 - Bef 1704
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| Name |
William Samuel |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
Bef Dec 1704 |
| Person ID |
I4536 |
Paul's Tree |
| Last Modified |
2 Jul 2018 |
| Family |
Mary (Samuel), b. Abt 1664, d. 14 May 1760, Upper Saucon Twp, Lehigh Co., PA  (Age 96 years) |
| Children |
| | 1. Joseph Samuel, b. 21 Apr 1697, Radnor, Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA , d. Mar 1753 (Age 55 years) [natural] |
| | 2. Isaac Samuel, b. 27 Feb 1700/01, Radnor, Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA , d. 4 Aug 1781, Saucon, Bucks Co., Pennsylvania (Age 80 years) [natural] |
| | 3. Elizabeth Samuel, b. 7 Jan 1702/03, Radnor, Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA , d. Bef 1736, Plymouth Twp., Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania (Age < 32 years) [natural] |
|
| Last Modified |
2 Jul 2018 |
| Family ID |
F2210 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
-
| Notes |
- (Thanks to Sherry Johnson for sharing her detailed and excellent research.)
William Samuel, died 1704
Mary (Unknown Maiden Name), 1664-1760
What is known of William and Mary Samuel includes the following: (1) they were born in the 1600s and were Quakers of Welsh ancestry; (2) they immigrated, probably in search of religious freedom, and were in Pennsylvania by 1697 or before; (3) William died in 1704 in Pennsylvania; and (4) Mary remarried, lived to be 96, and died in 1760 in Pennsylvania. William's surname is listed variously as Samuel, Samuels, or Samuell.
Mary’s maiden name is unknown, but was not Tremayne, as some family trees claim. Although there was a Mary Tremayne married to a William Samuel in England, they were about two generations older. The father of Mary Tremayne, Thomas Tremayne, was born in 1496, far too early to have been this Mary's father.
Welsh names can be difficult to trace, and the names of William and Mary's parents are not known. Until the 1800s in Wales, patronymic surnames were still being commonly used, meaning a child was given a component of the father’s personal name. Most “noble” families had adopted established surnames by the 16th century, but poorer families did not take surnames until the 19th century or later. Some genealogists claim the Samuel surname in Wales was at one time Humphrey, an established family with a long history until a son of a man named Samuel Humphrey discarded the surname of Humphrey and took the paternal baptismal name of Samuel.
A large immigration of Welsh Quakers to Pennsylvania began about 1682, thanks to the recruitment efforts of William Penn and the guarantee of safety and freedom of worship for persecuted Quakers. William and Mary Samuel were not listed among the original groups of Welsh immigrants, but we know they were living in Pennsylvania by 1697 because records show their son Joseph was born there that year.
William and Mary had three documented children born in Radnor, Chester County, Pennsylvania:
Joseph Samuels, 1697-1753, married Sarah (unknown last name)
Isaac Samuels, 1700-1781, married Eleanor Thomas
Elizabeth Samuels, 1702-1736, married Joseph Jones
There may have been other children born earlier. The letter "s" was sometimes added to the Samuel children's surname.
According to letters of administration awarded to his widow Mary, William Samuel died in 1704 in “Barcominsa,” Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. No records of a town of that name have been found, and it’s possible the name as written was a corruption of "Perkiomen" (which has been misspelled in many ways, including "Parciomimi"), the name of the main road to the settlements on Skippack and Perkiomen Creeks. There are no records indicating William purchased any of the original Welsh Tract land. An appraisal of his estate showed he did not own much-his only possessions were a small number of livestock and some farm implements.
Mary outlived William by over 55 years. The same year William died, 1704, Mary married Owen Owen at the Plymouth Friends Meeting House (the Quaker church) in Plymouth Township, Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County. She and Owen had three more children:
Margaret Owen, born 1705, died after 1783, married Richard Thomas
Thomas Owen, 1709-1773, married Jane Thomas
David Owen, married Sarah Schmetzer, died 1790
About 1730, Mary and the Owen family moved to the new township of Upper Saucon, which was first known as “The Great Swamp” in eastern Pennsylvania.
Mary died in 1760 in Saucon, Bucks County, Pennsylvania at the age of 96. The record of her death stated: “Mary Owens wife of the said Owen dyed the 3rd mo. 14th day A: Dom.in the 96th year of her age.”
To give an idea of the times, Wayland F. Dunaway gives this brief historical background:
“The emigration of a considerable number of sturdy Welshmen to Pennsylvania was due primarily to religious motives. The early Welsh immigrants were mostly Quakers, and were persecuted in their home land for their religious principles. By acts of Parliament their public worship was forbidden on penalty of fines and imprisonment.
“In these trying circumstances they welcomed the opportunity to secure relief from oppression by migrating to Pennsylvania, and were among the first to accept [William] Penn's liberal offers to the oppressed everywhere to seek an asylum in his province. The fact that Penn himself was a Quaker and was of Welsh ancestry strengthened their resolve to emigrate to his colony, where there was every assurance of religious liberty as well as of economic opportunity.
“A further consideration influencing their determination to emigrate was the belief that, by purchasing a large tract of land and settling thereon in a body, they could maintain a community of their own in the New World and thereby perpetuate their distinctive language and institutions...the amount of land engaged for the Welsh was forty thousand acres...Magnificently located, it constituted a compact, thrifty, and distinctive settlement by a particularly desirable group of Welsh colonists...between 1682 and 1700 the Welsh were the most numerous body of immigrants arriving in Pennsylvania…
“An exceptionally desirable class of immigrants, they added an element of strength to the province, and their descendants have contributed worthily to the enrichment of the life of the commonwealth…”
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