1'. Quakers in Delaware in the Time of William · PDF fileQuakers in Delaware in the Time of William Penn ... County to the northeast and Chester County to the west. However, the immigration

-.I. \\\-.-\RE HISTORY

1'. 'Ived: they were not a

1)ela~vare Valley was r.11~- Sparsc population,

. r , sained control of the 1::;ple requirement of a n 1'' 'r r he previous settlers' ., 'leration and diversity !:.i experience. But these

C-nlike New York, to ,<[en been joined, and

r , lu~hout the eighteenth - '-ikness of political and :,,dation to the English 1.11:: Penn, Pennsylvania c a r hnlc toleration that in rhc Linver Counties did

b.-rn eighteenth-century rhe Quaker belief in

:' non-English people - 1 : i rxrremely pluralistic .-,. .our hern portion did

-:I.. tduals committed to v ~ < r i immigration that

:,. lltal aspects of their . I , ' Iklaware continued ' !1r pre\,ailing English . :idanent ally different

Quakers in Delaware in the Time of William Penn

T HE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS had its beginnings in the British Isles amidst the religious and social ferment of the later phases of the Puritan Revolution. The Quaker movement took on tangible form in

the summer of 1652 when its dynamic leader, George Fox, journeyed from his home in the English Midlands to carry on a dramatic evangelistic campaign in the area adjoining the Lake District of northern England. During this campaign, hundreds of people were convinced of the validity of the experiential religion of which George Fox testified, a religion involving both inward mystical insights and outward prophetic activity.'

The new movement quickly attracted adherents throughout England and Wales, with more limited acceptance in Scotland. By 1654, under the leadership of William Edmundson, the Quaker message was being proclaimed in Ireland.' In that island country, which had been brought under increased English domination by military forces under Oliver Crornwell, a number of English settlers embraced the new faith, but there seemed to be little interest in Quakerism among the native Irish inhabitant^.^

Within a very few years, Quaker missionaries were traveling eastward across the English Channel to the continent of Europe, finding sympathetic listeners, especially among groups in the Netherlands and in parts of Ger- many. At the same time, other "Publishers of Truth" were going west across the Atlantic to English settlements in the West Indies and along the North American shore. As early as 1656 they had found their way to Massachusetts and to the 'Tidewater area stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to southern Virginia.4

Although the Delaware Valley later came to be known as the center of Quaker culture in America, the history of Friends along the Delaware did

* Herbert Standing was born in lowa of Quaker parentage. From 1964 to 1969 he was secretary for Wilmingtorl hlonthly Meeting of Friends and is preserltly catalog librarian at Havcrford College Library, Haverford, Pennsylvania.

'See William C. Braithwaite, The Beg~nnings oJ Quaktri~m, 2d. ed. (Cambridge, Mass.. 1955), 1-1 10.

'William Edrnundson, A Journal of the LiJe oJ . . . Willlam Edmundson (Dublin, 1715), particularly 8-24.

Albert Cook Myers, Immtgration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania (Swarthmore, Pa., 1902), particularly I: 1-37.

' See Rufus M. Jones, The Quakers in fhe American Colonies (London, 19 11; reissued New York, 19621, 1-44, 263-301.

I 2 3

DELAWARE HISTORY

not really begin until more than two decades after the beginnings of Quak- erism in New England and along the Virginia Tidewater. Traveling Friends ministers in the early 1670s reported thriving Quaker communities on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake and in the northern Jerseys, but in between there were many miles of wilderness except for scattered settlements of Swedes and Finns, a few Dutch, and occasional Indian encampments.5

There is evidence that at least one Quaker, a certain "Captain Vaeler" (or Wheeler), had appeared at Altena (Fort Christine) north of New Amstel (New Castle) about 1661 during the period of Dutch government, but he was not encouraged to stay.6 The Dutch authorities at New Amstel apparently

shared the same antagonism towards Friends as that displayed by Peter Stuyvesant and other officials in charge at New Amsterdam. However, during the period of Dutch rule probably a few of the immigrants from Holland who settled in the vicinity of New Amstel were at least willing to listen to what the Quakers had to say.

A band of English soldiers accompanied Robert Carr to New Castle in 1664 to wrest control of the area from the Dutch. Several of these soldiers were later granted land in the vicinity of New Castle and settled there.7 These men, before leaving England, must certainly have been aware of the Quaker movement in that country. When George Fox stopped at New Castle in 1672, his reception seems to have been most cordial, and a very satisfactory Friends meeting was held at the home of the governor.8

After William Penn had been granted proprietary rights to Pennsylvania in 1681 by the British government under Charles 11, Quaker interest in the territories covered by the grant increased markedly. Beginning in 1682 there was a large influx of Friends to the new city of Philadelphia and to Bucks County to the northeast and Chester County to the west. However, the immigration to the lower counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex was not so great, perhaps partly because of the feeling that Penn's title to this southern territory was not secure. Also, these lower Counties were not exactly virgin lands. They had been sparsely settled by the Swedes for more than forty years. There were established governmental procedures in force which could not be easily altered.

Nevertheless, a number of Quakers did decide to locate in the Lower Counties between 1681 and 1704. During this time the Lower Counties were a constituent part of the province of Pennsylvania; in the autumn of 1704 the three lower counties set up a separate provincial assembly. Four distinct Quaker settlements developed in New Castle County by 1704. Two of these,

%eorge Fox, T ~ P Jourtral qfCeorge Fox, ed. by Norman Penney (Cambridge. Philadelphia, 191 l), 2: 227-28; Edmundson, Journal, 93-95.

