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In February 1796, Joseph Priestley made the arduous trip from Northumberland to Philadelphia to set up a Unitarian congregation. Mary stayed in Northumberland due to her poor state of health, both physical and mental. For a period of three months after the death of their son, Harry, she was confined to her room. She had recovered, sufficiently, so that Joseph felt he could leave her in the care of his daughter-in-law, Margaret, William's wife. Margaret (Foulke) was the daughter of a local farmer. It was not a marriage that Joseph Priestley approved of but this was just another in a series of acts by William that caused distress to his father.
While in Philadelphia, Priestley delivered a series of lectures in the only church made available to him, the Universalist church of Elhanan Winchester. The lectures were well-attended and the audience included Vice-President Adams and several members of Congress. Priestley also managed to have a very pleasant tea with President Washington.
As a result of his activities while in Philadelphia, a Unitarian congregation was established in June and he was asked to be the minister. He declined once again to accept a post in Philadelphia.
He returned to Northumberland in May 1796 to find Mary's health not much improved. She tried to keep busy with her ideas for the house but she was easily fatigued. She was never to enjoy the house which in large measure she had designed because, in September, she died. She was buried in the Quaker cemetery next to Harry.
Joseph Priestley wrote to Wilkinson of his loss and stated, "I feel quite unhinged and incapable of the exertion I used to make."
He also learned some distressing news about his daughter, Sarah, who had married William Finch and remained in England. Finch had failed in business and was hard-pressed for money.
Joseph was unable to help the Finches as he, himself, was very concerned about finances. His house would cost more than double the original estimate, his investments in France paid nothing, and the Wilkinson's who had advanced money to him for years suddenly presented a demand for repayment of over 56,000 pounds. This turned out to be a misunderstanding but it caused him some anxious months.
In the winter of 1797, he made his second trip to Philadelphia where he found the Unitarian Society flourishing. He was offered the presidency of the Philosophical Society but declined in favor of Jefferson. He called on the out-going president Washington and was invited to visit at Mt. Vernon and he had several visits with Vice-President elect Jefferson.
When he returned to Northumberland the laboratory wing of his new house was finished and he was able to work in it while the carpenters continued on the main house. He continued to live with his son, Joseph, in a house nearby and had already determined that his son's family would occupy the new house with him when it was finished.
In June he published a pamphlet entitled The Doctrine of Phlogiston Established, which was the last scientific paper he would publish. The title was ironic in that, by this time, the entire scientific community had given up the Phlogiston theory.