Family of Oswell Eve - Pennsylvania and Georgia
OSWELL (or OSWALD) EVE was born around 1715 and died in 1793.
Oswell EVE who may have been born in Bermondsey, Surrey, moved to South Carolina as a child. He was defintely based in Philadelphia from 1743 to 1783. He died in the Bahamas in 1793.
He is describd as a a sea captain and a loyalist.
He married Ann Moore at Christ Church Philadelphia on June 2, 1744.
When the war of independance broke out he went to Nassau, where he died in his son Joseph's house (1793).
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According to the EVE family bible Oswell Eve's walking stick was a bamboo cane cut on the Ganges more than one hundred and fifty years ago. "Eve" is cut in the ivory head. It has been used by some of his descendants - Oswell Eve, Jr., by John P. Eve, and by John C. Eve, and now belongs to Oswell Battey Eve, his great-great-grandson (see later).
Oswell Eve was a loyalist who paid the price for his loyalty to the British crown by losing his estates (see extract below)
Records of the Supreme Court, Series Descriptions, Eastern District Claims Docket, 1778-1779. (1 volune - series #33.28} . A record of cases heard and adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania against citizens accused of high treason. The cases involve claims made against the real and personal estates of the accused. Information given includes names of plaintiff, defendant, claimant, witnesses, and attorneys; amount of claim or debt; and date defendant acquired debt or property. Defendants include Oswald Eve, Joseph Galloway, and Nathaniel Potts. This type of legal action grew out of Chapter 784 of an Act of Assembly passes March 6, 1778, entitled "An Act for the Attainder of Divers Traitors if They Render Not Themselves by a Certain Day, and for Vesting Their Estates in this Commonwealth, and for more Effectually Discovering the Same and for Ascertaining and Satisfying the Lawful Debts and Claims Thereupon." A supplement was passed March 29, 1779, as Chapter 832. Other chapters relating to divesting forfeited estates include Chapters 818, 829, and 854. For further information, see the following series in this record group: Papers in Attainder Relating to Estates Forfeited by Treason, [ca. 1778-1791] {series #33.80} and Claims Papers Relating Primarily to Forfeited Estates, 1778-1791, {series #33.29} as well as series in the record group for the Office of the Comptroller General.
Claims Papers Relating Primarily to Forfeited Estates, 1778-1791. (2 cartons) {series #33.29} Arranged chronologically by date of claim. Claims of estates forfeited due to the owners' conviction for high treason committed during the American Revolution. Documents filed, both British and American, include claims, decrees, bonds, and statements of the net assets of the estate. Information provided by these documents includes names of claimant and claimee; amount of debt; reason for forfeiture; and the location and value of real estate that may be forfeited. Two documents of 1781 specifically cite debts owed by General Benedict Arnold. Clear documentation of the legal process by which claims were made against forfeited estates can best be seen in the files of Samuel Biles, Oswell Eve, Gideon Vernon, Christian Hunt, James and William Rankin, John Jones, Richard Swanwick, and Christopher Wilson.
During or after the Revolutionary War, Oswell Eve had a land grant on Cat Island, 1783. His son, Joseph Eve had land on Cat Island also, but seems to be mostly assosciated with Nassau . Oswell Eve, although based in Philadelphia, spent, it appears, several years in Belize (1768-1773?), possibly recovering from financial setbacks in Philadelphia. He was engaged in the logwood and mahogany trade and perhaps shipbuilding
1 Oswell Eve
Oswell Eve was born circa 1715. He died in Nassau in 1793.
He married Ann Moore, at Christ Church Philadelphia on the June 2, 1744. They had the following children
- John Eve (2) - born 28th Feb 1747. He married Jane Campbell on the 9th May 1770 at the First Baptist Church, Philadelphia. On the 28th Oct 1784 he married Charity Bennet..
- Oswell Eve (2) - born 26th July 1755 . He married Aphra Ann Pritchard.
- William Eve (3) - born abt 1750. He married Mary Clarke.
- Joseph Eve (4) - born 1760. He married Hannah Singleterry.
- Sarah Eve (5)- born 5th Feb 1749. She died two weeks before she was to marry Dr.Rush..
There may have been other children. Births registered include:
- Oswald Eve born 21st Sept 1745
- Martha Eve born 31 Dec 1751
Deaths registered include
- Anne Eve death 18th April 1751
- ? Eve death 11th Nov 1756
- ? Eve death 27 Nov 1756
- Mary Eve death 6th Oct 1759
