Conclusions of the Wilmington, DE Search, Aug 2017 In the mid 1880’s, William Henry Egle compiled a biography of the signers of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. For his information, he quiried the Honorable John Cessna, US Congressman. His listing for Col. John Cessna, Constitutional Representative for Bedford county reads as follows. Among the heroes of the Duke De Schomburg at the battle of the Boyne, (1690) was a young Huguenot soldier, Jean De Cessna, who remained in Ireland after the forces of William, Prince of Orange, were withdrawn. In 1718, he came to Pennsylvania and located in Lancaster county. (1) Later he removed to York county where he died in 1751. (2) Several of his sons located in Shippensburg as early as 1751, and later removed to Bedford county, where the family became prominent. John De Cessna, (1718-1800) of Bedford county, was one of the leading men of the Province. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly and Constitutional Convention of 1775, and a Colonel in the Revolutionary war. His brother, Charles De Cessna, was likewise a Colonel in the war of Independence. The late Hon. John De Cessna, State Senator and member of Congress, was a great grandson of Col. John De Cessna. Another son of the immigrant was Stephen De Cessna, who prior to 1750 was a resident of Cumberland county.
This description was reprinted almost verbatim in Stapleton’s Memorials to the Huguenots and in House of Cessna Book I. It has several obvious mistakes. None of the men above ever used the spelling (De Cessna), instead using Cessna, Cissna and Sisney. John Cessna, the father of Major John Cessna was born 26 Jan 1726 and died 31 Mar 1802; not 1718-1800. And Cessna historians have been searching for 120 years for some historical note of the French immigrant, Jean Cessna, in the US, Ireland and France. The records of Wilmington, DE would indicate that his name was actually Stephen Cessna; born in France ca 1668 and died in Wilmington ca 1761. In the previous blog, I have listed six references to Stephen Cessna living in Wilmington, DE from 1738 through 1760. There were four other Stephen Cessna living during this period. 1. Stephen Cessna/Sisney, bn 1695 in Ireland, son of the Frenchman died in debtor’s prison in Carlisle, PA in 1757-58. 2. Stephen Sisney, son of Stephen #1, died without family in Carlisle about 3 years prior to his father. 3. Stephen Cessna/Sisney, son of John who was another son of Stephen #1 was orphaned in 1751; his mother remarried and he was carried to North Carolina by his step-father Abraham Elliott in 1764. 4. Stephen Cissna, son of Thomas and Margaret Cessna, another son of Stephen #1 born ca 1755 and orphaned a few years later. The Frenchman had two other sons: Charles Cessna, born 1697 in Ireland; and John Cessna born 1699 in Ireland. There are no indications in any records that these two brothers named any of their sons “Stephen”. So, the Stephen Cessna who lives along Brandywine Creek in Newcastle county, a few miles north of Wilmington can only be the Frenchman himself. This means he lived into his 90’s. A thorough search of Delaware records gave no mention of a Jean or John Cessna matching the French immigrant’s timing. So, what can we tell about the early years of the family? Did they arrive in 1718? There were two years when large numbers of immigrants left Northern Ireland and landed in Pennsylvania’s lower counties. In both 1718 and 1728 ships landed these folks in New Castle upon Delaware. The landing and immigration fees in Philadelphia were so high that most ship captains stopped 20 miles short of that city. We have no indication that they did not land in 1718, and a vague hint that they did land then. The location of the Cessna house and farm are a good indication that they landed in 1718. Located in the forest about 10 miles from both New Castle and Philadelphia, the cart path crossed the Christiana River and the Brandywine Creek. Wilmington would be organized on this land in 1738. In 1684, Dr. Tymen Stidham, a physician and surgeon in New Castle bought all of the land between the Christiana River and Brandywine Creek, extending north to Rattlesnake Hill. The land remained undeveloped for many years, and was divided up among his children at his death. It was during the influx of immigrants in 1718 that grandson, Timothy Stidham began to develop this area. A new road was built between New Castle and Philadelphia about 1710. It divided the