Zane, Isaac, 1710-1794

Isaac Zane was a Philadelphia Quaker carpenter. Born in 1710 to Nathaniel Zane in Gloucester County, New Jersey, he moved to Philadelphia around the age of 14 and lived there the rest of his life. He married Sarah Elfreth, daughter of shipwright Henry Elfreth, in 1733/34. The couple had eight children, including Isaac Zane (1743-1795) and Hannah Zane Pemberton (1734-). Zane was active in the Society of Friends, serving as an elder for roughly 40 years. He joined many other Quakers in opposing slavery, and was particularly involved in Friends' work with Native Americans. Zane died on March 6, 1794.

Care should be taken to distinguish Zane from his son Isaac (1743-1795), who spent much of his life in Virginia and owned the Marlboro Iron Works, and from a third Isaac Zane (1753-1816), an Anglo-American who was adopted and raised by a Wyandot leader.