USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Gwynedd > Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, a township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, settled, 1696, by immigrants from Wales, with some data referring to the adjoining township, of Montgomery, also settled by Welsh > Part 7
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Ioth mo. 4th, 1699. Rowland Ellis, in behalf of Haverford Monthly Meeting, having acquainted this meeting that several Welsh people, Friends and others, are lately settled on ye East side of Scuylkill, in this county, about 20 miles off from this place, who for some time have had a First day's meeting by ye advice and consent of ye sd meeting of Haverford, which is also a Third day's weekly meeting, being brought hither for ye concurrence of the meeting, is approved, and in regard ye said people understand not ye English tongue, they desired to be joyned to Haverford Monthly Meeting for ye present, which is also approved of."
Minutes on the Haverford records are as follows :
1699 .- There is a General Meeting appointed at Gwynedd, the second weekly Third-day [i.e. the second Tuesday] of every month, at the desire of Friends there.
1703 .- Gwynedd Friends desire their Preparative Meeting removed from their General Meeting day to the last Third-day in the month ; which was approved.
1714 .- At the Monthly Meeting held at Radnor meeting-house, the 9th day of the 10th month, it is left for further consideration what time to appoint the monthly meetings of Gwynedd and Plymouth ; which was left to the appointment of this meeting by the Quarterly Meeting [of Philadelphia].
Gwynedd and Plymouth Friends, after consideration what day is suitable for their Monthly Meeting, propose the last Third-day in every month ; which this meeting acquiesces with.
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But, returning to the time of the settlers' arrival, it must be understood that most of them were not then avowed Quakers. The language of the first minute quoted above is that there were "but few" who had publicly appeared as such, before coming over, though "several " had been "convinced," and had "a secret love " for the Friends, etc. Of those who com- posed the "few" we are left uncertain, beyond the names of John Hugh and John Humphrey, but I am inclined to think that Hugh Griffith was another. The other settlers were still nominally members of the Established Church of England. It therefore resulted that at first the Friends met for religious ser- vice (as is stated in the minute) at the houses of John Hugh and John Humphrey ; while the others held a meeting on each Sabbath at the house of Robert Evans. The latter had no ordained minister, but Cadwallader Evans in part supplied the place of one by reading to them, as tradition says, from his Welsh Bible,- but, as very easily may have been, from the Church service-book itself.1 This meeting must have been composed, for some time, of a considerable number of persons, for it included most of the colony. In the winter's cold, next after their arrival, it is reasonable to presume that they crowded as best they could inside Robert's dwelling, but as the warmer days of spring came on, it may be believed that they found seats without, where upon the meadow bank that descends from the house to the rivulet below, the Sabbath sun shone down upon them, and as he read, lighted the pages of Cadwallader's book.
Precisely how long this meeting was maintained is not
1 The Welsh Bibles of that day had prefixed a number of pages containing the Church of England services. The late Dr. J. J. Levick had the Bible of Thomas Jones, of Merion (son of John ap Thomas), and it is of this sort. It was " Printeedig yn Llundain gan John Bill, Christopher Barker, Thomas Newcomb, a Henry Hills, Printyr," in 1678; and Cadwallader's volume was probably one of the same.
Ma
FOR
d
/
Robert
Granr.
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certain, but probably not more than a year. When the first Friends' meeting-house was built, in 1700, it would appear that all joined in the work. The story is well known how, according to tradition, the two bodies of worshipers were united, though there have been, at times, somewhat different versions of it. Jesse Foulke, of Penllyn, the great-grandson of Edward, the immigrant, seems to be our best authority. He was born in 1742, and had the society, until he grew to man- hood, of his grandfather, Thomas Foulke,- who was nearly grown up, at the time of the settlement, and who lived until 1762, and could have been given Jesse details concerning the early experiences of the settlers. Jesse's account 1 was this :
" But, as Cadwallader Evans himself related, he was going as usual to his brother Robert's, when, passing near to the road to Friends' meeting, held at John Hugh's and John Hum- phrey's, it seemed as if he was impressed 'to go down and see how the Quakers do.' This he mentioned to his friends at the close of their own meeting, and they all agreed to go to the Friends the next time ; where they were all so well satisfied that they never again met in their own worship."
