The Inkling

I’ve just traveled from Groningen, Netherlands to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania via train, airplane, and subway. Within 24 hours I find the compelling desire to write as I realize the geographical travel is similar to what my ancestors took over 300 years ago when they traveled from Wales, England to Pennsylvania. In 1698 my 10th great grandmother, Eleanor Foulke, and her husband Edward took their 9 children across the sea to settle in America because they had an “inkling”. They purchased 700 acres of land from William Penn and became the first Welsh Quakers in America. Here is one of the records of their move:

“I had, by my said wife, nine children whose names are as follows: Thomas,

Hugh, Cadwalader andEvan; Grace, Gwen, Jane, Catherine and Margaret. We lived at a place called Coed-y-foel, a beautiful farm belonging to Roger Price, Es. of Rhiwias, Merionethshire, aforesaid. But in the process of time, I had an inclination to remove with my family to the Province of Pensilvania; and in order thereto, we set out on the 3rd day of the 2nd motn, Ad. 1698 and came in two days to Liverpool, where with divers others who intended to go on the voyage, we took shipping the 17th of the same month on board the Robert and Elizabeth, and the next day set sail for Ireland, where we arrived and stayed until the third month, May, and then sailed again for Pennsylvania, and were about eleven weeks at sea. (Loughhead and Company 919-921 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 1898).

I love this story because of the spiritual calling the Foulkes felt, the faith they had in exploration, the peaceful nature that the Quakers demonstrated as they settled in America, and the impact the Quakers had on the founding constitution. Coming to Philadelphia in 2021 as an American who has lived abroad for the last 15 years, I feel a warm connection to this story somehow and I hope my writing helps me to unravel the mystery I feel.