USA > Delaware > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 35
USA > New Jersey > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 35
USA > Pennsylvania > Narratives of early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey and Delaware, 1630-1707 > Part 35
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" A half-brother, born in 1675.
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447
PASTORIUS'S PENNSYLVANIA
1699]
the utmost danger to his soul, so many things that are to be forgotten, and I would far rather counsel him with brotherly kindness that he should learn an agreeable and easy trade by which he might serve God and his fellow-Christian; the which, although it is considered contemptible and insignificant among you, is nevertheless much more in accordance with the divine command and the teaching of the Apostles than all the scho- lastic trickeries; since for the most part the most highly versed are the most highly perverted, and scientia mundana inflat.1 Such high and haughty spirits are desirous to cut a great figure afterwards and for this they require large amounts of money, which they endeavor to obtain per fas et nefas? to the detriment of their neighbors, that their wives and children may be always able to loiter about, à la mode.
In contrast to this, humble people wise in divine things say with Antonius: Non data non cupio,' and agree with Pal- ingenius, contentum vivere parvo, with whom St. Paul agrees in his Epistle to the Hebrews, xiii. 5.
I now close for this time. I have written this letter in the confident hope that it will find you all together in prosperous circumstances, but should the French take it on the way from here to you, I am likewise contented with that if they only suffer themselves to be satisfied with such small plunder, and do not otherwise injure you. But should they, by the divine fore-ordering, do this also, then pray for them, that God may convert them, and give you a tranquil heart under all circum- stances. To Whose all-powerful protecting hand I commend you all together, and I remain, etc.
Letters from the two younger Pastorii, from Germanton, March 4. 1699.
Dearly-loved Grandfather:
Our father tells us that to repay thine outpouring love and affection for us is as impossible as to swim against the stream, which neither one of us can do. For this reason we thank thee heartily, and so far as relates to thy pictures sent over here, none of which we had ever seen before, there appeared among
" "Worldly knowledge puffeth up." ""By right or wrong."
""I do not desire that which is not given." ""To live content with little."
Y
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448
NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
[1699
them an unknown bird whose tail is larger than he is himself; he represents, so we are taught, proud people, from which sin may God defend us.
Further on, a boy in a red coat is falling down from the globe. Whether this was slippery, or whether the poor child did not know what to hold on by, subsequent experience shall teach us when we have become somewhat older. Thy rhymes written on the reverse side greatly please our parents, and they wish that we shall never forget them, especially the end of the poem:
May we love Jesus Christ aright And be His service our delight.
We very often desire to be with thee. Oh, that thou wert here and didst dwell in our house in Germanton, which has a beautiful orchard, and at present stands empty because we are living in Philadelphia, and must go to school for eight hours every day, excepting the last day of the week, when we may stay at home in the afternoon. Because we do not dare to cherish the hope that we shall see thee, our dear and honored grand-father, here with us, we earnestly request thee to give us some information regarding thine origin and dear. parents so that if any one of us should one day go from here to Germany, we could ask after our relatives. Wilt thou also greet our dear cousins most kindly on our behalf, and suggest to them to write letters to us frequently, which will also be very wel- come to us, after our father's death, and we will not fail, with the help of other pious people, to continue the correspondence.
In the meantime we greet you all once more most affec- tionately, wishing from the bottom of our hearts that it may be well with you all, in time and in eternity, and we remain to the end of our lives, under the faithful guardianship of God, dearly-loved grandfather, thy dutiful grandsons,
JOHANN SAMUEL and HENRICUS PASTORIUS.1
" Then aged respectively nine and seven. The remainder of the book, an autobiography of Melchior Adam Pastorius, written in response to this request of his grandsons, is omitted from the present translation as having no direct rela- tion to American history.
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LETTER OF JOHN JONES, 1725 .
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INTRODUCTION
THE number of persons of Welsh descent in the province of Pennsylvania was much less than the number of the Ger- mans. Yet they were a large body; the early Welsh settlers were of a high grade; they furnished many leaders to the province, in politics and in all three of the learned professions; and they for the most part settled as a compact body in one large area, commonly known as the Welsh Tract. Therefore, they made upon the life of the province so large a mark that they deserve to be represented in such a volume as the present.
