James Family Archives
• Researching the Past
• Education for the Present
• Preservation for the Future
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On February 13, 1710 David’s wife Margaret gave birth to their fourth child, a daughter who was named Sarah James. The family of David James was now composed of three daughters and a son, the oldest of whom, Mary, was already married. By this time David’s son Thomas is an adult of about twenty years. Thomas will remain single for another eighteen years during which time the James family homestead will enjoy the benefit of two able bodied men to continue cultivating the land.
By April 1711, the families of David James, Samuel Miles and Richard Miles participate in the construction of the Great Valley Baptist Church located in present day Devon, Pennsylvania. David would eventually bequeath a sum to be used for the construction of a stone wall around the cemetery that surrounds the Church. David would also determine that this is where he would eventually be laid to rest.
In February 1712, just ten months after the constitution of the Great Valley Baptist Church a gentleman by the name of Griffith John or “Jones” would settle in the Great Valley. Before his arrival Griffith had been an ordained deacon of the Rhydwill M. Church of Caermarthenshire, Wales. Griffith was also well known to Reverend Hugh Davis, the first pastor of the Great Valley Baptist Church who emigrated in 1710 and to the other original constituent members. The significance of Griffith John was that he had two daughters: Mary and Margaret Jones who would eventually marry David’s two sons: Thomas and Evan James. Also occurring in 1712, the Pennsylvania Assembly would ban the importation of slaves. However, by 1730 about 4,000 slaves have been brought to Pennsylvania.
In 1715 David’s wife Margaret would give birth to the family’s sixth and final child, a son, Evan James. Following the birth of Evan James in 1715 David’s wife Margaret Mortimer disappears from the historical record. David would eventually go on to marry a woman by the name of “Jane” who is believed to have been died to the David or Davies family. Nevertheless, David would have no further children following the passing of his first wife Margaret.
The year 1718 turned out to be a benchmark year for David James. On March 14, 1718, nearly ten years following the agreement of May 22, 1708 between David Meredith, Robert Jones and Meredith Davies, David Meredith finally took matters into his own hands. Jones and Davies had been given one full year to dispose of Meredith’s land in Radnor and, after ten long years, had still not sold the 253 acres to David James or anyone else. Pursuant to their agreement of 1708 Jones and Davies were required to surrender the land to Meredith’s son-in-law Rees Prees by 1709. But that had never happened. Consequently, on March 14, 1708 Robert Jones and Meredith Davies were compelled to sign a legal document surrendering and delivering up all their rights in the property to Rees Prees. The following month, on April 14, 1718 David Meredith and his son in law sold all of the 253 acres of land in Radnor Township to David James at a considerable discount, the same land that had been occupied by David James had occupied since 1682. With this transaction, David James finally secured full legal title to the lands he actually settled upon his arrival and had been developing over the past thirty-six years. A very important provision within the indenture is the full forgiveness and exoneration of any potential rent moneys that may have been legally owed to David Meredith by David James for his occupancy of the land prior to 1718.