Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John BEVAN
BEVAN, John, or John Ap, as he was sometimes called, was born in
Glamorganshire, Wales, in 1646, being the eldest of five children. His
parents, who were wealthy, died while he was quite young. Being the heir,
when he arrived at age, he found himself in possession of a very large
estate, while his brothers were unprovided for - his only sister being
dead.
His strong sense of justice at once induced him to "portion all his
brothers, and give them a helpful subsistence in the world". In 1665 he was
married to a religious woman, a strict member of the Established Church,
who, when her husband had shown a disposition to become a Quaker, was
distressed, and felt it to be her duty to interpose her serious objections.
They argued the question without result; but the indiscretion of the
priest, in pronouncing the sentence of excommunication without previous notice
against the husband, in presence of the wife, so shocked her feelings as to
make her nearly faint away, and after a time made her willing "to search
closely into the weighty work of salvation". They both became Quakers, and
in the language of their certificate, were regarded "as a nursing father
and a nursing mother to (the spiritually) weak and young" of their
neighborhood.
In 1683, John BEVAN, with his family, removed to Pennsylvania,and
settled either in Merion or Haverford, his land being located in both
townships. He had been a pillar of the Meeting he left, he was equally so
of Haverford Meeting, which he aided in establishing, and which was frequently
held at his house in its infancy. He stook high as a preacher in the
Society, and the records of Haverford attest his constancy and efficiency
inthe promotion of works of benevolence and charity. While in the country
he traveled much as a minister, and in 1704, visited his native land on
"truth's account" accompanied by his wife and his youngest daughter,
Barbara, who was also a preacher. He never returned to America, but after
suffering some persecution, being imprisoned in Cardiff gaol in 1721, he
died shortly afterwards. He had four children married in Pennsylvania. He
daugher Jane to John WOOD, of Darby, in 1693; daughter Elizabeth, to Joseph
RICHARDSON, of Philadelphia, 1696; and one other.
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