📄 Genealogy of the descendants of John and Magaret Harvey Toan

Included in the 📄 Frank Jerome Tone family history letters, this documents descendents of John Tone (1719-1791) and Margaret Harvey (1722-1817)

GENEALOGY

OF THE DESCENDANTS OF

JOHN AND MARGARET (HARVEY) TOAN

Arranged by Prentiss Cummings van Kleeck Glazier
10 Argyle Road, Brooklyn, N.Y.
1300 Riverside Drive, New York

In 1931 the compiler prepared a manuscript containing such records pertaining to the Toan-Tone family as he had accumulated up to that time. More Intensive research among the records at Trenton, however, together with the finding of a manuscript relating to the family in the files at the D.A.R. Library in Washington, calls for a complete revision of the matter at hand.

The D.A.R. manuscript Is the work of Frank J. Tone of Niagara Falls, New York, and was presented to the organization by Almeda B. Hayne of the Des Moines, Iowa, chapter, of which Mrs. Isaac E. Tone is a member. Although poplete with errors concerning the remoter branches of the family, the manuscript has merit In the completeness with which it traces the descendants of the sons Andrew and John, Jr. and of the daughters. In the foregoing compilation It will be referred to as the Tone MS.

Of the five copies of this manuscript, the disposition is as follows:
1. N.Y. Genealogical and Blographical Society, New York City.
2. Institute of American Genealogy, 440 So.Dearborn St. Chicago.
3. New York Public Library, New York City.
4. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Ashburton Place, Boston.
5. New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.

I.

DESCENDANTS OF JOHN TOAN

The earliest notice of the name Toan or Tone in American records comes with the issuance of a marriage license to John Toan and Margaret Harvey, the marriage ceremony taking place at the old Freehold-Middletown Dutch Church, In New Jersey, May 4, 1742. Tradition claims that John Toan came from Ulster, Ireland, and his wife from England. By the will of Hannah Harvey of Middletown, in 1789, who bequeathed a considerable portion of her property to "Hannah Hance, daughter of John Tone" it would appear that Margaret was a sister of this Hannah Harvey, and of Samuel and Robert Harvey. A Harvey pedigree given in Vol.6 of American Ancestry (p.12) states that these four Harveys were children of Robert Harvey of Suffolkshire, England, and came to America about the year 1740. John Toan was about the same age as William Tone of Ireland, grandfather of the renowed Theobald Wolfe Tone, the Irish patriot; but any connection between the two contemporaries has not yet been found.

It is not known when or where Margaret (Harvey) Toan died; indeed, beyond the marriage record, there is absolutel no mention of her whatsoever. Whether she was the mother of all or in fact of any of John Toan's children is not certain. Because of the mention of Hannah in the will of Hannah Harvey, we can assume that she and the two preceding children at least were borne by Margaret; but as to whether the rest of the Toans went without mention because of lack of blood tie, or whether there was a disaffection between aunt and neices and nephews which young Hannah alone did not share, we can but conjecture.

A description of the Battle of Monouth In the "History of old Tennent" (page 103), contains the following statement; "---- it is a current story. in the present Bills' family, descendants of the George and Tone families, that their great-grandmother and her mother nursed the wounded in the (Tennent) church; ---- and that their great-grandmother aided by her mother, entered the British lines, having the password from her father, an American soldier of the most loyal type, and by means of a few biscuits and two or three chickens bought silk for a gown and broadcloth for a cloak, bringing them home secretly and keeping them without her father's knowledge for her wedding apparel, some five years after".

From this somewhat indefinite tale we are led to belleve that the young lady In question was Mary Tone, later the wife of Joel George, and that John Toan served in the Revolutionary Army. In any event, either he or his son John was the John Tone who, with William Toan, was a member of Captain Nixon's Troop of Light Horse. (A connection which, by way of digression, was indicative of financial and social prestige; all members furnished their own horses).

In deeds to which he was a party, Toan was referred to as a resident of South Amboy, (probably close to the tows of Middletown Freehold). The only clue to the location of the Toan homestead is the fact that Deeprun Brook ran by the front door of the house. The extensive property of John Toan was divided among his children by his will, which was made June 9, 1791 and probated by the following November 7th.

The eldest four children were baptized at the Old Tennent Church; the order of birth of the others is assumed from the order of their mention in the father's will.

Children of John Toan:
1. Andrew, baprized Feb. 17, 1743; the old Tone MS states that he married Rachel Lewis at Old Tennent Church.
2. Thomas, baptized Feb. 17 1745; married Content ("Tenty") Hance
3. Hannah, baprized Aug.23, 1747; married Thomas Hance
4. Elizabeth, baptized June 12, 1749; (the Tone MS places her, without stating authority, as the child, then unnamed, who was baptized on this date.) She married Hugh Manahan.
5. John, married in 1778, Jean Van Shike.
6. Sarah, married James Coombs
7. William, born Aug. 19, 1755; married (1) Naomi Sutphen and (2) Mrs. Rachel (McCoy) Lyon.
8. Mary, (the Tone MS calls her Polly); married Joel George.

