Bownas, Samuel, 1676-1753

Samuel Bownas was a minister who was born on November 20th, 1676 in the UK. Bownas was apprenticed to Quaker minister Samuel Parat at the age of 13. He sailed to the U.S. and landed in Maryland in 1702. His rivalry with George Keith, a quaker turned Anglican, landed Bownas in jail, but he would be released in late 1703. He remained in the U.S. for several years before returning to England in 1706. He married his first wife (name not given) in 1707 but she died in 1719. He moved to Bridgeport, where he married his second wife (name not given) in 1722. He died on April 2nd, 1753.