USA > Pennsylvania > Welsh settlement of Pennsylvania > Part 12
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Will of Margaret Thomas, of Merion, widow, marked 23 April, 1719, in presence of James John (marked), Griffith and Mary Llew- ellyn, names son Owen Thomas, (and his children, William and Hester), daughter Katherine, wife of Robert Pearson, (and their children, Thomas and Mary), and "grandson John, son of James Thomas, and his uncle Nathan Thomas."
Will of Edward Thomas, of Merion, signed 21 Dec. 1729, witnessed by Robert Jones, Hugh Evans, John Bowen, and Owen Roberts (marked). Proved 26 March, 1733, by Thomas Thomas, his son. Other children, Evan, Elizabeth, and Margaret Thomas. Legacy "to the Grave Yard at Merion Meeting." Overseers, Hugh Evans, Rob- ert Roberts, Jonathan Jones, and Robert Jones.
Will of John Thomas Thomas, of Merion, yeoman, marked 25 May, 1721, witnesses Henry Lewis, Jenkin David, Llewellyn (marked), and Evan David. Proved 16 Sep. 1723. Names Margaret, wife of James Mortimer, nephews Thomas Edwards, Morris Thomas, and John Thomas. Cousin Benjamin Humphreys, of Merion, to be execu- tor.
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GRIFF JONES. JNO. ROBERTS.
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ADEL : THOMAS.
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JON =
WYNNE
WOOD
EDwaid
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ROAM WILL. WOOD, BOWLE . JUAN WARNER. 94. 100 ac. WM. PETERS. DAVID JNO. WINN. SHURLOW, 100 a.C. Jno. SIMSON 286 Me. Eaw. GEORGE. LANCASTER 400 a.c. , CREEX WILLI THỜ. PARSONS. To WILLIAM WARNER WILL, WILL, ORIN. JUAN ISRAEL SMITH. SIMLOCK JUHN MORRIS WILL, WARNER. RICH. 5 MAR- 288 mm 3 ROAS < WILLIAM WELL. 500 0c. WILLIAM WILLOY THO. DU ALONG THE OLD LANCASTER ROAD IN 1773-4. FROM JOHN REED'S MAP OF PHILADELPHIA HAVERFORD 200 a.c. BARNABAS Po SMITH FRANCIA w. Brown "ROAD." JOHN GEE. & Co. 294 ac.
CKET
RIVER
FRIENDS.
FINENNER 2X
ENOLANA
MIDDLE
MA
FERRY.
THO, LLOYD.
& Co.
100 ML.
MARSH.
SCHUYLKI
100 per. to I in."
DAN'L HUMPHREY.
-
WM. at EDWARD
12. FORSTER
JONES. 161 R.L.
DAVID JONES.
JOHN & WYNNE'S LAND PATENT
Company No. 4. The grantees under the patent, dated 14. 7mo. 1681, for 5,000 acres, issued to John ap John, the founder, probably of the Welsh Tract idea and indirectly of the Merion Meeting, and Dr. Wynne, were Denbighshire pco- ple, and in part, as follows: It seems that each of these "trustees," John and Thomas, took 2,500 acres of their joint purchase to keep, or to sell, as they thought best.
John ap John, according to a memorandum, in his own writing, says :
"Here is An Account of what I John ap John have sould out of my part of this deed and what remains still in my hands. First, I paid William Penn, by ye hands of Richard Davies and his sonn David Davies, ye sum of Fifty pounds Stl., and for which I have their recets, and I have disposed of ye land as followeth :-
"To Thomas Taylor I sold 500 acres
"To John Roberts I sold 500
"To Treial Reider I sold 400
"To Mary Fouk I sold 200
"To Richard Davies 250
"To Owen Parry
150
"reserved for myself 500
"Be it remembered also yt I rebought from Trial Reder aforsd 400 acres.
"So wt remains for me unsold is 900 acres."
But Dr. Wynne left no memorandum of the disposition of his share, but he soon got rid of it.
Some of John ap John's land seems to have passed to the following :
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Howel and Philip James, of Philadelphia.
Isaac Wheeldon, of Llanroost, Denbighshire, a glover. His is a very long.deed, dated 20 Mar. 16S1, for "1 2-30 part, or share of 5,000 acres of land." He assigned his rights, 13. 10. 1695, to Samuel Lewis, of Darby, whose son Samuel, Jr., inherited it.
