The Society of Friends (Quakers) began in England in the 1650s, when they broke away from the Puritans. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, as a safe place for Friends to live and practice their faith.
On May 10, 1717 his parents, Priscilla and Thomas, deeded 100 of their Moreland acres to him for 70 pounds.
He did not marry. From Byberry Waltons:
As to the possibility of 16 Thomas having been the one who married Elizabeth Eastburn, the 1777 will of 54 Nathaniel Walton, drawn the same year as the death of 16 Thomas, said he expected to inherit, as eldest son of the eldest brother of 16 Thomas.
The existence then of William and of several of William's children would have prevented such expectation, had William been son of 16 Thomas. This confirms the History of Byberry and Moreland statement that 16 Thomas was not married. It seems just possible William was son of 3 Thomas by a wife who came between Priscilla and Elizabeth.
He became a preacher of the Society of Friends, and is said to have walked from his residence in Moreland to Byberry Meeting, a distance of five miles, in order to preach when they had no other regular minister. He was called the "Old Bishop."
He was disowned in 1764 for not paying his debts or fulfilling some contracts.
In the 1776 assessment of the Manor of Moreland he had 100 acres, 2 horses, and 3 cows. The assessment noted that he was "old and decrepid."
He died when he was 84 on January 31, 1777.
The Manor of Moreland was composed of a tract of ten thousand acres, and was created, in 1682, by a grant from William Penn to Dr. Nicholas More. Most of the Manor was in Philadelphia County, but is now
Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
A History of the Townships of Byberry and Moreland in Philadelphia, Pa: From Their Earliest Settlement by the Whites to the Present Time by Joseph C. Martindale, published by T. Ellwood Zell, 1867
Thomas, son of Thomas, lived with his father, and was a preacher in the Society of Friends. He usually walked to meeting at Byberry, a distance of five miles, and officiated when no other minister was present. He was afterwards disowned for not paying his debts. He was commonly designated as the "Old Bishop." He died 1st mo. 31st, 1777, aged 84 years, unmarried.
Byberry is a township in the northeast corner of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The Walton brothers were early settlers. Moreland Township was just west of Byberry. When Montgomery County broke off in 1784, Moreland was divided into two townships, both called Moreland. In 1917 the Montgomery County Moreland split into Upper Moreland Township and Lower Moreland Township.
