Bonsall, Isaac Edward, 1765-1831

Isaac Edward Bonsall (1765-1831) was a prominent Philadelphia Quaker who devoted his life to missionary work with the Indians of Western New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and to caring for the mentally ill. Bonsall was born on October 31, 1765, to Edward Bonsall, an early realtor in Philadelphia, and Hannah Gleave, daughter of Isaac Gleave.

The first of Bonsall's three wives was Mercy Milhouse (1768-1805). They married in 1786 and had eight children: Hannah, William, Anna, Edward, Joseph, Thomas, Sydney, and Charles. After Mercy's death, Bonsall married Mary Newbold in 1807; they had two children, Martha and Samuel, before she died in 1815. Bonsall's third wife was Ann Paul, whom he married on June 15, 1816, and with whom he founded and ran the Friends Hospital for the mentally ill between 1817 and 1823. Ann Paul Bonsall died in 1830, a year before Isaac Bonsall's death.

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