NameElizabeth “Lizzie” Bell
Birthabt 1759
Death16 Oct 1839
FatherJacob Bell
MotherAnn (-1790)
Misc. Notes
. Mrs. Morgan's maiden name was Lizzie Bell, or "pretty Lizzie Bell," as she was known by nearly every one in Philadelphia, where she was born and raised. She was the daughter of Jacob and Ann Bell, residing on Front street, Philadelphia, prior to the Revolutionary war. Her parents were orthodox Quakers, and consequently frowned upon a certain young grocer, Hugh Bay, son of Rev. Andrew Bay, a chaplain in the provincial army, who was getting very intimate with Elizabeth, and who was not of their faith. They used mild methods to discourage this intimacy, and when, a few years later, Hugh made his ap-pearance dressed in the uniform of a noted artillerv company in the Revolutionary service, he was refused admittance to the Bell domicile, and Elizabeth was compelled to make closer application to her studies. All went seemingly well until the British army was reported coming toward Philadelphia, when its citizens prepared to repel the enemy by gathering all ammunition, collecting old lead and converting it into bullets, etc. Elizabeth, whether through born intuitiveness or from close application to study, at that opportune time developed character that was one remarkable feature in after life. She removed the leaden weights from her father's clock and converted them into bullets for her soldier lover, Hugh Bay. This not only caused a flurry in Quakerdom, but so enraged her father that he forthwith transported her to Europe to finish her studies. After the lapse of four years her father, thinking that she had outlived" her infatuation brought her home. Elizabeth, however, true to her first love, was married to Hugh Bay in the Swede's church, Philadelphia, August 16, 1781. This act so shocked the orthodox Quaker congregation that they immediately called a special meeting at which a resolution was passed expelling Elizabeth from the congregation for marrying a worldly man, and a certificate to that effect was given her. What effect all this had upon her parents is unknown. Her father died a few years later, and left the greater part of his wealth to Elizabeth and her mother. Hugh made a good husband, and maintained a fine home on the fashionable street. After a marriage of three years he unfortunately died, leaving only one child, Anna. Elizabeth remained a widow six years, when, on September 2, 1790, she became the wife of Dr. Abel Morgan, a prominent physician of Philadelphia, and formerly a surgeon in the Revolutionary army. Two months later her mother died. With the exception of the birth of another daughter, nothing eventful transpired until 1793, when the great epidemic broke out in Philadelphia, when Dr. Morgan took precautionary measures and removed his family from Philadelphia to the Lehigh Hills, leaving his home in charge of the colored servants.

Elizabeth, not receiving any communication from Dr. Morgan for upwards of two months, and quarantine being removed from Philadelphia, concluded to make a trip there. On her arrival at her Philadelphia home she found that the servants had decamped; the house had been ransacked from garret to cellar, and everything of value confiscated. At a loss to know what had become of her husband, she made inquiry of the health officers, and found that her husband had contracted the malady and died within a few days after his arrival, and was buried in the trench along with the rest. This double affliction required considerable fortitude to withstand. Finding herself the second time a widow, she disposed of her fine home and all her interests in Philadelphia, and returned to the "Hills" with the purpose of living in quiet retirement with her two daughters. She never returned to Philadelphia, but purchased the hotel property in which she had taken up her abode, and lived there for upwards of fifty years.

Mrs. Morgan made good use of her excellent education. She possessed a fine library, and her favorite pastime was reading law books, of which she had a complete set. These were kept on a bench in the public room, where she would dispense law when occasion required. This room, in time, became the popular retreat for those of her neighbors who could not settle their differences themselves. They would invariably refer their case to this improvised court. A request for her decision was never refused; both old and young respected her judgment, and seldom was there an appeal to a higher tribunal. This condition of affairs brought forth a protest from the legal fraternity of Easton, who endeavored by various methods to break up the practice. Reflections as to her character and the character of the place were made, bringing her name into ridicule with the unthinking. All this unkindness toward the "Widow" Morgan only increased her popularity. Few of these gentry of the bar could boast of a better legal education than Elizabeth Morgan, and none of a better university training. Her last will and testament (written by herself) for scholarly composition and legal construction is the peer of any instrument of any member of the legal fraternity of her day. Steeled to adversity; never showing resentment toward her traducers; living a good and true life; a kind and generous neighbor, ministering to the afflicted, adjusting neighborly disputes for many years, she died October 16, 1839, aged eighty years, and was buried in the Reformed Cemetery on Mount Jefferson (now the site of the new library.) Her obsequies were attended by people from far and near, her funeral cortege being nearly two miles long, reaching from the cemetery gates to a point along the Philadelphia road beyond Lachenour Heights, South Side.
Spouses
1Hugh Bay
FatherRev. Andrew Bay
Marriage16 Aug 1781
ChildrenAnna
Marriage2 Sep 1790
ChildrenHannah
Last Modified 3 Jan 2013Created 7 May 2020 using Reunion for Macintosh