"Lucien Sixsinth," bought 200 acres.
Owen ffoulke, of Bettws y Coed, Caernarvonshire, a tan- ner.
Mary Southworth (ffouk?) was also a purchaser from John ap John of 200 acres. Afterwards, she married Henry Molineaux, and the right to this land was sold to John Parker, of Philadelphia, with her right for 300 acres more of her land, bought from Dr. Wynne, for all of which Parker had deeds and warrants, which were accidentally destroyed by fire and he could not locate the purchases.
The dates of the various deeds conveying these lands by John ap John, were, between the first one of 25. 5mo. 1681, and 7. 5mo. 1682.
By deed dated 20. 7mo. 1691, John ap John sold his re- mainder of 900 acres to Hugh Roberts, of Merion, who had 200 acres of the purchase laid out in Merion, which he sold to Robert Owen, and Robert, by deed of 30. 3mo. 1696, con- veyed 100 acres of same to Daniel Thomas, of Merion, and after Robert's decease, 100 acres to Thomas Rees, by deed of 27. 7mo. 1700.
John ap John further sold, of this balance, 482 acres, laid o: t in Goshen and had about 200 acres left, for which a warrant was issued to him.
"Tryall Rider," never came to Pensylvania. In 1695, with John ap John, he attended a meeting at Tregaron, in Rad- norshire. He was a flax dresser, at Wrexham, in Denbigh- shire.
These further items as to the disposition of the lands of John & Wynne are also of interest.
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"Owen Puscy," or "Owen Parry, of Dynullo, Issa, Den- bigh, yeoman," named as a purchaser from him by John ap John. It was claimed to the Land Commissioners that he bought 150 acres, by deed dated 17. 5mo. 1682, "of John ap John and Jon (sic) Wynne," and it was wished to have same located. No deed, however, could be produced, and said Owen was then dead, yet it appeared that his son had sold the right to this land in 1707, to Owen Roberts, whose executor sold it to John Walter. Jonathan Wynne confirmed this sale, 23 March, 1727. Owen Roberts, and his wife Ann, had certificate from the "Harford," i. e. Haverford Monthly Meeting, "held at Merion," addressed to the Phila- delphia Monthly Meeting, dated 9. 12mo. 1709-10.
After John & Wynne's purchasers were put into posses- sion of their lands, scattered in the townships of Merion, Haverford, Radnor, Goshen, New Town, Middletown, and in the Great Valley, it was discovered by Jonathan Wynne that 100 acres of their joint transactions were not accounted for. Their land operations were complicated.
When Jonathan Wynne made his application, elsewhere mentioned, and was granted 400 acres on his father's own account, in the "Great Valley," or Chester Valley, it was on condition that he surrender the right to those 100 acres, if such an amount was needed to make up the full acreage of any of John & Wynne's sales to original purchasers; he had to surrender these 100 acres subsequently to one James Steel, who also bought from Jonathan another 100 acres in the Great Valley, paying him £15. 10, and on 14. 7mo. 1736, the Commissioners issued patent to said Steel for 200 acres, as "in old right of John & Wynne."
"Richard Davis," or Davies, had his 250 acres (less 5 acres of Liberty land) laid out in Goshen tp., adjoining the land of Griffith Owen, who subsequently bought it. He had also 3121% acres, laid out "above Newton" (in Chester Co.), which he sold to David Evan, who had bought of "Howel James and son" 232 acres, also "out of the John & Wynne
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tract," and two lots of 150 acres and 50 acres from William Davies, also of same tract, and supposed he had 7441/2 acres altogether, but these tracts, upon resurveys, after he had paid for 20 acres over-plus, on an earlier survey, came out only 6621/2 acres.
Richard Orme .(or Orms), who owned 150 acres in the "Letitia Penn Tract," in Goshen tp., above Merion, bought 150 acres in Radnor tp., of "the John & Wynne land," which Jonathan Wynne gave him a deed for, 2. 4mo. 1704. Rich- ard Orme also bought 125 acres of the land in the Welsh Tract, from "Humphrey Bettally," or Bettly, who had 250 acres from John & Wynne, (Jonathan Wynne bought the other 125 acres), and sold the same to "Jonathan Height." It seems that Orme had "located" this land, but someone else also got hold of the same land, for when the Height heirs, (Richard Maris and Elizabeth, his wife, and Evan Lewis, and wife Mary), wanted to sell the land it could not be found. Thereupon, on petition, in 2mo. 1720, the Com- missioners granted 120 acres to Lewis Lewis, of Chester Co., to be "located back in the country," and was laid out near New Town.
