Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 57

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978

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JOHN H. McILVAIN, b. Sept. 22, 1808, d. April 26, 1885; the eminent naturalist; m. Sarah Ann Jackson; of them presently ;

Lydia McIlvain, b. Jan. 28, 1811, d. unm., Dec. 14, 1876, bur. at Darby;

James McIlvain, b. Ang. 17, 1813, d. April 19, 1894; m. March 23, 1837, Rebecca Budd Sterling, of Burlington co., N. J., b. April 12, 1815, d. Nov. 18, 1903, and located in that county; both are bur. at the Friends' burying-ground at Mount Holly, N. J .; issue :

Edith S. McIlvain, b. Jan. 10, 1838, unm .;

Charles Henry McIlvain, b. Dec. 23, 1840; m. Oct. 1I, 1860, Elizabeth Cooper Gahan, b. March 8, 1842; residence, Mt. Holly, N. J .; issue :

Harry Charles McIlvain, b. Nov. 16, 1862, d. Ang. 11, 1863;

Sterling L. McIlvain, b. Jan. 18, 1870, d. Ang. 26, 1874;

Clarence Eugene McIlvain, b. March 8, 1872; m. Alice Weiss;

James McIlvain, b. Feb. 1, 1874; m. Elizabeth Mincer;

Lewis Henry McIlvain, b. July 5, 1876; m. Hester Shark;

Florence Gertrude McIlvain, b. Nov. 22, 1882, d. Dec. 24, 1882.

Anna E. McIlvain, b. Jan. 27, 1843; m. April 16, 1863, William Stokes, of Mount Holly, N. J., b. Sept. 10, 1827; issue :

James McIlvain Stokes, b. Sept. 27, 1865; m. Dec. 19, 1894, Evelina Bart- lett, b. Ang. 22, 1871 ; issue :

Francis Stokes, b. Jan. 15, 1896.

William Jarrett Stokes, b. March 26, 1868; m. March 14, 1891, Margaret Perkins, b. July 4, 1870; issue :

Edith Sterling McIlvain Stokes, b. Aug. 24, 1895.

Thomas Sterling McIlvain, b. Feb. 25, 1846, d. June 18, 1905; m. Oct. 25, 1871, Mary Louisa Zelly, b. Nov. 19, 1849; issue :

Norman Coppuck McIlvain, b. Nov. 24, 1872, d. Feb. 21, 1873;

Horace Kemble McIlvain, b. Jan. 25, 1874;

Florence Edith McIlvain, b. Jan. 2, 1883.

Julia P. McIlvain, b. May 22, 1852; m. Feb. 10, 1881, Charles F. Hulme, b. Dec. 7, 1848, d. May 4, 1896; no issue ;

Clara J. McIIvain, b. Aug. 1, 1854, d. March 30, 1875;

James S. McIlvain, b. Dec. 6, 1859, d. May 1, 1907; m. June 15, 1881, Anna P. McBride, b. Sept. 14, 1862; issue:

William Gibbons McIlvain, b. Oct. 27, 1882; m. Nov. 7, 1906, Sarah Stout; issue :

Marguerite Stout McIlvain. Edwin Hulme McIlvain, b. Feb. 23, 1887.

HUGH MCILVAIN, b. Nov. 14, 1815, d. Feb. 25, 1879; m. Martha Gibson; of whom later ; Hannah McIlvain, b. Dec. 22, 1817, d. Jan. 11, 1891 ; m. Oct. 6, 1841, John Sidney Keen, of Phila., b. Jan. 8, 1819, d. Dec. 25, 1872; both bur. at Woodland Cemetery, Phila .; issue :

Mary H. Keen, b. Aug. 8, 1842; m. June 30, 1863, Nathan Sellers, b. July 18, 1836; issue :

Norman Sellers; Sidney K. Sellers.

Joseph S. Keen, Jr., b. Jan. 24, 1845; m. Nov. 29, 1871, Charlotte Siter Perot, b. May 15, 1851; Mr. Keen is general manager of the American Pipe Manufactur- ing Co., Phila .; issue: Harold Keen;

Lucy A. Keen, b. Feb. 28, 1851; m. Oct. 23, 1872, Samuel C. Woolman, grain merchant and president of the Commercial Exchange, Phila .; b. April 12, 1839; issue :

Helen Woolman, b. Oct. 4, 1873;

Bertha Woolman, b. July 21, 1878; m. April 25, 1905, Charles Stuart Somer- ville:

Walter Woolman, b. Jan. 20, 1880; m. Mabel

Francis Woolman, b. Aug. 6, 1886, d. Dec. 30, 1902;

Clarence Woolman, b. Oct. 21, 1888.

