John Borton, Quaker

John Borton is one of my favorite ancestors. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because he's the first one that I was able to find out a lot about.

John was born in 1634 in Aynho, Northamptonshire, England. Because the last name ends in "ton" it's very probable that the Bortons were descendents of the Normans, probably coming to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. Though not much is known of John's younger life, in 1660 he and another man, John Bett, were taken out of their homes by soldiers and taken to prison for refusing their oaths. Then, in 1665, John had all of his "goods" taken by distress for a fine of four shillings because he didn't attend the local parish (Catholic) church for four weeks.
It's very possible that John Borton and his wife, Ann Kinton, were the only members of the Borton family to join the Quaker religion. Probably due to persecution by the Catholic Church, the English government, and by his own family, John and Ann left England for America.

John and Ann had become Quakers at least by 1660 as evidenced above. In 1676, in London, England, John Borton, along with 150 other men, signed The Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the Province of West New Jersey in America which had been written by William Penn. The document was a great colonial charter of civil and religious liberty which embodied many of the elementary principles underlying the Bill of Rights.
Though John is listed as being a "poor laborer" in England, he was actually a man of some means - being able to read, write and "cipher" and he was not a tennant farmer. He signed his name to the Concessions agreement - actually signed it, and not with an "x".

Once he had signed the Concessions he took care of whatever he needed to in England and he and Ann set sail for America in 1679 on the ship "Griffin". They landed in New Jersey and John set about making a new home for his family. They had brought with them, a letter from the Banbury Monthly Meeting in England and presented it at the Burlington Monthly Meeting in 1679. Also, in this year, John paid the Indians 20 pounds and 7 shillings for land and received a deed.

Once the family was settled in New Jersey John soon made a name for himself as a very respected member of the society. Among his achievements were the following -
Assigned to take care of births and burials for Rancocas in 1781; Assigned to take care of orphans, 1682; Constable for London Tenth 1682; Member of the Second Tenth Assembly in 1683; Member of the Assembly and Road Commission in 1684; and became a substantial land owner.

He built a large house and called it Hillsdown, where he died in 1687.

John and Ann had at least 7 children - one of whom was Elizabeth Borton who married in 1684 at Burlington MM, John Woolman, another one of my famous Quaker ancestors.