Thomas Taylor's (he was a resident of Denbighshire), land, 500 acres, which he acquired by deed of 8. 1mo. 1683, was laid out to him in Middletown, Chester Co., next to land of Richard Crosby. His ten acres bonus in the Liberties he sold to William Edwards. Thomas Taylor, Jr., inherited the Chester Co. tract.
The John Roberts, of "Pennyckland," Penytklawe, or Pen y Clwyd, in Denbighshire, yeoman and millwright, to whom John ap John states he sold, for ten pounds, 500 acres, by deed dated 7. 5mo. 1682, when he came to Pensylvania, was known as "John Roberts, the miller," and "of the Wayne Mill," in Merion, where he had a grist mill.
This deed was recorded at Philadelphia 11mo. 16. 1683-4, the grantors being "John ap John, of Ruaben parish, Den- bigh, yeoman, and Thomas Gynn, of Cairwis, Flint, Chirur-
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geon," Dr. Wynne's signature was witnessed by Richard Davis, Tryall Ryder, Richard Orms, and Mary Southworth, and John's by Richard Davis, and Rogers. The deed recites that the 500 acres conveyed was a part of 5,000 acres purchased from William Penn, and that John ap John and "Thomas Gynn" were co-trustees, and only contributed some part of the £100 to pay for the 5,000 acres, or, quoting the deed, "though the sd John ap John and Thomas Gynn wore entitled to take up ye sd conveyances of all ye sd 5,000 acres, yet they onely intended to have their separate shares and proportion of the sd 5,000 acres according to the sume they laid out as part of ye sd 100 pds, and are onely trustees as to ye rest of ye sd 5,000 acres," and that "the said John Roberts hath contributed some part of the said £100 consid- eracon money towards the purchase of the sd 5,000 acres, that is to say, the sd John Roberts hath laid out Tenn Pounds." This clause in Penn's, and his "first purchasers" 's deeds, was the cause of considerable misunderstanding sub- sequently, when first purchasers asked to have bonus lands conveyed to them, because it defined them as only "trus- tees," as may be seen hereafter.
Of his 500 acres, which lay along the "Mill Creek Road" (and ten acres of liberty land he received as bonus, which lot he sold to William Edwards), he sold 100 acres, lying in the upper part of Merion, adjoining the land of Edward Griffith, to Thomas David. He retained two parcels of 250 acres and 140 acres, in the same locality, and these were laid out to him, 12. 2mo. 1685, and 12. 2mo. 1696. In 4mo. 1703, he had trouble with Martha Keite, or Kite, a neighbor, about division lines. The matter was laid before the Commission- ers, who ordered a jury on the case, and a resurvey, and after all the miller lost his suit.
This John Roberts married here a few years after coming over, it is said, Elizabeth Owen, a niece of Owen Hum- phreys (ap Hugh), of Llwyn du, in Merionethshire, and it has been printed that he was then 60 years old, and the bride
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was only 16. Ilis will, signed 18. 12mo. 1703-4, witnessed by James Thomas, Nathan Thomas and John Roberts, Jr., was proved at Philadelphia 13 March following. He names sons John and Matthew Roberts, and daughter Rebecca; nephews Robert, Joseph and Edward Roberts, brothers Ed- ward and Matthew Roberts, and John Owen, his brother-in- law, to be executors, and appointed friends Thomas, John and Benjamin Humphrey, and brother-in-law Joshua Owen,* overseers of his will.
