On Tue, 30 Mar 1999 08:48:04 -0500 "Earl H. Elam" <EHElam@compuserve.com> writes: >I note with interest your identifiction of Samuel Elam as a Jew. What is >your source of information? The reference to Samuel Elam is found in "Ship's Passenger Lists, National and New England 1600-1825," Edited & Indexed by Carl Boyer, 3rd Publication by the Compiler, Newhall, CA, 1977, pages 197-200, in which the compiled has printed excerpts from, and makes editorial notes regarding, a work titled "The History of Denization and Naturalization in the Colony of Rhode Island, 1636-1790," by Sidney S. Rider, no publication place, [1905?]. The author of this piece presents a long and complicated discussion of the Charter of the Colony of Rhode Island, and a legal discourse aimed toward proving that it was unnecessary for anyone holding British citizenship to need to be naturalized and that certain laws passed by the Assembly of Rhode Island violated Roger Williams' original Charter for that Colony. > Samuel Elam (1753-1815) of Rhode Island, was a son of John Elam Sr. (1721-1789) and >Mary Frankland Elam (c. 1724-1799) of Leeds in Yorkshire, England. <snip> >Rhode Island. According to Neill, Samuel went to Newport when his uncle, >Gervais (or Gervase) Elam died in 1777. Gervase, who had been engaged in >business in VA also became a successful merchant in Rhode Island. Gervase >was a Loyalist and his property was seized by the state when he died. The petition of Samuel Elam, stating that he came from Leeds, England, and that he "had dwelt in Rhode Island since the peace," can apparently be found in "Acts and Resolves of the Rhode Island Assembly, March, 1789, page 11." If the reference to the petition is correctly recorded, (and I have no access to Rhode Island records to determine whether it is or not), then it would seem that Samuel Elam is stating that he was not living in America until after the Revolutionary War. >listed by Norma Neill in her book on The Elam Family: Quaker Merchants of >England and America, pp. 65-66. The family were merchants, involved in >clothing and other businesses in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and <snip> >Neill identifies the family as Quakers. Mrs. Neill has written a wonderfully thorough and well-researched book - full of information about Quaker Elams in England, and I understand from your posts that she has helped you to locate heretofore unobtainable Elam birth records. There is no doubt that some Elams were Quakers, and that some of those who were were in Virginia at some point prior to the Revolutionary War. As I'm sure you know, the compilation which contains the most numerous mention of these Virginia Quaker Elam connections is "Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy," by William Wade Hinshaw, Vol. VI, pgs. 171-172, reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore. These early Quaker records certainly allow for various interpretations. The mention of Elams in the Blackwater Monthly Meeting (1766) records a letter received from the attorney for Samuel and Emanuel Elam, complaining about a debt owed to the Elam firm by a customer, who happened to be a member of that meeting. The records of the Henrico Monthly Meeting are slightly more informative, but clearly indicate that the Monthly Meeting had, in 1753, contracted separately with 'Gervis' and with Robert Elam to "roof the Monthly Meeting [house] at Bridgehouse in Yorkshire, England." Only one surviving pre-Revolutionary War Quaker record seems to indicate the physical presence of Elams in the Colony of Virginia. From the records of the Henrico Monthly Meeting, (1753) "Robert requests through his brother a certificate to the monthly meeting at Brighouse in Yorkshire (departed this colony for England)" and, in 1755, "Joseph requests certificate Brighouse, Yorkshire, England, the Monthly Meeting decided that since he brought no certificate when he came here, nor never applied to be taken under care of this Monthly Meeting, he was not entitled to a certificate, matter dropped." Next, (1757) "Joseph roof Shewbroad for Brighouse Monthly Meeting in Yorkshire," and (1762) "Joseph given certificate England; said certificate returned 1763, he abandoned his plans." Virginia Quaker records do not mention any females having the surname Elam, not do they record any Elam marriages. These absences, coupled with other extant pre-Revolutionary Virginia records, such as the "List of 10,000 Names," the list of charter members of the Meherrin Baptist Church, and records of numerous Elam marriages performed by Anglican, Methodist and Baptist clergy, seem at this point to indicate that a strong Quaker connection MAY not have applied to the Elams in pre- and in post-Revolutionary Virginia. Regarding "Gervais" Elam: "Virginia in 1760: A Reconstructed Census," by T. L. C. Genealogy, Miami, FL, 1996, page 108, lists the name "Gervas Elam," once in Cumberland County and once in Henrico County. I don't know what records were used in reconstructing this census, and cannot say anything about its accuracy. I do know that the name of at least one Virginia Elam property owner, Edward of Lunenburg county, who owned, sold and bought property in Lunenburg from 1752 onward, is missing from the above named 'census,' so it does not seem that a complete survey of Virginia records was used. At any rate, I have not been able to locate records for "Gervas Elam" in Cumberland or Henrico Counties. Perhaps another Elam researcher will share those they may have found. ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]