Stidham property and the land south of the King’s Road was sold to the Stolcop family and to the Old Swedes Church. From North to South, the Stidham land was divided by a trader’s road leading to Kennet, PA. The land north of King’s Road, and east of Kennet Road was sold or developed by Timothy Stidham into a kind of industrial area. Daniel Few opened a Black Smith Shop. Later a Grist Mill and Saw Mill were added. A weaver and cordwainer also located in this area. If the Frenchman settled north of Daniel Few’s Black Smith Shop, what did he do for a living? (See map of Wilmington above). Several history books tell that 1718 was the time when many of the Scotch-Irish brought their textile industry to Pennsylvania and this part of New Castle County was a central part. A new technology called the Irish Spinning Wheel was introduced to America at this time. It is the same instrument used throughout the American frontier. It required six full time spinners to supply one weaver. Farmers like Stephen Cessna, sought marshy land to grow flax and raise sheep. The land between Christiana River and Brandywine Creek is described as marshy in many of the deeds of the time. The spinning wheel allowed wool to be made at even diameter. The flax was used for making cord, rope and sail cloth needed to resupply ships returning to England. And a refining of the flax yielded linen need for undergarments, dress shirts and bedding. It was a very lucrative industry which started in the lower counties by the Scotch-Irish. If the French immigrant settled his family in 1718, he most likely would have settled at this juncture of the roads which was being developed at the time. And he most likely would have been engaged in the dominant industry of this neighborhood, textiles. If he had come in 1728, he would have been one of those settlers moving further into Lancaster and York counties. Why does he not show up on church records, marriage records or cemetery records. Marriages and burials were done by churches almost exclusively for members only. Many civil records just did not survive. Huguenots were akin to Presbyterians in their theology, but the fees for joining the church were not something that Huguenots were fond of. Stephen Cessna, the Frenchman, probably organized family worship in his home around the Huguenot Bible, teaching them to read French. Why does he not show up as a land owner? In France, the Cessna family DID NOT OWN LAND. They were Lords, placed to manage land that was owned by the King. When the Huguenot soldiers of William of Orange were pensioned in Ulster, they were not given land. They were given very cheap 25-year leases on land. In 1717, when those leases expired, the rent was tripled, causing many to go bankrupt or leave. It is easy to imagine that Stephen Cessna was more comfortable leasing land rather than buying it. What is the correct spelling of the name? All of the earliest references use the spelling Cessna. Only Stephen and Patience use the spelling Cissna, or Sissney before 1750. The preface “De” is not used, and literally means “from” as in John from “this place”. How do we know the Frenchman, Stephen Cessna died ca 1761? There is a deed listing him as being present in 1760. In 1762, several things happen which indicate that he had divided his estate among his children. First, Patience Sisney appears in orphan’s court to establish inheritance of her husband Stephen to his grandchildren (sons of John Cessna and Thomas Cessna). Her husband died in Debtor’s Prison in 1757 and left no inheritance, but suddenly has one in 1762. Second, John Cessna of Shippensburg makes several land purchases in 1762, indicating that he suddenly has some money to invest. Third, the middle son, Charles Cessna, purchases land and settles his family in Cumberland Valley Twp (Bedford county) that year. It would appear he had been living with his aged father in Wilmington until the patriarch demised. Detailed rational for these assumptions are included in my earlier blogs.
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"the Great Road" started as a trail for those who sought to trade goods with the Indians in Pennsylvania's Interior. In the 1730s more land was purchased from the Indians and settlers moved further west. The trail became a wagon road running from the docks at New Castle and Wilmington, Delaware to Harris Ferry over the Susquehanna River (Harrisburg), and down the Cumberland Valley to Carlisle and Shippensburg.