The narrative which follows, great as its interest is, was not written by or concerning a member of the chief contingent of Welsh settlers. Thomas John Evan seems to have been the first Welsh colonist in Penn's province, arriving in April, 1682. But the mass of the first Welsh settlers arrived in August of that year. They were Quakers from Merionethshire who had felt the hand of persecution. They had bought from Penn in England five thousand acres of unsurveyed land, and had been promised by him the reservation of a larger tract, which they meant to keep exclusively for Welsh settlers. As the royal charter permitted Penn to erect manors, they perhaps expected to have a manorial jurisdiction. At all events, they had for a time some special privileges of local self-government, and the tract of forty thousand acres which they ultimately secured was often called the Welsh Barony. After their arrival in the province they found some difficulty in obtaining a survey laying out their promised amount of land in one tract, but finally received grants substantially covering six townships. Their tract lay on the west side of the Schuylkill
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NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
River, north of Philadelphia. It is represented by the present Welsh names of Merion, Radnor, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Uwchlan, and the vigor and industry of the Cymry began early to give it the garden quality it has to-day.
The writer of the following letter alludes, at the middle of his text, to this main body of Welsh colonists, but the story he has to tell is that of an earlier and isolated Welsh settler, his father, Thomas Sion (John) Evan. The son, after the Welsh manner of giving patronymic names, was called John Jones (i. e., John son of John, or, in Welsh, John ap John). The letter, which internal evidence shows to have been written in 1725, was first printed in Welsh in July, 1806, in a Welsh magazine published in London called Y Greal (The Historical Magazine), no. V., pp. 210-214. In this print nothing is said of the source of the text, but a footnote says, "The editors would be glad to receive information about the family of the writer of the above letter, from any of his descendants, for publication in the following number."
The letter was printed again at Bala, Wales, in January, 1831, in the Welsh magazine Y Gwyliedydd (The Sentinel), VIII. 15-17. This text differs somewhat from the earlier print, not in anything essential, chiefly in certain orthographic peculiarities which are more likely those of the original letter than are the forms used in Y Greal. The correspondent who sent it to Y Gwyliedydd (his signature is simply "Gower," and he writes from "Bryn yr Hydd"), had apparently not seen the earlier print. He writes, in Welsh, "I got the following letter in a manuscript of the works of the late reverend bard, Rowland Hugh of Graienyn, near Bala. I have heard that it was printed in the year 1806, in the publication called Y Greal, . . . but since that excellent and entertaining book is so very unfamiliar in the land that not one in a thousand knows any- thing about it I have not hesitated to send the letter for repub- lication in Y Gwyliedydd."
453
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INTRODUCTION
In April, 1831, an English translation of the letter was printed in London in the Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, III. 141-144. From this source it was reprinted, but with omis- sions, in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, XIII. 227-231, and in Mr. Thomas Allen Glenn's Merion in the Welsh Tract (Norristown, 1896, pp. 41-44). In the following translation, the passages omitted in these versions have been restored, and incorrect dates not found in the original but supplied by in- ference have been eliminated. In the process of revision of the English translation, the general editor of the series has been greatly aided by Dr. F. N. Robinson, professor of Celtic at Harvard University, and by Mr. Jasper M. Lawford of Baltimore. The foot-notes are by the editor of the volume, Mr. A. C. Myers, to whom the determination of the correct date of the letter is also due.
J. F. J.
LETTER OF JOHN JONES, 1725
My Kinsman, Hugh Jones:
I received a letter from you, dated May 8 last [1725];1 and I was glad to find that one of my relatives, in the old land of which I have heard so much, was pleased to recollect me. I have heard my father speak much about old Wales; but I was born in this woody region, this new world.
I remember him frequently mentioning such places as Llanycil, Llanuwchllyn, Llanfor, Llangwm, Bala, Llangower, Llyn Tegid, Arenig Fawr, Fron Dderw, Brynllysg, Phenbryn, Cyffdy, Glanllafar, Fron Goch, Llaethgwm, Hafodfadog, Cwm Tir y Mynach, Cwm Glan Lleidiog, Trawsfynydd, Tai Hirion yn Mignaint, and many others.ª It is probably uninteresting to you to hear these names of places; but it affords me great delight even to think of them, although I do not know what kind of places they are; and indeed I long much to see them, having heard my father and mother so often speak in the most affectionate manner of the kind-hearted and innocent old people who lived in them, most of whom are now gone to their long home. Frequently, during long winter evenings, would they in merry mood prolong their conversation about their native land till midnight; and even after they had retired to rest, they would sometimes fondly recall to each other's recollec- tion some man, or hill, house, or rock. Really I can scarcely express in words how delighted this harmless old couple were to talk of their old habitations, their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, having been now twenty-four years' in
1 This date determined by reckoning from the internal evidence. 1705 as supplied in the Welsh text in the magazine Y Gwyliedydd is erroneous.