"John Roberts, of the Mill," who was buried at the Merion Meeting House, 27. 2mo. 1721, was his son. His will, "John Roberts, of Merion, wheelwright," was signed 22. 2. 1721, witnesses, John Vaughan, Owen Roberts (marked), and Robert Jones, was proved by his relict, (who was "possibly with child"), Hannah, 17 May, 1721, names aunt Ann Rob- erts, cousin Robert Roberts and sister Rebecca, overseers, brothers Matthew and Joseph, and step-father, Hugh Evans, and Robert Jones. It has been printed, but without proof, that the "John Roberts, of Merion, miller," who was hung, in Philadelphia, by the order of the President of Pensylva- nia, for being a traitor to apparently both the British and the Americans, was a grandson of the aforesaid immigrant, John Roberts. Owen Roberts, a blacksmith, of Merion, was of this family. His will, signed 23 July, 1732, wit- nessed by Joseph Humphrey, John Bowen, and Robert Jones, was proved 26 March, 1733. Names brothers Edward, Rob- ert, Joseph, William, and John; cousin Ann Roberts, but no children ; a legacy to the Merion Meeting. His brothers exec- utors.
Ann Humphrey, sister to Owen Humphrey aforesaid, mar- ried Ellis Rees ap Lewis, of Bryn Mawr, and was the mother of Rowland Ellis, of "Bryn Mawr," Merion, 1686. Her
*Joshua Owen, of Llwyndu parish, Merioneth, bachelor, had certifi- cate, dated 27. 5mo. 1683, from the Quarterly Mtg. at Dolyserry, which he filed with the Haverford (or Radnor) Mo. Mtg., signed by Robert, Humphrey, and Richard Owen, Griffith and Owen Lewis, Rowland Ellis, Humphrey Reinald, etc.
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brother Samuel Humphrey was the father of Daniel and Benjamin Humphrey, and three daughters.
JOHN AP JOHN, of Plas Ifa, in Ruabon parish, Denbigh- shire, as has already been told, did not come to Pensylvania, and died 16. 9mo. 1697, at Whitehough Manor, in Stafford- shire, having long before disposed of all his Pensylvania lands.
THOMAS WYNNE (or Gynn, fair haired), was called a "practitioner of physick" in an early mention of him. Wat- son, in his "Annals of Philadelphia," states that "Dr. Wynne was an eminent Welsh physician," who had "prac- ticed medicine several years with high reputation in Lon- don," and that his brother, also a physician, came over with him in 1682, but this brother is not clearly identified, unless he was the John Wynne, a lawyer in Sussex Co. (Del.), in 1687, or was the "John Wynn, chyrurgeon," whose will was proved at Annapolis, Md., in 1684. But the latter may have been the son, or of the family, of Thomas Wynn (son of Gruffydd Wynn, of Bryn yr Owen (ap Richard John Wynn), of Trefechan, near Wrexham, in Denbighshire, who was in Maryland as early as in 1671, and was a sub-sheriff, in 1678, and doorkeeper of the House of Assembly, of Mary- land.
In a pamphlet issued by Dr. Wynne, in 8mo. 1679, reply- ing to the attack, entitled "Work for a Cooper," by one Wil- liam Jones, on his defense of the antiquity of the Quakers, who challenged the claim of Dr. Wynne having any know- ledge of the practice of medicine and surgery, saying he was only a cooper by trade, and also "The Ale-Man, the Quack, and the Speaking Quaker," Dr. Wynne tells of his youth, and how he came to be called a physician and surgeon. He says, "my genius from a child had lead me to surgery, inso- much that before I was ten years old I several times over- ran my school and home when I heard of any one's being wounded, or hurt, and used all my endeavours then to set the fractures and dislocations reduced and wounds dressed."
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He says his father died before he was eleven years old, (therefore, the Doctor could not have been identical with Thomas, baptised 1 Feb. 1636, who had a brother John, both living in 1665, when their father, William Wynne's, a son of Sir John Wynne, of Gwydis, Bart., will was proved, as has been suggested), and left his family poor, and "mother not being able to produce so great a sum as to set me to Chyrurgery, I betook myself to this honest and necessary calling he upbraids me with," referring to his having learned the occupation and trade of cooper. "Yet, during all this time (while a cooper's apprentice), I left no opportunity to inform myself in the practice of Chyrurgery, and continued this untill I became acquainted with an honest Friend and good Artist in Chyrurgery, whose name was Richard Moore, of Salop, who, seeing my forwardness to Chyrurgery, did further me in it, and brought me to Defecations in Salon, the Anatomists being men of known worth in practice, whose names are Dr. Needham and Dr. Hallins."
