SW_WH1793_Page_037

derable estate, who resided at Newtonards, about seven miles from Belfast, and was highly respected and much beloved. He was not a minister, but a meeting was held at his house, which was occasionally attend-ed by some of his tenants. He lent my father some Friend's books, who in this way became acquainted with their principles, and was received as a member in the society. My mother was warmly attached to the Presbyterians, and much prejudiced against the doc-trines and principles of Friends; however, she after-wards became convinced of their rectitude, and was received into membership. She was a pious and valua-ble woman. About the year 1753, they embarked for America, and landed and settled at Philadelphia. My father pursued mercantile business, mostly in shipping, till about 1766, when he went into the ironmongery business. He died in 9th month. My mother had six-teen children, of whom none are now living, but my sister, Mary Hosack, and myself. She was only a few months old at the time of our father's decease. I was born in Philadelphia, 5th of 9th month, 1758. My mother carried on the hardware business extensively after my father's death, till the year 1796, when she removed to Buckingham, in Bucks county. She was induced to quit the city on account of the bitter spi-rit of persecution of the Whigs (the advocates of American independence) against the Tories, (so call-ed on account of their attachment to the mother country;) and our family being of the latter descrip-tion, we suffered considerably from the opposite par-ty. Schools were then badly conducted, and many of them broken up, on account of the teachers being Tories, so that I had but a poor chance of getting an education. All the learning I acquired was reading, writing, and arithmetic, as far as vulgar fractions. As to grammar, I could repeat some of its definitions by rote, but was totally ignorant of its principles. About the year 1771, my mother placed me as an ap-prentice with John Hoskins, of Burlington, to learn