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Caroline Sellers Keen, b. April 20, 1859; m. Nov. 22, 1882, George M. Bunting, treasurer of American Pipe Manufacturing Co .; issue : (See Ante.)

Howard Keen Bunting, b. Dec. 5, 1883;

Edith Sellers Bunting, b. Nov. 26, 1886;

Clement Smith Bunting, b. Aug. 29, 1891;

George M. Bunting, Jr., b. Oct. 27, 1895.

Abraham G. McIlvain, b. May 7, 1820, d. June 12, 1836, while a student at Westtown Boarding School; bur. at Darby;

Naomi P. McIlvain, b. Sept. 19, 1823, d. Dec. 13, 1909; m. May 1, 1845, Charles Long- streth Mather, of Mt. Holly, N. J., b. Jan. 31, 1816, d. July 17, 1902, bur. at Mt. Holly, N. J .; issue :

Elizabeth Mather, b. Feb. 14, 1846, d. Sept. 29, 1863;

Lydia M. Mather, b. May 18, 1848; m. June 10, 1874, Samuel Mather, of Rich- mond, Ind .; issue :

Ernest Mather;

Irene Mather;

Naomi Mather;

Lindley Mather;

Earl Mather.

Charles Sidney Mather, b. April 19, 1850; m. Oct. 16, 1873, Tacie A., dau. of John Stackhouse and Phebe (Gilbert) Mitchell, Bucks co., Pa., b. Nov. 2, 1849;

Littie Avaline Mather, b. Aug. 18, 1874; m. George Mitchell;

John Mather, b. Sept. 29, 1876; m. Ethel Byles;

Charles Mather, b. March 10, 1879;

Howard Mather, b. Oct. 12, 1881;

Milwood Mather, b. Jan. 11, 1884;

George Mather, b. April 21, 1887.

Susan Longstreth Mather, b. May 7, 1853 ;

Naomi Mather, b. April 9, 1857; m. April 5, 1899, Clarence Loveland, of Mount Holly, N. J .; issue :

Helen Loveland, b. Feb. 2, 1900.

Hugh Mcllvain Mather, b. June 1, 1859, d. Aug. 30, 1861.

Richard McIlvain, b. July 5, 1826, d. July 15, 1826, bur. at Darby;

Susan Humphreys McIlvain, b. Feb. 15, 1828, d. July 17, 1894; m. Feb. 3, 1853, Alfred Bunting, Justice of Phila., b. March 25, 1817, d. Jan. 24, 1886; both bur. at Laurel Hill; issue :

George Middleton Justice, b. July 5, 1854, d. at Denver, Colo., May 21, 1898, unm .; Alfred Rudulph Justice, b. Feb. 19, 1857; vice-president of the A. R. Justice Co., Phila., residence Narberth, Pa .; m. April 11, 1892, Jessie Lewis; issue :

Mildred Lewis Justice, b. April 27, 1893;

Philip Syng Justice, b. April 6, 1896;

Jean Gilpin Justice, b. Jan. 17, 1899.

Herbert McIlvain Justice, b. June 30, 1859, d. Nov. 19, 1906; m. Nov. 15, 1892, Minnie Estelle Vickers; no issue;

Florance Milwood Justice, b. May 25, 1864; president of the A. R. Justice Co .; m. March 17, 1886, Mary Syng Letchworth; issue:

Marion Thornton Justice, b. Aug. 19, 1887;

Caroline Letchworth Justice, b. April 26, 1889;

Sue Melanie Justice, b. Jan. 12, 1891 ; Elizabeth Syng Justice, b. July 10, 1896.

Mary F. Justice, b. Dec. 11, 1865; m. Nov. 14, 1895, Henry Pratt Canby, of Fernando, Cal .; issue :

Alfred Justice Canby, b. June 23, 1897;

Caroline Prescot Canby, b. July 2, 1899;

Margaret Lesley Canby, b. Aug. 6, 1904.

JOHN H. MCILVAIN, second child and eldest son of Hugh and Hannah (Hunt) McIlvain, born in West Philadelphia, September 22, 1808, became an eminent ornithologist. He was educated at Westtown, and other Friends' schools, and

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early developed a love of nature, inherited from ancestors from whom descended both the celebrated botanists, John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall.

