WILL OF MR. REES JOHN WILLIAM, MERION, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Know all men by these present that I Reese John William of Merion in the County of Philadelphia being weak in body but of sound and perfect memory do make this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form following :Imprimis, I order out of my estate to pay all my debts.
Item : I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Hannah Jones the one half of my personal estate and the other half to be equally divided between seven children at the third month next ensuing the date hereof.
Item : I order of my wife and children to manage the plantation til my son Richard Jones comes to age.
Item : I give unto my beloved wife the third of my real estate of all my houses orchard plantation and wood lands for her life.
Item : I give unto my son Richard Jones one hundred acres I now live on for him and his heirs for ever saving the third during his mothers life.
Item : I order my son Richard Jones to pay eighty pounds to his brothers and sisters and to be divided as my overseers seem good and the first payment is when he is two and twenty years old, the sum of eleven pounds eight shillings and six pence and to pay so much yearly till the afore said sum of eighty pounds be all payed.
Item : I give unto my son Evan Jones and John Jones one hundred and fifty acres of land taken up at Goshen.
I also appoint my well beloved wife Hannah Jones to be my sole executor of this my last will and testament.
Item : I devise my well beloved friends Cadwalader Morgan Abell Thomas and Edward Jones to be my overseers of this my last will and testament. Griffith Jones and John Roberts is to be of equal power with the aforesaid friends.
In witness hereof I put my hand and seal this fourth and twenty day of the eleventh month of 1697/8. Read Sealed and Published in the presence of us Griffith John Abel Thomas Then personally appeared Griffith John one of the witnesses within named and on his solemn affirmation did declare that he saw the within named Reese John William sign, seal, publish and declare the within writing to be his last will and testament and at the doing thereof he was of sound mind and memory to the best of his knowledge. INVENTORY of the goods, cattles and chattles both moveable and moveable of Rees John William of Merion County of Philadelphia late deceased valued and prized ye 9th of ye 6th month, 1698 as followeth :
| Inventory | £ | s | Notes | |
| Seven Cows | 3 | 05 | each | |
| Two Steers | 2 | 05 | each | |
| Two Young Heiffers | 1 | 10 | each | |
| One Yearling Heiffer | 1 | 00 | ||
| Two Working Horses | 4 | 00 | each | |
| One Mare and Colt | 4 | 00 | ||
| One Colt | 2 | 00 | ||
| One Filly and Yearling | 3 | 10 | ||
| Four Ewes and Lambs | 0 | 06 | each | |
| Two Sows, Three Hogs and Three Small Pigs | 3 | 10 | ||
| One Hive of Bees | 0 | 06 | ||
| Forty Bushels of Wheat | 13 | 00 | ||
| Four Brass Pans 2 Skillets | 6 | 20 | ||
| Some Old Dishes | ||||
| Two Iron Pots | 0 | 18 | ||
| Five Brand, Baking Iron, Frying Pan etc | 0 | 13 | ||
| Wooden Vessels | 0 | 15 | ||
| 2 Bedsteads, 2 Tables and Stools | 1 | 10 | ||
| 1 Feather Bed and 3 Bolsters | 6 | 00 | ||
| 4 New Blankets | 4 | 00 | ||
| 6 Old Blankets | 3 | 00 | ||
| Two Coverlids | 3 | 00 | ||
| Five Sheets | 1 | 16 | ||
| 3 Old Rugs and Some Old Clothes | 1 | 00 | ||
| 18 Yards of Ticking for Bags | 2 | 00 | ||
| One Setting Wheel | 0 | 12 | ||
| Weavers Loom | 2 | 00 | ||
| Implements of Husbandry | 2 | 15 | ||
| One piece of Cersey | 3 | 00 | ||
| 107 | 05 |
| Debts paid of my husbands estate after his decease | ||||
| To Ellis ap Hugh | 6 | 00 | ||
| To Robert Lloyd | 4 | 00 | ||
| To Samuel Sellar | 3 | 00 |
Ye 7th P't of the moiety of ye estate due to ye 7 children ye debts deducted, to each 6 pounds, 14 chillings and 7 pence or there'bt. Rowland Ellis and Hugh Jones.
