Two Elizabeths Chapter 3

No real record of the transatlantic voyage of Elizabeth and her companions remains, save one reference I found to her cheerful disposition for the duration of the trip. This likely annoyed her older companion Hannah, who was more reticent about the adventure than Elizabeth, and a sea voyage of that length, on that type of ship, was notoriously rough going for even the sailors.
After visiting friends from London who had relocated to Philadelphia, they made another stop at Burlington to see friends at the Meeting there. Then they hired a river boatman to take them to their new home. The mouth of the Cooper River is almost directly across the Delaware River from the large oak tree where Penn had signed his treaty with the Natives, and what a thrill it must have been for Elizabeth to see this natural monument that had played such a major role in her childhood games. Along the river they saw people who were living in caves and lean-tos along the banks, newcomers who were having a hard time getting established, and while it tore at Elizabeth's heart to see such human suffering, it reaffirmed to her that her call to serve was clear and necessary. The boatman warned of desperados and Natives in the thick woods along the banks of the Cooper, but Elizabeth was unafraid, certain that some Divine force would protect her from harm, and that certainty lent a serenity and steadfastness to her presence that served her well in the coming years. As she later said, when someone asked if she weren't afraid of some of the strangers who would appear at her door to seek shelter, "Perfect Love Casteth out Fear."
The pleasant but modest house sat on a knoll 150 yards back from the water, and after settling in. Elizabeth was beside herself with excitement, and unlike Hannah, who fell off to sleep at the first opportunity, she was wakeful the whole night, enchanted by the unfamiliar song of the whippoorwill. The next morning she rose early and went outside, and upon seeing her verdant, unblemished surroundings was overcome with emotion. As one early account tells it:

"She dropped on her knees, and with an outburst of prayer exclaimed fervently, "O Father, how beautiful hast thou made this earth!"
While her surroundings may have been heavenly, her situation presented many, more earthly challenges, but she proved herself equal to the task. She made fast friends with the local Natives, who saw her guileless nature and openness as a sign of her trustworthiness. The house was at that time three miles from the nearest neighbor, but word of the newcomer spread surprisingly fast, and when visitors would come by, in addition to being treated to Elizabeth’s famous hospitality, they would be peppered with practical questions. She asked what kind of grain was most likely to be successfully planted in that locale, and when told rye did well there, said" Then I shall eat rye bread.” It's been rumored that in the brew house built behind her house at a later date, she also used the rye to make whiskey, but since she had a reputation for sobriety, it was most likely for purposes of hospitality and medicinal uses that she brewed it.
She stripped the ear of corn that had been a gift from John Estaugh, and planted the kernels in the newly tilled soil behind her house, looking forward to seeing the tall, silky plant that he had described, and the giver no doubt crossed her mind as she worked.