Nathaniel Eames (the miner born 1715)
and Margaret Morris Family

Submitted by Brett Gledhill

Ancestors - Pedigree Chart

Our records show that Nathaniel Eames was the fourth child and second Nathaniel born to Rowland Eames (b.1682) and Jane Price at Llanllyfni Wales. This name, Nathaniel, probably came as a result of the great respect which Rowland (b.1682) had for his own father and his desire that a son of his should live to maturity bearing that name. We can only speculate from the records what affect this special gift of a name had on the son Nathaniel (b.1715). In later years, Nathaniel mould reciprocate in kind by naming his only son in honor of his father Rowland. That son, Rowland (b.l756), mould proudly name his first child Humphrey Jones, in honor of his father-in-law Humphrey John, and his second son Rowland named Nathaniel (b.1789) to honor his own father. This younger Nathaniel named his first son Rowland, and his next 2 children were given the middle name of Rowland. So, we see this tradition had among the Eames line was a very special one, where the hearts of the Fathers were turned to their sons, and the sons to their fathers.

The young boy Nathaniel Eames (b.1715) was about 12 years old in 1727 when his grandfather Nathaniel (b.1650) passed away at Llanllyfni. The grandson likely had known his grandfather well having been raised all his life in the same city, Llanllyfni, where his grandfather one year had been guardian. Nor was death of a loved one something entirely unknown to the young boy of 12. He had lost his own mother, Jane Price at the tender age of 5 years and then his stepmother, Ellen Jones, when he was 10. Nathaniel was blessed to come from a large family, however. Before he was 17 years old, Nathaniel had 6 brothers, a sister, a new stepmother Catherine Hughes and his father, Rowland, a hatter.

Our next record of Nathaniel Eames (b.1715) came in 1743 when he married Margaret Morris on February 2, at the parish of Beddgelert, Caernavonshire, Wales. Beddgelert was a small parish maybe 5 or 10 miles from Llanllyfni. We are not certain what brought Nathaniel to this perish to live. He apparently spent the remainder of his life there. Our Welsh researcher Bob Owen had some biographies of Nathaniel's son Rowland (b.1756), which said that his father was a lead miner. It may be then, that Nathaniel (b.1715) moved into this area to be nearer the mines, which he worked in. One record from Mr. Owen's private collection gives the name of a Nathaniel Eamys with 5 others who in October of 1769, had mined over 86 tons of copper at Drwsfcoed mine. This may vary well be a reference to our Nathaniel Eames (b. 1715), the miner but we cannot ha sure. It would be interesting to know the exact location of this Drolsfcoed mine. There were several different mines in the area and many of Nathaniel's descendants and kinsmen worked in them, mostly at the slate mines in Caernarvonshire. The miners usually moved around from mine to mine over the years. Nathaniel probably worked in a good number of them, which could have taken him away from home for periods of time.

One might ask the question, how can we be certain that this Nathaniel Eames the miner who lived and died at Beddgelert and who is easily traceable from there by well documented evidence is our ancestor, how can we know that he is the same Nathaniel born in 1715 at Llanllyfni? His marriage record in 1743 apparently did not indicate that he was from Llanllyfni, not did his death record include. The evidence is quite strong that Nathaniel Eames, is also Nathaniel Eames (b.1715) at Llanllyfni. We have no other Nathaniel at that early period whose records could really be confused with our Nathaniel Eames. It should be remembered that when Bob Omen connected these families together, he did not just pull out our direct ancestors, but his pedigree chart included vital statistics and connecting links for all of the Eames families and all of the marriages into the families and their descendants as far as he could carry them. When we, put the complete puzzle together you are more certain of the pieces than when you just look at a small part of it. Mr. Owen also knew living descendants of these people who would have helped him with their knowledge of the family. Further evidence is had in the fact that Nathaniel Eames' younger brother John, followed him to Baddgelert, was married there and died there too. Our most conclusive evidence is the will of Hugh Eames in 1797, brother to Nathaniel and John. In the will, Hugh leaves money to his brother John Eames Griffith, the son of his brother John Eames and to Rowland Eames, son of his late brother Nathaniel Eames. Now what are the chances of there being in that small area more than me Nathaniel Eames who had brothers John and Hugh, a son Rowland and a nephew Griffith, son of John, and who passed away before 1797, but whose brothers, son and nephew were all still living in 1797? This example illustrates that, generally speaking, where there's a will there's a way to connect families together.

