Rachel Davies (1846–1915) was a Welsh-born lecturer and evangelist preacher who emigrated to the USA. She was the first woman minister ordained in the state of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. Rahel o Fôn is the Welsh Bardic name for “Rachel of Anglesey”.

She started preaching with the Baptists at the age of 20. She was later invited on a preaching tour of the United States and when living in Ixonia

Ixonia, Wisconsin

Ixonia is a town in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,902 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Ixonia and Pipersville are located within the town.-History:...

 she joined the Calvinistic

New Calvinism

The New Calvinism is a growing perspective within conservative Evangelicalism that embraces the fundamentals of 16th century Calvinism while also trying to be relevant in the present day world. In March 2009, TIME magazine ranked it as one of the "10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now." Some of...

 Methodists. While in Wisconsin, she met and married Edward Davies a prosperous wagon maker who had emigrated to Watertown, Wisconsin from Tregaron, Wales. After her husband died she was ordained a minister at the age of 44 and carried on preaching all her life.

She returned to Wales for a period and lived at her sister's home Cfen Derwen, Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

  across from Caernarfon Castle. At one time she gave some assistance to David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

 in his electoral campaign.

She died 29 November 1915 in Washington, DC at her son's home and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Watertown, Wisconsin. A 50 ft stained glass window given in her memory by her son, Joseph E. Davies, can be seen at the Washington National Cathedral

Washington National Cathedral

The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...

.

Culture

A theatrical play about her life, Rahel o Fôn. was written by Emily Sprague Wurl. Although quite banal, it is informative, and won First Prize in the Wisconsin Centennial Playwriting Contest, 1948.

Family

She married in the U.S.A. to Edward Davies, a native of Cardiganshire.
Her son Joseph Edward Davies, was the second Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 to represent the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

as well as the US Ambassador to Belgium before World War II.