Bailiff Roots in Scotland

The route from Scotland to America discussed in this document is the route Thomas Bailiff’s ancestors followed through the generations in arriving in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Thomas Bailiff is Scottish in origin. This group of Scots are referred to in America as Scots Irish. The movement of the Scots Irish in coming to America has been well documented with several books being written on the subject.

The Catholic Church was a part of Scotland’s history up until the turbulent times of the 1500’s. The fire and brimstone preacher John Knox influenced the establishment of Protestantism in the lowland area of Scotland. The northern half of Scotland remained Catholic (highlands) while the southern half of Scotland (lowlands) became staunchly protestant or Presbyterian. The southern half of Scotland adjoins England.

The effective preaching and public education by the Presbyterian Church in the lowlands of Scotland left the Scots with a deep rooted hatred of both religious authority and the old Catholic Church.

Ulster, Ireland

In 1607 the opportunity came to establish a settlement in Ireland. Two Ulster Chieftains, the earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, fled to France rather than live under English rule. King James confiscated 3.8 million acres of their land. This 3.8 million acres of land was located in the very north part of Ireland and was called the Ulster Plantation. James encouraged the settlement of the Ulster Plantation by Scottish Presbyterians.

The lowland Scots were eager to move from their homes in southern Scotland to Ulster, Ireland mainly due to economic reasons. Their homeland was becoming over populated and the land rents were too high to make a living. Ulster, Ireland was just a short distance across the Irish Sea from southern Scotland.

In Ulster, the Scots were able to rent land for a period of 21 to 31 years. Prior to the Scots coming to Ulster, this land was granted to English and Scottish men of high standing who had served the king. The Scots could only lease or rent this land. The Scots thought this would be a good way to improve their economic situation.

By 1717, a good life was not to be found by the Ulster Scots in Ireland. They were despised by the Irish Catholics, forced by England to pay tithes to support the Anglican church, could not participate in government and as recent immigrants they were not very attached to their homeland. The land leases for many of the Scots were now up. The landlords raised the rents so high that the Scots could not survive. This triggered a mass migration to America.

The first great wave of emigration by the Ulster Scots occurred in 1717 to 1720. Another big wave of emigration followed in 1725 to 1727 when land leases west of Ulster came up for renewal and were greatly increased. When famine struck Ulster in 1740 and 1741, the stream of emigrants to Philadelphia reached 12,000 yearly. In between the high emigration periods, Scots continued to come to America at a much slower pace except during the revolution when emigration stopped. Upon arrival in America, these Scots from the Ulster area of Northern Ireland were known as Scots Irish. In 1754-55 another disastrous drought hit Ulster and spurred another serge of emigration. The last big emigration was 1771-1775 when leases on the large estate of the Marquis of Donegal in County Antrim expired and the tenants couldn’t afford to renew the rent.

How did the Scots Irish immigrants travel to America? A linen trade had established an overseas trade route between the ports of Ireland and Philadelphia. Ship owners and sea captains who hauled hundreds of tons of flax seed annually from Pennsylvania to Ulster were eager for a paying cargo for the return voyage. They actively recruited emigrants to come to Pennsylvania. The emigrants could pay their own passage or come as indentured servants. The indentured servant worked for four to seven years in return for passage to Pennsylvania. Most indentured servant records become a part of the court records in Pennsylvania.

The majority of the Scots Irish emigrants to America were Presbyterian. They came from five Ulster ports: Londonderry, Portrush, Larne, Belfast and Newry. A lesser number came through the ports of Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Sligo and Waterford.

In the 32 year period of 1718 to 1750, a period covering the largest Scots Irish migration from Ulster, two hundred and sixty five Quaker families came to Pennsylvania. One hundred and thirty five of these families were from Ulster. It is likely a number of these families were Scots Irish. They came largely from Quaker meetings at Antrim, Ballenderry, Ballinacree and Lisburn in County Antrim the heart of the Scots Irish Country. A large number also came from County Armagh. There are likely many family ties between the Ulster Quaker and the Ulster Presbyterians.

By 1740 most of the rich lands around Philadelphia had been occupied and the prices had risen. This forced the Scotch Irish families arriving after 1740 to move on westward filling up Chester and Lancaster Counties and crossing the Susquehanna River into York County. The Scots Irish were willing to go where cheap land could be had. The Chester County, Pa, tax records establish that Thomas Bailiff arrived from Ulster, Ireland and has settled in West Bradford Twp, Chester County, Pa.