This Inventory was exhibited on ye 4th of March 1702-3 by Hannah Jones executrix of the last Will and Testament of ye within named Rees John William for a true and plain inventory under protestation nevertheless of adding if occasion be etc.
How it was that Rees John William remembered but seven children in his will when he had nine, is explained by the fact that Katharine died an infant before her father and Margaret was born the same year he made his will.
Pennsylvania Wills and Inventories 1699-1705.
MR. REES JOHN WILLIAM, MERION, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
REES JONES (otherwise Rees John William), of Iscreganen, par. of Llangelynin, County of Merioneth, husbandman.Son of John William, of same the place, husbandman.
Removed to Merion, Pennsylvania, 1684. Freeholder in Merion.
Died. 1697.
Welsh Founders of Pennsylvania.
MR. REES JOHN WILLIAM JONES, MERION, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
REES JONES, with his wife, Hannah and children, Richard, Lowry and Evan, from Merionethshire, arrived in Pennsylvania 7, 17, 1684, and settled in Merion, where the father died 11, 26, 1697. In his Will the name is given as Rees John William. Besides the children born in Wales, there were five others, - John, Edward, Jane, Sarah and Margaret.History of Chester County Pennsylvania.
MR. REES JOHN WILLIAM JONES, MERION, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
He was born in Llangelynin, Merionethshire, Wales, a yeoman, he arrived Philadelphia, 17th Sep 1684, on th ship "Vine of Liverpoole".Rees was the son of John ap William Jones.
In 1684 a large number of Welsh people of great respectability and substance left Wales to travel to Pennsylavania where they purchased of the proprietary several thousand acres of land on the western side of the Schuylkill, about six miles from the spot fixed upon for the city of Philadelphia; and this tract was called Merioneth, in honour of their birth-place.
On 17 July 1684 Rees Jones and his wife, Hannah and children Richard, Lowry and Evan, left Doleyshere(Dolesororen), Merionethshire (Wales), sailing to Philadelphia, aboard the ship "Vine" of Liverpool, William Preeson, Master, sailing from Doleyshere*(Dolesororen), Merionethshire, Wales with a large party bound for the Welsh Tract, and arrived at Philadelphia 17th July 1684. They settled in Merion, Pennsylvania.
Besides the three children born in Wales, there were 5 others - John, Edward, Jane, Sarah and Margaret. John Jones and Katharine Jones, twin children of Rees John William, were born at Merion, 4, 6, 1688. Katharine died in infancy and is buried at Merion Meeting House cemetery as is Evan Jones 1682-1708 another child of Rees and Hannah.
Rees Jones, the father died 11-26-1697 (The 11th month was January rather than November prior to 1752.) The numerical-to-nominal date of 11mo 26 1697/98 would be Jan 26th, 1698. Rees John William signed his Will on 11th January 24, 1697/98 and died just 2 days later, and Hannah in 1741. They are both buried at Merion Meeting House.
Rees' headstone says Rees John-William and Hannah's is possibly one engraved with just the initials H.J. Rees Jones. In his will the name is given as Rees John William.
Find a Grave.
MR. REES JOHN WILLIAM JONES, MERION, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Rees John was the son of John ap William, born 1590, who was also a member of Society of Friends in Wales, living in the Parish of Llangelynin, Merioneth.He suffered considerable persecution for his reigious reliefs.
His three children, Evan John, Rees John and Margaret, all came to Pennsylvania; Evan died at Merion, December 11th, 1683, soon after his arrival, and Margaret brought a certificate to Radnor, dated July 27th, 1683.
Rees John brought a certificate from the Quarterly Meeting at Dolgelly, Merioneth dated 2 mo. 4, 1684, in which he is named as "Rees John, of Iscregenan, County of Merioneth." He had purchased land in the Welsh tract of John Thomas of Edward Jones, both of Merioneth, the projectors of the Welsh settlement in Merion and Haverford. In the deed dated April 1st, 1682, Rees is named as "Rees John Williams, of Llanlynin," the home of his father.
Hannah, the wife of Rees John and her children, Richard, Evan and Lowry, came over in the "Vine," of Liverpool, 7 mo. 17, 1684.