands of Josine's sisters. Four of the magistrates, including William Sample (Will Sempill), signed this document.

We underwritten, the Justices of This Towne of New Castle Doe hereby Certifie That upon the Request of Justa Andries we have made Examinacon and doe fiend that there was heretofore in the year 1675 sould and made over by Rob Scot, Josyn the widow of John Marshall deceased, John Cosins, and John Boeyer unto him the said Justa Andries a seartaine Pattent for fouer hundred acres of land Lying and being in Cristina Creeke aforesaid betweene the Land of Jan Staalcop & the mill Creeke as by the said Pattent baring date the first of october 1669 may more att Large appeare by the neglect of the former Clercq Mr William Tom (as is supposed) nothing Can bee found upon Record thereof however Living wittnesses To witt John Boeyer and Josyn Marshall and others do attest that there was such a Transport Past In the Court of new Castle In witness Whereof wee have herunto sett or hands at New-Castle this 15 day of March 1679/80.

(was signed)

John Moll

Pieter Alrichs

J: d'Haes

Will Sempill

The charge by the New Castle Court against Josine Sample for her unhandsome & ill behavior noted earlier, appears to be explained in a Court record of November 3, 1680. This reads:

Josyn the wyfe of William Sempill in open Court did Terme & call Rynier vander Coelen a man wth twoo fathers, a murtherer, a Roug and a dogh. Mr Will Sempill desiers that the Case may be referred till next Court to the end he may bee the better provyded, wch the Cort Grant and doe order that the plt & deft [i.e., Rynier Vander Coelen and Josine Sample] bee both & each of them bound in a bond of £40 for their good behavior till then, hee wch first breakes the peace and afronts the other shall bee Imediately Imprizoned & pay the sd 40 pounds.

The next meeting of the Court was on December 9, 1680, but there was no mention in its proceedings of Josine's "unhandsome & ill behavior." It was during Court session, however, that:

Jan Boeyer was this day sworne Constable of this Towne of New Castle in the roome of Jan Biscus [John Bisk] for one year or till another bee sworne in his Roome.

Jan Boeyer [John Boyer] was, we feel certain, a brother of Josine Sample. When the Court met on May 3, 1681, John Boeyar (as his name was spelled on this occasion) brought "an action of Slaunder" against Hendrik Vanden Burgh, in which Josine was mentioned.

Susanna the wyfe of Geo: Moore sworee in Cort sayeth that, shee washing att the house of Jan Hermsen did heare Hendrik Vanden Burgh say that the wastecoate wch John Boeyar had was Lyke to the wastecoate hee had Lost, and the deponant replyed that shee had seen such a wastecoate wch Aeltie [wife of John Boyer] brought from William Sempills wyfe & therefore did not thinke itt to bee the same & further sayeth nott: Peter Claesen sworne Sayeth that he heard Hendrik vanden Burgh say that hee supposed the Blancquet which Brantie [?] had bought of John Boeyar was his & att an other tyme hee heard Hendrik vanden Burg's wyfe say that itt was a sad thing that a man must see hur owne things Every day worne & wth that the deponant sawe Aeflie Boeyars pas by but whether shee was meant the deponant nowes nott: Edmund Cantwell Swore sayeth that being in the office of Mr Herman, Hendrik Vanden Burg Came in there and the deponant asked what was the matter wth him he replyed that John Boeyar had in the Street threatned to stryke him, wth the Constables stike and that John Boeyar had bad him to goe to mistrs Darby; an ugly theefe as hee is sayed the sd hendrik whereupon the deponant sayed you must not say soe. Yes replyed the sd hendrik. I: can proove itt and further sayeth nott.

The cort thought itt fitt to referre this action untill next Court day & the deft hendrik vanden Burgh then to appeare, or Else Judgemt to pass wth out delay.

The case of John Boyar against Hendrick Vanden Burg, labeled in the Court proceedings of July 6, 1681, "In an action of Slaunder," was decided as follows:

The deft being 3 tymes called did not appeare nor none for him. This action haveing Long Continued in Cort Contrary to the order of the Laest Cort, The Court doe therefore order him to pay the sume of 50 gilders as a fyne for the Slaunder sence hee did not proove [disprove] it; and that the deft pay the Costs of suit.

