derable estate, who resided at Newtonards, about seven
miles from Belfast

, and was highly respected and
much beloved. He was not a minister, but a meeting
was held at his house, which was occasionally attend-
ed by some of his tenants. He lent my father some
Friend's books, who in this way became acquainted
with their principles, and was received as a member
in the society. My mother was warmly attached to the
Presbyterians, and much prejudiced against the doc-
trines and principles of Friends; however, she after-
wards became convinced of their rectitude, and was
received into membership. She was a pious and valua-
ble woman. About the year 1753, they embarked for
America, and landed and settled at Philadelphia. My
father pursued mercantile business, mostly in shipping,
till about 1766, when he went into the ironmongery
business. He died in 9th month. My mother had six-
teen children, of whom none are now living, but my
sister, Mary Hosack, and myself. She was only a few
months old at the time of our father's decease. I was
born in Philadelphia, 5th of 9th month, 1758. My
mother carried on the hardware business extensively
after my father's death, till the year 1796, when she
removed to Buckingham, in Bucks county. She was
induced to quit the city on account of the bitter spi-
rit of persecution of the Whigs (the advocates of
American independence) against the Tories, (so call-
ed on account of their attachment to the mother
country;) and our family being of the latter descrip-
tion, we suffered considerably from the opposite par-
ty. Schools were then badly conducted, and many
of them broken up, on account of the teachers being
Tories, so that I had but a poor chance of getting an
education. All the learning I acquired was reading,
writing, and arithmetic, as far as vulgar fractions.
As to grammar, I could repeat some of its definitions
by rote, but was totally ignorant of its principles.
About the year 1771, my mother placed me as an ap-
prentice with John Hoskins, of Burlington, to learn