Continuing, he says, after he had learned enough and was able, with the assistance of Dr. Moore, "to set up a Skelliton of a man's bones," the afore-mentioned doctors "thought me fit to be licensed the practice of Chyrurgery, and this is near 20 years ago."
Shortly after being licensed to practice medicine and sur- gery, Dr. Wynne became too prominent in Quaker affairs, and was arrested and imprisoned for six years in Denbigh- shire, and when released, he continues: "I betook myself wholly to the practice of Chyrurgery," and says he became a remarkable expert "in the use of the Plaister Box and Sal- vatory, the Trafine and Head Saw, the Amputation Saw, and the Catling, the Cautery, Sirring and Catheter," . "to the great comfort of many, some of them desperately wounded by Gun Shots, others pierced thorow with Ra- piers."
Coming over in the "Welcome" he must have been a busy doctor, as nearly all the passengers and the crew were taken
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ill with the smallpox, and thirty were buried at sea en route for Pensylvania. One of the passengers executed his will, signed 19 Sept. 1682, which was proved at Philadelphia, and with its germs, is preserved in the office of the Register of Wills. It was witnessed by Dr. Wynne, who scaled with a coat of arms, "gules; a three-turreted castle, argent," which: arms were his own, but only in American fashion, by adoption, as they were the arms of the first husband of his third wife, Joshua Maud.
In connection with Dr. Wynne's professional life, we have from the minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of Merioneth- shire, Montgomeryshire, and Shropshire, which met "under the care of Charles Lloyd, Richard Davies, Thomas Lloyd, and Richard Moore," (familiar names in the Welsh Tract), at Dolobran, in 1668, that the said Richard Moore, of Shrewsbury, (who had been the instructor of Dr. Wynnc), died in this year, leaving a son, Mordecai Moore, a minor and without money. For the love the Friends had for the lad's father, the Quarterly Meeting appointed a committee to learn what occupation would be suitable for him, and what he "had a taste for." The result was the committee found the "poor boy" had the desire to be a "chirurgeon Barber," so a collection was taken up at the Quarterly Meet- ing "to bind him as an apprentice to some reliable barber- surgeon." It was decided to send him as an apprentice for seven years to Thomas Wynne, of Caerwys, in Flintshire, and John ap John was instructed to see the arrangement was made, and the boy delivered to Mr. Wynne. Subse- quently, this boy came to Maryland, and married Deborah, a daughter of Gov. Thomas Lloyd, of Pensylvania.
From this minute, we learn that Thomas Wynne, in 1668, was a harber-surgeon, or a barber who practiced surgery, and cupping and bleeding, with some knowledge of the use and effect of herbs, and from his own statement, that he never acquired the degree of M.D. from a university.
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The place of the birth of Dr. Wynne, and his parentage is unknown, though it may possibly have been in Flintshire, where he resided, in 1682, at Bronvadog, near Cacrwys .* The minutes of the Merion Preparative Meeting 5. 11mo. 1704, record that Dr. Edward Jones filed an account of Dr. Wynne, his parentage, home life, conversion, etc., but it has disappeared, otherwise we could know more of him. Dr. Wynne was probably one of John ap John's earliest converts to Quakerism, about 165-, and became himself an accepted minister among the Welsh Friends. He published in 1677, when living at "Caerwys," near the palace of the Lord Bishop, a pamphlet, "The Antiquity of the Quakers," de- fending Friends' teachings.
The full titles of this pamphlet, and that containing the abusive attack on it, both extant, are quaint, and of the man- ner of the time :- The Antiquity of the Quakers, Proved out of the Scriptures of Truth. Published in Love to the Papists, Protestants, Presbyterians, Independents, and Ana- baptists. With a Salutation of Pure Love to All the Tender- hearted Welshmen. But more especially to Flintshire, Den- bighshire, Caernarvonshire, and Anglesca. By their Coun- tryman and Friend, Thomas Wynne. Part of it is in Welsh, and "your real friend, Thomas Wynne," wrote it at "Carwys y mis yr ail dydd 1677."
