Ephraim Thomas1

b. 1719, d. 31 July 1776
Ephraim Thomas|b. 1719\nd. 31 Jul 1776|p2408.htm|Reverend William Thomas|b. 1678\nd. 6 Oct 1757|p2402.htm|Ann Griffith|b. 1680\nd. 5 Nov 1752|p2403.htm|||||||||||||

3rd great-granduncle of Louise Underwood.
5th great-granduncle of Laura Jane Munson.
Family Background:
Underwood and Allied Families
     Ephraim Thomas was born in 1719 in Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.1 He was the son of Reverend William Thomas and Ann Griffith.1 He married Eleanor Bates, daughter of Joseph Bates and Margaret Hammer.2 He died on 31 July 1776 in Hilltown.3 He was buried in Lower Hilltown Baptist Church Cemetery.3 His will was proved on 27 August 1776.4
     
     Ephraim Thomas lived in a stone house built for him by his father in Hilltown.2 He was a devout member of the Baptist church at Montgomery township, Philadelphia County, in which he held the office of ruling Elder.5 His epitaph reads:

Entombed, I here an Elder lie,
My work on earth is done,
The church, I commit to God's care,
The Spirit and the Son.3

Additional Data

Ephraim Thomas was mentioned in his father William Thomas's will dated 11 December 1753 in Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.6

In 1757, Ephraim inherited from his father 150 acres on the northward slope of the Perkiomen Valley. This was half of the 300 acre tract bought from James Logan in 1723. Manasseh inherited the other half. The 300 acres adjoined the land inherited by John. Later he bought four other tracts in Hilltown, comprising 493 acres.7

Ephraim Thomas, yeoman, left a will dated 14 January 1775 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in which he mentioned wife Eleanor and children Elias, Enoch, Joseph, Ephraim, Margaret Lewis, Dinah Mathews, Rachel Mathews, Sarah Mathews and Elinor Mathews; executors, wife Eleanor and son Elias; Guardians Nathan Brittain and Thomas Jones, Jr; trustees, brother Manasseh Thomas and brother-in-law Humphrey Batts.8

Children of Ephraim Thomas and Eleanor Bates

Citations

  1. [S329] "A Memorandum Containing some account of the birth, life and Ministry of Joseph Mathias. With a diary of his Exercises and various events which came under his notice. Together with an account of his Progenitors and Connexions. Likewise a short notice of the First settlement of the part of the Country, which gave him birth, and where he still resides," (MS, 1831-1851; Bucks County, Pennsylvania), 14, The Bucks County Historical Society; Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
  2. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a (Lansdale, Pennsylvania: Arthur K. Thomas, 1884), 36.
  3. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 38.
  4. [S392] Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County Wills, 1682-1819 (Provo: Ancestry.com, 2000), 337.
  5. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 37.
  6. [S373] William Thomas will (1753), Bucks County Will Book B: 315 #919, The Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
  7. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 36-37.
  8. [S392] Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County Wills, 1682-1819, citing Q: 337.
  9. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 39.
  10. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 41.
  11. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 43.
  12. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 44.
  13. [S372] Edward Mathews, The Thomas Family of Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn'a, 45.