Ancestral Glimpses » Griffith John (1683-1778)

Persoonlijke gegevens Griffith John 

• Hij is geboren in het jaar 1683 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, WALES.
• Gedoopt (op 8-jarige leeftijd of later) door het priesterschapsgezag van de LDS-kerk op 28 september 1886.
• Geëmigreerd.

  Emmigration
  
  Emigrated to America in 1708-1709, taking several difficult months. In his youth, he was an earnest seeker after righteousness and he became convinced of the principles of truth as held by the Quakers or Friends. He became a prominent Quaker minister for about 70 years. He had a strong Welsh accent. He bought 100 acres of land about 25 miles west of Philadelphia and 1 1/2 miles west of Lionville, PA. He settled there in 1714.
  From Griffith John - His Ancestors and Descendants by MarijaneZerphey, page 21.
  
  Griffith John came to the Colonies with his brother Samuel. It is a known fact that these brothers could read and write; both also spoke Welsh and English, although the English was always spoken with a Welsh accent. Both had money to purchase land. Each brother had a Bible brought from Wales. The Bibles contain a story that told of an ancestor of theirs who had fought in the Crusades and had been knighted for this. In Samuel's family the story was handed down from father to son, but in Griffith's family few knew about this fact. Another fact known about the brothers is that they were born in or near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales and were the son of John and Elinor Philips. The disparity of names between parents and sons can be explained: there was an old custom among the Welsh in which persons of thes ame family were distinguished by being known as the son of a particular person. Griffith, the son of John Philips, in those days would have been called Griffith ap (of) John. In the 17th century the ap was dropped when all had to have both a Christian and a surname. Habit dies hard and so to carry on the custom many, but not all, young men when they left home changed their names, as did our ancestors. Upon leaving home Griffith and Samuel dropped the name of Philips and took their father's Christian name as their surname, hence we had the surname of John here in the States.
  Marijane Zerphey is convinced of a lineage for Griffith and Samuel John and John Philips going back well into medieval times through a Philips family which lived at Picton Castle in Wales. If true,the lineage includes such people as King Edward I, King Henry III and II, Charlemagne, etc.
  From Griffith John - His Ancestors and Descendants by Marijane Zerphey, page 31-32.
  
  In or near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the year 1683 was born to John & Elinor Philipps a sone named Griffith. According to papers found in the West Chester Historical Society he was the 2nd of 6 issue: Samuel, John, Robert, Sarah,and Thomas (Merton). The Merle Huff Papers state that there was another son Daniel, but that is the only place this writer has ever seen that. Nothing is known of his early life. In Haverfordwest there is a place called Hotel Mariner which was built in the 1605s-we stayed there. I had such a great feeling thinking that Griffith had most certainly seen this building & perhaps had even been in it when he was young. There has been some speculation as to why the brothers left their home & migrated to the colonies. A relation told me that he had heard that Griffith was a widower & needed a change -why would Samuel & his wife come if that was the reason? Another told me that he heard that Griffith owned a tin mine in Wales & got into some sort of trouble & had to leave - the government then took over the tin mine. We checked this story while in Wales & England & were told that there never was any tin mines in Wales - they were all in the Cornish section of England. There was tin factories or mills in Wales; Wales in the late 1600s was the scene of considerable religious activity. The Quaker leader, George Fox, visited there in 1657& his preaching gained many converts. The movement caused controversy & religious oppression cause many of the Welsh converts to decide to emigrate to the colonies. This, I feel sure, was the reason our ancestor came to these shores. Furthermore I feel that they used the old Welsh custom of name changing so as not to embarrass or cause undue trouble for their family they left behind. Griffith, with his brother Samuel & Samuel's wife, Margaret, took passage from Wales (probably from Haverfordwest as the tide used to come back that far & in those days it was quite a busy port) Dec., 1708. Arrived in Philadelphia on 11 Feb., 1709. It has been reported that the trip was long & hard as they sailed through some bad weather that held them back, causing them to run our of food & fresh water. Upon landing the trio went to Goshen which was known as the Welsh Barony & seemed to have been a Quaker Settlement. Nothing was recorded about Griffith until around 1714 when he & Ann Williams requested permission to marry at their Monthly Meeting. It should be noted here that Griffith was then 31 & Ann was 14! The customary investigations were made by the appointed members to be sure each was acceptable for this marriage. The approval was given, however it was stressed that hopefully most young girls would not rush into wedlock at such an early age. On 23 July, 1714 Griffith & Ann were married. It must have been a happy, successful union for they were married 64 years & became the parents of 12 children (Ann's twelfth child was born when Ann was only 29!). Ann was b. 1700, the d/o Robert and Gwen Williams. Ann's father, Robert, who was known as "King of Goshen", was born in Wales in 1647. He married Gwen Cadwallader in the colonies 9 Apr., 1691. Robert died 1734. Gwen's parents were John & Sarah (Roberts) Cadwallader. About 1715 under the auspices of David Lloyd, the Keeper of the Great Seal, Uwchlan Twp. was settled & Griffith was one of the first to purchase farmland there. He referred to his property as a plantation. In 1765 the valuation of Griffith John's property listed: 120 acres with buildings; 10 acres of woodland; 2 horses & 2 cows.It has been written of Griffith that "he became a prominent minister of his sect. He stood well in his church & after his death a testimony relating to him was published by his Monthly Meeting. He lived in great simplicity & plainess & was a lover of peace & labored to promote good feeling among his neighbors. At the advanced age of 90 he was still a constant attendant at his Church, having been a minister there for over 70 years."He died 29 May, 1778, age 95. Ann died 13 Jan., 1782 Perhaps I should mention here that this writer found in one place a story that the parents of our ancestor came over hereto the colonies & settled in a different township from the brothers. This writer does not accept this story for nowhere has there been recorded that any member of our family was in that township. One must realize that the name of John was a fairly common one in Wales & so many who used the old Welsh custom of name changing came here as John folks. There was another Griffith John who had arrived here about the same time as our Griffith, settled in another township & also raised a large family. Many places I have found that others researching had gotten the two families mixed up. Hence those parents were from another John family.

• Hij is overleden op 29 juni 1778 in Uwchlan Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Verenigde Staten, hij was toen 95 jaar oud.
• Hij is begraven juni 1778 in Uwchlan Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Verenigde Staten.
• Een kind van John Phillips en Ellen or Mansard Hayward
• Deze gegevens zijn voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 4 november 2013.

Gezin van Griffith John

Hij is getrouwd met Ann Williams.

Zij zijn getrouwd op 20 september 1714 te Uwchlan Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, British America, hij was toen 31 jaar oud.

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