Recallng that it had been Rynier Vander Coelen who had complained about Josine Sample insulting him in Court, and that it had been Hendrik Vanden Burg who was fined for his slander against John Boyer, the following entry in the minutes of New Castle Court for December 6, 1681, is interesting:

Justice Alrichs, Justice Will Sempill & Justice Dehaes are of opinion, that drink shall be sould by the halfe aneker but not by the small measure & the halfe anckers Carried out of the Towne as before.

It is this Corts opinion & order that all those as have sould drinke to the Indians Contrary to a former order of this Cort bearing date the 2d day of August 1680, and the Tolleration of the Governor shall be fyned according thereto.

The Constable John Boeyar prsents Hendrik Vanden Burgh and Reynier Vander Coelen for selling of drink to the Indians by the small measure [i.e., by the glass].

John Boyar sworne in Court Sayeth that hee has seen Hendrik Vanden Burgh take drinke by the bottell to the Indians, and that hee sawe twoo Indian woomen drinke small chyter att Reynier Vander Coelens. This Case referred till next Court.

Unfortunately, the extant record of New Castle's Court proceedings ends at this point. From 1681 until 1699, the only record that we have of the Court's actions pertains to land and probate matters. It is among these records, however, that were published by the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania in 1934, we learn of the death of William Sample :("William Sempill") in December 1682 and have the text of his will dated December 11,1682. A transcription of William Sample's will was given earlier in this article, with the added information that, although he had clearly designated James Walliam and Samuel Land as his executors, his widow, Josine, convinced the Court that she should be the executrix, with Walliam and Land to serve as "overseers & assistants to the widdow." For a woman to prevail in this manner at that time was most unusual.

[Here appears a map, a copy of which is placed in the scrapbook for William Sample.]

This page contains a map of New Castle County, Delaware as it looked in the 17th Century.

Events Leading to and Following the Death of William Sample

We shall probably never know how it was that William Sample had become "Sick and weake in Boddy" as he described himself in his will dated December 11, 1682. Was it disease, of which there was always plenty in the 17th Century, or was it an accident that brought on his quick demise? He had been present when the Court of New Castle met on November 2, 1782, at which none other the "The Right Honorble: Proprietry: William Penn" had been present with five Council members, including Captain William Markam, the new Deputy Governor of the "Lower Counties." On November 9, 1682, when Capt. Markam called a special meeting of the New Castle Court to announce that, henceforth, every Saturday would be set as the town's "Market Day," William Sample was present. The Court did not meet again until the following first day of January at which the first order of business was the appearance of John Bisk and Jonas Arskin who did "Solomly declare in Cort: that they were personally Prsent and did heare and See William Sempill Declare, Signe and Seale this his Laest will and Testament." There followed the transcription of the will.

With the annexation of the "lower Counties" to Pennsylvania, the Dutch and Swedish inhabitants could become English citizens through petition to their county courts. There can be no doubt that William Sample had been an English citizen by birth, whereas Josine was of Dutch origin. As Sample's wife, however, Josine shared her husband's English status, but as his widow, she was no longer considered an English citizen. So it was that, on February 21, 1862/3, two months following her husband's death, Josine was one of 71 inhabitants of New Castle County who signed a petition expressing their "desire to bee Naturalized." Her name appeared thereon as "Josyn Sempill." Only one other female was included, a widow named Mary Blocq (Block).

As noted earlier, on April 19, 1681, William Sample had obtained, through a petition to the Court of St. Johns County (the name of which became Kent County, Delaware the next year), a tract of 600 acres. As was English custom, the first owner of land could choose a name for it; the name chosen by Sample was "The Vinyard." There was no specific reference in his will to this 600-acre tract in Kent County, Delaware; it was simply included among his "worldly goods" that "I give, devyse and bequeath unto my dearly beloved wyfe Josyn Semple and my Little daughter Margaret wth [the] Rest of my wyfes Children..." A Kent County, Delaware tax list of 1684 includes "The Vinyard" (600 acres), under the name of "Widdow Sample."

As we have noted earlier, the one property owned by William Sample that he did not include with the rest to be divided among his heirs, was a tract of land in New Castle County, on a branch of Christina Creek, that he left specifically to his daughter, Margaret: "to my Little daughter Margaret all my Estate in Christina Creek or upon a branch of the said Creeke..." He also directed that his widow, Josine, place livestock on this land for the future benefit of Margaret. This land was undeveloped at the time he made his will.