The following court record pinpoints where Stephen and Patience lived in the 1740's. From Eagles’ Notes and Queries. November 1744: the Humble Petition of John Harris & several other Inhabitants of Lancaster County, Humbly Showeth: That Your Worships Humble petitioners, finding a much nearer way to ye Town of Lancaster from said Harris’ Ferry, than the road now cut and opened, by three miles distances, betwixt said Harris’ Ferry and Stephen Sisney’s at the Pine ford on Swatara. And your Petitioners have sufficient reason to say that it is a much nearer and better road. And that there is several very Steep Hills on ye present road, which in Frosty or Rainy Weather is so very slippery and dangerous either for wagons going up or down said hills. For going up they have almost incredible trouble, and coming down again they run the risqué of damaging their freight by oversetting, and their lives and their creatures’ lives, which would be entirely avoided were there a road cut as your Petitioners require down the east side of Susquehenna to Pineford as aforesaid. All of which your worshipful Petitioners humbly submits to your worships better Judgement to act therein as you in your Wisdoms think fit. Geo. Corwin James Galbraith James Graham James Allcorn John Wilson John Foster Wm. White Jas. Roddye Henry White David Wilson Alexd’r Armstrong Rob’t Buchanan Stephen Cessna John Cessna James Mitchell John Smith Robt. Lowrey David Campbell Geo. Gibson Simon Girte John Potts Henry Smith Robert Miller William Carnahan John Miller John Brandon Christopher Johnson Samuel Smith Joseph Chambers Here is a satellite photo of that farm, today. 937 E. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA Records of York County, PA. York County Court of Quarter Session. 1749-1754,
30 April and First and Second of May 1751: ….inhabitants near Yalow Breeches Creek in the County of York…..grant us a Road…..from George Ceoghorns place on Yellow Breeches Creek to the founding place called Sesneas on the said creek from the Mill for Haeyes Ferry (Harris’ Ferry at present day Harrisburg). 22 July 1751, “Return for a road from Sessney’s Fording” toward Georg Croghan….begins at Cesney Fording on Yellow Breeches Creek, below James Fraizers Mill….then north toward Samuel Jones Plantation….northeast to George Thawley’s Plantation….then northwest to George Croghan on the above creek…from Fraziers Mill to Harris’ Ferry.” John Cessna died in September of 1751 at his home on Yellow Breeches Creek. He left his wife, Pryscilla Foulke-Cessna and three young children. Pryscilla remarried to William Elliott and the family moved to North Carolina. The Photo below is of the piece of land described in the petition above. 1177 York Road, Mechanicsburg, PA This will tell you just how close John Kirpatrick's family was with the Cessnas.
John Cessna was born in Ulster (Northern) Ireland ca 1699. Came to America 1718? John Kirkpatrick was born in Ulster Ireland 1703. Came to America 1720. Both John Cessna and John Kirkpatrick are living in Christiana Hundred, Newcastle County, DE in 1738. John Cessna married and had his first child, John, Jan 26, 1726. His wife died soon after. John Kirkpatrick married ca 1728, and had his first child, James. His wife died soon after. John Cessna remarried to Agnes? and had second son, William, born in 1741. John Kirkpatrick remarried to Jane McFarland and had a second son, Moses, born in 1738. John Kirkpatrick’s father, William, was a trustee of the Central and First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE. John Kirkpatrick was one of the first trustees of Middle Spring Presbyterian Church a few miles north of Shippensburg. John Kirkpatrick died by Indians while harvesting the field of John Cessna near Shippensburg on 18 July 1757. John, Joseph & Jonathan Cessna were kidnapped at that time. Jonathan Cessna married Mary Friend and moved to Bedford. Joseph Kirkpatrick (son of John) married Eleanor Friend and moved to Friend’s Cove. In 1780, Five Friend Sisters, one Friend Brother, their spouses and kids, and a couple of other in-laws all moved down river to Louisville, just as that city was being plotted out and sold. Jonathan died August 8th while fighting with Daniel Boone at Battle Piqua. Three of his brother-in-laws (including Joseph Kirkpatrick) were along for that fight. |
AuthorBill Cissna Archives
June 2023
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