The Scots who poured into Philadelphia from Ulster were hardymiddle class farmers and craftsmen who suffered in the old world from their industriousness and their religious beliefs. They came from the poor, rural counties of Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Firmanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone where English rule had grown increasingly severe.

The principle reason for the movement of the Scots Irish from Pennsylvania to North Carolina was the scarcity of good land on the Pennsylvania frontier and the prohibitive cost of farms farther east. Other causes were disputed boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania and rapid population growth. County records also support the fact that families often migrated to North Carolina and other states to the south of Pennsylvania immediately after the death of the father or family patriarch.

PREPARED BY: RON CORNWELL

Thomas Bailiff in Pennsylvania & North Carolina

1740 Daniel Baylif is taxed in East Marlboro, Chester County, Pa, tax records.
(This person is not a Bailiff but Daniel Baily, son of Joel Baily.)
1741-1746 No tax records have survived for Chester County, Pa.
1747 Thos. Bayliff is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1748 No Bailiff appears in Chester County, Pa, tax records.
1751 Thos. Bailiff is taxed in East Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1752 No Bailiff appears in Chester County, Pa, tax records.
1753 Thomas Bailey (inmate) is taxed in East Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1754 Thos. Bayliff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
4 Apr 1754 Edward Bayliff of Chester County, Pa, had a letter in the Post Office in Philadelphia. Published in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
1755 No tax records available.
1756 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1757 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
12 Oct 1757 Thomas Harlan married Mary Baily, daughter of Joel Baily, of West Marburrough Twp in a public meeting of Londongrove.
(Edward Bayliffe attended this wedding with several Baily’s present and others. SOURCE: Quaker Marriage Certificate, New Garden Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pa, by Gwen Boyer Bjorkman 1704-1799.)
1758 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1758 Edward Bayliff (freeman) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1759 Thos. Baily (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1759 Edw’d Baily (freeman) is taxed in West Bradford , Chester County, Pa.
9 Aug 1759 Thomas Bayliff of Chester County, Pa, had a letter in the Philadelphia Post Office. Notice published in Aug 9, 1759, edition of The Pennsylvania Gazette.
1760 Thos. Bayliff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1760 James Watson (freeman) is taxed in East Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
(James moved to Orange County, North Carolina, in 1761 probably with Thomas Bailiff.)
1760 John Gray Jr is taxed in East Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
(John moved to Orange County, North Carolina, in 1761 probably with Thomas Bailiff. John Connor also moved previous to Orange County, North Carolina.)
1761 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1762-1768 Thomas Bailiff does not appear in the Chester County, Pa, tax records for these years.
Feb 1765 Thomas Bailiff is serving on a grand jury in Orange County, North Carolina.
13 Aug 1767 Walter Thedford Will. Probated in Orange County, North Carolina.
(Dated: 13-Aug-1767. Proved: Nov 1767. Wife: REBECCA; sons: Josias (eldest), William; Dau: Deborah; Son-In-Law: William Williams; Executors: Wife Rebecca and eldest son Josias. Witnesses: JOHN BAKER and Abigail Bracken.)
1769 Thos. Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in Newlinton, Chester County, Pa.
30 Dec 1769 Edward Bayliffe Estate Record; Residence: Newlinton; Granting Letter
(Date: Dec 30, 1769; Granted To: Thomas Bayliffe; Bond: 500 pounds; Sureties: Wm Cloud and Richard Barnard; Inventory: April 27, 1770; No. of Paper: 2539; Will Bk 2 and Page 211.)
- 20 Jan 1770 SUMMARY OF EDWARD BAYLIFF’S ESTATE
- Estate was valued at 213 pounds
- Has sewing supplies
- Owns a servant man's time
  (This may indicate that Edward paid someone’s transportation to America—indentured servant.)
- Had a large amount of book debt
  (people owning him money)
- Assortment of cooking utensils
- One horse, saddle and saddlebags
- Edwards estate inventory taken by Richard Baker and Joel Baily
1770 No Bailiff appears in Chester County, Pa, tax records.
1771 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1772 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1773 Daniel Bayliff is taxed in Concord Twp, Chester County, Pa. List 50 acres, one servant, one horse, one cow
(This is Daniel Baily.)
1774 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1774 Daniel Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in Chester Twp, Chester County, Pa.
(Moved to Berkley County, Va. Later became West Virginia.)
1775 Thom’s Bayliff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1775 Daniel Bailiff is taxed in Concord Twp, Chester County, Pa. List 50 acres, One horse, one cow
(This is Daniel Baily.)
1776 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1776 Daniel Bailiff is taxed in Concord Twp, Chester County, Pa. List 50 acres, Two horses, two cows.
(This is Daniel Baily.)
1777 No Bailiff appears in Chester County, Pa.
1778 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is listed on tax list of West Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
(Thomas’s name is marked through as if he was listed on the tax list and when the assessor tried to contact him found out he was gone.)
1779-1783 No Bailiff appears in Chester County, Pa.
1784 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed on one cow in East Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
1785 Thomas Bailiff (inmate) is taxed in East Bradford, Chester County, Pa.
21 Aug 1785 Rebecca Bailiff signed for Abner Bailiff to purchase 150 acres of land from James Watson.
21 Aug 1785 Rebecca Bailiff signed for Thomas Bailiff to purchase 150 acres of land from James Watson.
1786+ No Bailiff appears in Chester County, Pa.

