Oley Valley: Exeter Meeting Quaker records claim that Ellis was drawn to move his family fromGwynedd to the Oley Valley in 1731 by, "...a strong draft of love attending his mind." I would speculate that he may also have been looking for better land to farm, and may have been influenced by his good friend and fellowQuaker, George Boone, who had settled in Oley in 1720.
Based mainly on wheat farming, Oley Valley was beginning, in 1731, to become a prosperous place by
18th century standards. Bread made from the abundance of Oley Valley wheat
(as well as from other Pennsylvania areas) fed people in Philadelphia,
in Britain's New England fishing towns and Caribbean sugar plantations,
and in the elegant townhouses and slum hovels of London. Oley
Valley was among the best endowed Pennsylvania areas in terms of basic requirements for wheat
farming, including fertile soil, adequate rainfall, a temperate climate, and
a rolling topography with the many streams required for gristmills that
derived their power from falling water. Oley Valley also was endowed with enough pockets of iron ore to
make it center for charcoal-fired iron
production. Not only did this make Pennsylvania England's chief iron-producing
colony, but also it provided the raw materials for making tools, such as plows,
hoes, and axes, for the local farmers.
Welsh and English Quakers who had moved from Gwynedd and Abington Meetings (Congregations)
near Philadelphia, led by the Boone family, comprised one of the of
four major settler groups in Oley Valley. The others were 1) the
"Ancient" Swedes, 2) Netherlanders, Scots, and Anglos of New England heritage, and 3) a
large group of families from the Palatinate, including many of Swiss and French
derivation. In time, the plethora of European regional identities
coalesced into those who spoke either German or English as their primary
language. In 1775, Oley Valley religious congregations included three of
German Reformed worshippers, two of Lutherans, one of Quakers, one of
Anglicans, and small gatherings of Moravians, Mennonites, and German
Baptists. These divisions were generally friendly. One German,
Hans Mirtel Gerick, for example, named his "trusty friend,"
John Hughes as his will executor. See where they are actually
buried!
Oley Valley in colonial times was not a model for present day democracy. Slavery existed and
there were many European indentured servants. Advertisements in the
Pennsylvania Gazette offering rewards for the return of runaway servants
were common. The qualification to vote was ownership of 50 acres of land,
with 12 acres cleared, or of personal property worth 50 lbs. That women might
vote did not cross anyone's mind, as far as I can tell. The Lenape (Delaware)
Indians were treated badly, and forced to leave at the time of the French
and Indian war (1754-1763).
Beginning in America, the French and Indian War became known as the Seven Years war in Europe, and brought in Prussia as England's ally and Austria, Russia, and Spain in support of France.
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