As shown on the map of New Castle County on the previous page, Christina Creek flows some four or five miles northeast of the town of New Castle. The manner in which William Sample's land there had come into his possession is not revealed in the New Castle Court records. From later tax records, however, we know that it comprised 400 acres.

The manner in which William Sample came into possession of a town lot shortly be fore his death may illustrate the advantage he enjoyed as a justice of the New Castle Court. The Court minutes of September 6, 1681, contain the following:

Upon the motion of Justice Will Sempill ordered that if the Cooper, Hans Coderus, doth not settle his Lott Granted him by this Court Lying next to Engelbert Lott, within one yeare after the date of the grant, then hee to forfeit the same and Mr Sempil to have preferrence to take itt up before any others.

It had been during a meeting of the Court on April 6, 1680, that the justices had granted to Hans Coderus one lot of land "within this Towne of New Castle Provided hee himself settles the same & follows the Coopers trade for Incourradgemt [encouragement] & the Conveniency of the Inhabitants."

It was not until the Court met on May 2, 1682, however, that confirmation was made, among several other grants of land, that Sample acquired ownership of this lot: "Granted to... William Sempill the Lott which was formerly Granted to Hans Corderus & not improved."

Tax lists were compiled following William Penn's appointment as Governor of the "Lower Counties" in accordance with his careful record keeping. These reveal that William Sample's widow now owned both the land on Christina Creek, in trust for her daughter, Margaret, but town lots in addition to the one formerly granted to Hans Coderus. From William Sample's will, we know that Josine had children by her first husband, John Marshall, (called "the rest of my wyves Children"), and that Josine had held property that had been left to her and/or her children by her earlier husband. With her marriage to Sample, however, that property, under English law, would have come under his control. After his death in 1682, however, it would have reverted to Josine and to her children by Marshall. A tax list for the town of New Castle in 1683 shows her, as "Josyn Sempel," taxed for two town lots in the amount of two shillings and two pence. As a woman, she was not taxed as a "tithable," however. Taxed and living near her in the town of New Castle in 1683, were the following individuals whose names also appear in other records pertaining to William and Josine Sample: James Walliam, John Bixcus (Bisk), Emelius d. Ring, and John Henrickson.

In a New Castle County tax list of 1684/5, "Joslyn Semple" was shown with 400 acres of land and one town lot; her total tax on this property was 5 shillings and 5 pence that year. This town lot was doubtless the one once owned by Coderus. The name of John Biscus follows that of "Joslyn" in this list; he held three town lots. James Walliam is next (one town lot). John Boyer is also included with one town lot and Mathyas De Ring with three.

In his will, William Sample had referred on four occasions to his wife's children, besides his and Josine's one child, their daughter, "little Margaret." Since he made no mention of any children of his own, we may assume that if he had been married prior to his union with Josine, there had been no issue.

From available records, we can identify only one of Josine's children by her first marriage to John Marshall; this was Cataline, wife of Jonas Wright. It was at about the time that Josine was married to her third husband, William Hamilton, former close associate of William Sample, that her children petitioned the New Castle Court for their inheritance to be protected. It was Jonas Wright, son-in-law of Josine (though he called himself a son), who presented the petition on behalf of "himself and the rest of the orphans." By definition at the time, an orphan was one whose father was deceased, and it was not unusual for a son-in-law to identify himself as a son of his wife's mother. The following New Castle Court action was dated January 17, 1688/9:

Upon the Peticon of Jonas Wright the Son of Josyne Hamilton in behalf of himself and the rest of the orphans. The [Court] haveing considered the matter of the Peticon doe appoint James Walliam & Edward Blake who are desired to be Supervers of the estate & usuage of the sd orphans, and John Biscus, John Hendickson & Emelius De Ring are appointed Administrators in the behalf of the orphans. The sd John Discus, Jno Hendrickson & Emelius De Ring Joyntly & Severally doe Recognize themselves & heirs &ct in the Sum of one thousand pounds to the Court of Orphans for the time being of the County of newcstle to render a true accopt [and] make good pay of all the estate of the orphans to them committed: when thereunto lawfully required.

James Walliam, one of the two men appointed by the Court to supervise "the estate," had been one of the executors named by William Sample in his will. The name Bisk was sometimes written "Biscus" as in the above Court document, and the John Biscus named here as one of the administrators to act on behalf of the "orphans" was the John Bisk mentioned in the deed of March 31, 1696, transcribed earlier in this article. It is also interesting to note that in the February 21, 1682/3 petition to the New Castle Court for citizenship that included "Josyn Sempill," there were also the names of Emilius D'Ringh and Jan Hendriksen.