' All these places are in North Wales; most of them are in Merionethshire, near the town of Bala, or in adjacent Denbighshire. Nearly all are easily iden- tified. "Llanfor" is Llanvawr. Arenig Fawr is a mountain west of Bala. "Brynllysg" is Bryneglwys.
' The son apparently was recalling the reminiscences of his parents of about the year 1706, near the close of the father's life, or twenty-four years after 1682, the year of the father's arrival in Pennsylvania.
454
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LETTER OF JOHN JONES
1681]
a distant and foreign land, without even the hope of seeing them more. I fear this narrative will be irksome to you; but I cannot forbear when I think of these innocent artless old people.
And now, my kinsman, I will give you an account of the life and fortunes of my dear father, from the time when he left Wales to the day of his death. Three weeks to the time when he first heard tell of Pennsylvania, at St. Peter's Fair in Bala he took leave of his neighbors and relatives, who were taking account of his departure for London.1 He was waiting three months' for a ship; after boarding the first ship he set out ' from England by [or upon] the name of William Penn." He had a very tempestuous passage for several weeks; and when in sight of the river [Delaware], owing to adverse winds and a boisterous sea, the sails were torn, and the rudder in- jured. By this disaster they were greatly disheartened, and were obliged to go back to Barbadoes, where they continued three weeks, expending much money in refitting their ship. Being now ready for a second attempt, they easily accomplished their voyage, and arrived safely in the river [Delaware] on the 16th of April, being thirty weeks from the time they left London. During this long voyage he learned to speak and read English tolerably well.
1 This sentence, which is translated literally, may be taken in either of two ways, but counting backward from the date of arrival in America-assuming that date as well as the length of the voyage to be correctly stated-the following would seem to be the acceptable interpretation: June 8, 1681, he first heard of Pennsylvania. Three weeks later in Bala at St. Peter's Fair, which occurred June 29, he took leave of his neighbors and relatives, who had gathered there to take account of his departure for London.
' Nearly three months, or possibly a week less than three months, to agree with the other dates given, and to allow several days, after June 29, for the journey from Bala, in Wales, to London.
'September 18, 1681, the day he left London, counting thirty weeks to April 16, 1682, the time of his arrival in Delaware River.
"That William Penn was the name of this ship is open to question. The meaning is obscure in the Welsh text, which is here literally translated. No vessel of that name, it may be stated, after some years' diligent search of printed and manuscript sources, in the compiling a list of merchant ships sailing to the Delaware in that period, has been found. The intention may be to state, as Professor Robinson suggests, that a company sailed under Penn's orders or pat- ronage.
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NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
[1682
They now came up the river a hundred and twenty miles,1 to the place where Philadelphia is at present situated. At that time there was, as the Welsh say, na thy nac ymogor (neither house nor shelter), but the wild woods; nor any one to welcome them to' land. A poor outlook, this, for persons who had been so long at sea, many of whom had spent their little all. This was not the place for remaining stationary. My father therefore went alone where chance led him, to en- deavor to obtain the means of subsistence. He longed very much at this time for milk. During his wanderings he met with a drunken old man, who understood neither Welsh nor English, and who, noticing the stranger, invited him to his dwelling, where he was received by the old man's wife and several sons in the most hospitable manner. They were Swedes. Here he made his home, till he had a habitation of his own.
As you shall hear, during this summer (1682) our governor, William Penn, Esquire, arrived here, together with several from England, having bought lands here. They now began to divide the country into allotments, and to plan the city of Philadelphia, (which was to be more than two miles in length), laying it out in streets and squares, etc., with portions of land assigned to several of the houses. He also bought the free- hold of the soil from the Indians, a savage race of men, who have lived here from time immemorial, as far as I am able to under- stand. They can give no account of themselves, not knowing when or whence they came here; an irrational set, I should imagine; but they have some kind of reason, too, and extra- ordinary natural endowments in their peculiar way; they are very observant of their customs, and more unblamable, in many respects, than we are. They had neither towns nor villages, but lived in booths or tents.
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In the autumn of this year several from Wales arrived here: Edward ab Rhys, Edward Jones of Bala, William ab Edward, and many others.' By this time there was a kind of neigh-
1 It is only about ninety miles from the mouth of Delaware Bay to Philadelphia.
" This was the company of Dr. Edward Jones, of Bala, Edward ap Rhys, or Rees, of Bryn Lloyd, William ap Edward, of Ucheldri, and others-in all forty- who came over from Wales in this same year, 1682, sailing from Liverpool in the ship Lyon, John Compton, master, and arriving in the Schuylkill River, August
457
1682]
LETTER OF JOHN JONES
borhood here, although as neighbors they could little benefit each other. They were sometimes employed in making huts beneath some cliff, or under the hollow banks of rivulets, thus sheltering themselves where their fancy dictated.' There were neither cows nor horses to be had at any price. "If we have bread, we will drink water, and be content," they said; yet no one was in want, and all were much attached to each other; indeed much more so, perhaps, than many who have every outward comfort this world can afford.