John H. McIlvain's special study was Ornithology, and his knowledge of birds was not surpassed by any ornithologist of his day. This knowledge was not obtained from books, but from personal observation, and actual acquaintance with the wild birds in their native haunts. Gifted with a marvelous memory, he knew instantly the note of every migratory bird he had once heard. It was the writer's good fortune to have made many trips with Mr. McIlvain ; on one occasion we visited Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains, our object being to familiarize ourselves with the nesting habits of the birds of that region. We stopped at a small hotel kept by "Sammy Case." I awakened early and heard the note of a bird unfamiliar to me. Calling Mr. McIlvain's attention to the song, he became quite excited and pronounced it a Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis Phila- delphia), though he informed me that he had heard the note but once, over thirty years before. In half an hour I brought in the bird, which sure enough proved to be a fine specimen of the Mourning Warbler. During our stay in Tobyhanna from June I to 10, we came across a number of other specimens of this Warbler, which were doubtless breeding there, but the most diligent search failed to disclose one of their nests.

Mr. McIlvain was very observant; he was not only familiar with the notes of the various birds, but their movements and characteristic poses were so well known to him as to indicate the name of the particular bird without the necessity of a very close inspection. He watched our Ruby Throated Humming Bird (Trochilus Columbris) building its lichen covered nest and lining it with soft tomentum from the stem of the fern-and such was his ingenuity that with a little practice he was able to produce an imitation, which it was extremely difficult to distinguish from the original. Professor Spencer F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute, was visiting him at his home, and being asked if he could tell the original nest, laughingly replied that he thought he could, but on being shown the two side by side selected the one made by Mr. McIlvain as the original.

The mounted specimens of birds in Mr. McIlvain's collection were characterized by lifelike attitudes so true to nature that he easily surpassed any other artist in this particular field. This was recognized in the award to him of the first prize for mounted birds at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876.

Although undoubtedly Mr. McIlvain discovered more than one variety of bird, he never presented his claims for recognition before any scientific society. He objected to having birds named after him because his particular desire was to have his name associated with the Warbler. His wish in this respect was finally real- ized late in life by the naming of a West Indian Warbler for him, although it would have been more gratifying to have had an American Warbler bear his name. His friend, Major Charles F. Bendire, had the highest regard for Mr. McIlvain, and presented him with many varieties of birds from Arizona. Mr. McIlvain made his first trip to the Rocky Mountains in company with John K. Townsend; his second trip was made in 1854. Gold furnished the pretext for the journey, but was not the lure. From his journal we can picture his trip across the plains, where roamed the buffalo in countless numbers; savage Indians made the trip at that time rather a perilous undertaking, and more than one of his com-

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panions lost their scalps. But no dread of the Indians marred the unalloyed pleasure he felt in the acquisition of ornithological treasures. He had a feeling of security when in the company of Indians, they seemed to know intuitively that he was their friend. Many of the most celebrated Indian chiefs were personally known to him, and his collection contained Indian costumes, head dresses, bows and arrows, etc., mainly presented to him by these chiefs. When delegations of Indians came east to visit the "Great Father" at Washington, Mr. McIlvain frequently entertained them, and it was through his influence that they permitted themselves to be photographed.

Besides his fine collection of birds, Mr. McIlvain left a large and unique col- lection of Indian relics which were scattered at his death. Several cases of his mounted birds are in the possession of his children, Mrs. Edward L. Rogers and Mrs. Howard Watkin, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, witnesses to the skill of a rare genius.

John H. Mellvain died at his residence, 3303 Baring street, Philadelphia, April 26, 1885. He married, August 31, 1840, Sarah Ann Jackson, born May 3, 1817, died March 1, 1902. Both are buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Issue of John H. and Sarah Ann (Jackson) McIlvain:

Harriet McIlvain, b. July 3, 1841; m. Edward L. Rogers, of Wynnewood, Pa., grain merchant, formerly president of the Commercial Exchange, Phila .; they now reside on Wynnewood ave., Narberth, Pa .; issue :

. Charles M. Rogers ; Laura Rogers, m. Paul Loder;

Elsie Rogers, m. Oct., 1906, Theodore Loder.

Charles J. McIlvain, b. May 5, 1843; m. Mary E. Werntz; issue :

Hattie McIlvain ;

Charles J. McIlvain, Jr., m. April 25, 1899, Mabel Dickerson; issue : Mabel Dickerson McIlvain, b. Dec. 26, 1904;

John Hunt McIlvain, b. March 13, 1908.

Anna McIlvain.

