Morgan John Rhys

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Morgan John Rhys (1760-1804) was a Baptist minister who preached the principles of the French Revolution, against slavery, and in favour of the reform of parliament.

Morgan John Rhys was born in Llanbradach, Caerfili and became a pastor of a Baptist church in Pen-y-garn, near Pontypool. In 1793 he established and edited Y cylchgrawn Cyn-mraeg (=The Welsh magazine) in order to spread his political ideas.

In 1794 he grew tired of the repression in Britain and emigrated to Pennsylvania where he established a Welsh colony, Cambria. Here he established his own religious denomination and a newspaper, The western sky.

He moved to Somerset County in 1799 and died there in 1804.