Hi Good folks in Chester area! I am new to the list and my family may have had some roots in Chester..... I am looking for a Fellow named John McQuin ...He is so named in a publication done 1905 by our Ontario Archives . John McQuin is a witness for 2 Chester County known Loyalists during the hearings by the British for petitions by those Loyalists who were displaced from their homes 1775-1783. I can find no land petition or grant for John in Upper Canada and yet he witnesses for others! I wondered if it would help if some of you in the know about Chester knew who he witnessed for... 1 John Jackson, Quaker, who did some spying for the Brits just prior to the battle of the brandywine .Unfortunately there is no mention of location for Jackson's property -Jacob Buffington was a witness for Jackson in the petition hearing too . 2 Also the second individual John McQuin witnessed for in same sort of hearing was the Widow of Curtis Lewis. Apparently Curtis Lewis knew John Jackson and helped in the spying incident. He had 2 properties . One was in the "great Valley, East Caln Tp and the second, a farm in West Bradford (209 Acres) . We know that Curtis had at least one brother John and a son Reuben who stayed in the USA Obviously John McQuin was in these areas of Chester County and that is all I know about him. He would obviously have been there at the outbreak of actual war in 1775-6 and any land may have been confiscated and sold. Much liberty is allowed for some very wild spelling variations McKin McGuin MaGin etc Any help appreciated. Rob McGinn, Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada

I found a couple interesting things.. Curtis Lewis was listed as a landowner, in East Caln, 1774, but On April 12th, 1778, he is listed in Council notes as a forfeited estate to be sold....that of Curtis Lewis, blacksmith. I found several wills that mention "lands formerly belonging to Curtis Lewis".....one was in Uwchlan, the home of many Welsh folks (and Lewis is a very Welsh name)...wills in1784 and 1786. .........in a will of 1788, from East Caln, there is the following statement "executors to interest in lands of Curtis Lewis, deceased." So, he was dead by this date. Are you sure about the John Jackson info, and his being a Quaker? Unfortunately there are several John Jacksons, and I have found one who was among the committee of the Western MM....one of many Committees of Conference, created by the Quakers of Chester Co, whose aim was to attend to those who suffered harm during the Rev. War....they were not, as some mistakenly suggested "Quaker Tories", but men who ''chose to obey God and could not violate their own consciences and their believe in the sacredness of all human life and the sinfulness of taking it away." The term "Quaker Tories" was applied by local neighbors who were angry they did not aid the Colonial troops! I checked the CD of PA wills, hoping John would appear in the will of a parent, etc, but no luck....and, there are no wills in Chester that contain the surname McGuin, any spelling. I did find some McQuins in Philadelphia in the 1750s, and even a McGuigan (yet another spelling for you.) There are a great many tax lists located on the Chester Co site.....have you gone through all those, looking for John McQuin? You might want to try that. I can tell you, though, that the name (any spelling) does not appear in the index of THE HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY PA, by Futhey and Cope, nor in a commentary about the Battle of the Brandywine....so, I'm just striking out today, I'm afraid. There is a land lookup offered on the Chester site,that I mentioned in your Welcome Email....don't remember the years offhand, but you can check the lookup list for particulars. Good luck. Sandra -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.5/450 - Release Date: 9/18/2006