When ELY REES was born there had already been four generations of Rees's in America before him. The first generation being Thomas Rees, who left his home with proprietor William Penn, from Wales around 1686, arriving in Haverford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania

Thomas, a carpenter and a Quaker, married Francis Price, a spinster on February 27th, 1692, she being of the same faith. They had six children. One son, Isaac Rees married, at Radnor Meeting House, Mary Evens, on April 9th, 1725 and they had nine children. Their oldest son, Thomas, married Esther and to them were born eleven children. One of their sons, Isaac Rees married Esther Matson and they had eight children. ELY REES, the fifth generation, was the oldest of those eight children. His story follows.

ELY Rees was born January 7th, 1783, in North Eastern Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania This property was located 22 miles from Philadelphia and four miles from West Chester. ELY began his life on the same plantation as did his father Isaac and his grandfather Thomas.

Six years before ELY's birth and during the American Revolution, the Battle of the Brandywine took place. It was the 11th of September 1777. A skirmish took place on the land of ELY's grandfather, Thomas Rees. This skirmish with the British was on the high ground, a mile and a half north of the Goshen Meeting House and a half mile or more a little west of south of the old THREE TURNS TAVERN. 12 American solders were killed and buried. There was extensive property damage to the Rees plantation including nine thousand fence rails burned. ELY's grandfather listed the rails and made claim for over 215 Pounds in damages. Records indicate that ELY's father Isaac may have been fighting for the Americans as a member of a local Battalion in the Militia at this time.

Long after the Revolution, in 1795, Isaac and Esther, ELY's parents, purchased land in near by Brandywine Township. Three years later, ELY's Uncle Joseph while living with his brother Benjamin, in Goshen, died at his home from a head injury, after a fall from a scaffold. When ELY was 15 years old, his maternal grandmother, Ann Matson, died leaving small legacies to ELY, as well as Thomas, Isaac Jr., Esther, Ann, Elizabeth, Hannah and Sarah, his brothers and sisters. Sarah received her Grandmothers looking glass.

ELY REES reached the age of maturity and on July the Fourth, 1806, he married Elizabeth McCullough. This was the same year his Grandfather Thomas Rees died. Later, Elizabeth had two healthy children, Maryann, born Sept. 13th, 1807 and Isaac, named after ELY's father, born June 9th, 1810. Next, while living at the Mill in Goshen, Elizabeth gave birth to little Eliza, born December 21, 1812. The baby died within a week.

It is not known if it was Eliza's death or some other long forgotten tragedy, but on May 4th, 1813 the first of ELY REES's problems began. Along with his brother-in-laws, James and John McCullough and his Uncle Jesse Rees, he was arrested for assaulting one Joseph Hoffman. Among the witnesses was Joseph Phillips, owner of the Three Turns Tavern. Since the owner of the Tavern was present and the Rees's continued to be involved with the Three Turns Tavern, we may safely assume that the assault took place in the tavern. The reason for the fight is not known. It appears that Jesse Rees was released without charge and ELY was found "no vult. ult. pros."(!), as it related to him. James and John McCullough were ordered committed until they paid fines and court costs. This all must have greatly angered ELY's young pregnant wife, Elizabeth, having both her husband and brothers involved in such a scandal.

On December the 20th, 1814 Elizabeth gave birth to her second son Eli, Jr. She could not have known that this son would die at a relatively young age from a gun shot wound inflicted by a Mr. Reed. The Court in Potter County suspected he was murdered, however, Reed was released, but that is a later story.

Elizabeth gave birth to another son, named after Thomas, ELY's grandfather, on the 6th of June 1817. Elizabeth reserved the privilege of giving little Thomas McCullough Rees her maiden name as his middle name.

One month after the birth of their daughter Hannah M. Rees, Ely ran into another problem with the law. In the August, 1819 term of Chester County Court, ELY REES petitioned the court to allow him to have a license to dispense spirituous liquors at a Public house of entertainment known as the THREE TURNS TAVERN. Apparently this was not approved because, Soon after, ELY Rees was again arrested, this time for dispensing liquor without a license at the THREE TURNS TAVERN.

It seems that ELY became dissatisfied with the events of the time and decided, with his family, to move out West. To start his journey, ELY would need only go a mile or so north of the family plantation to the Lancaster Turnpike, sometimes called the Great Road. He would have found this road to be an almost unbroken procession of ponderous Conestoga wagons, each drawn by five or six strong horses loaded with goods for the Western Country. It must have been quite a sight. It appears ELY Rees and his young family fell into this formation and headed west. It is not clear where ELY REES and his family may have traveled, nor where they homesteaded. The 1820 Census shows ELY and his family living in Robinson Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. A later census has ELY's son James claiming to have been born on May 8th, 1822 somewhere in Ohio. In any event his pioneer days were short lived. In 1824, Ely received word of his fathers death back in Goshen and he returned. At the time of ELY's departure, Elizabeth was pregnant with her eighth child ELY and Elizabeth, expressing their pioneer spirit through their child, named him Christopher Columbus Rees. He was born on April 23rd, 1824.

