Nielsen Hayden genealogy
Catherine
- 1770-
Name Catherine Birth Europe 
[1] Gender Female Death Between 4 Aug 1770 and 20 Aug 1770 Frederick County, Maryland [1] Person ID I31367 Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of ASF Last Modified 28 Nov 2020
Children + 1. William Toms d. 1823 Family ID F18615 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 28 Nov 2020
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Notes - She was definitely the mother of William Toms, and definitely born in the Old World. Her husband, and the father of William, may have been the John Toms who was a farmer in Maryland between 1748 and his death in 1753. Roy H. Wampler devotes 22 pages of The Derr Family 1750-1986 (citation details below) to analyzing the evidence before concluding that this John Toms cannot be placed with certainty as her husband and William's father. But the 4 Aug 1770 will of "Catherine Toms of Frederick County" makes it clear that she was William's mother.
Conflicting claims have been made over the years, among Toms descendants and others, as to whether the Toms family was of English or German descent. Weighing the evidence at some length, Wampler concludes that they were more likely German.
She is recorded as one of twelve persons who appeared before three judges of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on the 24th and 29th of September, 1768, in order to become naturalized. Of those twelve, seven, including Catherine Toms, were described as being "of the People called Quakers, who conscientiously scruple to take an Oath" and who therefore took an affirmation instead. Wampler (citation details below) observes that she probably became a British citizen in order to be able to pass her real estate to her heirs.
- She was definitely the mother of William Toms, and definitely born in the Old World. Her husband, and the father of William, may have been the John Toms who was a farmer in Maryland between 1748 and his death in 1753. Roy H. Wampler devotes 22 pages of The Derr Family 1750-1986 (citation details below) to analyzing the evidence before concluding that this John Toms cannot be placed with certainty as her husband and William's father. But the 4 Aug 1770 will of "Catherine Toms of Frederick County" makes it clear that she was William's mother.
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Sources - [S5077] The Derr Family 1750-1986, with Allied Families of Baker, Flook, Hoover, Koogle, Long, Metzger, Smith, Templing, Toms, Yaste, and Youtsey by Roy H. Wampler. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1987.
- [S5077] The Derr Family 1750-1986, with Allied Families of Baker, Flook, Hoover, Koogle, Long, Metzger, Smith, Templing, Toms, Yaste, and Youtsey by Roy H. Wampler. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1987.