KthLttr [A great BIG THANKS to Martha Wolf for following up the 'cousin Edward' letter at the Friends House Library in London, and then finding the recommended biography of George Keith which fills in several blanks about this particular family, and its purported relationship to Edward Johnson of New Kent Co. VA. You can send comments directly to Martha -- her e-mail is at the end of this report -- or to me; please remember to not click on the 'reply to all'. LSS JUN 2001.] Hello all, I recently became interested in locating the whereabouts of the Elizabeth Johnston Keith letter so that I could examine it on my next trip to London. To that end, a friend consulted the London phone directory and then talked with the information operator. They failed to locate any Quaker museum in London. I next obtained the web site of the British Yearly Meeting and discovered that they have a library. From correspondence with a staff member there I received the marriage date of George Keith and Elizabeth Johnson (no "t" in their record) from their Dictionary of Quaker Biography. My correspondent, Mr. Josef Keith, kindly checked their manuscript card catalog for any letter from Elizabeth that might match the one in question. I include the bulk of his reply: Our card catalogue of manuscripts shows no letter by Elizabeth Keith (born Johnson). Nothing under Keith, George nor Keith, Anne nor Harris, Mary in the same catalogue seems linked to this, either. I raise only 3 points: could you quote the original reference to the "London Quaker Museum"? We know of no such institution: we are the Library of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), sometimes known as Friends House Library: before 1926 known as Friends Reference Library (at Devonshire House, the Society's then Head Office). Second, I have only so far found references in one place to MSS connected to Anne Keith: in Ethyn W Kirby's biography "George Keith 1638- 1716" (pub. D. Appleton-Century, NY & London, 1942): see p142 and the bibliography at pp164-166. "Early Quaker letters" is a specific title which does not correspond to other information in your EMails. Geoffrey F Nuttall compiled a calendar and index to part of our SWARTHMORE MANUSCRIPTS collection in 1952, and entitled it "Early Quaker Letters from the Swarthmore MSS to 1660". Yours (but no relation), Josef Keith (Library, Friends House, London NW1 2BJ) I obtained the biography cited, which appears to be very well documented from primary and good secondary sources, and think a brief summary of the life and career of George Keith would be useful. 1638 - (circa) born 1654-58 -- attended university 1660-61 -- tutored 1663 - in prison for 10 months 1667 - possibly in prison 1669 - prison for 9 months 1663-70 - surveyor; also preaching, writing and traveling when not in prison 1672 - married Elizabeth Johnston in Aberdeen and after lived on her property 1672 - 1679 travels to England, Holland, Germany with wife; also prison 1684 - named surveyor-general for Colony of East Jersey (America) 1685- with wife and two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth, came to New Jersey 1685-1693 - resided in New Jersey & Pennsylvania; 3rd dau. Margaret born 1693 - returned to London with family, except for Anne who had married 1693 - 1702 he became an Anglican 1702-4 - visited America again; visited dau. Anne Walker in Virginia; he was pleased to find that she was raising her children as ANGLICANS. (contrary to what a group member said recently.) 1716 -- died, leaving estate to two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret who lived with him What does this mean for us in terms of the letter? 1. While the biography is more concerned with his teachings and writings than with his personal life, the depth of the research leads me to believe that had there been a first marriage before Elizabeth, it would have been discovered and noted. 2. This means that Elizabeth was the mother of Anne (and all of his children) and Anne could not have been born before approx. 1673. Thus 3 years old in 1676 and not likely to have been sent to America. 3. Anne went to America at age 11 or younger with her parents arriving in Feb. 1685 (New Jersey Archives, First Series, Vol. XXI, 69 from East Jersey Deeds, Liber A, p.234--List of persons imported by George Keith includes wife [misnamed Anna in 1982 reprint] and daughters Anna and Eliza). This date is very definite and completely negates the 1676 date for Anne's trip to America as told in the "letter". 4. At some time between circa 1689-1693 Anne met and married George Walker. 5. The "facts" or situation described in the quoted letter do not match the recorded facts, which leads me to believe the letter did not exist. Unless someone can find a real letter with statements that agree with the known facts, then the conclusion must be that there was never such a letter. 6. A family connection between Edward Johnston of Va. and Elizabeth Keith can not be established based upon that "letter" since, with no letter, there is no mention of a "Cousin Edward". 7. The George Keith of New Jersey is very definitely the same one as the husband of Elizabeth Johnston of Aberdeen. He is well documented in New Jersey records. 8. To preclude an objection I saw on another forum recently, a man was not old at 30 and there is no problem about a man waiting until his thirties to marry. The average age of death was in the 30's ONLY if one lumps into the averaging pool all the children who died in infancy and early youth. Once past childhood, the vast majority of people lived into their 70's, 80's or 90's with the exception of those men killed in wars or by Indians and women who died in childbirth. I also obtained a number of books on Quaker history, including "The Journals of George Fox", which provides no contradictions to the above facts. The latter mentions George Keith and his wife Elizabeth in several instances after 1675, but there is no mention of an earlier wife. There are some manuscripts that may be available that I will try to examine, but feel this data is fairly conclusive. I am sorry to eliminate the transatlantic connection for now, but if the letter was the only proof, then it appears that more work needs to be done in Virginia to find clues to the origins of Edward Johnston before moving across the Atlantic. Martha Wolf wolmar@olg.com