John Cadwallader - circumstances of death

John Cadwallader's tomb on Tortola

John Cadwallader (1) was born in Montgomeryshire, Wales, in 1676, and was minister among the Society of Friends (Quakers), and was very eminent in the early religious history of the Province of Pennsylvania. He made many trips to other provinces in the United States and abroad to other countries. As the Friends do not have ministers as most protestant denominations know them, his work corresponded with that of a missionary in a protestant denomination. A Friend settlement had started on Tortola in 1655, and John Pickering, the governor, wrote to Philadelphia for a minister in 1742. Thomas Chalkley answered the call but died shortly after he arrived there. There was another call and John Estaugh and John Cadwallader answered it. John Cadwallader and John Estaugh both died of fever in 1742. All three men were buried there. Many years later hurricanes wiped out practically all traces of the settlement and the graves of the three men. There is a painting at the Friends Memorial Library, Swarthmore College, made by a descendant of either Chalkley or Estaugh at the site showing the meeting house, tombs, etc., before hurricanes wiped them away.