Christopher Ward, The Dutch and Swedes on the Delaware, 1609-64 (Philadelphia, 1930), 332.

Clinton Alfred Weslager. The English on the Delaware (New Brunswick, N.J., 1967), 176- 202.

the Newark settlenlrr. - Christians Hundr-rd. .:. . '

general area in (-1.1 c.: 1': -. heterogeneous groul, : I settlement along 51 ( J , - : ;

settlements, therc \ \ c,:: - .:

New Castle Cour~r \ A : . : :~

authorized to meel .i7 I ' Friends at Duck C:rc.r.h :.

were able to or~arlixr. 1) -.

particular settlement. -1:. :

of this study.

It is likely that Zc-.. - 1 - 3 meet regularly in [ ) r...: .,. . eighteenth centur\ . It.:' . . .

About the \-c.i: ' .. settled on rhr . .:- County, \-iz . \ .:-s

Thomas Coil n.?.... .:

entine hlora'ir.. (

meeting for- \ \ , ,: - '

However, the \>.orsll~jj ;-

by an established F1.11.: :-

recognized the Pic\, ( '.:.'. On 12-1-1685 thr I : : :

Quarterly Meetinq 1 ' . .. ' have been given I-ar 11, : '

steered an indepcntic::' initiative, and \\ere n ' .

By Third Ylonrtl. " worship groups ar 5, - ... .: Meeting for b~rsirlc.. . ...:

-. -

Newark I~c .c I . : ; . In Satnuel Sni!!.- !

7 (1831): 132-1:?3. " Minutes I!-., \!

1682-1 705; [Men'. \I2: : :. . Pa. This was actuall\ \ I . . [inti1 17712. A t thar ,::I:

month of the \-ear 1 ::

retainrd. l 2 % f i r l u r r . ,,< .. , \!

:;117. p 15.

I )I-: L.-\\VARE HISTORY

.::'f'r [he beginnings of Quak- 1 .tic.\\-ater. Traveling Friends

: 'Jll'lkrr communities on the r.:if.rrl Jerseys, but in between

-:' 1rrc.d settlements of Swedes - : ) c ' i ~ ~ l ~ m e n t s . ~ -r[airl "Captain Vaeler" (or

:.'.rlcl north of New Amstel ) : ~ t ) qovernment, but he was -- .ir Sew Amstel apparently .:, that displayed by Peter

1:: .t[crdam. However, during 1.- :nlrnigrants from Holland '- . i ! !cast willing to listen to

,:,vrr Gal-r to New Castle in ' :. 5e\.eral of these soldiers :' . ~ n d settled there.7 These ,- !)c.cn aware of the Quaker i .:j~'d at New Castle in 1672, : .I \ cry satisfactory Friends

' . ~ t \ I lyhts to Pennsylvania - 11 Quaker interest in the . Beqnning in 1682 there

f'!illadelphia and to Bucks rhe i\est. However, the

hc nt. and Sussex was not 1'. nn 5 title to this southern ' \\?re not exactly virgin

b , cir\ for more than forty : .rr- In forcr which could

' ' 1 locate in the Lower '!if. I,o\ver Counties were

: :II the autumn of 1704 :- .i\\enlbly. Four distinct '.. / I \ 1 704. Two of these, --

- ('.~rnl>ridge, Philadelphia.

3- ;:~\\r.lck, N.J., 1967), 176.

EARLY QUAKERS AND MEETINGS 125

the Newark settlement in Brandywine Hundred and the Centre settlement in Christiana Hundred, included core groups that had emigrated from the same general area in Ulster Province in northern Ireland. Then there was a more heterogeneous group of Friends around New Castle, and another small settlement along St. Georges Creek south of New Castle. Besides these four settlements, there were scattered families of Friends in the southern part of New Castle County and in Kent and Sussex counties. A worship group was authorized to meet at Duck Creek near Smyrna in 1704; and in 1705/6 the Friends at Duck Creek, in cooperation with the Friends at St. Georges Creek, were able to organize Duck Creek Monthly Meeting. The history of these particular settlements and Delaware's earliest Quaker families is the subject of this study.

Newark Meeting

It is likely that Newark Meeting was the first Friends worship group to meet regularly in D e ~ a w a r e . ~ Samuel Smith, a Quaker chronicler of the eighteenth century, left the following record:

About the year 1682, several families of Friends arrived and settled on the east side of the Brandywine, in New Castle County, viz., Valentine Hollingsworth, William Stockdale, Thomas Connaway, Adam Sharpley, Morgan Drewitt, Val- entine Morgan, Cornelius Empson, and others; and held a

10 meeting for worship. . . .

However, the worship group at New Castle was the first to receive recognition by an established Friends Meeting. The Quarterly Meeting in Philadelphia recognized the New Castle Meeting in its minutes of 1-2- 1684."