During this eventful period, our governor began to build mansion-houses at different intervals, to the distance of fifty miles' from the city, although the country appeared a com- plete wilderness.
The governor was a clever intelligent man, possessing great penetration, affable in discourse, and a pleasant orator; a man of rank, no doubt, but he did not succeed according to his merit; the words of the bard Edward Morys' might be applied to him:
The old person did not keep a fragment of his sense; He fell away to the pursuit of wealth.
At this time my father, Thomas Sion Evan, was living with the Swedes, as I mentioned before, and intending daily to re- turn to Wales; but as time advanced, the country improved. In the course of three years several were beginning to obtain a pretty good livelihood, and my father determined to remain with them. There was by this time no land to be bought within twelve miles of the city; and my father, having pur-
13. They settled on the west side of the Schuylkill River, in Lower Merion. Dr. Edward Jones's interesting contemporary narrative of the voyage and settlement of the party is printed in the Pennsylvania Magasine, IV. 314-317 (1880).
' Many of Penn's first settlers made their temporary homes in caves or dug- outs in the bank or bluff of the Delaware, in the town of Philadelphia, and in other places on the Schuylkill and without the town.
" Penn's country-seat, Pennsbury, up the Delaware River in Bucks County, was only about twenty-seven miles from Philadelphia.
Edward Morris, Welsh poet, of Perthi Llwydion, near Cerryg y Drudion, Denbighshire, Wales, was one of the best known writers of carols and ballads during the second half of the seventeenth century in Wales. He died in Essex, England,.in 1689, while travelling, no doubt in the pursuit of his occupation as drover.
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NARRATIVES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA
[1707
chased a small tract of land,1 married the widow of Thomas Llwyd ' of Penmaen.
You have heard tell in Dyffryn Clwyd Of Thomas Lloyd of Penmaen.
He now went to live near the woods. It was a very rare but pleasing thing to hear a neighbor's cock crow. My father had now only one small horse; and his wife was much afflicted with the tertian ague. We might suppose that many things would be revolved in the mind of a man in such a situation as this; but I never heard him complain of the difficulties under which he labored. Everything was agreeable to these inno- cent people; although in want of some present necessaries, yet they were peaceable and friendly to each other. In pro- cess of time, however, the little which he had prospered, so that he became possessed of horses, cows, and everything else that was necessary for him, or even that he wished; indeed he never coveted much. During the latter years of his life, he kept twelve good milch cows. He had eight children, but I was the eldest. Having lived in this manner twenty-four years, he now became helpless and infirm, and very subject to diffi- culty of breathing at the close of his day's labor. He was a muscular man, very careful and attentive to his worldly occu- pations. About the end of July [1707], eighteen years to last July, he became sick, and much enfeebled by a severe fever; but asthma was his chief complaint. Having been thus five weeks indisposed, he departed this life,' leaving a small farm each for my brother and myself, a corresponding portion for my sister, and a fair dower for my mother. My sister married
1 His farm of 300 acres was in the southern part of Radnor Township, in Chester, now Delaware County, about midway between present Bryn Mawr and Newtown Square. Ithan Creek flows through the eastern part, and Darby Creek through the western part. The Radnor Hunt Club is located on the tract.
" Thomas John Evan was married in 1686 to Lowery Jones, of Merion, widow of Thomas Lloyd. Thomas Lloyd, of "Penmaen," a township in the parish of Llanvawr, Merionethshire, Wales, was a bard of note before he became a Quaker. Some of his verses on the subject of his convincement were printed in the Welsh magazine Y Gwyliedydd, for March, 1824.
"Thomas John Evan died in 1707, and was buried in the Friends' burial ground near Radnor Meeting House.
459
1707]
LETTER OF JOHN JONES
Rhisiart ab Tomas ab Rhys, a man whom I much respected prior to his marriage, and still regard. My brother and I con- tinue to live with my mother, as before, endeavoring to imi- tate our father in the management of his affairs; but we are in many respects unequal to him. Our mother is seventy-three years old, somewhat infirm, but enjoying pretty good health, considering her age.