Alfred H. McIlvain, b. Jan. 5, 1847; m. (first) Jessie Griers; issue, John G. McIlvain; m. (second) Laura

Samuel H. McIlvain, b. Oct. 5, 1849; m. Ann Hahn; issue: Nellie and Harold;

Laura McIlvain, b. Feb. 9, 1858; m. Sept. 12, 1883, Howard Watkin, of Wynnewood, Pa .; issue :

Helen Lilian, d. in childhood;

Frank M., b. June 28, 1889; Marguerite, b. March 18, 1893.

HUGH MCILVAIN, third son of Hugh and Hannah (Hunt) McIlvain was born in Philadelphia, November 14, 1815. After completing his education he appren- ticed himself to a builder, and when of age engaged in that business for himself, which he continued until after the death of his father. On January 1, 1839, he entered into the lumber business with his brothers, John H. and James McIlvain, and remained in that business until his death, February 25, 1879.

He was a birthright member of the Society of Friends, and inherited the strict business integrity of his father, and the happy genial disposition of his mother ; always seeing the bright side of everything ; having a keen insight in the wants of others and aiding with a generous hand those less fortunate than himself.

He married, November 3, 1842, Martha Gibson, at the home of her father, John Gibson, then a beautiful place known as "Upland," in Kingsessing township, Phil-

Han gh che loamin 2nd

Martha B. M Ilvain

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adelphia county, western bank of the Schuylkill. She was born August 31, 1824, and was also a birthright member of the Society of Friends. They were the first couple allowed by Darby Meeting to be married at home.

Hugh and Martha Gibson McIlvain resided at the old McIlvain homestead at West Chester road and the old Lancaster turnpike, which Hugh had inherited from his father, until October 16, 1866, when they moved to their new home erected on the property in Kingsessing, inherited by Martha from her father's estate, it having descended from her great-great-grandfather, Nathan Gibson, who purchased it in 1712.

Although the parents of a large family of children, Hugh and Martha (Gibson) McIlvain devoted much time to charity and good works. Their home was always a bright, cheerful center of intellectual and social life. Hugh inherited from his mother's family, the Hunts, some of the same tastes that were shown by the emi- nent botanists, Humphrey Marshall and John Bartram, priding himself in having his orchards, gardens and lawn well filled with selected plants, fruit and shade trees. He was also fond of nature on other lines, as was shown by his fine herd of Jersey cattle. He was awarded five first prizes out of seventeen, and a bronze medal at the Centennial Exposition in 1876, for his Jersey cattle, and he would have had the first prize for the herd had one of the animals been a few months older.

Hugh and Martha (Gibson) McIlvain were both instrumental in the establish- ment of the Friends Meeting at Fifteenth and Race streets, and both were active in its educational interests, being members of the school committee until their · deaths. Hugh was one of the two original trustees of the property. It was also largely through their influence that the Friends Meeting and schools were started at Thirty-fifth street and Lancaster avenue. Through his efforts the Lumber- man's Insurance Company of Philadelphia was incorporated, and he was selected as its first president, which office he held until his death.

Martha (Gibson) McIlvain was a member of the Board of Managers of the Home for Destitute Colored Children and acted as treasurer for twenty-five years. spending much time in the care and oversight of the institution.

During the agitation in the Society of Friends for higher education, Hugh and Martha (Gibson) McIlvain were among the first to offer their services, and assisted in the establishment of Swarthmore College, he being appointed chairman of the Building and Property Committee, and she one of the Household Com- mittee ; both giving active and valuable service on the various committees of the Board of Managers while health permitted.

Martha Gibson, born August 31, 1824, died December 6, 1890, who married Hugh McIlvain, November 3, 1842, was a daughter of John Gibson, of Darby, by his wife, Sarah Jones ; granddaughter of Samuel Gibson by his wife, Mary Price ; great-granddaughter of David Gibson, by his wife, Mary Sellers; and great-great- granddaughter of Nathan Gibson and his wife, Ann (Hunt) Blunston.

Nathan Gibson, last mentioned, emigrated to Pennsylvania from Kendal, county of Westmoreland, England, March 6, 1712-13, and settled in Kingsessing, Phila- delphia county, where he died February 15, 1757. He became the owner of con- siderable real estate in the district of Kingsessing, which he devised to his son, David, subject to payment of legacies to other children and grandchildren. He

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was a man of prominence in the community, and identified with the local institu- tions of his section. In 1743, when the Darby Library was established, he was one of the founders, and was chosen its first treasurer. The supply of the books came directly from London until 1760. When we consider the difficulty in obtain- ing books and the scarcity of money in those early days, the effort to found and maintain an institution of this kind for the instruction of themselves and their posterity, is in the highest degree creditable to the founders.