O n 12-1- 1685 the Friends of New Castle County were allowed by Chester

Quarterly Meeting to set up a Six Weeks Meeting. This privilege seems to have been given rather begrudgingly, implying that the Newark Friends had steered an independent course and had set up a worship group on their own initiative, and were not inclined to follow established procedures.12

By Third Month, 1686 (the date of the first surviving minutes), the worship groups at Newark and New Castle had united to form a Monthly Meeting for business, which eventually became known as Newark Monthly

Newark Meetlng was located near present-day Carrcroft in Brandywine Hundred. 10 Sainuel Srnlth, "History of the Province of Pennsylvania," 7Xe Regtstrr of Penn~lz~an~a,

7 (1831): 132-133. l1 Minutes of the Monthly and Quarterly Meeting of Philadelphia [Men's Meeting],

1682-1705, [Men's Minuteslp. '21, Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. This was actually March 2, 1684/5. Dates in this paper all follow the old calendar in use until 1752. At that time the year began on March 25, with March being considered the first month of the year. The traditional Quaker use of nutuerals rather than nlonth\ has been retained.

l2 Minutes of the Monthly and Quarterly Meeting of Chester [Men's Meeting], 1681- 1707, p. 15.

DELAWARE HISTORY

~ e e t i n ~ . ' ~ O n 6-8-1687 it was decided to hold two consecutive monthly meetings in Brandywine Hundred, with every third monthly meeting to be held at New Castle. However, by 5-6-1689, New Castle Friends were boycot- ting monthly meetings held in Brandywine Hundred because they felt they were being put under an unjust burden in having to cross the Brandywine Creek twice as often as Newark Friends. For the next four years, all of the monthly meetings seem to have been held in Brandywine Hundred. Then beginning on 8-7-1693, a number of these meetings began to be held at the home of Thomas Hollingsworth, who likely had moved by this time to the vicinity of Centre Meeting in Christiana Hundred.

In those earliest years all meetings for worship and business in Brandywine Hundred rotated among the homes of the members of the Meeting. It may have been after 1700 that the first meetinghouse was built. It is said to have been constructed of poplar logs.14 It likely stood near the site of the present Newark Union Chapel in the vicinity of the suburban development of 1 Carrcroft. This was on land originally granted to Valentine Hollingsworth, 1 located to the northeast of the present city of Wilmington. I

Valentine Hollingsworth was a leading Friend at Newark for the first twenty-five years of the settlement. He had been born in Ireland about 1634 of English parents. Before coming to Delaware he had been a faithful Friend for many years, a member of Lurgan Meeting in Ulster Province. Perhaps he had been among those convinced under the earliest ministry of William ~ d m u n d s o n . ' ~ Time and again he had had crops and livestock taken by government officials because he refused to pay tithes to the established I

church.16 After the death of his first wife, Ann Rea, whom he had married in 1657,

Valentine Hollingsworth married Ann Calvert in 1672. Therefore, when he arrived in Brandywine Hundred in the autumn of 1682 to take u p a thousand- acre grant of land in the vicinity of Shelpot Creek, Valentine Hollingsworth was accompanied by three older children: a daughter Mary (with her husband Thomas Connaway), a son Thomas, and a daughter Catherine. His eldest son, Henry Hollingsworth, followed the next year. Then there was his wife, Ann, and four younger children: Samuel, Enoch, Valentine, and Ann. The son Enoch died in 1687 at the age of twelve years, but two other sons, John and Joseph, born after the family arrived in Delaware, survived to adulthood. The youngest son, also named Enoch, died in infancy.

l3 The earliest record books of Newark Monthly Meeting are: "Newark Monthly Meeting Records" [Men's Minutes], 1686-1739, and the untitled Newark (Kennett) Monthly Meeting [Women's Minutes], 1690-1 789. The name of Newark Monthly Meeting was changed to Kennett Monthly Meeting in 1760. These records are kept at the Friends Historical Library, (hereafter referred to as FHL) of Swarthrnore College, where microfilm copies are available for research.

14 John Thomas Scharf, History a/ Delaujare, 1609-1888, 2 vols., (Philadelphia, 1888), 2: 889.

15 Edmundson, Journal, 13. '"illiam Stockdale, The Great Cry of Oppression (n.p., 1683), 3, 15, 37, 50, 64, 121, 143,

171.

Valentine Holl~nc. s.9 .

of the local Friend. \I:--' in Delaware \\.e firi t i :. . County to the Pro\lr:~ ..:

was also includcd (1:: '.':

3-10-1687, 3-10- l t>bi. . .

lingsworth lived urir :. ::,

When the Holl~ri_;-... found at least onr r,! ..:! Morgan and Casiari~::.:

Drewetts had becn A::

New Jersey, in I t ) - - .. Joseph, who died 1 1 ~ . *

Elizabeth and Harir-..::. An older woman 11: :::.-

Cassandra Drewct t '. :-

River to the \ , i c i n ~ ~ \ south to just abo\-c ' K New CastleCount\

Another Quaker <.I::,

was that of Adam .i: :

Rachel and Abiga~;. -.-

The Dixon fanl i i~ . They had been III~I:.: -:

the Hollings\sostii. !.. .:. Dixon. There \\.a .i . r .: Castle, but it is ditt:~ . . ' the father or the I:-. ,-:I

three of their child!.-. Meeting comm (I n i ' .

'

care of Lurgan \lee'.:

li Thro~ ieh~ ) ' . . ' . on the Provincial (', . .

phis, 1798: reprlnr. '-.: *

l8 For a fa1r.x -.- - -

Mccracken, 7'hr [ I ,. . Descet~danls (Bal~~nr ' .. -

l 9 ill of \1, .i..

