Abel Morgan (1673 – 16 December 1722) was a Welsh Baptist minister, best known for the posthumously published work ''Cyd-goriad Egwyddorawl o'r Scrythurau'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: The Joint Principles of the Scriptures) the First

Biblical concordance A Bible concordance is a concordance, or verbal index, to the Bible. A simple form lists Biblical words alphabetically, with indications to enable the inquirer to find the passages of the Bible where the words occur. Concordances may be for the ...

to be written in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

and the second Welsh book printed in

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

Early life

Morgan was born at Allt-goch in

Cwrtnewydd Cwrtnewydd, or Cwrt-newydd, or Cwrt Newydd, is a village in the community and parish of Llanwenog, towards the south of the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Cwrtnewydd is on the B4338 road, north of the A475, just to the west of the town of Lampete ...

, in the parish of Llanwenog, Cardiganshire in 1673. The son of Morgan Rhydderch, deacon at Rhydwilym, Morgan moved to

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

at an early age to become a member of Llanwenarth's Baptist church. His career as a preacher began in 1692 and he was ordained in Blaenau Gwent in 1700, having received a call to preach in the region, c. 1696.

Emigration to the Americas

Morgan decided to emigrate to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

in September 1711, though he did not arrive in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

until February the following year. Abel Morgan landed in the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...

and held the pastorate of the

Pennepack Baptist Church Pennepack Baptist Church, also known as the Pennepek Baptist Church and the Lower Dublin Baptist Church, is an historic, American Baptist church that is located in Bustleton, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It is one of the oldest Baptist congreg ...

from his arrival, an historic Baptist church in

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that is one of the oldest

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

congregations in North America. His brother, Enoch Morgan (1676-1740), was already minister for the congregation of the

Welsh Tract Baptist Church Welsh Tract Old School Baptist Church is a historic Primitive Baptist church, located on Welsh Tract Road in Newark, New Castle County, Delaware. It was built by Welsh settlers in 1746 and is a simple rectangular brick building with a wood-shin ...

in Newcastle County,

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, which sprung from the Pennepack Baptist Church over a disagreement concerning the practice of the ' laying on of the hands.'

Later life and death

In 1716, Morgan translated a formal confession of faith that had been signed by the Welsh Tract Church's congregants concerning official Baptist doctrine and practices. Morgan was pastor of the Pennepack Baptist Church until his death on 16 December 1722, and his translations of the Biblical concordance were published in Philadelphia in 1730, eight years after his death. He was originally buried at the back of Pennepack Baptist Church in Lagrange Place. His remains were later moved to Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Personal life and family

Morgan was married three times during his life. His first wife, Priscilla Powell, and their son died during his initial voyage to North America, though their daughter survived. He later remarried Martha Burrows, and after her death married Judith Gooding ''née'' Griffiths, the widowed daughter of Thomas Griffiths (1645–1725), who had served as the first pastor for the Welsh Tract Baptist Church for twenty-five years. Morgan fathered three sons and one daughter from Gooding. One of his sons, also named Abel Morgan, became a prominent preacher during the

First Great Awakening The First Great Awakening (sometimes Great Awakening) or the Evangelical Revival was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its thirteen North American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affecte ...

and the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Sources

* ''The Cambrian'' (1881), pp. 188–190. * Conrad, Henry C., ''Records of the Welsh Tract Baptist Meeting: Pencader Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, 1701 to 1828 in Two Parts - Part One'' (Wilmington, Delaware: John M. Rogers Press, 1908), pp. 7–9. * ''Geiriadur Bywgraffyddol o Enwogion Cymru,'' Volume II, pp. 276–277. * Geiter, Mary K., 'Morgan, Abel (1673–1722),' ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) * ''Hanes y Bedyddwyr ymhlith y Cymry, 1885,'' pp. 355–356. * ''Hanes y Bedyddwyr yn Nghymru, 1893-1907,'' Volume III, p. 108. * National Library of Wales Journal, Volume II, pp. 116–117. * National Library of Wales Journal, Volume III, pp. 19–22. * National Library of Wales, NLW MS 9258 * National Library of Wales, NLW MS 9267 * Rhydwilym church register (access from the National Library of Wales) * 'Y Cenhadwr Americanaidd sef cylchgrawn gwybodaeth fuddiol a dyddorawl i Gymry America,' ''The American Messenger, 1880'' (New York: Utica, 1840-1901), pp. 325–325.

References

External links

* Morgan, Abel (1673 – 1722) * Griffiths, Thomas (1645 – 1725) {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Abel 1673 births 1722 deaths Baptist ministers from the United States British emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies People from Ceredigion 18th-century Welsh Baptist ministers Welsh Baptist missionaries Welsh Presbyterians People of colonial Pennsylvania Baptists from Pennsylvania Burials at Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia) 18th-century American clergy