Person:Elizabeth Thomas (90)

Introducing Elizabeth Thomas of Merion, Montgomery Co, PA_______________________

Elizabeth Thomas was the daughter of John Thomas, an ironmaster. She is referred to as a Matron of the Revolution in a historical source.

They had 9 children; the eighth was William Beckford Irish.

A Matron of the Revolution: Elizabeth was educated in Philadelphia in one of the Friends' schools and was well read in the sparse literature of that day. She married Nathaniel Irish, Jr., evidently being acquainted with him through his business relations with her father. They took up their residence for awhile in NJ, but at the opening of the Revolution they moved to PA (their native state). Elizabeth lived in a neighborhood where there were numerous Loyalists; she was truly patriotic and the cause found her a noble handmaid. Apart from the care of a large family, which included for a long period several members of her father's household, her industry manifested itself in send to the gallant men connected with her husband's valiant command many of life's necessities and especially was this the case when Washington's army lay at Valley Forge. When the war was over the family moved to a tract of land on Plum Creek, Pitt Twp, Allegheny Co, PA where she spent her remaining days. She was buried in a private graveyard nearby.

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   William Egle, Egle's Notes and Queries of PA 1700-1800's, 1899, V16 p72