Research Comn111:1-, ' - Ca.i/le Coun!)., l6fL,- - '

Mary (Drueti Ford ' '' in the collection .' ' -

*O Kill of \<I.:.- .. Alphcli. I i ! i -

I)EL.\\VARE HISTORY

-. .': [it-o consecutive monthly .i~rrtl monthly meeting to be

-... (Iaitle Friends were boycot- I rldred because they felt they ' ' . ; I ~ C to cross the Brandywine ::I(. next four years, all of the Brandywine Hundred. Then

:':rle\ began to be held at the a;: moved by this time to the Irvd 13 clrld business in Brandywine :.!lrr.; of the Meeting. It may .- ;.as built. It is said to have c: near the site of the present

burban ban development of : , I i'alentine Hollingsworth, ;!rninqton. "id at Newark for the first a :)I r n in Ireland about 1634 *' had been a faithful Friend

ibter Province. Perhaps he d:lleit ministry of William J;J- and livestock taken by

r~thes to the established

'::: he had married in 1657, . -

. - ' 1 1 2. Therefore, when he :'&-' to take up a thousand- . \-dentine Hollingsworth :-it.iehter Mary (with her .: dauphter Catherine. His ' '. Var Then there was his

-- ii. \.dentine, and Ann. '. ' ' ~ ~ ~ . but two other sons, -:. I)ela\vare, survived to : . ( - ( 1 I r l infancy. -- - < . 'mark Monthly Meeting

K * - : : r ~ r t r ~ Monthly Meeting I.-- :.? \\ds changed to Kennett !! ..clr~cal Library, (hereafter ' ~ . -:-I .I\ ailable for research.

Philadelphia, 1888), 2:

EARLY QUAKERS AND MEETINGS

Valentine Hollingsworth was a recognized leader beyond the boundaries of the local Friends Meeting community. Only a few months after his arrival in Delaware we find his name listed as a representative from New Castle County to the Provincial Assembly, which convened 1- 12- 1682/83. His name was also included on representative lists for assemblies convening 8-24-1683, 3- 10- 1687, 3- 10-1688, 3-10-1689, 7-9-1695, and 3-10- 1700.'~ Valentine Hol- lingsworth lived until about 17 10."

When the Hollingsworth family arrived in Brandywine Hundred, they found at least one Quaker family already living in the area, the family of Morgan and Cassandra Drewett. Originally from the vicinity of London, the Drewetts had been among the group of Quakers who came to Burlington, New Jersey, in 1677 on the ship Kent. This family included an older son, Joseph, who died in 1685 at the age of nineteen years, older daughters Elizabeth and Hannah, and smaller children: Benjamin, Mary, and Sarah. An older woman in the Newark Meeting, Mary Thompson, may have been Cassandra Drewett's mother. The Drewetts had moved across the Delaware River to the vicinity of Marcus Hook in 1678. In 1681 they moved farther south to just above "Boute Creek," within what became the boundary of New Castle

Another Quaker family to settle along the Shelpot Creek at an early date was that of Adam and Mary Sharpley. They had older daughters named Rachel and Abigail, a son, William, and younger children, Benjamin and

The Dixon family came to Delaware from northern Ireland in the 1680s. They had been members of Lurgan Meeting, the same Meeting with which the Hollingsworths had been affiliated. The parents were Henry and Rose Dixon. There was a tradition that Henry Dixon became an innkeeper at New Castle, but it is difficult to find any records substantiating the fact that either the father or the mother came to ela aware.^' It does appear, however, that three of their children-William, Dinah, and Rose-were part of the Newark Meeting community. William Dixon was married to Isabel Rea under the care of Lurgan Meeting in Ireland in 1683, but she may not have lived to

"Throughout this paper, dates of service in the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania or on the Provincial Council are derived from: Robert Proud. History :yuf Pennsylvania . . . (Philadel- phia, 1798: reprint, cd., Spartansburg, N.C., 1967), vol. 1.

"For a fairly recent account of the Valentine Hollingsworth family, see George E. McCracken, The Wlcomr Claimanls Proved, Disproved, Doubtful, with an Account of Some of Thew Des~endanls (Baltimore. 1970), 248-53.

l9 Will of Morgan Druett, New Castle County Wills, B. 76, abstracted by the Historic Research Committee of the Colonial Dames of America in A Cnlendar of Delauore Wills, New Caslie Couny, 1682-1800 (New York, 1911), 10; also see Lewis D. Cook, comp., "Reuben and Mary (Druet) Ford of "Newport" Plantation in Brandywine Hundred." 1 6 (Typewritten mss. in the collection of the <;enealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia [hereafter CSP]).

Will of Adam Sharpley, abstracted in A Calendar ofDelaware Wills, 23. Alpheus H. Harlan, comp., tlzslory and Genealo,~ of the Harlan Family (Baltimore, 1914),

8.

