Berks County, Pennsylvania was formed on March 11, 1752 from parts of Chester County, Lancaster County, and Philadelphia County. Northwestern parts of the county became Northumberland County in 1772 and Schuylkill County in 1811.
Thomas Ellis was born in Wales in 1683.
He married Jane Hughes (Hugh) in 1712 at the Gwynedd Monthly Meeting in Montgomery (was Philadelphia) County, Pennsylvania.
She was the daughter of John Hughes and Martha Caimot.
Thomas and Jane were Quakers.
Thomas and Jane's children included:
Jonathan Ellis (1713),
Morris Ellis (1714, died as an infant),
Morris Ellis (1715, married Sarah Coulston),
Eleanor Ellis Lee (1717, married Thomas Lee),
Rowland Ellis (1718, married Sarah Stover),
Thomas Ellis (1721, married Magdaline Carlen),
Mordecai Ellis (1723, married Mary Hutton),
Enos Ellis (1725, married Elizabeth Coulston), and
Elizabeth Ellis (1727, died as an infant).
They owned 175 acres in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
The Society of Friends (Quakers) began in England in the 1650s, when they broke away from the Puritans. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, as a safe place for Friends to live and practice their faith.
