Monday Is for Mothers: Milcah Richardson (1748 - 1823)

Milcah* (a maternal fifth great grandmother) was born into a Quaker family in Frederick County, Maryland. Her mother Margaret Coale predeceased her father Richard Richardson who died in 1761, leaving a will** which names his children, including 13-year old Milcah.

As shown in this abstract from Hinshaw's U.S. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy it was her parents' wish that their children would be raised as Quakers.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I–VI, 1607-1943 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Hinshaw, William Wade, et al., compilers. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. 6 vols. 1936–1950. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1991–1994. Hinshaw, William Wade. Marshall, Thomas Worth, comp. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Supplement to Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: n.p. 1948.]

But it seems that Milcah had other ideas.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina.Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana.Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.]

Milcah Richardson who has had her Education among
Friends but of a light and airy conversation, has strayed
from that which would have preserved her if given heed unto
has gone out from among us in marriage with a man not
of our Society. This meeting therefore appoints Jane Hayes
and Rachel Hollingsworth to draw up a Testimony against
her and produce it to next mo's meeting ----------

The Quaker Encyclopedia's entry explains a bit more, including the surname of her husband:

Consulting my copy of Thee & Me, this is what's being said:

Milcah (daughter of Richard & Margaret deceased) reported married out of unity October 31, 1767, to TOMLINSON; disowned November 28, 1767; paper to be read at Bush Creek Meeting Maryland

The Tomlinson referred to is my 5X great grandfather Jesse.***

Since the notice of her dismissal was to be read at Bush Creek near Monrovia in Fredericks County, I assume that's near where the abandoned hussy was living at the time. We know from the first federal census in 1790 that Milcah and Jesse were still residing in the area along with nine of their eventual ten children (including my ancestor Hugh).

They moved to Ohio by 1803 although I haven't been able to locate the Tomlinson family in either the 1800 or 1810 U.S. Census. Milcah Richardson Tomlinson is buried in Chenoweth Cemetery in Pleasant Township in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1823. She was 75.

[Chenoweth Cemetery . Photo by Gene #47100930; Findagrave.com]

*Milcah is a common transliteration of the Hebrew name מִלְכָּה (meaning "queen" or "ruler").
**Which I'll be covering on Friday.
***He and Milcah were the grandparents of the Jesse Tomlinson in last week's posts here and here.


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