128 DELAWARE HISTORY

come to Delaware. William had married Ann Gregg by about 1690. An Elizabeth Dixon mentioned in the will of Thomas Child in 1694 could possibly have been a child of William Dixon's first marriage.22

Thomas Pierson, a son of Susanna Pierson, arrived at Upland (later called Chester) in the autumn of 1683. Within a few months he was appointed deputy surveyor of New Castle County, being subordinate to Thomas Holme. Pierson completed his apprenticeship in Bristol, England, in 1675 and sailed to Maryland the following year in the company of William Dixon. He returned to England in 1682, apparently at least in part to attempt to secure property willed to him by his deceased sister's husband. However, when the lawyers ruled that the will was invalid because four of the five witnesses to the will were Quakers who refused to take the required oath, he returned to the co~onies.'~

Thomas Pierson served as surveyor in New Castle County for quite a number of years. In 1701 he cooperated with Isaac Taylor in surveying the present circular boundary of northern Delaware as i t borders ~ e n n s ~ l v a n i a . ~ ~ Pierson married Rachel Sharpley in 1686, but she died the following year. In 1690 he married Rose Dixon. He had two daughters, Susanna and Rose, who married brothers, John and Aaron Mendenhall. These Mendenhall brothers settled in East Caln Township, northwest of Downingtown in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Thomas Pierson spent the last years of his life in the East Caln area. He died about 1722.'"

Cornelius Empson came to the Delaware Valley from Yorkshire in 1684. By 1685 he had settled in the vicinity of Shelpot Creek. His first wife, whose maiden name was Mary Sanderson, died 11-30-1688/9. They had at least three children: Richard, Ebenezer, and Sarah. A year after his first wife's death, Cornelius married her sister, Elizabeth Sanderson, contrary to the will of Newark Monthly Meeting. Elizabeth lived only a short time after this marriage. As his third wife, Cornelius married Sarah Wilson of Chesterfield, Burlington County, New Jersey. They had two children: Elizabeth and Mary. Sarah (Wilson) Empson died in 1700. Cornelius Empson's fourth wife was Mary Richardson, a member of Salem Friends Meeting in New Jersey. Of their four children-Charles, James, Ann, and Susannah-only Charles seems to have reached adulthood.

In today's parlance, Cornelius Empson might be called a "big operator." He was continually undertaking new projects. He built several mills at various locations and speculated in land. He was not always successful in these undertakings. Empson was very active in the civic affairs of New Castle County, having first been commissioned justice of the peace and judge of the

22 Jacob and Isaac Taylor Papers, no. 3307, Manuscript Depl., Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. (hereafter referred to as IISP).

23 Taylor Papers, nos. 3294, 3295, 3296, 3297, and 3303, HSP 24 Taylor Papers, no. 33 15, HSP. 25 See "Record of Concord Monthly Meeting, formerly called Chichester and Concord

[Men's Minutes]," 1684-1757, 150, 178, and 206 for minutes referring to Thomas Pierson, who transferred his membership to Concord Monthly Meeting in 1709 and served as Overseer of East Caln Preparative Meeting from 1716 until his death, FHI,.

co~lr-1. in ; t i + t i , - .. .:. .. o f thc PI-(,\ i l l ( i . i . \.-. .- ' .

It<!,; as \\ell .I. .;,::. ' ' .

1701. He dieti 1 1 . . - : '

\\'illiam \;t,bc kt:.:: ... . .

lrj84/8.5, Ther-c. ,.\.:- .:-

Johnstone of \\'c.-' I , - : '

haw been \-ourlu . :.- * . -

\\.illianl Sti~ck(!.~.,. ..:. .. .

nlo\.enlent in n~,l.:.,-r:. ! . ?'ruth" \rho m,tdc. .::- r ' - in 1-ancashire. (;el - r i . - t 1 - passed into ScotI.ti:ti '. in Scotland \\crc rct r :. :

Fro111 hci l i ..::. : !

Ireland and \\-as a:fll:.:..- : .. Xleeting. His book. 7 -, -. .ufferings of Friend. .i' ' : ..

\\-illiam Stockd,tlt. .... .:- C:ount) in 1683. i r l :,;-. a .

<)f Penns?l\.ania frl~n: ::: .

stockdale died in I t>Zr.. .::

Dre\\.ett. Sometimc .i:'.- Philadelphia. I t \\a. . ': - '

Preacher" led a ~ I - I ) U ~ I : ... t he preaching o f (ic.1 ~r:. h

\\'illian~ Stockti,tlr'- :.~,

Philadelphia and ' .:

married William .\lt)r-r.. : Nathaniel and 1 ) . : .:

Hundred in 168.i - I - l : r - . : ,on. Thomas. \\ a. b, Nr:. :

Sorthumberland 111 E:.:..] in 1740. at the a x : ' \-irginia,'32 hlartin (:.I:... . along \vith other <:.I!':.. .. -. --- -

Ib For a 'rud\ . 1 - '

l'ruminrnt Dela\,arr.j. !' . - I Il.ri,rlcal Socier\ < I ! I k- .: ., - .

'

'' Fox, J,,~irruj.. - 28 George \\-rarc- 1 . - ".

I.n3rad. The nrn~-!r~r,i ;. : !. - r

: d . ~l.or!d, . . ?'jtockdaIr 1 7 , .. . . " Ceoree Iirlri,. !. :

I.ondon. 16021. 2 - i " ..Biograph!c.i. \ % . . . - '' 1.iber Q. F,,i., . \.