The other form of the story is that one of the brothers Evans was passing near a gathering at which William Penn was preaching, and that, hearing his voice, he paused to listen, and, being deeply impressed, brought over his meeting to the Friends.2
But it would be altogether unreasonable to attach very great weight to either of these stories. The first is the more likely,- the second being open to serious criticisms relating to dates, etc. The fact is that the settlement was made under the auspices and by the influence of the Welsh Friends, and
1 Watson's Annals, Vol. II., p. 78.
*Ibid., p. 79.
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must have been from the outset thoroughly sympathetic with them. Its close relationships of all kinds with the Merion Welsh, who were generally Friends, the leadership of Hugh Roberts in the immigration, and facts known concerning the religious inclinations of the settlers, - e. g., Edward Foulke and his wife,- go to show that it was an easy and natural step for all to unite in one religious body. As to Robert Evans, indeed, the memorial of him by Gwynedd monthly meeting says that " some time before he left his native country he for- sook the national worship, and went to Friends' meetings, and soon after his arrival entered into close fellowship with Friends." And as all accounts agree that it was at his house that the settlers who were churchmen assembled, it will be seen how unlikely it was that there was any considerable distance of religious opinion to be traversed between them and the others who were Friends. Robert and Cadwallader no doubt led them over, and the precise manner of the change may easily have been according to the Jesse Foulke tradition.
The first meeting-house, built in 1700, was of logs. It must have been small. It stood on the site of the present house. The ground was part of the tract of Robert Evans. It is nearly the highest spot in the township, and almost exactly in the township's geographical centre. The place was then covered with the original forest, but standing on such an ele- vation, and looking away to the south and south-east, a beau- tiful view must then have been enjoyed, as now it is, of the valley lands of the townships below, and of the distant slopes of Chestnut Hill. The height, the prospect, the forest-clad hill-sides, were all elements in the situation agreeable to the Welshmen, natives of a hill country, and lovers of the picturesque.
The second meeting-house, completed in 1712, was of
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stone, and much larger than the first. It stood, also, upon the same site as the present one, and was torn down when the latter was erected, in 1823. The subscription paper for its erection, long preserved in the family of Edward Foulke's de- scendants, was in Welsh, with the dates 1710-11, and had sixty- six signers, headed by William John and Thomas Evans. The sums given by each ranged from eleven pounds down to one pound, and aggregated about two hundred. Joseph Foulke, in his Journal, says :
" Hugh Griffith assisted in building the meeting-house, in the years 1711-12. The subscription paper, the preamble of which is in the Welsh language, is yet in our possession ; some of the members contributed as much as the worth of one hundred bushels of wheat in that day. The house they erected was a permanent commodious stone building, with two galleries for the youth, and several principal rafters in a hip-roof, firmly united, so that taking it down in 1823, in order to build a new house, we found no small difficulty in separating the ancient wood- work."
At the time of establishing the monthly meeting, in 1714, Gwynedd must have become a strong meeting. The Friends at Plymouth were not so numerous. The monthly meeting was held at Gwynedd entirely, those from Plymouth attending there. This arrangement continued until 1719, when it was agreed to hold the monthly meeting at Plymouth four times a year,- in the 3d, 6th, 9th and 12th months.
Before 1714 all the records concerning the Gwynedd Friends - including marriages, births, deaths, removals, etc .- were kept in the Haverford books ; after that time the Gwynedd monthly meeting books preserved such records. The marriage list in the latter begins with the two weddings of 6th month (August) 25th, when two of the Evans daughters, first cousins, - Sarah, the daughter of Thomas, and Ann, daughter of Robert,- married two bridegrooms from the Welsh Tract,
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beyond Schuylkill,- Edward Jones, son of John Evans, of Rad- nor, and William Roberts, son of Edward, of Merion. These marriages took place, as was the usage, in the meeting-house, in the presence of a large assembly ; and though many others had already been solemnized there (under authority of Haverford monthly meeting) we can easily believe that this was regarded as a remarkable occasion. It needs little imagination to picture the stir the double wedding would cause in the settlement, or how lively a topic of conversation it must have made from the hills of Gwynedd away to the farthest farm-houses of Radnor and Haverford; nor is it difficult to see the two young wives mounting on horseback behind their husbands, and riding down by the rude road through Plymouth to the ford over the Schuylkill at Spring Mill, with curious but not unkind eyes gazing upon the cavalcade from every cabin that stood along the way.
