458 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



was engaged up to near the time of his j child, Rachel, who intermarried with 

 death. Mr. Edwards sometimes in- ~ 

 dulged his humor in writing poetry 

 One of his pieces, written a short time 



before his death, termed " The Voyage of 

 Life,'' closes with the following lines : 



" My voyage, with all its witchery, 

 Its joys, its hopes, its woes, 

 Has filled its line of destiny, 

 And verges to a close." 



Ellis, Thomas, was one of the most 

 eminent of the Welsh settlers. He 

 came from Pembrokeshire, and arrived 

 here in 1683 with his second wife 

 Ellen and family, and settled on one 

 of two large tracts of land which he 

 purchased and located in Haverford. 

 His certificate, which is from the 

 monthly meeting of Redstone, speaks 

 of him as a man " of a tender spirit, 

 often broken before the Lord, with 

 the sense of the power of an endless 

 being upon him." It also informs us, 

 that " his testiiuony for the Lord, and 

 his Trueth hath been very weighty, to 

 the reaching of the consciences of 

 many," and that he had " an excellent 

 gift in opening deepe divine Misteryes." 

 His imprisonments " had been many 

 and difficult w"" spoyling of goods on 

 truth's accompt." Having escaped 

 from a land of bitter persecution, his 

 feelings prompted him, immediately 

 after his arrival here, to compose " in 

 British language" the following " Song 

 of Rejoyceing," which " was turned into 

 English by his ffriend John Hum- 

 phrey:" 



" Pennsylvania an habitation, 

 With certain, sure and clear foundation; 

 Where the dawning of the day. 

 Expels the thick, dark night away. 



Lord, give us here a place to feed, 

 And pass my life among thy seed. 

 That in our bounds, true love and peace, 

 From age to age may never cease. 



Then shall the trees and fields increase. 

 Heaven and Earth proclaim tliy peace, 

 That we and they — forever Lord, 

 Shew forth thy praise, with one accord." 



Though a resident of Haverford, 

 Thomas Ellis spent much of his time 

 in Philadelphia, where he held public 

 trusts under the government. He also 

 travelled in the ministry. At the time 

 of his death, which happened in 1G38, 

 he held the office of Register General 

 of Pennsylvania, with David Lloyd as 

 his deputy. His wife died in 1692. 



By his second wife he had but one 



Robert "Wharton, in 1701. By a former 

 marriage, he had one son, Ellis, and a 

 daughter, Eleanor, who intermarried 

 with Pavid Lawrence. He was interred 

 at Friends' burying ground, Haverford. 



Edge, John, with his wife Jane and 

 family, emigrated from St. Andrews, 

 Holborne, in the County of Middlesex, 

 England, and settled in Nether Provi- 

 dence about the year 1685. He was 

 an earnest member of the Society of 

 Friends, and the monthly meeting was 

 sometimes held at his house. His 

 children were, Mary, intermarried with 

 James Sharpless ; Abigail, with Edward 

 Woodward ; Jacob, Avith Sarah Jones 

 of Merion, and John, with Mary Smed- 

 ley of Westown. John Edge the elder, 

 died in 1711, aged sixty-five years. 

 He had been subjected to heavy fines 

 and imprisonment in his native country, 

 for refusing to act contrary to his con- 

 scientious scruples, and on one occa- 

 sion, was subjected to a public triaL 



Ellis, Ellis, emigrated with his 

 father, Thomas Ellis, in 1683, from 

 Redstone in Pembrokeshire, Wales, 

 and settled on part of the large pur- 

 chase made by his father in Haverford 

 township. In 1685 he was married to 

 Lydia the daughter of Elizabeth Hum- 

 phrey, who had also emigrated in 1683, 

 but she with her family came from 

 Merionethshire. He was a Friend and 

 a good citizen. His children were, 

 Rachel, Thomas, Elizabeth, Bridget, 

 John, Joseph, Evan, William, Benja- 

 min and Rebecca. He died in 1706, his 

 wife surviving him. 



Ellis, Humphrey, was one of the 

 earliest of the Welsh Friends who emi- 

 grated to Pennsylvania. He was mar- 

 ried to Gwen Rees early in 1684, their 

 declaration of intention, having been 

 made at the first (Haverford) Monthly 

 Meeting of which there is any record. 

 Gwen died early in 1686, leaving two 

 children. Thomas and Lydia, (twins.) 

 On the 19th of January, 1687, Hum- 

 phrey married Jane David of Haver- 

 ford, in which township he then resided. 

 By his second marriage his children 

 were Margaret, Jane, Rachel, Ellin, 

 Humphrey, Sublinus and Jeremiah. 

 His death occurred in 1741, — that of 

 his wife, in 1745. 



