Bio: James Logan

A brief biography taken from Wikipedia (online), and notes on correspondence related to the Markham family.

James Logan (October 20, 1674–October 31, 1751), a statesman and scholar, was born in Lurgan, County Armagh, Ireland, of Scottish descent and Quaker parentage. Logan served as colonial secretary to William Penn. he held a number of public offices, including Mayor of Philadelphia. He was a founding trustee of the College of Philadelphia, the predecessor of the University of Pennsylvania. His parents were Patrick Logan (1640-1700) and Isabella, Lady Hume (1647-1722), who married in early 1671, in Midlothia, Scotland. His father had a masters of art degree from the University of Edinburgh, and originally was an Anglican clergyman before converting to Quakerism. [James Logan] appears to have received a good classical and mathematical education, and to have acquired a knowledge of modern languages not common at the period. The War of 1689–'91 obliged him to follow his parents, first to Edinburgh, and then to London and Bristol, England . . In 1699, he came to the colony of Pennsylvania aboard the Canterbury as William Penn's secretary . . After advancing through several political offices, including commissioner of property (1701), receiver general (1703), clerk (1701), and member of the provincial council (1703), he was elected mayor of Philadelphia in 1722. He later served as the colony's chief justice from 1731 to 1739, and in the absence of a governor of Pennsylvania, became acting governor from 1736 to 1738 . . Meanwhile, he engaged in various mercantile pursuits, especially fur trading, with such success that he became one of the wealthiest men in the colonies. He wrote numerous scholarly papers published by the American Philosophical Society and European journals. Logan was also a natural scientist whose primary contribution to the emerging field of botany . . While Logan would eventually become mayor of Philadelphia, chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, lieutenant governor, and acting governor he is perhaps best known, however, for being a bibliophile, confessing once that "Books are my disease". He collected a personal library of over 3,000 volumes. Some commentators consider Logan's library to have been the largest and best collection of classical writings in America at that time . . James Logan's mother came to live with him in Philadelphia in 1717. She died on January 17, 1722, at Stenton. His daughter, Sarah, married Isaac Norris. Logan died in 1751 at Stenton, near Germantown, at the age of 77, and was buried at the site of Arch Street Friends Meeting House.
[source] Wikipedia.

During his years of service in Pennsylvania, James Logan wrote several letters to, or about, members of the Markham family that add interest to the story of Governor William Markham and his descendants:

1704-5; James Logan mentions the death and funeral of William Markham, and the pursuit of his estate by descendants, mentioning widow Markham and her son-in-law Jacob Regnier.

1705 (1704?); James Logan wrote more on the efforts of Jacob Regnier, son-in-law of Joanna Markham, to settle portions of the William Markham estate.

1722; Hannah Penn to James Logan; Theodore Coleby's request.

1734; James Logan's opinion on certain land titles in Pennsylvania. Gives his recollections on a large land grant that went from Governor William Markham to his descendants, including his widow Joanna Markham, his daughter Mary Ann Markham Brown, his step-daughter Elizabeth Jobson Regnier, and his widow's nephew Theodore Coleby. Interesting retelling of Theodore Coleby's efforts to claim his inheritance from his aunt.

Do you want to know more?
Link to James Logan
Link to Gov William Markham
Link to Joanna (widow of William Markham)
Link to Theodore Coleby
Letters: James Logan to William Penn in 1704-1705.
Letters: Hannah Penn 1722 and James Logan 1734.

Biography of James Logan; compiled by Pamela Hutchison Garrett for John Markham of Chesterfield website; 2015.