Nathan Gibson married, 1719, Ann (Hunt) Blunston, widow of John Blunston, and daughter of James Hunt, of Darby, before referred to as the ancestor of Hannah (Hunt) McIlvain, by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Bonsall, of Darby. Richard Bonsall had emigrated from Moulldridge, Derby- shire, 1683, with his wife Mary, and at least four of his nine children, of which Elizabeth, who married James Hunt, December 9, 1686, was the second. They were members of the Society of Friends, as were the Hunts. Richard Bonsall died September 13, 1699, and his wife Mary, August 24, 1698. Thomas Pearson, mentioned in the will of Nathan Gibson, as "son-in-law," had married Hannah Blunston, daughter of his wife Ann, by her first husband, John Blunston; Ann died March 26, 1751. Nathan and Ann Gibson had three children, viz :

Joshua, born March 30, 1720; married Mary Fowler; David, of whom pres- ently ; Ann, born January 22, 1729-30; married John Sellers.

DAVID GIBSON, second son of Nathan and Ann (Hunt) Gibson, born at King- sessing, Philadelphia, November 30, 1721, inherited his father's real estate there, and lived all his life in that township, dying June 9, 1791. He married, February 27, 1744-45, Mary, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Smith) Sellers, of Darby, whose ancestry is given in these volumes under the title of The Sellers Family. She died May 16, 1777. David and Ann (Sellers) Gibson had seven children, viz : Sarah, born December 4, 1748; married, October 16, 1766, Nathan Jones, of whom presently ; Jonathan, David and Ann, died in infancy; Nathan, born July 16, 1752; married, 1773, Sarah Howell; Samuel, of whom presently ; Ann, born April 8, 1765, married, 1784, William Hill.

SAMUEL GIBSON, son of David and Mary (Sellers) Gibson, born at Kingsessing, Philadelphia, April 4, 1762, died in that township, June 27, 1836. He was the owner of considerable real estate there and at Upland, and extending along the Schuylkill. He married, May 23, 1788, at Merion Meeting, Mary Price, who died November 9, 1809, aged forty years and twenty-four days. She was a daughter of John Price, of Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, born August 27, 1721, died 1792, and his wife, Mary Davis, born May 24, 1731, died April 8, 1808. John Price was of Welsh ancestry, a son of Reese Preese (Ap Rees), born in Merionethshire, Wales, January 11, 1678-79, died in Merion, Philadelphia county, 1760; married (first) at Radnor, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1705, Sarah Mere- dith, and (second) December 9, 1718, Elizabeth, daughter of Ellis and Lydia (Humphrey) Ellis, both natives of Wales, Lydia Humphrey coming to Pennsyl- vania in 1682, with her widowed mother and brother and sisters, the family set- tling in Haverford, Chester county; Ellis Ellis emigrating with his father, Thomas Ellis, from Pembrokeshire, Wales, 1683, and settling in Haverford, where he died in 1706, and his wife, Lydia, in 1742. Elizabeth, third child, born April 14, 1689, married Rees Preese or Rees Ap Rees, December 9, 1718. Edward

