Migration Page

I.        Migration to America, 1698

           We are fortunate that John Hugh's brother-in-law, Edward Foulke,

wrote an account in 1702 of his emigration to America. This is the only

chronicle cited in any of the sources that I've found. Although Edward did

not specifically mention John Hugh (or anyone else), it seems irrefutable

that John and his family came over on the same voyage. Numerous sources

mention John's immigration in 1698. John and Edward both are mentioned

in various sources as "Welsh settlers of Gwynedd," and their names are

listed among the original purchasers in 1698 of the 11,450 acre tract of land

 that comprised the Gwynedd settlement. Rough maps show Edward

Foulke's 712 acres in the neighborhood of John's 648 acres. Edward's

conversion from the Church of England to the Society of Friends is listed in

Quaker records, and John's and Edward's children, Ellis and Jane, married in 1713.

One of Edward's descendants translated his account of the voyage

from Wales to Philadelphia from Welsh to English, and the translation is

more expressive than anything that I could provide. Therefore, I have copied

below his entire story of the trip, as entered in Quaker records. (1)

Edward wrote, "We lived (in Wales) at a place called Coodyfoel, a

farm belonging to Rodger Price, of Rhewless, in Merionethshire,

aforesaid. But in process of time, I had an inclination to remove thence

with my family, to the province of Pennsylvania, and in order thereto, we

set out on the 3d day of the Second month, April, Anno Domini, 1698, and

came in two days to Liverpool, where, with divers others who intended to go

the voyage, we took shipping the 17th of the same month, on board the Robert

and Elizabeth, and the next day, set sail for Ireland, where we arrived and

staid until the 1st of the third month, May, and thence sailed again for

Pennsylvania, and were about eleven weeks at sea -- and the sore distemper

of the bloody flux broke out in the vessel, of which died five and forty

persons in our passage. The distemper was so mortal, that two or three

corpses were cast over every day, while it lasted. But through the favor

and mercy of Devine Providence, I, with my wife and nine children, escaped

that sore mortality, and arrived safe at Philadelphia about the 17th of the

fifth month, July, where we were kindly received and entertained by our

friends and old acquaintance, until I purchased a tract of about seven

hundred acres of land, about sixteen miles from Philadelphia, on a part of

which I settled. Divers others of our company, who came over sea together,

settled near me about the same time, which was the beginning of November,

1698, and the township was named Gwynedd, or North Wales." (2)

Notes on Edward's account:

(1) The spelling, grammar, and punctuation are those of the translator.

(2) The dates reflect both the Julian calendar in which the new year began in

March and the Quaker system of counting, instead of naming, the months.

Under the Quaker Julian system, March was the "1st month."

(3) Edward Foulke's wife was Eleanor Hugh, one of John Hugh's sisters.

(4) I cannot find "Rhewless" on any modern map of Wales. Most sources say

that they lived in the area of Denbigh, which is about 20 to 30 miles from

Liverpool.

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e-mail: hugh875@comcast.net Last updated 7/3/08 by R R Hughes