Hugh Griffith1 
Hugh Griffith||p2191.htm|Griffith ap Evan||p2102.htm||||Evan R. Lewis|d. 1668|p2103.htm|Jane ferch Cadwaladr ap Maredudd||p2104.htm|||||||
5th great-granduncle of Louise Underwood.
7th great-granduncle of Laura Jane Munson.
- Family Background:
- Underwood and Allied Families
Hugh Griffith was the son of Griffith ap Evan.1 He, yeoman of Gwernefel, Llanycil, Merionethshire, Wales, married Mary in Llanycil, Merionethshire.1,2
Hugh Griffith was a widower with children, one or more grown, when in the spring of 1698 he sailed from Liverpool on the Robert and Elizabeth bound for Pennsylvania. After an eleven week voyage he arrived safely in Philadelphia, having escaped the ravages of an epidemic that swept the ship and claimed the life of his brother Robert. Edward Foulke, another passenger, wrote, "We were about eleven weeks at sea and the sore distemper of the Bloody Flux broke out in the vessel, of which died forty-five persons in our passage. The distemper was so mortal that two or three Corps were cast overboard every day while it continued." Hugh and other passengers from the Robert and Elizabeth soon settled on land north of Philadelphia and formed the township of Gwynedd, then in Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County. Unlike most of the first settlers who joined the Society of Friends after emigration, he was a Quaker before he left Wales.
There is some confusion as to the surname taken by Hugh Griffith's children. Although it's entirely possible that in some instances, they are being confused with others of the same name, it appears that only Griffith and Robert are always called "Hugh" in the records. The others are called in the earliest records, "Griffith," and David is also found as "Pugh" (ap Hugh).
Hugh Griffith was a widower with children, one or more grown, when in the spring of 1698 he sailed from Liverpool on the Robert and Elizabeth bound for Pennsylvania. After an eleven week voyage he arrived safely in Philadelphia, having escaped the ravages of an epidemic that swept the ship and claimed the life of his brother Robert. Edward Foulke, another passenger, wrote, "We were about eleven weeks at sea and the sore distemper of the Bloody Flux broke out in the vessel, of which died forty-five persons in our passage. The distemper was so mortal that two or three Corps were cast overboard every day while it continued." Hugh and other passengers from the Robert and Elizabeth soon settled on land north of Philadelphia and formed the township of Gwynedd, then in Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County. Unlike most of the first settlers who joined the Society of Friends after emigration, he was a Quaker before he left Wales.
There is some confusion as to the surname taken by Hugh Griffith's children. Although it's entirely possible that in some instances, they are being confused with others of the same name, it appears that only Griffith and Robert are always called "Hugh" in the records. The others are called in the earliest records, "Griffith," and David is also found as "Pugh" (ap Hugh).
Additional Data
On 10 December 1696 at the Monthly Meeting at Hendere Mawr, Merionethshire, North Wales, Hugh Griffith was given a transfer certificate directed to "our beloved ffriends and brothern in Pensilvania or elsewhere."2 
Hugh Griffith took passage on the Robert and Elizabeth that sailed from Liverpool 18 April 1698. The ship sailed first to Ireland where the passengers stayed until "first of Third Month" (1 May 1698 OS) on which date they set sail for Pennsylvania.3,4
The Robert and Elizabeth arrived in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, the "17th of 5th Month" (17 July 1698).3,4
Hugh and Evan Griffith paid £19 10s for 300 acres of land in Gwynedd township in 1698 or 1699. Most of the first settlers' deeds are dated 5 4m 1699, and the others also appear to have been executed, but the source given is no more specific. A re-survey of the land in 1702 resulted in an overplus of 76 acres for which a moderate price was charged, and thereafter, a patent was issued by the commissioners.5
Hugh witnessed the marriage of Evan Griffith and Bridget Jones on 3 3m 1705 (3 May 1705) in Radnor Meeting House, Radnor township, Chester County (now Delaware County), Pennsylvania.1,6