The following further extracts from the early minutes of Gwynedd monthly meeting will present some additional facts of interest :
IIth mo. 22, 1714-15. It is agreed that the monthly meeting for Gwynedd and Plymouth meetings is to be called by the name of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, to be held the last Third-day in every month, unless occation appear for another day.
John Evans is appointed by this meeting to be clerk for ye same. Edward Foulke and Robert Jones overseers.
2d mo. 26, 1715. Perquioman [Upper Providence] Friends are granted liberty until the 9th month next, to hold a meeting on the first First-day of every other month.
5th mo. 26th, 1715. Perquioman ffrds proposed for Liberty to Build a meeting-house and settle a Burying-Ground ; the matter is referred to further consideration .- [Next month :] the matter being considered, Liberty as to the burying-place at present is only granted.
2d mo. 25, 1725. Gwynedd First-day morning meeting to begin at
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IO o'clock, by reason of ye afternoon meeting being held at several places.
1722. This meeting hath had in Consideration afternoon meetings, & it is agreed yt our first-day morning's meetting begin at 10 o'clock, and in the afternoon at 4'clock.
1725. Gwynedd Friends acquainted this meeting [i.e. the monthly meeting, which included also Plymouth and Richland] " of their necessity to enlarge their meeting-house," and inquired whether they might take subscriptions from 'such as are frequenters' of the meeting. The latter question, "after some discourse is referred to ye Quarterly Meeting att Philadelphia ; " [and in the month following the report was made that the matter was left by the quarterly to the discretion of the monthly meeting.]
Ioth mo. 28, 1725. Gwynedd Friends have agreed with John Cad- walader, John Jones, and John Evans to perform ye enlargement of their meeting-house.
4th mo. 29, 1725. The Friends at Swamp [Richland, Bucks county] are granted leave to hold a Preparative Meeting.
1721. John Rumford, from Haverford, and George Boone, from Abington, [present themselves] in order to joyn themselves to this meet- ing. "The said Friends also requested the concurrence of this meeting to fix a Convenient place for a burial, and liberty to build a Meeting-House thereon to accommodate the few Friends residing in them parts." [This refers to the establishment of the meeting at Oley, Berks county. A little later, on the records, we have mention of "John Rumford, att Oley."]
5th mo. 27, 1725. Friends at Oley granted a Preparative Meeting.
1725. Our Friends at ye Swamp moved att this meetting their neces- sity to settle a Burying-Ground, that by ye meetting being too rocky ; desiring assistance [etc.]. A committee is appointed to consult with them and endeavor to settle a place. [Next month :] The Frds appointed last meeting to assist Swamp Frds, having visited ye place proposed by them, Also concluding in some convenient time ye meetting-house may be re- moved there, They think it a proper place, and most of ye Frds residing there approve of it, and also this meeting does, too.
7th mo. 27, 1736. A Youths' Meeting is appointed on ye second Third-day of 2d and 8th months.
The quarterly meeting to which the Friends of Gwynedd
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originally belonged was that of Philadelphia. It was not until 1786 that Abington Quarter, composed of the monthly meet- ings of Abington, Horsham, Gwynedd, and Richland, was estab- lished. This is now (1884) held at four several places once a year : at Abington in the second month, Horsham in the fifth, Gwynedd in the eighth, and Byberry in the eleventh.
From Gwynedd monthly meeting, after its establishment in 1714, other monthly meetings were presently set out. The Friends at Richland, increasing in numbers, and finding it a long distance to come to Gwynedd, had a monthly meeting granted them in 1742. In 1737, the settlement of Friends at Oley, which looked to Gwynedd as its parent, was allowed a monthly meeting. The Friends' settlement at Providence, (called commonly Perkiomen in the early records, and with the name spelled variously) was also an offshoot from Gwynedd, and Providence meeting, until it was "laid down," some fifteen years ago, belonged to Gwynedd Monthly Meeting. A minute, in 1723, of appointments of persons to keep "true accounts of births and burials," names " Hugh Foulke and John Jones, for Gwynedd meeting, John Rees for Plymouth, George Boone for Oley, Andrew Cramer for Perquioman; none from the Swamp [Richland] being present."