And now, my kind kinsman, I have given you the history of my father and myself, and I hope you will be pleased with it. Do send me some news; if you should have anything re- . markable to mention I should be glad to hear it .- I must con- clude my letter.
Your kinsman,
HUGH JONES.1
By error in the Welsh magazines for John Jones.
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1
INDEX
Accorrac, 97, 101-102. Acosta, Rev. José de, 368, 368 n. Acrelius, Rev. Israel, life of, 54-55; his book, 55. Africa, 364. Albany, trading post at, 57. Allaway River, 350. Allen, Nathaniel, 271, 271 n. Allerton, Isaac, 145, 145 n.
America, Winsor's Narrative and Crit-
ical History of, 94; Blome's Present State of . . . Isles and Territories in, 222, 257; first paper-mill in, 305 n .; divisions and discovery of, 364, 365- 368.
America, ship, 389 n., 395 n. Amisackan Fall, 159 n.
Amity, ship, 291. Amundsson, Hans, 146, 146 n., 148. Anabaptists, see Baptists. Ancocus Kill, 66. Anders, Carpenter, 111. Anderson, Anders, 113, 114.
Anderson, Claas, 111.
Anderson, Eric, 110.
Anderson, Johan, 113, 114.
Anderson, Lars, 114, 115.
Anderson, Måns, 111.
Anderson, Nils, 114. Anderson, Per, 114.
Anderson, Swen, 112. Anderson, Zahris, 115. Andress, skipper, 111.
Andros, Sir Edmund, 190. . Apoquenema Kill, see Appoquinimink Creek. Appoquinimink Creek, 140, 320. Arfwedson, Carl David, De Colonia Nova Suecia, 169.
Argall, Gov. Samuel, drives out Dutch, 57. Armewamen, or Armewanninge, 20, 24. Asia, 364. Aspenwall, William, 100 n.
Assemblies, legislative, 239; at Chester, 220; at Philadelphia, 220-221. Assiscunk Creek, 350.
Backer, Conrad, 389 n.
Bagge, Mårten, 115. Baltimore, Cecil, Lord, controversy with Claiborne, 34.
Baltimore, Charles, Lord, confers with Penn, 220; aggressions of, 257, 259. Bambo Hook, see Bombay Hook. Baptists, in Pennsylvania, 335; in West New Jersey, 347. Barbados, 10, 291.
Barker, Thomas, 290, 290 n.
Barlow, Samuel L. M., collection of, 36.
Bartholomew, George, 404 n.
Behagel, Abraham, 430.
Behagel, Daniel, 388, 441.
Berkeley, John, Lord, 183, 183 n., 184.
Beschreibung der . . . Provinz Pensyl- vanien, 222, 249.
Beschreibung der Landschafft Pensyl- vania, by Pastorius, 358.
Beskrifning om de Swenska Försam- lingars . . . Nya Swerige, by Rev. Israel Acrelius, 55. Bible, translated by Eliot, 366, 366 n. Big Timber Creek, 350.
Biörnson, Lars, 114.
Biörnson, Mårten, 115.
Bird Griffin, see Grip, ship.
Black Cat, ship, 65.
Blome, Richard, Present State of .. . Isles and Territories in America, 222, 257.
Blommaert, Samuel, 7.
Blue Anchor Inn, 404, 404 n. Bock, Niklas, 112. Boije, Christer, 116. Bom, Cornelius, 395, 395 n.
Bombay Hook, 67.
Bonde, Anders, 114. Bonnell, Benjamin, 156, 156 n.
463
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464
INDEX
Boyer, Alexander, 66. Bradford, William, 224 n., 297, 305 n., 432. Brady, Cyrus Townsend, 312. Brady, Henry Austin, 312. Brandywine Creek, 238, 320. Brasil, 365.
Bree-Banck, wreck on, 9-10. Bridlington-fair, see Burlington, N. J. Bringhurst, John, 248, 254.
Bristol, Pa., 304. Broen, Thomas, 66. Brown, John Carter, Library, 283.
Buck, William J., William Penn. in America, 257-258.
Buckingham County, see Bucks County. Bucks County, 238, 238 n., 323. Bure, Madam, scalped by Indians, 74. Burlington, N. J., 250, 253, 345, 346- 347.
Burlington County, fur trade of, 351. Burlington Island, 344, 344 n.
Byllynge, Edward, 183 n .; dispute with Fenwick, 180, 183; West New Jer- sey vested in, 190, 192-193; acquires West New Jersey, 344, 344 n.
Cambria, 318, 318 n. Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, 453. Campanius (Holmiensis), Rev. Johan, 65, 79, 110, 125.
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