Some Other Early Notables
Dr. Edward Jones
(1657–1737) Barber-surgeon; trustee for the seventeen Merioneth Adventurers who, with John ap Thomas, purchased 5000 acres to be divided among them. His wife Mary was a daughter of Dr. Thomas Wynne. Landed in America in August 1682 on the ship Lyon.
Edward ap Rees
(c. 1645–1728) Came to America on the Lyon, August 1682. First married Mably (Mabby), second Rebecca Humphey. Sold and gave land for Merion Friends’ meetinghouse and burial plot; owned most of what is now Narberth.
Robert ap David
(1645–1732) Came to America on the Lyon; one of the original four founders of Merion Friends’ Meeting, having been first to arrive in 1682. Lived as a gentleman farmer near the Schuylkill for 50 years.
William ap Edward
(died 1714) First wife was Hugh and Gainor Roberts’ sister, Katherine (died 1676). Second wife, Jane, came with him on the Lyon. Bought from other settlers parcel of land which later became the George estate, now Overbrook.
Rees ap John ap William
Yeoman (died 1697–98) “…was plaine, serious, and honest and his wife Hannah likewise a good honest plaine Loving tender-hearted woman, Serviceable and faithfull in her place and calling…” She was a sister of Edward ap Rees.
Hugh Roberts
(1644–1702) From Bala environs of Merionethshire; with wife, Jane, (died 1686) and five children arrived in America in 1683. A traveling minister among Friends, muchly persecuted in Wales. Here he became a member of Provincial Council.
Cadwalader Morgan
(died 1711) His wife Jane was a sister of Edward ap Rees; son Morgan Cadwalader died at age 19, an invalid, but an ardent minister. His celebrated statement as to why he did not buy a slave was an early indication of Quaker anti-slavery sentiment.
John ap Edward
Enterprising member of the Society of Free Traders of London; brought four or more servants with him; died soon after arrival, 1683.
Robert Owen
(c. 1657–1697) Brother-in-law of Hugh Roberts, with whom he was jailed for failure to attend Anglican church services in Wales, and later fined for holding a Quaker meeting. Came to Pennsylvania in 1690; bought from Thomas Lloyd 442 acres in today’s Wynnewood.
John ap Evan (Bevan)
(c. 1646–1726) A trustee for a company buying 2,000 acres; came to Pennsylvania in 1683, “grave and solid in his deportment.” Elected member of Assembly four times; Justice of the Peace.
John Cadwalader
“Schoolmaster of Merion,” son of Cadwalader ap Thomas, brother of the co-trustee for the Merioneth Adventurers, John ap Thomas. He married Martha Jones, granddaughter of Dr. Thomas Wynne, in 1699. Their daughter Mary became Mrs. Samuel Dickinson whose son was John Dickinson, author and statesman who assisted in writing the Constitution.
Jonathan Wynne
(1669–1720) Only son and heir of Dr. Thomas Wynne, physician and personal friend of William Penn. Jonathan’s farmhouse, “Wynnestay,” still stands in today’s Wynnefield (formerly Blockley); occupied for eight generations by Wynne descendants.