The present meeting-house, much larger than that of 1712, was built in 1823. At the time of its erection, the number of members and others who habitually attended warranted so large a house, but the time is long since past when its benches are filled, except upon very extraordinary occasions. For a num- ber of years it has been the custom to open only half the house - the southern end - on First-days, and even this is more than sufficient for the congregations that usually assemble.
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X.
Details Concerning the Early Friends.
T HE Friends' meeting was strong in numbers, from the time when all the settlers joined in it, but it was, besides, strong in the character of its membership. The attendance, frequently, of Ellis Pugh and Rowland Ellis, from Plymouth, and the ministry of those who belonged to Gwynedd particular meeting, made the gathering here one of religious life and vigor. "From the first establishment of Gwynedd meeting," says John Comly in his Friends' Miscellany,1 "we notice many Friends remarkable for great integrity and uprightness, and of deep religious experience."
At first Robert and Cadwallader Evans were the only preachers. The former perhaps was not so strong a man, intellectually, as the latter, and from the fact that Cadwallader was the reader in the early Sabbath gatherings, we infer the superiority of his education. But both were men of weight, and both deeply respected in the community. Samuel Smith, in his History of Pennsylvania, speaks of " Robert and Cadwallader Evans, two brothers, who stood faithful not only in word and doctrine, but their exemplary lives and conversations, and their services among their neighbors, rendered their memories precious to many, though they could neither read nor write in any but the Welsh language."
The sermons of both brothers were doubtless delivered in Welsh ; this is indicated by Rowland Ellis's statement in Phila-
1 Vol. III., p. 371.
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delphia Monthly Meeting, quoted in the preceding chapter. In the manuscript collection of memorials, made by John Smith, of Burlington, there is one of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting concern- ing Robert Evans. Mentioning his birth in Wales, his emigra- tion, and settlement in Gwynedd, it says :
" Some time before he left his native country he forsook the national worship, and went to Friends' meetings, and soon after his arrival he entered into close fellowship and union with Friends. He was a very diligent frequenter of our meetings. * * * * He had a gift in the ministry which was well received, as it was chiefly remarks on his own experience in religion
Robert died in the Ist month (March), 1738, and Thomas Chalkley, in his Journal, says : " I was at the burial of Robert Evan, of North Wales. He was upward of four score years of age, and one of the first settlers there ;- a man who lived and died in the love of God and of his neighbors, of whom I believe it might be truly said, as our Saviour said of Nathaniel, 'Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.' He was a min- ister of Christ, full of divine and religious matter."
The printed volume of Memorials published in 1787 by the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia (frequently referred to in this volume) contains twelve memorials from Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, three of them referring to Friends - Ellis Pugh, Row- land Ellis, and William Trotter - who belonged to Plymouth particular meeting. The other nine were of Gwynedd,- Cad- wallader Evans, Evan Evans, Alice Griffith, Ann Roberts, John Evans, Jane Jones, Ellen Evans, Mary Evans, and William Foulke. In the John Smith manuscript collections there are several more memorials,- of Robert Evans, just quoted, Owen Evans, Rowland Roberts, Margaret Jones, John Humphrey, and others.
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DETAILS CONCERNING THE EARLY FRIENDS.
In relation to Cadwallader Evans, the memorial in the printed volume1 says : "He was a diligent and seasonable attender of our religious meetings. On First-days particularly he was ready an hour before the time appointed, and then read several chapters in the Bible or some religious book; as the time approached he would frequently observe the time of day, and by means of such watchful care he was seated in meetings one of the first, and scarcely ever after the time appointed.
He received a gift in the ministry, in the exercise whereof he was generally led to speak of his own experience in religion and the Christian warfare ; and his testimony, though short, was in- structive, lively, and manifestly attended with divine sweetness. Notwithstanding it was always acceptable, he was very cautious of appearing, lest any, as he often said, should be drawn from a right concern of mind, to place their dependence on words." The memorial further speaks of his usefulness "in many ser- vices of the church, especially that weighty one of visiting Friends in their families," and says his endeavors "in that skill- ful and tender office of healing discord in private families were remarkably successful. In such services he spent much of the latter part of his life, riding about from one house to another ; and where no cause of reprehension appeared, he interspersed his discourse on common affairs with useful hints, solid remarks, and lessons of instruction; but where admonition or comfort was necessary, the propriety of his advice, and the uprightness . of his life, added weight to his labors and seldom failed of good effects. It was his practice, in winter evenings especially, to read the holy scriptures in his family, and was particularly careful that neither child nor servant should be from home at unseasonable hours, being highly sensible how slippery the paths of youth are, and how numerous the snares which attend them."