As previously stated Margaret Morris was the wife of Nathaniel Eames (b.1715). The Bishop's Transcripts for Beddgelert show that marriage entry as: Nathaniel Eames and Margaret his wife married 2 Feb 1743. Nathaniel may have been 28 years old at that time. We do not know how old Margaret Morris was. No record of her birth has bean found. The fact that the marriage took place in Beddgelert and that they lived there afterwards might indicate that Margaret was from that perish. It is not certain haw much effort has gone into searching for a birth record for Margaret Morris and to find her ancestry.

Thirteen years after the marriage of Nathaniel Eames (b.1715) to Margaret Morris, their only known child, Rowland Eames, was born at Beddgelert. The baptismal entry is partially illegible in the Bishop's Transcripts. It says: Rowland son of Nathaniel Eams laborer and Margaret his wife ______ 1756. The unclear part is the day and month of baptism. Jane Musgrove feels that the month is August, while Bob Owen simply says late in the year.

Was there really only one child born to this couple? Could they have lived somewhere else for 13 years after their marriage and had additional children, and then returned to Beddgelert before Rowland was born? Could other children have come later? The parish registers at Beddgelert were apparently not too well kept, so could vital entries have been missed altogether? It would be difficult to completely satisfy ourselves with answers to all these questions, but evidence is pretty good that this was a small family, and probably only one son lived to maturity. Rowland (b.1756) had the rare privilege of obtaining a formal education, pursuing and perfecting his music skills. His family was clearly not among the upper class, yet they had the money for Rowland's training, something they probably could not have done had there been a larger family. Rowland became rather famous, perhaps the most prominent of all the 18th and 19th century Eames family. Bob Owen had access to a large amount of information, concerning him. It seems doubtful that among his biographical information in several books, no mention mould be made of brothers and sisters, were there any who lived to maturity, in the will of his uncle, Hugh Eames, Rowland is remembered, but no brothers or sisters are mentioned. Hugh certainly did not name all of his nephews and nieces but had there been a brother older than Rowland, it is likely that he would have been remembered.

Because of the age about which we are writing, if there had been another child born to Nathaniel (b.1715) and Margaret, it would most likely have been a girl. A girl could more easily have gone unmentioned than a boy. For this reason a particular entry found in the Bishop's Transcripts for Baddgelert deserves mention here. Jane Musgrove found a marriage entry as follows: Rice Williams of Llanegrin, single to Jane Eames of Beddgelert, spinster 4 June 1781. The witnesses were: Rowland Eames and Richard Evans. The Rowland Eames who signed as a witness would most certainly be our Rowland (b.1756), but who was the bride, Jane Eames of Beddgelert? Rowland had a cousin Jane Eames living at Beddgelart at the time but in 1781, she mould have been 9 years old. Could this Jane Eames be a sister of Rowland Eames (b.l756)? Further research on this will be needed to answer that question.

A final entry of historical interest for Nathaniel Eames (b.1715) and Margaret Morris is their burial entry at Beddgelart. It states: buried 29 Oct 1788 Nathaniel Emes of Bryncoch, labr. and of Margaret Morris his wife, the same day. This causes one to wonder how they met their death to have died at so nearly the same time. Nathaniel would have been 73 years old when he died. Being that old and living in the 18th century, it would be much more likely than it would be today for them to have died from the same illness at that same time.

Less than 9 months after their death, a grandson was born who was named after this grandfather Nathaniel. Then 60 years later, that grandson and his wife Sarah Jones would die within 3 days of each other as they gave up their lives in the attempt to plant their family in a new land, all for a strange new religion they had joined known as Mormonism.