Rachel_Davies_(Rahel_o_Fôn)
Rachel Davies ("Rahel o Fôn"; born Rachel Evans Paynter; August 25, 1846 – November 29, 1915) was a Welsh-born lecturer and evangelist preacher who emigrated to the United States. She was the first woman minister ordained in the state of Wisconsin.[1] 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, Wisconsin, she joined the Calvinistic Methodists. While in Wisconsin, she met and married Edward Davies, a prosperous wagonmaker 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.[2]
She returned to Wales for a period and lived at her sister's home Cefn Derwen, Anglesey across from Caernarfon Castle. At one time she gave some assistance to David Lloyd George in his electoral campaign.[3]
She died November 29, 1915, in Washington, D.C., at her son's home and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery at Watertown, Wisconsin.[4][citation needed] A 50 ft stained glass window given in her memory by her son, Joseph E. Davies, can be seen at the Washington National Cathedral.