John Gibson

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Rees, father of Rees Ap Rees, was a son of Richard Ap Rees or Price, of Tyddin Tyfod, Merionethshire, Wales, who died in Wales in 1685. Edward Rees and his family came to Pennsylvania in the ship "Lyon" with Dr. Edward Jones, in August, 1682, and settled in Merion, Philadelphia county, being one of the found- ers of Merion Meeting in 1695, and donated the land upon which the Meeting House was built, the lot being a part of his plantation, which extended along both sides of the old Lancaster road, now Montgomery avenue, purchased in 1682. He married in Wales, Mably, daughter of Owen ap Hugh, a lineal descendant of Marchwethian, Lord of Isaled. She died April 19, 1699, and he married (second) Rebecca, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Rees) Humphrey, of Wales. His son Rees, before mentioned, was by the first wife. This Price family was descended from King John of England (1199-1216) by his second wife Isabella, through his son Henry III, and grandson Edward I, who married Eleanor, daughter of Ferdinand III, of Castile; Eleanor, daughter of the latter, marrying Henri, Count de Barr, of France, their daughter, Eleanor de Barr, became the wife of Llewellyn ap Owen ap Merededd, of Wales, from which period the line of descent of the Price family is as follows: Thomas ap Lewellyn, son of Llew- ellyn ap Owen ap Merededd by Eleanor de Barr, married Eleanor, and had Eleanor, who married Gryffydd Vychan IV, and had Owen Glendower Tudour, Prince of Wales, who married Maud, daughter of Jef ap Howell ap Ada, and had Lowry, who married Gruffydd ap Enion, of Corsygedol, Merionethshire, and had Mary, who married Robert Lloyd ap David Lloyd and had Thomas Lloyd, who married Catharine, daughter of Robert ap Griffith, and had Mary, who married Richard, of Tyddyn Tyfod, and had Rhys ap Richard, who had Griffith ap Rhys, who had Richard Price, as the name "ap Rhys" then came first to be written, who died in Wales in 1685. The children of the latter, exclusive of Edward, above mentioned, who was his eldest son, were Jane, married Cadwallader Morgan of Merion, Philadelphia county ; Hannah, married Rees John Williams, of Merion, an account of whom and some of their descendants is given in these volumes in the account of Robert Lloyd and some of his descendants; a daughter, married John William; Thomas Price, remained in Wales.

Samuel and Mary (Price) Gibson had issue: John, of whom presently ; Ann, born August 24, 1792; married (first) Thomas Paschall, by whom she had Stephen and Mary A. Paschall, and (second) June 13, 1833, Halliday Jackson.

JOHN GIBSON, only son of Samuel and Mary (Price) Gibson, born at King- sessing, Philadelphia, January 13, 1790, inherited under his father's will the plan- tation called "Upland" in Kingsessing township, on which he was already resid- ing, containing 121 acres, and several other lots of land in said township, and lived there all his life, the township being incorporated into the city of Philadel- phia in 1854, as the twenty-fourth ward. He was also seized of a farm of 150 acres in Merion which he and his wife conveyed to his sister, Ann P. Jackson, 1848. He died at his residence in the twenty-fourth ward of city of Philadel- phia, the old Gibson homestead at Gibson's Point on the West Bank of the Schuylkill River, February 4, 1858, at the age of sixty-eight years.

He married (first) October 26, 1815, Sarah Jones, who died May 26, 1847, aged fifty-two years, two months and seven days; (second) February 28, 1850. Martha Jones, sister to his first wife, who survived him.

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Sarah and Martha Jones, the two wives of John Gibson, were the daughters of his first cousin, Gibson, son of Nathan and Sarah (Gibson) Jones. This Jones family, like the other families with which the Gibsons had intermarried, was of Welsh ancestry, being descended from John ap Thomas, of Llaithgwn, Pennllyn, Merionethshire, Wales, "Gentleman" who was associated with Dr. Edward Jones, of Bala, in the purchase of five thousand acres on the Schuylkill, comprising the Welsh tract in Merion and Haverford townships, of William Penn in 1681, and the organization of a colony of Welsh Friends to settle thereon. Dr. Edward Jones came to Pennsylvania on the "Lyon" in 1682, to locate the land, and have surveyed the various purparts to the respective purchasers, and John ap Thomas intended to follow with the other purchasers, but was taken ill when about to sail and died May 3, 1683.

He was a son of Thomas ap Hugh of Wer Fawr, parish of Llandderfel, Comot of Pennllyn, county Merioneth, gentleman, who died prior to 1682. John ap Thomas became a member of the Society of Friends in 1672, and it was by reason of the persecution of himself, family and friends for their religion that he decided to establish a colony for them in Pennsylvania. His widow, who was a daughter of Robert Hugh, immediately after his death and burial, with her four sons, four daughters, and servants, in all about twenty persons, set sail for Pennsylvania in the ship "Morning Star," and arrived in Philadelphia, November, 1683. One son and two daughters died on the voyage, and the remainder of the family pro- ceeded to the land laid out to the deceased father and husband, by virtue of his individual purchase of one thousand two hundred and fifty acres. It was called Gilli yr Cochiald, and the log house erected thereon by Katharine and her sons was standing until a few years ago. Records show Katharine Thomas to have been a woman of great force of character and of much Christian worth; old manuscript letters in possession of the family show her to have been connected with many of the oldest British families. Her death is thus recorded in the family Bible, "Our dear mother Katharine Thomas, departed this life the 18th day of ye 11 month 1697, about ye 2d or 3d hour in ye morning (as we thought) & she was buryed next day."

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Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 57

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 978

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978