Author: Amphlett, W.
Biography:
AMPHLETT, William (1773-1848: ancestry.co.uk)
The eldest son of William and Ann Amphlett, he was born at Towcester, Northampton. James Amphlett (q.v.) was his younger brother. His father became the Baptist minister at Wolverhampton. William Amphlett moved to London where, in St. Pancras Parish Chapel, he married Susanna Brent on 29 Sept. 1807. The birth of their first child, William, on 12 Nov. 1807 was registered in Dr. Williams’s Library. The family sailed from Liverpool to Philadelphia in 1818, arriving on 24 June. An 1821 letter by William gives some details of their initial experiences. Early on, they encountered some religious intolerance and moved to Wheeling WV where he was partner in a brewery. However his partner absconded with money and the family then moved to a farm near Cincinnati. Two of his children died there when the family was visited by illness. They then purchased a farm near Springfield OH where, the letter records, they associated with Unitarians. Probably in the later 1820s or early 1830s, Amphlett and his family moved to the Owenite community at New Harmony OH. A letter of 9 Mar. 1839 to William Maclure establishes that he was closely involved in operating the New Harmony press. The only other information that has been located is Amphlett’s will, proved on 22 Apr. 1848, which left his estate to his three sons and two daughters but made no mention of his wife who likely predeceased him. Some of the children were left a token dollar on the grounds that they were well able to make their own way in the world. His only other publication is The Emigrants’ Directory to the Western States of North America (1819). (ancestry.co.uk 9 May 2022; ANB [for William Maclure] 9 May 2022; Christian Register [Boston] 29 Mar. 1822; William Amphlett to William Maclure 9 Mar. 1839 online at indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org) SR