A few years before ELY's father, Isaac's death, in February 1819, Isaac had his wife's right to dower removed, because "she had lost her mind." This was done legally through an Act of the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania This allowed Isaac to sell the lands in Brandywine and to purchase land which was in the area of the original Plantation in Goshen.

After the sale, Isaac and Esther returned to Goshen. There, Isaac managed his growing plantation while living in his new spacious stone home. No matter how appealing the new home, in Esther's state of mind, she probably resisted the move.

In October, 1822 Esther mysteriously disappeared. frantically searching for his wife, Isaac placed the following add in a local newspaper; "On the night of the fourth my wife Hester Reese, being in a deranged state of mind, left her home, and has not since been heard of. She is a middle sized woman has sandy hair mixed with gray. When she went she neither had Bonnet nor Hat. Any info contact Rees Mills at Goshen." Possibly heart broken from the loss of his wife, Isaac died several months later.

The death of ELY's father on May 21st, 1823 was a tragic event being it so soon after his mothers disappearance. Isaac's death also split up the family because at the time he did not have a Will and the courts were left to decide the outcome of his estate. Petty bickering ensued among the children.

When ELY returned from the Western Country, he stayed at the plantation during the court proceedings and helped sell his fathers property. An add was placed in the local paper offering the plantation for Public Sale. The add in part follows; "Nov 17th, 1824, at Goshen, the buildings for sale are a Grist Mill three stories high 42 by 30 feet, with two pair of burr stones and hulling machine; a Saw Mill in good repair - a new stone dwelling 30 by 17 feet, with a well and pump at the door of the kitchen, 20 by 18 feet - a new frame barn 46 by 20 feet a stone spring house, wagon house and wood house. Persons disposed to view the property will be applying to ELY Rees on the premises."

Just about every child of Isaac had petitioned the court for their share of his estate. Uncle Jesse Rees claimed at the time of his brothers death he could not find ELY, he being somewhere out of state. ELY was the oldest son, and was most likely to be named Executor and to inherit the majority of the family plantation, arriving too late and without a Will prepared by his father he felt helpless to make claim to what he believed to be rightfully his. He also petitioned the court. When it was all settled they all received what the court considered was a fair share but the bitterness continued. ELY had lost his plantation. He blamed his Uncle Jesse.

During the next few years, little is known of ELY and his family. Elizabeth did give birth to her 9th and last child, J. Miller Rees on February 27th, 1827. (It has been said that Elizabeth's mothers maiden name was Miller.) ELY managed to witness his daughter Maryann's wedding to John Gillespie (later shortened to Glaspy) on April 2nd, 1828 in nearby Middletown township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania A few months later he shows up again as a witness to another wedding in the same neighborhood.

In the spring of 1830, ELY agreed to purchase land from, and to act as a land Agent for Samuel Webb of Philadelphia. ELY, for the last time, took his family of six sons two daughters and his son-in-law, john Gillespie on the road again, this time to Sylvania Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania They brought all they needed to start a new life in this wilderness including their own water powered saw mill.

All of ELY's sons became carpenters except his oldest, Isaac, who became a blacksmith after learning a related trade, the gunsmith trade, in West Philadelphia. The Rees's built many of the first frame homes in Western Potter County.

After 18 productive years at his new homestead, and although in his later years unable to work himself, ELY REES supervised his sons carpentry right up to the end, dying as his father had before him, at age 65.

According to one account of his death, ELY's son, Isaac Rees and one Grandson, possibly William Wesley Rees, became concerned for ELY'S well being when he did not Return from his supply walk to Coudersport. They went up the Ridge Road looking for him and found him dead, on an old log, he, still in a sitting position. A coroners inquest determined that, "ELY Rees had died by the visitation of God, in a natural way and not otherwise."

If you should visit the Rees Cemetery in Potter County, be sure to look at ELY and Elizabeth's tombstone. It's over a hundred years old and is quite worn. On ELY's side of the stone is a small inscription, just under the words "died May 19th, 1848 AGED 65". It is still visible if you squint just right at the correct angle and do it just before sunset you may be able to read these faded words:

MARK THE PERFECT ONES AND BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT FOR THE END OF THAT MAN IS PEACE