I ) E 1-.-\\$'ARE HISTORY

. ( ~ r c r e by about 1690. An i:. 'r!ia.\ Child in 1694 could Ir.1 n ~ a r r i a g e . ~ ~ .r.: r d at Upland (later called I 1:ionths he was appointed

mrdi~lare to Thomas Holme. b-fluland, in 1675 and sailed

.::I\ o f LVilliam Dixon. He .:i part lo attempt to secure

td.t~and. However, when the :"ar of the five witnesses to -.;ulred oath, he returned to

( .i.rle County for quite a 3 . 1 ~ Tai.lor in surveying the 1. 1 1 borders Penn~y lvan i a .~~ - 11c.d the following year. In t.lirer\. Susanna and Rose,

' - 7 . t i c i l l These Mendenhall :.\'-I of Downingtown in r . l l [ [he last years of his life

r-. trom Yorkshire in 1684. : rr.c.k His first wife, whose :ti;8/LC They had at least r ..c.,i~. slier his first wife's :-r%on. contrary to the will .:. .I short time after this .I!] \ \ ikon of Chesterfield, ::rr.li: Elizabeth and Mary. ~ . : : I \ I . ~ I I ' s fourth wife was !--,-line in New Jersey. Of y'~.~innah-only Charles

.- L .tiled a "big operator." i.- built several mills at :.. 11 al~vays successful in :. 1. affairs of New Castle :- p a c e and judge of the

: . ! ( :h~cI~esier and Concord . . L . t J I'iicrrnas Pierson, who

. : . .<I ,er\ed as O\-erseer of


courts in 1685. He was still serving as a justice in 1701. He was also a member of the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania in 1686, 1693, 1695, 1696, and 1697 as well as judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1689 until 1701. He died in 17 10.'~

William Stockdale, with his wife, Jane, came to New Castle County about 1684/85. There was an older daughter, Dorcas. who in 1690 married James Johnstone of West Jersey. Another daughter, Ruth, died in 1687. There may have been young sons, Jervis and William.

William Stockdale had become a Friend in the earliest days of the Quaker movement in northern England. He was one of the early "Publishers of Truth" who made their headquarters at Swarthmore Hall, near Ulverston, in Lancashire. George Fox records in hisJourna1, "[In] 1655-William Stockdale passed into s cot land."^^ Stockdale's sufferings while proclaiming Quakerism in Scotland were recorded in a small book that he coauthored with five other ~ r i ends .~ ' From Scotland, William Stockdale moved on to County Tyrone in Ireland and was affiliated with Grange Friends Meeting and with Charlemont Meeting. His book, The Great Cry of Oppression, published in 1683, details the sufferings of Friends at the hands of Irish government officials.2g

William Stockdale was appointed a justice of the peace in New Castle County in 1685. in 1689, and in 1690. He served on the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania from the autumn of 1689 through the summer of 1690. Jane Stockdale died in 1688, and in the following year William married Hannah Drewett. Sometime after this marriage, the Stockdale family moved to Philadelphia. It was there, in 1691, that "William Stockdale, an Antient Preacher" led a group of weighty Quaker ministers and elders who challenged the preaching of George ~ e i t h . ~ '

William Stockdale's declining years were troubled by poverty. He died in Philadelphia and was buried there on 7-23-1693.~' By 1695 his widow had married William Albertson, who lived in the vicinity of Camden, New Jersey.

Nathaniel and Dorothy Cartmill came from Ireland to Brandywine Hundred in 1685. Their son Martin was born during the voyage. Another son, Thomas, was born four years later. They may have originally come from Northumberland in England. Dorothy Cartmill lived to be quite elderly, and in 1740, at the age of 73, she was recorded as living in Orange County, Virginia.32 Martin Cartmill, her oldest son, seems to have moved to that area, along with other Cartmills (or Cartmels) who had first settled in New Jersey. -.

2fiFor a study of Cornelius Empson, see John Ilollingsworth, "Cornelius Empson, Prominent Delawarean Pioneer, Nation-builder, Lawgiver, Quaker," Typed mss. in library of Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington, Del. (hereafter HSD).

27 F O X, Jou~nal , 2: 331. '' George Weare, John Hart, William Gray, William Stockdale, William Metcalf, Richard

Ismead, The Doctrines and Principles: the Perseculion, Imprisonment, Banishment, Excommunicating of the .Saints of C o d . . . (London, 1659 [enlarged reprinting of 1657 ed.]).

Stockdale, The Great Cry of Oppression. 30 George Keith. An Account of the Great Dioiszons amongst the Quakers in Pennsylvania . . .

(London, 1692), 2-3. "Biographical Sketches . . .," The Friend (Philadelphia), 27 (May 27, 1854): 291-92.

32 Liber Q, Folio 234, New Castle County Records. (Referred to in Collections of HSP).


Later generations of the family were not members of Friends, either in Delaware or ~ i r ~ i n i a . ~ ~

There were other members of Newark Meeting about whom less is known. The name of Robert Vance is found in the earliest Monthly Meeting minutes, and he is recorded as having been buried at Newark in 1687. A young couple, Arthur and Jane Burden, and their son, Joseph, died within a few days of each other in the late summer of 1686. O n 1-2-1688/89 a Robert Smith requested a certificate in order to marry "a woman of ye hook meeting" [Chichester]. The name of Ann Grise is found at the head of a list of women Friends in 1690. William Lester's name appears in the minutes of 1692. Edward Green is mentioned in the minutes for 1693. In the same year, the marriage of David Richardson and Joanna Holme was allowed, but by late autumn of 1694 they had both died.

