b. July 4, 1720 prob. Salem, Mass.
d. Aug. 21, 1765 Radnor, Pa.

Thomas was apprenticed as a carpenter. By 1744 he had arrived in Phila., Pa., for reasons not known. Perhaps it was due to an expectation that life in Philadelphia would be more tolerant than it was in Salem, Mass. Thomas' mother Sarah had remarried to Henry Clifton in 1733 at Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, and thus it is possible that Sarah had made the decision to go to Pennsylvania, taking Thomas with her.

On Mar. 25, 1743, Thomas purchased from William Parker, property on Front Street in Philadelphia, 30 feet wide and extending 248 feet from front to back.

On Mar. 12, 1748, Thomas purchased from William Parker another property, this one on Filbert Alley for 325 pounds. The deed was recorded Sept. 8, 1753. The property was on the north side of Filbert Alley, 154 feet west of Front Street, and measured 25 feet by 68 1/2 feet Parker had obtained the property from his wife Elizabeth's mother Elizabeth Preston. Yet two more parcels were purchased from Parker on Dec. 13, 1748 and Mar. 8, 1749. The deeds to these other properties were recorded on Nov. 12 and 13, 1753.

Thomas disposed of portions of these parcels to Rebecca Edgell (twice), William Rush, Israel Pemberton, Abraham Carlisle, and Jonathan Clifford.

On Dec. 18, 1744, in Phila., Pa., Thomas married Susanna Hogg, daughter of James Hogg. Susanna died on Feb. 2, 1752, probably in Phila., Pa. Thomas and Susanna had four children:

John	b. 1746	d. Apr. 15, 1746 Phila., Pa.
Mary	b. 1748	d. Apr. 14, l748 Phila., Pa.
Sarah	b. 1750 Phila., Pa.	d. 1764 Radnor, Pa.
Mary	b. 1752	d. Feb. 6, 1752

Thomas and Susanna lived on Front Street in Phila., Pa. He acquired the property in four transactions; when completed, the parcel was 45 feet in Front Street, and 100 feet west from Front Street, and 100 feet west from Front Street, with Gilbert's Alley on the south side.

In 1752, shortly after Susanna died, Thomas gave up his carpentry business, and sold his house to Abraham Carlisle on Mar. 22, 1753 for 440 pounds. He then opened a shop on Second Street opposite Christ Church. It was here that in 1753 that he met Zillah Walker, whom he married on Aug. 10, 1753, at Valley Monthly Meeting near Valley Forge, Pa. Zillah was the daughter of Daniel and Lydia (Barnard) Walker. Zillah was born on June 29, 1732 in Tredyffrin Twp., Chester Co., Pa., and died on July 6, 1811, in West Bradford Twp., Chester Co., Pa.; she is buried at Bradford Friends Burying Ground.

There are several accounts in the Maule family of how Thomas and Zillah met. One version of the story is that on her trip to the city to make purchases, Zillah had difficulty in getting Thomas to prepare the articles she wanted to purchase and in getting a correct settlement of her bill. Another version is that Zillah tendered Thomas a gold coin, and he told her he did not know how much change was due her, and directed her to go to his drawer and take the proper change herself. Yet another version is that when Zillah returned home she told her family that Friend Maule had given her too much change, declared that it was incorrect, but was not allowed by her parents to return to Philadelphia to give back the extra change.

There is at least one account in the Walker family of how Thomas and Zillah met, found in Priscilla Walker Streets' 1896 genealogy of the Walker Family, in "Lewis Walker of Chester Valley"; it is as follows:

"She (Zillah) is said to have been a most comely damsel, and while on a visit to Philadelphia so attracted the attention of the young merchant (Thomas) of whom she was making some purchases that he desired to become better acquainted. He therefore adopted the happy expedient of not being able to make the right change, and promised to take it himself to her home in the Valley on the following 'First Day'. He rode up with the money at the appointed time, and was so much pleased with his visit that he came again, and yet again, and it ended in a wedding at the Valley Meeting-house on the 10th day of 8th mo. 1753. Although the acquaintance had a romantic beginning, we may be sure Daniel and Lydia Walker had a knowledge of the stranger's family before he was admitted into their household, and as they were married by Meeting, a strict inquiry would be made into his character and antecedents before consent would be given to the marriage."

After their marriage, Thomas and Zillah lived in Philadelphia until August of 1756. In that month, Thomas sold his shop and purchased a farm in Radnor Twp., Chester (now Delaware) Co., Pa., to which they moved. The farm, 140 acres in size, was located on the present site of the business district of Wayne, Pa. On the farm, Thomas built a stone house, which was one of the largest and most valuable houses in Radnor. It is possible that Thomas' brother Joseph (19) took over the store after Thomas moved to Radnor. Thomas also purchased, on June 6, 1753, 200 acres from Samuel Lewis on the east side of Gulph Rd. in Tredyffrin Twp., Chester Co.; years later his son John (1E7) would live and farm on that land.

Thomas and Zillah had seven children:

Daniel	b. Sept. 3, 1754 Phila., Pa.
Thomas	b. Dec. l8, 1755 Phila., Pa.
John	b. Oct. 24, 1757 Radnor, Pa.
Jacob	b. May 21, 1759 Radnor, Pa.
Benjamin	b. Mar. 16, 1760 Radnor, Pa.
Ebenezer	b . Sept. 8, 1762 Radnor, Pa.
Lewis	b. Aug. 8, 1764 Radnor, Pa.

Of their daily life very little is known. On Dec. 22, 1762, Elizabeth Wilkinson, a Friends minister from England, stayed at Thomas Maule's home for dinner.

After Thomas died, Zillah married (Sept. 10, 1767, at Radnor, Pa.) Joshua Brown of Little Britain Twp., Lancaster Co., Pa, by whom she had two children, Lydia and Israel. (Lydia married Merrick Embree and their descendants are numerous in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.) Joshua Brown, a renowned minister of the Religious Society of Friends, was an abolitionist and a temperance advocate; he made quite an impression on the young Maule boys. It is believed Zillah met Joshua when he was on one of his journeys as a Friends minister and was staying at the home of Daniel Walker.

Thomas Maule's will was quite unusual, because in it he left his property, including the farm, to Zillah and his children in equal shares, rather than to the oldest child. After Zillah married Joshua Brown, she and the Maule boys moved to Little Britain Twp., Lancaster Co., Pa. The Radnor farm was rented until all the children attained legal age.

Source: Maule, Gen. of the Maule Fam.; Maule, Sketch of Maule Fam. Hist.; Leeds Gen.; Cummin, A Rare and Pleasing Thing: Radnor, p. 134; Streets, Walker Gen.; Miller & Robison Notes; Rec. of Radnor MM & Phila. MM; EAQG; 18 Bull. Friends Hist. Assn. 90 (1929); Phila. Deed Book H4, p. 152, H5, p. 104, 133, 136, 140

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