Yocum Family History
Page Ten
PAGE 263
Thereafter, the 31 January 1691 minutes of the Pennsylvania Board of Property show:
Peter Yoakham, Mounce Jonesson, John (Johnathan) Joneson, Neels
Joneson and Wm Clayton, each having a proportion of land in a Tract seated on the Schoolkill called Aronamink, request that part of a cripple (bog) lying near or bounding said tract may be laid out unto them. It was granted....
Two changes in the property holders of Aronameck are to be noted. First, Peter Yocum with his growing family is no longer renting out acreage to third persons. Second, Jonas Nilsson with his maturing family is adding more sons to occupy the lands he acquired from Peter in 1681 and 1686. The latter trend is confirmed by Jonas Nilsson's will dated 14 January 1692 and proved 23 October 1693, which gave his son Jonathan the
130 acres "which I bought of Peter Yocum and joyneth unto Robt.
Longshore's land" and which divided the 270 acres purchased in 1681 as follows:
Unto my son Mountze one hundred acres to be laid out to him in such order that it contains the whole front to the Schuylkill & extends with the said whole breadth (that is between Peter Yocumb's land and my son Neels' land) so far into the woods until the said one hundred acres be completed,....
Unto my son Neels seventy acres adjoining my son Mountze land and adjoining unto said Neels' land,...(and) Unto my son Andrees one hundred acres.
Earlier in the same document Jonas left his lands "at Kingsessing whereon I now live" to his sons Jonathan and Jonas, with provisions for the care of his widow Gertrude, "Yertrue" in the will. He also gave one shilling apiece to each of his four daughters as well as his "sons" John and Peter-which may be references to John Hanson Steelman and Peter Peterson Yocum.
PETER PETERSON YOCUM'S CHILDREN
Peter Peterson Yocum and his wife Judith appear to have lived at Aronameck throughout their married life. Although Peter owned land elsewhere-at Pennypack Creek, at Matsunk in Upper Merion, at White Clay Creek in Delaware, and for a short time at Cinnaminson, West Jersey-there is no evidence that he ever lived at any of these other locations. His family grew steadily. After Peter (born 1677) there came Mans (1678), Catherine (1681), Sven(1685), Julia (1687), Jonas(1689), Andrew (1693), John (1696) and finally Mary (1699). Apparently Peter was "land poor" and, commencing in the middle of the 1690's, was forced to convert some of his land holdings into cash. On 20 June 1694 he he sold 53 acres of Aronameck to Peter Justis. The "Hopyard" on White Clay Creek, home of his widowed sister Elizabeth Ogle, was mortgaged in 1695. On 10 March 1697 he sold another 50 acres of his Aronameck lands to Andrew Supplee, a french Huguenot widower who married the Swedish widow Gertrude Enochson. On 23 August 1697 Peter sold one-half of his promised 500 acres in Laetitia Penn's tract to John Hughes. On 24 November 1697 he sold almost two acres of meadowland at Aronameck to Andrew Rambo, a son of Peter Rambo, Sr.
PAGE 264
Peter Peterson Yocum had been on close personal terms with William Penn. But after Penn left Philadelphia on 12 August 1684 to return to England, Peter became increasingly distrustful of the provincial government. Penn had promised him 500 acres from his daughter Laetitia Penn's tract in present Upper Merion township, Montgomery County, in exchange for the surrender of his land at Pennypack. The new land was twice surveyed but no patent was issued. All Peter possessed was a warrant dated 4 August 1684 promising him 500 acres.
On 4 April 1700 Peter Peterson Yocum signed his will, drafted for him by Benjamin Chambers, who was one of the witnesses. The other two witnesses were Peter's brother-in-law Nils Jonasson and Jonas Bjurstrom. Declaring himself to be "of Arrunamink" in the township of Kingsessing and "being now sick and weak of body but of sound mind and memory," he named "my brother John Hance" and "my loving wife Judith" to be co-executors. They were directed "to see me decently buried at Wicaco"
and, with obvious reference to his difficulties in securing a patent for his Upper Merion property (called "Mattsunk" in the will), "to recover my just rights and claims to all such lands as at anytime heretofore have been fraudulently detained from me." Of the 250 acres at Matsunk which he had not previously sold, he directed that 150 acres be given to his eldest son Peter. The other 100 acres were to go to his third son Charles on the condition that he "live with his mother and assist her in
maintaining his younger brothers and sisters till the youngest be the age of twenty-one years." On the other hand, "if he refuses to live with his mother and be helpful as above said, then he is not to have the said hundred at all till all his younger brothers come to the age of one and twenty years."
All of the remainder of his estate after payment of debts and funeral expenses were "to remain in the custody of my said wife during the time of her natural life, toward her bringing up my small children. After Judith's death the remaining lands were to be distributed amongst his other five sons, Mounce, Swan, Jonas, Andrew and John.
Even before Peter's death his wife Judith had initiated action to implement the directives of the will. William Penn had returned to Philadelphia on 3 December 1699, leaving again on 3 November 1701. Before he left he was visited by Judith Yocum who reminded him of his promise to grant her husband 500 acres in Laetitia Penn's tract. In the presence of his secretary Penn reassured her that the patents for this land would be issued. Thereafter, Judith Yocum appeared before the Board of Property to plead her case. The Board's minutes of 4 February 1702
report:
Margaret (sic), Widow (sic) of Peter Yocum, producing a certified copy of a warrant from the Proprietary dated 4th 6 mo., 1684, out of the Surveyor's Office for 500 acres of land granted at a half penny per acre, in exchange for land he quitted to Thomas Holme, at Pennipeck, which said warrant was laid on part of Laetitia Penn's Manor, but never duly returned nor the bounds ascertained, David Powell having surveyed
it 400 perches long and 200 broad on Schuylkill, but Thomas Fairman 560 perches long and 134 broad, requests that the bounds may be ascertained and her due confirmed to her according to the Proprietary's promise, before his departure, in the Secretary's hearing, to whom he gave it in charge. Ordered that Thomas Fairman resurvey the said land and that a patent be granted on the return.
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