Hugh Griffith was among the Friends (Quakers) who united in 1709/10 to raise money to build a new meeting house at Gwynedd, to replace the original log meeting house built in 1700. He signed the subscription paper dated "the sixth day of the first monthy in the year one thousand seven hundred and nine-ten," pledging £4 payable in four installments. Joseph Foulke wrote in his Journal that "Hugh Griffith assisted in building the meeting-house, in the years 1711-12." The 1712 stone structure was torn down and a new one was built on the same site in 1823. The stone steps are all that remains of the 1712 meeting house.7
Hugh Griffith witnessed the marriage of Cadwalader Morris and Elizabeth Morgan on 24 3m 1710 (24 May 1710) in Gwynedd Meeting House, Gwynedd, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.8,6
Hugh Griffith witnessed the marriage of John William and Catherine Griffith on the 12 3m 1714 (12 May 1714) in Haverford Monthly Meeting, Gwynedd, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.9,6
Hugh Griffith took passage on the Robert and Elizabeth that sailed from Liverpool 18 April 1698. The ship sailed first to Ireland where the passengers stayed until "first of Third Month" (1 May 1698 OS) on which date they set sail for Pennsylvania.3,4
The Robert and Elizabeth arrived in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, the "17th of 5th Month" (17 July 1698).3,4
Hugh and Evan Griffith paid £19 10s for 300 acres of land in Gwynedd township in 1698 or 1699. Most of the first settlers' deeds are dated 5 4m 1699, and the others also appear to have been executed, but the source given is no more specific. A re-survey of the land in 1702 resulted in an overplus of 76 acres for which a moderate price was charged, and thereafter, a patent was issued by the commissioners.5
Hugh witnessed the marriage of Evan Griffith and Bridget Jones on 3 3m 1705 (3 May 1705) in Radnor Meeting House, Radnor township, Chester County (now Delaware County), Pennsylvania.1,6
Hugh Griffith was among the Friends (Quakers) who united in 1709/10 to raise money to build a new meeting house at Gwynedd, to replace the original log meeting house built in 1700. He signed the subscription paper dated "the sixth day of the first monthy in the year one thousand seven hundred and nine-ten," pledging £4 payable in four installments. Joseph Foulke wrote in his Journal that "Hugh Griffith assisted in building the meeting-house, in the years 1711-12." The 1712 stone structure was torn down and a new one was built on the same site in 1823. The stone steps are all that remains of the 1712 meeting house.7
Hugh Griffith witnessed the marriage of Cadwalader Morris and Elizabeth Morgan on 24 3m 1710 (24 May 1710) in Gwynedd Meeting House, Gwynedd, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.8,6
Hugh Griffith witnessed the marriage of John William and Catherine Griffith on the 12 3m 1714 (12 May 1714) in Haverford Monthly Meeting, Gwynedd, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.9,6
Children of Hugh Griffith and Mary
Citations
- [S365] Thomas Allen Glenn, Welsh Founders of Pennsylvania (Oxford: Fox, Jones and Co., 1911-1913; reprint Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1991), 99.
- [S364] Hugh Griffith transfer certificate, 10 December 1696, William H. Morris, Leesburg, Florida. Copy.
- [S362] Theodore Webber Bean, History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Everts and Peck, 1884), 140.
- [S356] Howard Malcolm Jenkins, Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, a township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, settled, 1696, by immigrants from Wales, with some data referring to the adjoining township, of Montgomery, also settled by Welsh (Philadelphia: Howard Malcolm Jenkins, 1897), 120.
- [S356] Howard Malcolm Jenkins, Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, Chapter 8, online. <http://www.gwyneddfriends.org/jenkinschapter8.htm
- [S356] Howard Malcolm Jenkins, Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, Chapter 12, online. <http://www.gwyneddfriends.org/jenkinschapter12.htm
- [S356] Howard Malcolm Jenkins, Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, Chapter 9, online <http://www.gwyneddfriends.org/jenkinschapter9.htm>, Chapter 28, online. <http://www.gwyneddfriends.org/jenkinschapter28.htm
- [S357] Morgan-Morris marriage, 24th day of the 3 month 1710, in Minutes of the Haverford Monthly Meeting, unpaginated, arranged by date, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
- [S360] Edwards-William marriage, 12th day of the 3rd month anno 1714, in Minutes of the Haverford Monthly Meeting, unpaginated, arranged by date, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