DEFINITIONS RELATING TO CHESTER COUNTY TAX RECORDS
LANDHOLDER: Held land by lease or deed. Pa taxed the occupant and not the land.
INMATE: Married or widowed, landless (contract labor).
FREEMAN: Single, free man at least 21 years of age. He had to be out of servitude or apprenticeship at least 6 months at time of tax. Single men living with parents often were not taxed.
POOR: The very poor or infirm were dropped from the tax rolls.

PREPARED BY: RON CORNWELL

Additions:

1763 Daniel Bailiff marries Sarah Thatcher in Chester Co, PA.
1771 Daniel Bailiff mentioned in Edith Thatcher's (mother-in-law) Will in Chester Co, PA.

(added by Kevin Bandy, 2008)

Thomas Bailiff in Pennsylvania and North Carolina

There are several reasons to believe that Thomas Bailiff of Orange County, North Carolina, is Scots Irish. The Chester County, Pennsylvania, tax records establish that Thomas Bailiff arrived in Chester County around 1741-1746. Ireland was struck with famine in 1740 and 1741. During this famine, the Scots Irish immigrated to Philadelphia at the rate of 12,000 per year. If the missing tax records existed, they would probably show that Thomas Bailiff and his family emigrated in 1741.

The Scots Irish usually emigrated as families. Thomas Bailiff, his wife, and four year old son, Edward, arrived at the Port of Philadelphia in one of the linen trade ships. Because of overcrowding and high cost of land in the Philadelphia area, the Bailiff’s moved on to West Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, where they spent several years of their lives.

The movement of Thomas Bailiff can be traced in the Chester County, Pennsylvania tax records. To understand the Chester County tax records, the researcher needs to understand that in Pennsylvania the occupant was taxed and not the land. To fully understand the tax records, there are four terms that need to be discussed. These terms are landholder, inmate, freeman and poor. The landholder held land by lease or deed. This group of taxpayers is not identified in the records under the label of landowner but in some years the number of acres, horses and cows are listed out. The inmate was married or widowed but did not own land. They were laborers working for someone else on a farm or in a trade. In the tax records, the inmate was always identified under the label of inmate. The freeman label indicated the man was single, at least 21 years of age, and living outside of the parent’s household. Single men living with their parents usually were not taxed. The poor or infirm were not taxed and even dropped from the tax rolls.

The first tax record available for Thomas Bailiff shows him taxed in West Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1747 probably leasing land. Nowhere in the land or tax records of Chester County is there any indication that Thomas Bailiff ever owned land. In 1749, Thomas appears in East Bradford Township, also leasing land. He remains in East Bradford Township until 1753 when it appears that his status changes. In 1753, he is taxed under the label of inmate for the first time.

Thomas Bailiff was married with a four year old son, Edward (born around 1737), when he arrived in Philadelphia. When did Thomas Bailiff’s first wife die? Why did she only have one child? Did she die shortly after arriving in Chester County? It would appear that she did die early or they would have more than one child in the family. As a point of clarification, this first wife is not the Rebecca that marries Thomas Bailiff later in North Carolina because she would be well beyond child bearing age by that time. Families or individuals rarely migrated to a new home or location by themselves. Thomas Bailiff and family possibly emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania with his wife’s family. If so, the name of that family is not known at this time. This family possibly enabled Thomas to raise his son Edward.