Authorities:
Middlesex County, N.J, Wills and Deeds;
"History of Old Tennent Church" by F.R. Symmes;
Freehold-Middletown Dutch Church Records;
New Jersey Men In the Revolution.

---

Andrew tone, the eldest son of John and Margaret (Harvey) Toan, was baptized at Old Tennent Church Feb. 17, 1743. It was here also, according to the Tone MS, that he married Rachel Lewis. In the supplement to the N.Y. Gazette and Weekly Mercury of March 1, 1773, and again in March 22, appeared a notice in reference to assignment in the affairs of Andrew Tone, an insolvent debtor of Somerset County, N.J. The will of his father, in 1791, directed that his brother Wilden pay him the interest from £30 yearly during has lifetime.

According to the Tone MS, Andrew and Rachel (Lewis) Tone had four children.
1. John A., born Jan. 14, 1768; marrled Margeret Manahan
2. Hannah, married John Pease
3. Thomas, married Polly Little
4. Rachel, married Joseph Patten

---

Thomas Toan, second son of John and Margaret (Harvey) Toan, was baptized at Old Tennent Church Feb. 17, 1745, and was married at the Freehold-Middletown Dutch Church, Nov. 8, 1775, to Content Hance, who referred to herself in her will as one of the heirs of Isaac Hance. Thomas Toan died before 1806, for In that year his three children, then living at Pequanack, Morris County, N.J., sold part of the property inherited by their father to their uncle, Willian Toan. The widow, Content, when a resident of Randolph, Morris County, made her will March 8, 1825; it was probated the following June 25.

The children of Thomas and Content (Hance) Toan:
1. John William, married Sarah ------
2. Joanna, married Joshua Mott, Jr, and had four children: John, "Junior"; Issac H.; Joshua; and Elias.
3. Margaret, may have married Silas Young.

---

Hannah Toan, the eldest daughter of John and Margaret (Harvey) Toan, was baptized at the Old Tennent Church, Aug. 23, 1747, and married Thomas Hance. She received the bulk of the estate left by Hannah Harvey, her aunt, in 1789, and was also bequeathed property in Redbridge by her father in 1791. The Tone MS states that she had the following children;
1. Isaac Hance, married Cornelia Conover
2. Peggy Hance
3. John Hance
4. Sylvanus Hance
5. William Hance
6. Thomas Hance, married Betsey George, his cousin
7. Hannah Hance, maried Benjamin Cook
8. Joanna Hance, married Thomas Conover.

---

Elizabeth Toan, the second daughter of John Toan, is presumed by the Tone is to have been the unnamed child baptized at Old Tennent Church June 18 1749. She married Hugh Manahan, and recelved from her father in his will the house in which she and her husband were living. They later moved to Scipio.*

According to the Tone MS, the Manahans had the following children:
1. John Manahan
2. Margaret Manahan; born 1769; marrled her cousin, John A. Tone
3. Thomas Manahan; married Polly Hellan and (2) Vietta Wilcox
4. James Manahan; married Fannie Lott
5. Jane Manahan; married (1) Lewis Patten (2) Wm. Marlin and (3) Samuel Howland
6. Mary Manahan; married Daniel Shaw
7. William Manahan; married Sarah Andres
8. Elizabeth Manahan; married her cousin, John Tone, Jr.

---

* The Surrogate Records of Cayuga County contain the will of Hugh Manahan of Sciplo, dated August 24, 1807 and recorded the following April 28. In it are mentioned his wife Elizabeth and eight children - Willam, Thomas, James, Margaret, Jean, Mary, Elizabeth, and Hannah.

John Tone, Jr., the third sone of John Toan, married at the Freehold-Middletown Dutch Church, April 26, 1778, Jean "Van Shike". He married again for the Census of 1810 for the town of Scipio, N.Y., whither he had removed, records the household of a Phebe Tone (**) over 45 years of age, who had with her a male between the ages of 16 and 26, and a female, aged between 10 and 16. (His son Lewis aged between 16 and 26, and his wife, and a John Tone, presumably his son of that name, aged between 16 and 26, with wife and two small boys, were also listed in that census of the town).

Which of the two wives was the mother of the children of John Tone, Jr. has not appeared on record. Neither of their names was known to the compiler of the Tone MS, which is the authority for the names of the chtldren listed below.

John Tone, Jr., with his brother William, was an executor of the will of thely father In 1791. The date or place of his death is not known, although it may be assued that it took place in or near Scipio, Cayuga County, N.Y., before 1810. (***)

The children of John Tone, Jr., according to the Tone MS:
1. Margaret - married William Osborne
2. William
3. John - married his cousin, Elizabeth Manahan
4. Lewis - married Betsy Welsh
5. Nancy - marrled Richard Carman
6. Thomas - married Elizabeth Harvey
7. Jane - married Ezra Bowen

---

Sarah Toan, the third daughter of John Toan, married James Coombs of Freehold, N.J., and received from her father property in Redbridge. On Aug. 27, 1821, Sarah Combs of Freehold, , widow of James Combs, made her will, probated in 1824, which distributed her estate In equal parts to her three daughters,Mary Gordon, Lydia Davison, and Sarah Brown, and to her granddaughter, Sarah Ann Vanderbilt (probably the daughter of a deceased daughter, or the married daughter of a deceased son). A grandson, John H. Gordon, was the executor of the testament.

