Thomas
It was nearly the beginning of a new century -- the 18th since the birth of Christ. The British Isles had survived a century of change, especially in religion. Numerous "protest" groups (also known as Protestants) had brought about change in the way people worshiped and practiced their religions. Among these groups were the followers of George Fox, the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers after Fox told a magistrate he should "tremble at the word of the Lord." Fox taught that practices of the church of England violated the spirit of true Christianity, and that people could worship God directly without the need of clergy. They rejected formal church services and buildings and refused to pay tithes to the Church of England. This brought them to persecution and prosecution, until the Toleration Act of 1689 gave them and other Protestants freedoms.
Prior to 1689 many Quakers and other Protestants found another way to gain freedom of religious practice. They emigrated to the New World, but even there they weren't always free. The sect was declared illegal in Massachusetts in 1656 and members of the Society were hanged.
One young Quaker convert, by the name of William Penn, held a high social position. His father was an admiral. Among his friends he counted the Duke of York, latter to be King James II. In repayment of a debt, King Charles II granted Penn the land between Lord Baltimore's province of Maryland, and the Duke of York's of New York. The Charter of Pennsylvania was signed 4 March 1681. Penn began his "Holy Experiment." Penn began to sell land and established his "frame of government" based on the premise that a new colony could not just exist, but could in fact thrive on the fundamental principle of complete religious freedom. Unlike previous colonization efforts, he planned to negotiate treaties with the natives to procure land and to coexist peaceably.
On 30 August 1682, Penn set sail on the ship Welcome. In October he arrived at Upland, a village established earlier as a part of the colony of New Sweden. Upland was renamed Chester and Penn went about laying out the city of Philadelphia. In the decade that followed a steady stream of ships carried other Quaker emigrants to Pennsylvania. Although Quakers from the British Isle were not the only early settlers, they established themselves as the dominant element in the southeastern corner of the colony. Philadelphia and its environs quickly lost its frontier nature and became a major economic and cultural metropolis.
Among those early Quaker settlers was William THOMAS, son of John ab Thomas,
of the village of Cilcain,
Flintshire,in
the northeaster corner of
Our William THOMAS was born
about 1662 at Machynlleth, Montgomeryshire,
Our William THOMAS settled on a tract of land on Newtown St. in Newtown Twp. in 1698,near the Friends Meeting House. Many Quakers were bapized into the Seventh-Day Baptist Church. David THOMAS was baptized in 1697 and the Baptists began holding meetings at his home in 1700. Given that William's son, David, was born in 1692, it's clear there are at least twoDavids present at the time. The elder David was likely William's brother. In 1717, Thomas THOMAS gave 1/2 acre of land to David THOMAS for use as a burial place for the members of the society of Seventh-Day Baptists. Three generations of David THOMAS are buried in one plot in this cemetery: David (1667-1734), brother of William: David, Jr. (1710 - 1789), and David, III (1759 - 1839)
William's son, Thomas (1690 -1754) had a son, Jacob. Jacob THOMAS (1722 - ?) was a Quaker and appears in records 3 decades before the Revolution. Jacob married Sarah RUSSELL at Goshen Monthly Meeting in Chester Co., 2 May 1747.There many are other references to a Jacob THOMAS in the region, but none that clearly link to this Jacob. The couple had four known children: Thomas, (12 Apr 1748 - ?), Phillip (13 Oct 1750 - ?), Joseph (5 Apr 1754 - 28 Aug 1823), and Jacob (9 Jun 1756 - ?). It's likely that either Jacob,or his son Phillip was somehow connected to George Washington. According to the family’s oral history, Jacob's great-great granddaughter, Lillian THOMAS, owned a dress that her great, (or perhaps great-great)grandmother wore at George Washington's inaugural. The story is told that when the British invaded Philadelphia during the Revolution, the family buried their valuables in the basement.
Joseph THOMAS (5 Apr 1754 - 28 Aug 1823) married Ann Curry 23 Oct 1783.They emigrated to Northumberland Co., and died at Catawissa.
Phillip THOMAS (13 Oct 1750 - ?) married Hannah YARNALL at either Goshen or Willistown Monthly Meeting in Chester Co., 2 Dec 1784 andemigrated to Dyberry, Wayne Co., PA sometime before 1810. Their son, Amos Yarnall THOMAS emigrated to Ashland, Schuylkill Co, and later to Shamokin, Northumberland Co. Amos married Susan SMITH. They had a son, Elias G. THOMAS. It's also likely they had a second son, Franklin, who died in childhood. Elias was a school teacher, and the great-grandfather of the author of this information.
Susan died when Elias was eleven (a few weeks after Franklin's death.) Amos remarried Hannah B. WILLIAMS. Their children included Phillip, Myron, and Clinton. Thomas Studio in Shamokin was operated by Myron THOMAS, and later by Myron's son Paul and his daughter Lillian. The studio produced many of the photographs of people of that region for over a century. Among their photographs was one of Thomas Edison taken when Edison first wired Shamokin for electric lighting. Edison used the photograph in his literature. Phillip THOMAS was an ordained Methodist minister and Clinton was a baker.
The data contained in the pages of this web site details this family, especially the branch descended from Amos Yarnall THOMAS. Photographs and scanned images of documents are included.
