Isaac Wayne (1699–1774)

For another person, see Isaac Wayne.

Isaac Wayne
Member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
In office 1757–1763
Personal details
Born	1699 County Wicklow, Ireland
Died	November 1774 Easttown Township, Pennsylvania, Province of Pennsylvania
Resting place	St. David's Episcopal Church, Radnor, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Spouse	Elizabeth Iddings
Relatives	Anthony Wayne (son) Isaac Wayne (grandson)
Occupation	tanner, farmer
Military service
Allegiance	Province of Pennsylvania
Branch/service	Provincial Forces of Pennsylvania
Years of service	1755-1758
Rank	Captain

Isaac Wayne (1699 – November 1774) was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly representing Chester County from 1757 to 1763. He served as captain in the Provincial Forces of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War from 1755 to 1758. As a civilian he operated a tannery. He is the father of American Revolutionary War General Anthony Wayne and grandfather of United States Congressman Isaac Wayne.

Biography

Isaac Wayne was born in County Wicklow, Ireland in 1699 as the ninth child^[1] to Captain Anthony Wayne, veteran of the Battle of the Boyne.^[2] Anthony Wayne and family emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania in British America and settled on a 1,600-acre (6.5 km²) parcel of land in Easttown Township, Pennsylvania. Isaac stayed in England to finish his education and joined the family two years later.^[1]

Isaac was 40 years old when his parents deeded their estate to him under the condition that he was to pay an annuity to his parents for the remainder of their lives.^[3][1]Isaac built the stone home named Waynesborough which is now a designated historical site and open for public tours.^[4]

He built up the largest tannery in Pennsylvania, grew grain, and feed-crops.^[1] He served as a captain during the French and Indian War^[5] for the Provincial Forces of Pennsylvania from 1755 to 1756.^[6] He agreed to join the fight after General Edward Braddock was ambushed not far from Easttown Township.^[2] He raised a company of men out of Chester County and was commissioned captain. He aided in the defense of Northampton County, Pennsylvania and helped in the construction of Fort Allen. He was stationed at Nazareth, Monroe County and at Gnadden Hutten, a Moravian town at the current site of Allentown, Pennsylvania. In February, 1756, the company was disbanded but Wayne raised a second company which participated in the Forbes Expedition during 1757 and 1758.^[7]

He served as the representative for Chester County in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from 1757 to 1763.^[6]

At the age of forty, he married Elizabeth Iddings and together they had four children:

• Anthony Wayne, a major general during the American Revolution
• Hannah, who married Samuel Van Leer, a Captain during the American Revolution, owner of a large Iron business and nearby historical homes.
• Ann, who married Capt. William Hayman
• Margaret, who married Col. Holstein^[1]

Wayne was an early patron of art from Benjamin West and purchased six chalk drawings done by West as a youth for $6.^[8]

Isaac Wayne Tombstone in St. David's Episcopal Church Cemetery

Wayne died in November 1774 at Easttown Township, Pennsylvania^[3] and was interred in the graveyard of St. David's Episcopal Church in Radnor, Pennsylvania.^[9]

Sources

1. "Wayne Affiliated Family Captain Anthony Wayne, Battle of the Boyne Veteran and American Immigrant". www.vanleerarchives.org. Van Leer Archives. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
2. Stockwell, Mary (2018). Unlikely General: "Mad" Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-0-300-21475-8. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
3. Glenn, Thomas Allen (1900). Some colonial mansions and those who lived in them. Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Company. p. 310. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
4. Caust-Ellenbogen, Celia. ""Mad" Anthony Wayne". Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
5. Caust-Ellenbogen, Celia; Leu, Sarah. "Historic Wayneborough collection" (PDF). www.dia.library.upenn.edu. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
6. Peale, A.C. (1904). Register of the Society of Colonial Wars in the District of Columbia. Washington, D.C.: The Society on Colonial Wars. p. 119. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
7. Jordan, John W. (1978). Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. Baltimore, Maryland: Clearfield Publishing. p. 1322. ISBN 0-8063-0811-7. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
8. Flexner, James Thomas (1967). America's Old Masters. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. p. 321. ISBN 0-486-27957-X. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
9. The History of Old St. David's Church Radnor, Delaware County, Pennsylvania With a Complete Alphabetical List of Wardens and Vestrymen, and of the Interments in the Graveyard 1700-1906. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company. 1907. p. 195. Retrieved 9 July 2022.