Thomas Bailiff has moved back to West Bradford Township in 1754 and he continues to live there until he leaves Pennsylvania and moves to Orange County, North Carolina in 1761. We know that Thomas is working for someone else during this time period. We have no indication of the type of work that Thomas Bailiff is doing but it is very possible he is doing farm labor for his father-in-law or another family he may have been acquainted with in Ireland.

The first appearance of Edward Bailiff in Chester County, Pennsylvania occurs April 4, 1754 when Edward Bayliff’s name appears in "The Pennsylvania Gazette" listing that he has a letter in the Pennsylvania Post Office. This could be a letter from his grandparents who remained in Ireland. Edward would be 17 years old at this time.

The next appearance of Edward Bailiff is October 12, 1757 when he attends the Quaker wedding of Mary Baily and Thomas Harlan in a public meeting of Londongrove. Mary Baily is the daughter of Joel Baily of West Marlborough Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Joel Baily is from a Quaker Family who has been in Chester County since the late 1600’s. Joel has a son Daniel Baily who will be discussed later on in this record. This wedding is recorded in the New Garden Monthly Meeting minutes. This record gives us our first indication that Thomas Bailiff though not a Quaker himself was closely associated with Quaker families in Ulster, Ireland. Edward is listed as Edward Bayliffe in this record.

The third record of Edward Bailiff is as Edward Bayliff (freeman) being taxed for the first time in 1758 tax records of West Bradford, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The label of freeman in the tax records tells us Edward is single and at least 21 years of age. Edward’s birth of 1737 is calculated from this tax record. This same record helps us calculate Edward’s father, Thomas’s age as 1715 or 1716. Edward is living for the first time independently and is probably working for someone in West Bradford Township. It is very likely that Edward may be living in the home of his employer. If Edward is working for a Quaker this might account for his attendance at the Quaker wedding of Thomas Harlan and Mary Baily.

Edward Bailiff is taxed in West Bradford for the years 1758 and 1759. He disappears permanently from the Chester County tax records. One possibility is that Edward moved back into his father’s household and was in the party of Scots Irish settlers who moved to Orange County, North Carolina, in the year 1761. If Edward had remained in Chester County, he would appear on the tax rolls.

Thomas Bailiff’s name appears in the August 9, 1759 issue of "The Pennsylvania Gazette" as having a letter in the Philadelphia Post office. This may be a letter from parents, a brother or sister still in Ulster, Ireland.

Thomas Bailiff moves to Orange County, North Carolina in 1761. When a family made a move on the frontier, they moved in groups. We know from the tax records that James Watson, a single man, and John Gray Jr’s family moved in the same year. The migration group probably included Thomas Bailiff, his wife, if still living, and son Edward. It may have included James Watson, John Gray Jr, and some other Scots Irish families going to North Carolina. If Thomas’s wife is still living, then she died in Orange County, North Carolina.

The Scots Irish moved from Pennsylvania south through Virginia to the Carolina's on the Great Warrior Path later named the Great Wagon Road. A branch of this road stretched through Orange County, North Carolina. The attraction in North Carolina for the Scots Irish was cheap land. The Scots Irish were a people on the move. They moved both ways on the Great Wagon Road. Some people made several trips back and forth between Pennsylvania and Virginia and their home in the Carolina's.

The only record of Thomas Bailiff in Orange County, North Carolina, is the February, 1765 court record showing Thomas Bailiff serving on a grand jury in Orange County, North Carolina.

The Orange County court records show a will of Walter Thedford dated August 13, 1767. This will lists a wife, REBECCA, two sons and one daughter. The will is witnessed by John Baker and Abigail Bracken. This John Baker is a brother of Thomas Baker who is the father of Elizabeth Baker who married Thomas Bailiff Jr the son of Thomas Bailiff Sr and wife REBECCA. The death of Walter Thedford is the right time and place for this REBECCA to be the wife of Thomas Bailiff Sr. This REBECCA might be the mother of Walter Thedford’s children but it is very possible REBECCA is a second wife of Walter Thedford. This issue needs more study.

Thomas Bailiff married a REBECCA around 1768. Could the wife of Walter Thedford be the REBECCA that Thomas married? This means Thomas’s first wife is deceased before 1768 and REBECCA is a second marriage for Thomas. The Chester County, Pennsylvania tax records suggest that Thomas Bailiff and his family moved back to the Town of Newlinton in Newlin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania in the year 1768. Thomas is taxed in Newlinton in 1769.