1 Collection of 1787, p. 130.
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It is evident, however, that both Robert and Cadwallader were not frequent or extended in their communications. They were exhorters rather than preachers. The memorial in rela- tion to Ann Roberts (wife of Rowland), says "her first coming among us [1705-10] was seasonable, for we having few minis- ters, the field before her was extensive, in which she labored fervently."
A little later, other ministers appeared. Prominent among these were two of the second generation - Evan Evans, son of Thomas, and John Evans, son of Cadwallader. From the memorial of the latter, from which I shall presently quote more at length, it seems he must have appeared as a minister about 1712-13, and a passage in the Journal of Jane Hoskens,1 who, from '1712 to 1716, was a teacher in Friends' families at Ply- mouth, gives us the impression of a religious awakening during that period. She says :
" About this time, the Lord was graciously pleased to renew his merciful invitation unto the Friends and inhabitants of North Wales and Plymouth. Many of the youth were reached. * Several were called to the work of the ministry. Among the many others favored was our dear and well-beloved friend and brother, John Evans, who was blessed with an excellent gift in the ministry
Concerning John Evans, the memorial2 says he was " a man of good natural understanding, and favored early in life to see the necessity of a diligent attention to the voice of Divine wis- dom. In the twenty-third year of his age [he was born in 1689] he appeared in the ministry. He had a clear,
1 See her Journal, at length, in Friends' Miscellany, Vol. III. Jane was an inter- esting character. She was a young girl, who had come over from London under trying circumstances, and who, in Philadelphia, to pay her passage money, engaged herself for four years as teacher. She began to preach when about 21.
2 Collection of 1787, p. 175,
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DETAILS CONCERNING THE EARLY FRIENDS.
engaging manner of delivery, was deep in heavenly mysteries, and plain in declaring them ; being well acquainted with the holy scriptures, he was made skillful in opening the doctrines therein contained, and was often led to draw lively and instruct- ive similitudes from the visible creation. He traveled through most of the northern colonies in the service of truth, and several times through this province. He was often drawn to attend general meetings, funerals, and other public occasions, par- ticularly the adjacent meetings after their first establishment. He was a zealous promoter of visiting Friends in their families. He was many times engaged therein, and his labors were awakening and useful ; often employ'd in visiting the sick, the widow, and the fatherless and others in affliction ; on these occasions he was seldom large in expression, but his silent sym- pathy and secret breathing for their relief was more consolatory than many words ; a considerable part of his time was spent in assisting widows, and the guardianship of orphans, which, though laborious to him, was of much advantage to them."
John Evans died in September, 1756, his ministry having covered about fifty-four years. He was undoubtedly one of the strongest and most influential characters of his time. His cousin Evan probably began to preach a little later than he, but the two for many years were closely associated. Amongst the minutes from the monthly meeting records there are indications of this, and in the memorial of Evan it is said of the two men that "their friendship was pure, fervent, and lasting as their lives, and their separation a wound to the latter [John Evans], the remembrance of which he never wholly survived. They travelled together through many of these colonies in the service of the ministry."
Some extracts from the monthly meeting records may here be presented :
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1722. A certificate for Evan Evans, John Evans, Hugh Foulk, and Ellis Hugh, ministers, in order to recommend them to ye Quarterly Meet- ting of Ministers and Elders at Philadelphia, was read and approved.
1722. Application being made on behalf of Margaret Jones for a few lines to ye Quarterly Meeting of Ministers, to signifie our unity with her ministry [a committee was appointed].
·1723. Evan and John Evans laid before this Meetting a concern they had to visit some meetings in the Jerseys. They both being young and pretty much unknown they laid it to Consideration whether it be proper to have a few lines with 'em.
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