This latter spelling of her name as "Agnes Bom," is no doubt the correct one, as she was widow of Cornelius Bom, a Dutch Friend, who originally settled in Germantown, and was there before Pastorius arrived. Cornelius Bom traded in various ways, and as he wrote from Germantown to a friend in Rotterdam, Oct. 12, 1684, "I have here a shop of many kinds of goods and edibles. Sometimes I ride out with merchandise, and some times bring something back, mostly from the Indians, and deal with them in many things. I have no regular servants except one negro, whom I bought. I have no rent or tax or excise to pay. I have a cow which gives plenty of milk, a horse to ride around, my pigs increase rapidly, so that in the summer I had seventeen when at first I had only two. I have many chickens and geese, and a garden, and shall next year have an orchard, if I remain well, so that my wife and I are in good spirits."
He afterwards removed to Philadelphia, where he had a "bake-house" located in the "wilderness at the south east corner of 3rd and Chestnut Sts., and not far from the Creek." ...
... Cornelius Bom was probably a man in good circumstances, but at the time of his death, his affairs appear to have been somewhat in disorder, as we gather from a deed of conveyance from Anthony Morris to William Hudson, dated 3rd mo. 25th, 1697,* which refers to a piece of land granted 5th mo. 10th, 1684, by William Penn to Cornelius Bome — 50 feet in breadth, in length on the west side of said lot from Chestnut Street to the Swamp 260 feet, and from the Swamp on the east side of said lot to said street 295 feet, bounded northward with Chestnut Street, eastward with Henry Wood's lot, southward with Swamp, westward with the third street. Cornelius Bome had, before a Notary in Rotterdam, in the year 1675, by an instrument called his will, made Agnes his then intended wife (and whome he afterwards married), his heir according to the laws and usages of that country. He, the said Cornelius Bome did improve the said lot and built a messuage thereon, and afterwards died in this Province, and after his decease, administration of his estate was committed to said Agnes, who intermarried with said Anthony Morris, and afterwards died intestate.
As Cornelius Bom owed several debts at the time of his death, his widow Agnes, and afterwards Anthony Morris, paid off many of them, but some still remained — one particularly of £237.12.0 was owing to Peter van Radt. Anthony Morris therefore sold this property to William Hudson for £130, which sum was used towards satisfying the judgment against the estate of Bom.
