Ann (Williams) Foulke (1693 - 1773)

Born 6 Jan 1693 in Pembrokeshire, Wales [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Hugh Foulke — married 4 Jun 1713 in Gwynedd, Montgomery, Province of Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 10 Sep 1773 at age 80 in Richland Township, Bucks, Pennsylvania

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Porter Fann [send private message]

Biography

Birth Place and Parents Version One
In 1862, a Biographical Sketch of Ann Foulke was published in "The Friend" Vol XXXV (7th day 5th month 1862) p. 276. This sketch was republished verbatim in the 1940 "Ancestry of Clarence V. Roberts."^[1] This text states that Ann was the daughter of John and Ann Williams, that she was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, 11m.6d. 1693. Her family emigrated in 1700 and settled in the jurisdiction of the Gwynned Meeting.

Birth Place and Parents Version Two
In 1925, Clarence Roberts wrote "Early Families of Upper Bucks..." In this Ann Williams is said to be the daughter of John and Mary (Evans) Williams, who left Merionethshire, Wales, in 1687, settled first in Merion, Pennsylvania, where Ann was born. Mary, John's wife and the mother of his older children, died there, and the family went to Gwynned, and John remarried to Catherine.^[2] Roberts repeats her parents John and Mary twice (p. 86, 304) in his 1940 "Ancestry of Clarence V. Roberts" contradicting the earlier 1862 sketch, which he also includes. He does state on p. 304 that birth records and Mary's death were not found in the Radnor (Merion) Meeting records and that although there are references in Merion to John Williams, because the name is common, he cannot ascertain if or which records belong to this John.

Ann Williams was born 11th month, 6th or 8th, 1693.^[3] This date has been interpreted as Nov 6, 1693, Nov. 8, 1693, August 11, 1693, and Jan 6, 1693, the vast majority of online trees having the first date. Looking at the day itself 6 or 8. It certainly looks like an 8, as does the day of Hugh's birth above. Compare this figure with the 8 in 1685 (year of Hugh). They do not look anything alike. Instead the day looks more like the 6 in 1693, except that the pen stayed too long on the paper. Eleventh month in the "old style" calendar is January not November.

Ann's parents were under "the convincement of the principles of friends."^[4] Christopher E. Stern explained this interesting phrase. It refers to the "experience of being convinced, which was the starting point of the early Quaker faith" It is a "call to a living encounter with the one who walked the streets of Jerusalem" and a "call to discipleship, to take up the cross and follow our Lord." "... convincement is a gift ... something that happens to us that is greater than our own ability and strength and often happens in spite of ourselves. Convincement is a gift that comes from God, often in a moment of great need and can be the basis for changing our lives."^[5] With this belief Ann's parents traveled to the new world, settled in the area of the Gwynedd Meeting and were received into membership. There, Ann was raised and educated.^[4]

In 1713, 4th month, 4th day, Ann married Hugh Foulke, who became a minister of the Friends.

Ann was a member of the Church Militant. She engaged in the service of visiting families and in works of charity and benevolence among her neighbors of every denomination. In 1727, she was given the gift of "ministry of the gospel." Her friends found her "lively and edifying."^[4]

In 1730,the family removed to Richland, where the parents continued their religious endeavors, and they raised their children to believe in the Gospel and the Quaker way of life. Ann was "a truly affectionate wife, a tender and careful mother, whose principal concern for her children was to train them up in the way of truth and godliness, and her chief pleasure, to see them walk in the paths of virtue and piety."^[4]

Ann's husband Hugh died in 1760. She left behind her a paper that told of her dealings with God, talked of his merciful dispensations to herself, gave thanksgiving to God for his love and goodness, and spoke to her children, telling them that her desire was that they continue to reverence, trust, and love God and to raise their children to do the same.^[4]

She died in her 80th year, on the 10th day, 9th month, 1773. (10 Sept 1773)^{[6] [7][4]} and was buried at Richland Friends Meeting Burial Ground, Quakertown, Bucks, Pennsylvania. Children:

1. Mary Foulke b. 9. 24. 1714; d. 2. 20. 1756
2. Martha Foulke 1716-1781
3. Samuel Foulke 1718-1797
4. Eleanor Foulke 1720-1760
5. Sarah Ambler 1721-1796 [sic = not a child of Ann Foulke]^[8]
6. John Foulke 1722-1787
7. Thomas Williams Foulke 1723-1786
8. Theophilus Foulke 1726-1785
9. William Foulke 1729-1796
10. Edward Foulke 1729-1747
11. Ann Foulke 1732-1786
12. Jane Foulke 1734-1771

Sources

1. ↑ Roberts, Clarence, V. Ancestry of Clarence V. Roberts & Frances A. (Walton) Roberts; comprising a chart and sketches of some fifty-six ancestral families who settled mostly in or near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Published by the compiler, Clarence V. Roberts, 1940.
2. ↑ Roberts, Clarence Vernon & Warren Smedley Ely. Google Books Early Friends Families of Upper Bucks, with Some Account of Their Descendants: Historical and Genealogical Information about the Early Settlers in Upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania (p. 130) (Google eBook) Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Com, 1925.
3. ↑ This page - is a compiled list of the births of the Foulke Family, it was done in the same hand, and probably the births at the same time, includes parents and children, and is part of the Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Richland Monthly Meeting Minutes, Births and Deaths, 1750-1805. Part of : U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Cites as Original data for the entire collection: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina.Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana.Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania. Located at Ancestry.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5} Biographical Sketch of Ann Foulke published in "The Friend" Vol XXXV (7th day 5th month 1862) p. 276.
5. ↑ Stern, Christopher E. "Convinced in Our Day" at Quaker Heritage Press
6. ↑ Note: after 1752 so new style date, 9th month = September)
7. ↑ Ancestry of Clarence V. Roberts & Frances A. (Walton) Roberts; comprising a chart and sketches of some fifty-six ancestral families who settled mostly in or near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.,Published by the compiler, Clarence V. Roberts, Wm. F. Fell Co., printers, Philadelphia, 1940
8. ↑ See my public comment on this page. Chet Snow, April 6, 2015

See also:

• Early Friends Families of Upper Bucks, with Some Account of Their Descendants: Historical and Genealogical Information about the Early Settlers in Upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania, by Clarence Vernon Roberts, Warren Smedley Ely, Genealogical Publishing Com, 1925
• Gwynedd Friends Meeting History Page, Descendants of Edward FOULKE
• Space:OCLC-3530764
• WILLIAMS families at Gwynedd Monthly Meeting (Pennsylvania) by James Quinn, Gwynedd Meeting Historian
• Ancestry of Clarence V. Roberts & Frances A. (Walton) Roberts page 109
• Historical Collection relating to Gwynedd Township Montgomery County page 237
• Descendants of Edward FOULKE: Introduction from Howard M. Jenkins (1897), chapter 15.
• Home of the Foulke Family Association
• What do Quaker's Believe