The title of Mr. Jones' effusion :- Work for a Cooper. Being an Answer to a Libel written by Lin "-mmo the Coop-
*If it is any suggestion as to the Doctor's ancestry, his son Jona- than named his seat in Blockley, "Wynnstay," or "Wynnestay," (i.e., Wynne's Field), and there was an estate by this designation near Ruabon and Wrexham, in Denbighshire, in the Doctor's time, in which vicinity he resided prior to removal to Pensylvania. The late Howard Williams Lloyd had the parish Registers, and all the Wynne wills in Flintshire, that would possibly give a clue to the Doctor's ancestry, examined, but got only the information that at that period Wynne, sometimes Gwin, was a common name in North Wales. The most prominent family of the surname was that of Gwydir House, of which there is a printed history, and it was to this family that "Wynnstay" belonged.
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er, the Ale-Man, the Quack, and the Speaking Quaker. With a brief Account how that Dissembling People differ at this Day from what at first they were. By one who abundantly pities their Ignorance and Folly .. London. Printed by J. C. for S. C., at the Prince of Wales Arms near the Royal Ex- change. MDCLXXIX. The writer thought the Doctor "is ignorant in his very trade of Quack * * * Chyrurgery," and that "he's much fitter to mind his Ax and saw, the Joynter, and the Adz, the Crisle, and the Head knife, the Spoak & the Round Shreve, the Dowling, and the Tapir Bitts, the Tap and Bungbore." This brought out a reply from the Doc- tor entitled :- An Anti-Christian Conspiracy Detected, and Satan's Champion Defeated.
In 1682, he and Charles Lloyd (Co. No. 2), and Richard Davies, (Co. No. 7), who were subsequently also grantees, and "trustees" for large tracts of Pensylvania land, went to Whitehall, London, to see the Secretary of State, and inter- cede for the Friends of Bristol, who were being badly treated, and received a "fair promise." They themselves had known what it was to "suffer." Joseph Besse, in his book of "The Sufferings of the People Called Quakers," tells that Nathaniel Buttall, Bryan Sixsmith (draper), and Thomas Gwin, and others, "being met together in their own hired house at Wrexham [were] taken to the Common Goal at Writhen," in Dec. 1661. And at another time, when Thomas Wynn and 23 others "were on their way to the Meeting House at White Hart Court, [in London], they were arrested in Angel Court, and sent to prison." On 8. 10mo. they were tried at Guildhall, charged with "being guilty of a riotous assembly, with force and arms," in White Hart Court. All pleaded not guilty, as they had not yet been in White Hart Court, and were only passing through Angel Court. However, as both places were in the same ward, and a woman had preached in the street, they were all confined in Newgate till they raised the money to pay the fines.
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He joined the Welshmen who went to London, in May, 1681, to interview William Penn about his Pensylvania lands, and becoming interested himself, became a co-trustee, as said, with John ap John, for 5,000 acres, and from this time he was an intimate of the Proprietary for several years, and came over with him on the ship "Welcome," which sailed 30. 6mo. 1682, and arrived here in the Smo. follow- ing, which was a memorable voyage for many reasons. There were upwards of 100 Quaker immigrants from Penn's home county, Sussex, on the ship.
As to this voyage of ship "Welcome," the London Ga- zette, (No. 1752), in the issue of 31 Aug .- 4 Sept. 1682, printed this dispatch :- "Deal. Aug. 30th. [1682]. There are now in the downs, outward bound, two or three mer- chantships for Pensylvania." And, in issue of 4 Sept .- 7 Sept. 1682 .- "Deal, Sept. 2d. Two days since sailed out of the downs three ships bound for Pensilvania, on board of which was Mr. Pen, with a great many Quakers, who go to settle there."
Here is an extract from a fictitious letter addressed to John Higginson, written in Oct. 1682, it was said, by the reputedly pious, Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, of Boston : "There is now at sea a shipp (for our friend Elias Holcroft, of Lon- don, did advise me by the last packet that it would leave some time in August), called the Welcome, which has aboard it a hundred or more of the hereticks and malignants called Quakers, with William Penn, the scamp, at the head of them. The General Court has accordingly given instructions to Master Michael Haxett, of the brig Porpoise, to waylay said Welcome as near the end of Cod [Cape Cod, Mass.], as may be, and make capture of Penn and his ungodly crew, so that the Lord may be glorified and not mocked on the soil of this new country with the heathen worshipps of these people. Much spoil may be made by selling the whole lot to Barba- does, where slaves fetch good prices in rumme and sugar." Signed: "Yours in the bonds of Christ, Cotton Mather."
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