Richardson-Yarnall family pictures

Hannah Haines Thornton (1765-1822) was the widow of Joseph Thornton, a Quaker minister of Byberry Monthly Meeting. Joseph was the son of James Thornton (1751-1794), also a minister, and Mary Knight. The family resided on a large property in Byberry, purchased in 1752. Hannah Haines and Joseph Thornton were married in 1783 at Evesham Monthly Meeting, New Jersey, and they had three sons. Joseph Thornton and two sons died by 1790. Hannah was an Elder and then acknowledged as a minister by Byberry Monthly Meeting. In 1797, she married fellow widower Peter Yarnall and assumed responsibility for the children of his first marriage. Peter Yarnall and Hannah Thornton Yarnall had one child, Hannah (1797-1876), and the family lived on the homestead of James Thornton in Byberry. Peter Yarnall died 1798, 2 month, 20. Hannah Haines Yarnall travelled widely in the ministry and died month 2, 1822.

Hannah and Joseph Thornton's surviving son, James (1785-1858) married first Grace Thornton in 1811. She died in 1813, and he married secondly Rebecca Stokes in 1818 under the care of Moorestown Monthly Meeting. Hannah and Peter Yarnall's only child, daughter Hannah, married Nathaniel Richardson at Byberry Monthly Meeting in 1816, thus linking the Yarnall and Richardson families.

In 1816, Peter Yarnall's youngest child, Hannah, married Nathaniel Richardson (1794-1872), son of Joseph and Ruth Hoskins Richardson, uniting the Yarnalls with the Richardson family, renowned Philadelphia silversmiths. Nathaniel's grandfather was Joseph Richardson (1711-1784) known as the greatest gold and silversmith of his day. He married Hannah Worrell in 1741, and they had two children, Elizabeth and Grace. He married second Mary Allen (1716-1782) in 1748 under the care of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. They had five children: Hannah (1748-1817) who married Samuel Clark; Mary (1750-1835) married Samuel Taylor; Nathaniel (1754-1827) who remained unmarried; Joseph (1752-1831) married Ruth Hoskins in 1780; and Rebecca (1758-1826), unmarried. The brothers Nathaniel and Joseph started as business partners in Philadelphia. Nathanial subsequently went into business as a merchant, and Joseph continued as a silversmith and assayer. Joseph (1752-1831) and Ruth Hoskins Richardson had six surviving children including Mary (1791-1837) who married John Elliott, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Hannah who did not marry; John (1790-1866) married Martha Gibbons and worked as an assayer and bookseller; and Nathaniel (1793-1872) who married Hannah Yarnall and moved his family to the Thornton homestead in Byberry which had been inherited by his mother-in-law, Hannah Haines Yarnall.

Nathaniel and Hannah Yarnall had twelve children including Mary (1817-1874) who married Thomas J. Husband, manufacturer of Husband's Magnesia. A son, Nathaniel (1839-1920) was a Quaker minister and pharmacist. He married Mary K. Cooper in 1862. Elizabeth a91830-1947) married Simon Gillam. The youngest child, Elliott Richardson (1842-1883), a prominent Philadelphia physician, married Achsah Nevins in 1876. Elliott died after a short illness in 1887, and his widow died two years later of tuberculosis. The couple's five young children were largely raised by their unmarried aunts at the family home, Chestnut Glen, in Byberry. Hannah (1877), the eldest, married Edwin A. Gaskill. Katharine (1878-1966) was a prominent illustrator and married Henry F. Wireman. The three younger children were all graduates of Swarthmore College. Elliott (1881-1964) married Dorothy Strode and served as long-time manager of Swarthmore Borough, Pennsylvania. James Nevins Richardson (1883-1971) married Estelle Bowman, and Frances Richardson (1886-1973) compiled additional family papers, with transcriptions.