There were doubtless other Friends living in the Brandywine Hundred area at this time whose names do not appear in Quaker records. One of these seems to have been Richard Mankin. Perhaps he lived south of the Brandy- wine, but he had family connections with the Robinson family of Brandywine and Christiana ~undreds . " He was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in 1689. Cornelius Empson and George Robinson objected when the pastor of Old Swedes Church arranged for Richard Mankin to be buried at Old Swedes on September 1, 1707.~"

William Pooll, whose will is dated 2nd m. 1 l th, 1698 and proved May 21, 1698, may have been a Quaker. He mentions "Brother Nathaniel Cartmill," which probably means that he was a brother of Nathaniel's wife, Dorothy artm mill.^^

Allusion has already been made to the will of Thomas Child, a single man who died at the home of Valentine Hollingsworth in 1694. He had come from northern Ireland and was evidently much a part of the Friends communities at Newark and

Then there was the Beeson family. They had settled northeast of the present city of Wilmington, not far from the Delaware River. The genealogist Gilbert Cope located a record stating that Edward Beeson had married Rachel Pennington in the Parish of Thressington in Westmorland in north- western England on November 7, 1 6 5 2 . ~ ~ There is no explicit recorded evidence in the Newark Monthly Meeting minutes that Edward Beeson, Sr.,

"For a description of the Cartmel farnily which settled in Virginia, see T. K. Cartmel, "The Cartmel Farnily," Shenandoah Valley Auneers and Their Descendants, a Hislory ofFrederlck Counfy. Vtrginia (n.p., 1909).

'14 Will of Richard Mankin, New Castle County Wills, B. 166, abstracted in Calendar of Delaufare Wil ls , 14; also see will of his son, Richard Mankin, New Castle County Wills, C. 27, also abstracted in Calendar qf Delaware Wills .

35 Records of H o b Trinify (Old Swedes) Church, Wtlrninglon, D~I.,Jiorn 1697 lo 1773 (Wilming- ton, 1890), 128-30.

36 Will of William Pooll: New Castle County Wills, B. 73, abstracted in Calendar of Delaware Wills, 11.

37 The will of Thomas Child has been preserved in the Taylor Papers, no. 3294, HSP. 38Gilbert Cope. "Cope Manuscript Notes," Chester County Historical Society, West

Chester, Pa. (hereafter CCHS).

or fir'[ \,.,it, ......-.. ! - arranged ro n:.lr:.. t:.. . - there seemed to i 1 . - : . .

Beeson as a rnrr::!),,: In 1701 C:clrr;r.: : ! .- .

Friends \\-ere r o r : :- :

l laryland linr. I : . : :

Although Corncl;':. f:. :

Beeson. Sr.. roc~h I.! .: :.

the hands of hi, .' ::. t. . ... There \<ere r tir-r.c . :: .

.-Inn. and Richard \ \ . ..:

Cloud. a membrr % N:'.: I.; . ..

Pennsylvania. Kiil:.:: : - Frances (\-ane ( ; r - , . . '

\\-hether either Kiil..:. :

certainly becanlr, . ::.

promoting the Q u a k c : .:. from Nottinghan: r , ' I..::. Count)., Ll'est \.if-:I[;:.: .:

.After moving to S W I ~ . : . ~ : sur\.ived by two or I:(.: : :

There were pr-ot).:. County boundar\- b:. . lieeting. This l l o ~ i . ! . . . lleetings, located 1 1 . .. :. .: \.ania. Reuben Ford. ..\. (:oncord Xleetine. 1: ..:-. :

There \\-ere a\.(, t.::. . ,

close ties \vith kr-ic:.\:- . One example is tht- :.:.- been l l a ry Enil1.1 t : . . - Hannah. ma\- h a \ !. : . . : \\i\.es. \far!- and E. . i . : . . !he Penns!.l\.arli,~ 1': -. . .

.After 1 7 10. \, hc-I: \ .: tion of Quaker ccrr:r:,. . .: be a focal point it 8 : 1.; ..

\.ounger ;or; ::. . Se\vark Month\\ Xi:..-. - .

-

1 )H..~\\ ' IIRE HISTORY EARLY QUAKERS AND MEETINGS 131

':."::.hrr\ of Fj.iends, either in or his first wife were Friends. However, in 1704 when their son Edward

'.:- 2 . ~ ~ O L I t \vhom less is known. arranged to marry Esther Hall under the care of Newark Monthly Meeting, there seemed to be no question of the good standing of the younger Edward .'~,' lfontflly Meeting minutes,

--... .irk In 1687. A young couple, Beeson as a member.

I ::. died within a few days of In 1701 Cornelius Empson helped engineer a project whereby a group of Friends were to form a new settlement along the present Pennsylvania- : --'- lti88/89 a Robert Snlith Maryland line. This area was given the name of "the Nottingham Lots."

.< . ' n l a n of ye hook ' 1 1 1 ~ head of a list of wonlen Although Cornelius Empson never moved to Nottingham himself, Edward

t..: !.. Beeson, Sr., took up a claim there, leaving his Brandywine Hundred land in in the minutes of 1692.

" :';''j. In the sanle year, the the hands of his son, Edward, ~ r . ~ ' There were three other children in Edward Beeson's older family: William,

'..':.t' \\as allowed, but by late Ann, and Richard. William returned to England to live. Ann married John Cloud, a member of a Quaker family who had settled in Chichester Township,

:I- ' 1 1 ~ Brandywine ~ ~ ~ d ~ ~ d ' 2 1.Aer- records. One of these Pennsylvania. Richard married Charity Grubb, daughter of John and

':' !l\cd south of the Brandy- Frances (Vane) Grubb of Marcus Hook. Although there is question as to

z'~:rl.\on fanlily of ~ ~ ~ ~ d ~ ~ i ~ ~ whether either Richard or Charity Beeson were birthright Friends, they

'hr Pennsylvania provincial certainly became "convincedn Friends. They were both quite active in promoting the Quaker faith as they accompanied the migration of Friends

.;+. Robinson objected when from Nottingham to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, then on to Berkeley :. [lard Mankin to be buried County, West Virginia, and then south to the piedmont of North Carolina.