The Tone Ms, relying in this case probably entirely on the memory of one of the older members of the New York branch of the family, claimed that the children were six, and as follows: (1) Lewis, who married Kate Gordon; (2) Katie; (3) Lydia; (4) Joseph; (5) John; and (6) James, who married Julia Williams. Obviously, in the conflict between surrogate records and unsubstantiated statements, there is no cholce than to accept the former.

** The will of James Righmire, Sr. of Bernards, N.J. in 1801 mentIons his daughter, Phebe Toan or Lane - Somerset Co. (N.J.) Hist. Quarterly, vol. 5, p. 107.
*** The Surrogate's Records of Cayuga County contain the will of John Toan of Sciplo, dated Feb.3, 1808 and recorded six days later; this document mentioned his wife Phebe and six children: Peggy, John, Lewis, Thomas, Janem and Nancy, of whom at least Nancy was under 21. James Dowling, Cornelius Barlow and Elizabeth George (possibly the testator's neice of that name) were witnesses.

---

William Toan, Esquire, as he was lnow to the records of his neighborhood, was the youngest son of John Toan, born in or near the town of South Amboy, N.J., about August 19, 1755. He was a member of Captain Nixon's Troop of Light Horse in the Revolution, probably having furnished his own horse for the purpose.
About the year 1781 he married Naomi Sutphen, born about 1757-8, a daughter of Derick and Mary (Couwenhoven?) Sutphen. She died Oct.1, 1803, in her 46th year, and he married secondly Mrs. Rachel (McCoy) Lyon, a daughter of Capt. Goyn McCoy and widow of David Lyon. By the terms of their marriage contract, neither was to expect or receive any property on the decease of the other.

Mr. Toan was one of the most influential and prosperous in the vicinity. Although the owner of slaves (for at that time New Jersey had not abolished the custom), he stipulated In his will that they be set free. One of these, a Hannah DIll, was so attached to the family of her master that she continued to serve them until her death about 1886. She was wont to spend a month at each of the homes of the family, doing light work about the house and receiving a wage which she saved and returned to them. It is the understanding of the compiler that "Aunt Han" nursed his mother, a great-great-granddaughter of the old "darkey's" original master, and that at her death she was about one hundred years old.

Mr. Toan and his first wife were members of the old Tennent Church, and lle buried in Its cemetery. Shortly after his death, which occurred May 13, 1815, at the age of 59 years, 8 months and 24 days, he was appointed Justice of the Peace for his district. His second wife survived him; she made her will in 1831, when a resident of Bernards, Somerset County, and It was probated in 1839.

The children of William and Naomi (Sutphen) Toan were born In the vicinity of Frechold or South Amboy, New Jersey, and the eldest five were baptized at Old Tennent Church.

1. Phebe - born Feb. 10, 1782; married Joseph Rue (or La Rue)
2. John - bapt.Mar. 20, 1785; (the Tone MS calls him John S. and states that he married ------ Shearer)
3. Rebecca - bapt. Dec. 9, 1787; married Wm. Johnson
4. Elizabeth - born Oct. 9, 1789; married Nathaniel Scudder Rue
5. Lydia - bapt.Oct. 2, 1791 married David Smith Mills
6. Sarah - born July 20, 1793; married Jacobus or Jacob Doremus
7. Mary - who married Rue
8. William - born May 12, 1798; married Phebe DuBois and removed to Gainesville, Wyoming County, N.Y.

---

Mary Toan, the youngest daughter of John Town, married at the Freehola-Middletown Dutch Churoh, March 11, 1788, Joel George, who was born about 1767. The history of Dryden, N.Y. (page 128) says that they removed to Scipio, Cayuga County, New York, were there about six years, and then settled at Dryden.

The children of Joel and Mary (Toan) George:
1. Thomas George
2. John George, the father of the founder of the George Junior Republic at Dryden. The Tone MS says that his wife was Sallle Turkerson.
3. Elizabeth, married her cousin, Thomas Hance, Jr.
4. Sally, Married WIliam Van Northwick, (2) Judge Joshua North
5. William T., (the Tone MS says he marrled ------ Kelsey)
6. Clarissa, married Peter Conover (the Tone MS says Cornelius Conover).

Notes:

• It seems unlikely that William Toan was appointed Justice of the Pace "shortly after his death", but maybe the custom at the time was for dead justices.
• Phebe (born 1782) married "Joseph Rue (or La Rue)". Is this the earliest mention of the name "LaRue" in Tone records?