William Semple

THE SPARKS FAMILY TREE Welcome to the Sparks Family Tree Web site

SOURCE: The Sparks Family Association published The Sparks Quarterly for fifty years, with Dr. Russell E. Bidlack as editor. Dr. Bidlack passed away in September 2003, and the last issue (volume 50, whole number 200) was published in December 2003. The Sparks Quarterly is the best family quarterly I have ever seen. It is available in many libraries. There is a small user fee for accessing all of the issues of The Sparks Quarterly.

William Semple

THE SPARKS FAMILY TREE Welcome to the Sparks Family Tree Web site

Researcher - Patricia West

• Patricia A. West, "Will of William Sample, d. 1682/3 in Delaware", St. Louis: Unpublished manuscript, 2003, downloaded from West, Kirkland & Allied Families.

"Court of New Castle, Delaware, meeting 1 January 1683, at which session "The laest [last] will and Testament of William Sempill, Late of New Castle, deceased", verbatim:

"In the Name of God amen this 11th day of december in the Yeare of or Lord God 1682.

"I William Sempill, Inhabitant of New Castle upon delaware River being Sick and weake in Boddy but of perfact mind & memory thankes be Given unto God, Therefore calling unto minde the mortality of my Boddy and knowing that itt is a ppointed for all men once to dye, Doe make and ordayne this my Lasest will and Testament in manner and forme following That is to say first and Principally

"I give my Soule into the Hands of God who Gave itt mee and for my boddy I commend itt to the Earth, to bee burried in decent Christian manner, noteing butt att the Gennerrll Resurection

"I shall Receave the same againe by the mighty power of God, And as touching Such worldly goods as itt hath bin pleased God to bless me in this Lyfe tyme wth

"I Give devyse bequeath and dispose the Same in manner & forme following

Vizt:

"First I give, devyse and bequeath unto my dearly beloved wyfe Josyn Sempill and my Little daughter Margaret wth : Rest of my wifes Children all my p'sonall Estate as goods and Chattles & moveables to be Equally divyded and distributed to my wyfe and daughter Margret and the rest of my wyves Children to use, occupy and dispose of as Shee my said wyfe Shall See necessary and Conveniety for the use of my sd wyfe and daughter Margaret and my wyves Children, only excepted

"I doe devyse and bequeath and Give unto my Little daughter Margaret all my Estate in Christina Creeke or upon a brainch of the said Creeke boath Reall & personall moveables and imovables, goods and Chattles wth all the Increase to the Soale and proper use and behoffe of she my said dauter Margaret itt being my will that first of all my wyfe Josyn Sempill puts on and upon the Plantation in Christina or brainch of the sd Creeke for the use of my daughter Margaret Soe manny Cowes, Sowes and other Chattell and What Els

"I am allreaddy obliged to put upon the aforesd Plantation all being for the Soale and proper use and behoofe of mydaughter Margret, until Shee Marryeth or Comes of age, the Increase to be att the disposal of my wyfe Soe Long as She remains a widdow provyded She my wyfe Keepes the old Stoke good, and in the next place, if itt please God to call mee out of this world

"I doe ordaine Constitute and appoint my beloved friends Mr. James Walliam & Samuel Land of the Towne of New Castle, to bee Executors of what worldly Estate I shall Leave behind mee, and to use the best of their Indeavors for the bennefitt of my wyfe, my daughter Margret and my wyves Children, with all that my wyfe Josyn Sempill pay all Just debts due from me, to others, and that Shee Receive all debts due from others to mee, and I: doe hereby utterly disallow Revoake & Annull all and Every other former Testaments, wills, Legacies, bequeaths, Executors

"By me in any wise before this type named, willed, or bequeathed, Ratifying and Confirming this and none other to bee by Laest [last] will & Testament in wittnesse whereof I haue hereunto Sett my hand & Seale the day & Yeare above written—

"[signed] Will Sempell (LS)

"Signed Sealed published pronounced, declared by the sd: William Sempill as his Laest will & Testament In the Presence of us --

"J. D'haes [Johannes DeHaes]

"Jan Bisck" [John Bisk]"