Samuel Blunston and Sarah [Unk]

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Husband Samuel Blunston ¹

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           Born: 2 Sep 1689 - Darby, Chester Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: Sep 1746 2
         Buried: 

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         Father: John Blunston (1644-1723) 1 3 4
         Mother: Sarah Bickerstaffe (      -1692) 4

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       Marriage: 4 Jun 1718 1

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Wife Sarah [Unk] ¹

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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   Other Spouse: [Unk] Bilton (      -      ) 1

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Children

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• They had no children.

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General Notes: Husband - Samuel Blunston

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He studied land-surveying. He had considerable means of his own when he married, which was largely increased by his wife's fortune. She had no children by her first husband, nor did she bring any to her second one. They came to the Susquehanna in the fall of 1726. She lived but a few years after coming there.
He was appointed by Peter Evans, the register-general of wills, deputy register of the county, on the 2d day of August, 1729. When Lancaster County was organized he was appointed one of the justices, although he was in commission as a justice from Chester County previous to that time. He was not recognized as a strict member of the Society of Friends after he came to the Susquehanna, and his name does not appear upon the minutes of the Quarterly or Monthly Meeting records. He was a generous liver, and entertained a great deal of company. Thomas Penn was at his house in 1736, and Logan and other prominent officials were there frequently. He was elected a member of the General Assembly in 1732, 1741, 1742, and 1744. He and his life-long friend, John Wright, stood up manfully when in the Legislature and opposed Governor Thomas in his arbitrary measures.
When the court-house and jail were built, he was frequently consulted about their erection, and he seems to have had a general supervision of the work. In 1732, when troubles commenced between the Marylanders and Pennsylvanians, in Conagohela Valley, four miles below Wrightsville, to the day the former struck their flag and left the soil of Pennsylvania forever, he was untiring in his efforts to bring the freebooters to justice. He employed Benjamin Chambers (the founder of Chambersburg) to go to the enemy's camp in Maryland and discover their designs. Although captured, he escaped and reported to Mr. Blunston the true state of affairs. He was sent to Donegal, where the Scotch-Irish had a house-raising. They stopped their work and gathered up what fire-arms they had, and hastened to the west side of Wright's Ferry, and just arrived in time to give the Marylanders a warm reception. For the time being a conflict was prevented.
After all of the German settlers in the valley had either joined the enemy or fled to the east side of the river, a large force was collected and placed in the Ferry-House on the west side of the river for defense. Mr. Blunston at his own expense kept a large number of men there. Governor Ogle, of Maryland, offered a reward of one hundred pounds for his head, and they actually arranged a plan to capture him when returning from the funeral of the wife of the Rev. James Anderson, at Donegal, in 1736. He became aware of their plans, and avoided the trap they had laid for him. About this time he became very much discouraged in consequence of the dilatory actions of the Governor and his Council. He saw the danger to the interests of the proprietors by delay, and knew the necessity for prompt action. He sent frequent messengers to the Governor, with letters couched in caustic and bitter terms, that must have had a salutary effect upon the mind of the Governor and his friends. On the 3d day of April, 1736, he was appointed deputy surveyor for the townships of "Derry, Hempfield, Dunnegal, and Lebanon." At the same time he, in behalf of the inhabitants of these townships, presented a scheme for appeasing the "tumults and animosities among them," which was adopted, and it put an end to the troubles about the titles to their land. He had a large field to cover, and the duties which called him there were very exacting. But for the assistance of that remarkable person, Susannah Wright, who copied and assisted him in his writing, he could not have accomplished successfully the work he did. His health became greatly impaired, and in the summer of 1746 he was compelled to give up all out-door work. He died in September, 1746. He left no issue, and he gave his valued friend, Susannah Wright, a life estate in all his large property, which consisted of nearly nine hundred acres of land. He made several bequests, among which was one to the poor of the county. He owned a number of slaves, and gave them their freedom after a term of a few years.

1 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 582.

2 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 583.

3 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 876.

4 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 867.