Thomas Bailiff’s son, Edward, dies in December, 1769. His estate record is dated December 30, 1769. Edward is listed in the estate record as from Newlinton. It would appear he is still single and still living with his parents at the time of his death. All of Edward’s possessions are granted to his father Thomas Bayliffe. William Cloud and Richard Barnard posted the needed bond of 500 pounds. Richard Baker and Joel Baily take inventory of the estate.

There are two things of interest in Edward Bayliff’s estate inventory. One is he "owns a servant man's time". This may indicate that he paid someone’s transportation to America. His estate had "a large amount of book debt". Is this money owed for book purchases or is this money loaned out to other people and kept on the accounting books? Edward’s estate was valued at 213 pounds which is less than half of the amount of bond that was required to be posted.

After his son’s death in 1769, Thomas and Rebecca Bailiff moved from Newlinton back to West Bradford Township. It would appear that all of Thomas and Rebecca Bailiff’s children were born in West Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania instead of in Orange County, North Carolina. The one exception might be William Bailiff. Thomas Bailiff appears in the Chester County tax records from 1769 until 1778. On the 1778 tax record, his name is marked through by the tax assessor indicating that he was gone from the county at the time the tax assessor visited the home to collect taxes.

During this 1769 to 1778 period, another interesting thing occurs in the Chester County tax records. Two different Daniel Bailiff’s appear in the tax records during this time period. Most researchers have credited these entries as one Daniel Bailiff. In 1773, 1775, and 1776 one Daniel Bailiff appears owning 50 acres of land. This Daniel Bailiff is either Daniel Baily, the son of Joel Baily who died in 1783, or this Daniel Baily’s son (Joel Baily’s grandson). The interesting entry is in 1774 when a Daniel Bailiff (inmate) appears in Chester Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. This is the only time this Daniel appears in the tax records of Chester County. The fact he is taxed under the label of inmate tells us he had no land and is a separate person from the Daniel Bailiff with 50 acres of land. This Daniel Bailiff probably came from Ulster, Ireland, in 1772 or 1773. Chester Township is on the border where Chester County joins the state of Maryland. This researcher thinks this Daniel Bailiff moved from Chester Township on to Berkley County, Virginia (later West Virginia) in 1775 in search of cheap land. Unfortunately, he died in Berkley County in 1777 before he obtained his land.

Thomas Bailiff is absent from the Chester County tax list from 1778 when his name was marked off the West Bradford Township tax list by the tax assessor until 1783. Where was Thomas Bailiff and his family for this five year period? Was he in Orange County, North Carolina? No record appears in Orange County for Thomas during this time period.

Thomas Bailiff and family reappear in East Bradford, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the 1784 and 1785 tax records. On August 21, 1785, Rebecca Bailiff appears in the Orange County, North Carolina land records with enough money to purchase 300 acres of land from James Watson for two of her sons Thomas Jr and Abner. This money probably came from the estate of her husband, Thomas Bailiff. Thomas is apparently still living at tax time in 1785 but is deceased by August 21. Did Thomas die on the trip from Chester County, Pennsylvania back to Orange County, North Carolina? There is not an estate record in either Orange County or Chester County.

PREPARED BY: RON CORNWELL

Family Members of Thomas Bailiff

Thomas Bailiff
b. 1715/16 probably in Ulster, Ireland
m. ca 1736 probably in Ulster, Ireland
d. 1785?

1st wife (name unknown)
b. ca 1715/16 probably in Ulster, Ireland
d. between 1742-1767 probably in Chester Co, PA

Children:
Edward Bailiff
b. ca 1737 probably in Ulster, Ireland
d. 1769 in Newlington, Newlin Township, Chester Co, PA

Rebecca (2nd wife, maiden name unknown)
b. ca 1740
m. 1768 Orange Co, NC
d. after August 1833 in Orange Co, NC

Children:
Thomas Bailiff
b. 1769 West Bradford, Chester Co, PA
Abner Bailiff
b. ca 1771 West Bradford, Chester Co, PA
John Bailiff
b. ca 1775 West Bradford, Chester Co, PA
Nancy Ann Bailiff
b. ca 1777 West Bradford, Chester Co, PA
William Bailiff
b. ca 1779 Orange Co, NC?

PREPARED BY: RON CORNWELL

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