We were having good luck in the days after finding Elizabeth Jervis’s letter about her husband’s estate.
We made four Quaker finds within a few days.
Was Elizabeth Jervis a Quaker? We don’t know yet, but we’re finding circumstantial evidence.
Quaker Find 1
In her letter, Elizabeth had appointed her friend Obediah Seddon to be her representative at Chester Probate Court.
Our research on Obediah Seddon was revealing. I wrote to Celia.
Celia,
Here’s info on Obediah Seddon. And guess what – he’s a Quaker!
Mark
Celia has since done a thorough study of Obediah Seddon and his family. It should soon be on her website. http://www.bhsproject.co.uk/x_jarvis.shtml
Why a great find? This is the first association we’ve found between Elizabeth Jervis and Quakers.
Quaker Find 2
There were Quakers in Nantwich. From the book “A History of the town and parish of Nantwich, or Wich-Malbank, in the county palatine of Chester”.
Cheshire had a greater number of meetings and members. By 1658, there were meetings in Chester, Newton, Morley, and Nantwich.
THE EARLY QUAKER MOVEMENT IN STAFFORDSHIRE – Denis Stuart
Why a great find? This is the first time we’ve known about a Quaker meeting in a town where Jervises lived.
Quaker Find 3
There was a Quaker named John Jarves who died in Nantwich in 1678. So there was likely a Jarves family that were Quakers.
Maybe this John was related to Elizabeth’s husband John. Or maybe this John is Elizabeth’s husband.
Why a great find? This is the first time we’ve seen a Jervis Quaker citation. Exciting.
Quaker Find 4
In the book “A History of the town and parish of Nantwich“, several Nantwich Quaker families are mentioned as being persecuted and losing their estates. Some went to Pennsylvania.
Thomas Brassey, Joseph Powell, John Sharples – I recognized those names.
They are (later) neighbors of Elizabeth Jervis in Pennsylvania. Here they are on Charles Ashcom’s surveyor map of 1683.
Why a great find? This is the first time we’ve seen an association between Quakers of Cheshire County, England and Quakers in Chester County, Pennsylvania. And they are Elizabeth’s neighbors in Pennsylvania.
It’s becoming more likely that Elizabeth Jervis is a Quaker. That’s great. It’s one more step to toward saying that Nantwich Elizabeth is the same person as our Pennsylvania Elizabeth.
But we’re still not sure. We need to research Nantwich and Cheshire Quakers to see if we can find more evidence.
Nibbles Extra Credit
We made the news!
You might recall that this research effort began with a chance meeting in an inn on the coast of Maine. We met Margaret and John Hughes from the quaint village of Keyham. It’s just on the eastern outskirts of Leicester.
Margaret and John had put me in touch with their friend Celia Cotton, and you know how lucky that turned out.
The Hughes publish the world-famous Keyham News, the village newsletter.
You can find out about the Keyham cougar sightings, monthly poetry, and a Social distance tea party at the top of Main Street last month. Or where to get duck and goose eggs.
And thanks to the Hughes, there’s a story about Celia and me and our search for Elizabeth in the January 2019 issue.
Here’s a link so you can peruse any issue of the Keyham News – https://www.keyhamparish.org.uk/keyham-news.html
Here’s a link to “our” issue, on page 6 of January 2019 – https://www.keyhamparish.org.uk/uploads/keyham-news-january-2019.pdf
Sources
- Image of Quaker man – Essex Record Office – http://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/
- Image of Quaker meeting – Philadelphia Yearly Meeting – https://www.pym.org/
- Image of cemetery – The Oldest Cemetery in each State – Readers Digest – https://www.rd.com/culture/oldest-cemetery-in-every-state/
- Image of Ship Mayflower – R.S Peale and J.A. Hill – History of immigration, 1620-1783 – https://immigrationtounitedstates.org/548-history-of-immigration-1620-1783.html
- Obediah Seddon burial citation – RG6 / 1616 – England & Wales, Society of Friends (Quaker) Burials 1578-1841 Image – https://www.findmypast.com/
- Book excerpts about Nantwich – “A History of the town and parish of Nantwich, or Wich-Malbank, in the county palatine of Chester” – James Hall – 1883 – https://archive.org/details/historyoftownpar00hall/page/n6/mode/1up/search/quaker
- Quote about Quaker meeting in Nantwich – THE EARLY QUAKER MOVEMENT IN STAFFORDSHIRE 1651 -1743 : FROM OPEN FELLOWSHIP TO CLOSED SECT – Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. at the University of Leicester by Denis Stuart MA (London) – September 2001
- Map of Chester County Pennsylvania surveys – Charles Ashcom – 1683 – Historical Society of Pennsylvania – https://hsp.org/
- Keyham News – https://www.keyhamparish.org.uk/keyham-news.html
- Keyham News – January 2019 – https://www.keyhamparish.org.uk/uploads/keyham-news-january-2019.pdf
Family Nibbles 