Follow Us
Battle-Axes: The Williamson Connection
Though Theophilus Gates is credited with the founding of the Battle-Axes, it was his second-in-command, and first convert, Hannah Williamson, who was more prominently featured in the group's history, as she was, apparently, far more vocal in her beliefs than Gates. She was his natural successor after his death, and eventually she simply disappeared from the scene, though the various writings about her tend to disagree on just when she left the area. And virtually none of them give any indication about her own heritage, other than to say that she came from a West Chester Quaker family.
Charles Coleman Sellers wrote about Gates and his followers in 1930 and his book, Theophilus, the Battle-Axe is often quoted as a reference on the group. Hannah is the most often mentioned, but Sellers notes that her sister Lydia and her brother Gideon were Battle-Axes as well. A fourth sibling would likely have joined as well, but she was too sickly to leave home.[bib]808[/bib]
Sellers' description of Hannah is interesting:
Hannah Williamson was, in the words of one who remembers seeing her in his boyhood, "not bad looking." As with Theophilus, the humor of her grotesque career is matched by its pathos. She came from an old Welsh-Quaker family, sturdy stock unmarred by an inherited eccentricity, and was reared, with her bother and two sisters, on a substantial Chester County farm. In the father of the household, one of those cautious relentless disciplinarians so often found among men who labor hard and permit themselves no idle recreation, lies the explanation of her peculiar temperment. A stern and suspicious negative was uttered whenever the daughters wished to go into "young company." Hannah, high-spirited and handsome, revolted and broke loose upon the world.[bib]808[/bib]
Though Sellers names the Williamson family as Welsh Quakers, they were originally from England, as the family pioneer was Daniel Williamson, who came from England in 1682 as a servant to Robert Taylor. Hannah's parents were Thomas Taylor Williamson and Mary Smith, and they were probably members of the Concord Friends meeting in Delaware County, as that is where Thomas was buried, as well as his son Gideon Williamson.[bib]812[/bib]
Of the three Williamson Family members that were invloved with the sect, Gideon is the least often mentioned. Sellers merely lists him at the end of his book, noting that Gideon's Dilworthtown farm was reputed to be a rendezvous location for the sect. Gideon was married twice, his first wife being Eleanor Pennock, by whom he had one daughter, Mary Ellen. Eleanor died about 1843 and Gideon soon remarried, his second wife being Elizabeth Lewis, by whom he had eleven children , the oldest born in 1845. Born in 1811, Gideon died in 1874 and was buried at Concord Friends burial ground, along with his second wife and several of their children. Whatever his involvement may have been with the Battle-Axes, it was probably not of very lengthy duration, as he appears to have been quite busy fathering children.
Lydia, who was the youngest of the Williamson children, was born about 1818. Quite a few articles tell of her being locked up in prison in New York for marrying a black man, but it appears that her background had become a bit garbled. She and her black companion, David Smith, were apprehended in New York City, in 1838, but they were not actually married and it does not appear that Lydia was actually imprisoned, though she was detained while authorities waited to hear from her parents. According to the Baltimore Sun, David Smith had been employed by Lydia's father and had "persuaded his deluded victim to elope from her home and come with him to this city."1 Sometime soon after this event, Lydia's older sister Hannah was becoming excited by the words of Theophilus Gates and Lydia became swept up in her sister's passion.
It was Lydia's passion, in fact, that got her in trouble, once again, as she was charged with three counts of fornication and one of adultery when members of the Battle-Axes were brought to trial in February 1843. From the Quarter Session records, we can discover the names of Lydia's partners: David Stubblebine, Jacob Stubblebine, William Stubblebine and Samuel Bard.2