I . : ti518 and proved M~~ 2 1, After moving to Nottingharn, Edward Beeson, Sr., married again and was

', "fler Nathaniel cartmill,), survived by two other daughters, Elizabeth and Rachel. He died in 1712.~' There were probably a few Friends who lived within the New Castle

! x"1haniel's wife, ~~~~~h~ County boundary but were members of Concord (Pennsylvania) Monthly

Child, a single nlan Meeting. This Monthly Meeting included both Concord and Chichester

1694. He had come Meetings, located in what is now southwestern Delaware County, Pennsyl- vania. Reuben Ford, who married Mary Drewett in 1697 while belonging to 'L'' " Part of the Friends Concord Meeting, may have lived in ela aware.^'

There were also families who lived in this general area and seemed to have '1 \t-[tJed northeast of the

close ties with Friends but who were not actually members of the Society. .:rc. K i \-er. The genealogist

One example is the family of John Buckley, Jr. John's mother seems to have Beeson had married .:. \i.estmorland in north- been Mary Empson, likely a relative of Cornelius Empson. John's wife,

Hannah, may have been a sister of Cornelius Empson's second and third '- .' explicit recorded . .ila[ Ed\vard Beeson, sr., wives, Mary and Elizabeth Sanderson. John Buckley served as a member of

-~ the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in 1697.~"

-e;ilia. see T. K. cartme, , After 1710, when Valentine Hollingsworth and others of the first genera- . . - - . r l i 1/071 OJFrederick counly, tion of Quaker settlers had passed from the scene, Newark Meeting ceased to

be a focal point for Quaker activities in northern Delaware. Many of the ' .' ab,rracted in ~ a / ~ ~ d ~ ~ ~ ~ younger generation moved northwest into Chester County in Pennsylvania. -. ' ' .:.,','c County Wills, C, 27, Newark Monthly Meeting sessions came to alternate between Centre Meeting . ... .'',97 10 li73 (Wilming.

39 F~~ a map and description of thr Nottingharn Lots, see Edward E. Cllandlee, Six Quaker

,:'i,[racted in Calendar o~ Clockmakers (Philadelphia. 1943), 21-30 and end-papers.

"The will of Edward Beeson, Sr., has been preserved in the Chester County. Pa.

- IJ.:prrs. no. 3294, HSP, ~~~i~~~~~~ Office, West Chester, Pa. For other information concerning the Beeson family, see

- . IJ;.rortcal society, west H~~~~ Hart Beeson, A Gmealogp qftht Beeson, Beason Famt(y (Houston, 1968). 4 ' k w i s D. Cook, comp., "Reuben and Mary (Druct) Ford . . . .'' j2 Gilbert Cope, C ; e ~ ~ t a I o ~ o/fhe Smtdley Farnib (Lancastcr, Pa.. 19011, 131.


in Christiana Hundred and Kennett Meeting across the Pennsylvania line. The Quaker families who continued to live in Brandywine Hundred tended to lack the religious zeal of the first settlers. They were inclined to conform to the prevailing lifestyle of the propertied class of their day, which included the keeping of slaves.

However, as long as George and Catherine Robinson lived, Newark Meeting continued to be kept up. Catherine, the youngest daughter of Valentine Hollingsworth's older family, had married George Robinson in 1688. A number of traveling Friends of the early eighteenth century reported receiving hospitality in their home. George Robinson died in 1738. Catherine lived until 1 7 4 6 . ~ ~ Newark Meeting was closed in 1754. A few of its last attenders transferred their memberships to the flourishing young Wilmington Meeting nearby, which had been organized in 1738.

Centre Meeting

The history of the early years of Centre Meeting is closely associated with that of Newark Meeting. A number of the most stalwart members of each Meeting group had come from a close-knit Quaker community in Ulster Province in Ireland. There were also some close family relationships.

A few Friends had settled in Christiana Hundred at the time of thc great influx of Quaker settlers in the 1682 period. Included among these was William Gregg and his family. They seem to have come from Ireland but likely had a Scottish background. William Gregg acquired a large tract of land in the area which in more recent times became famous as the center of the du Pont powdermaking industry. There seem to have been four children in the family: John, George, Ann, and Richard. Quaker records give no account of the mother of these children. William Gregg died on 1-7-1687.~~

While details of the earliest years of the Gregg family in Delaware are quite vague, even less seems to be known about the early history of the Robinson family in Christiana Hundred. During this early time, George Robinson bought 500 acres from William Guest, which he called Wedgeburg. Soon afterwards George Robinson died, but he was survived by his widow, Ann, and sons George, James, John, and Joseph. The genealogist Gilbert Cope believed that the George Robinson who married Catherine Holling- sworth in 1688 had come to Delaware from Ireland by himself and was not closely related to the Robinson family already settled in ~ e 1 a w a r - e . ~ ~ However, there seems to be some evidence that George Robinson of Newark was one of the four sons of George Robinson, Sr.

James Robinson, who died in 1726, was active in the civic affairs of New - - - - p~ - - -

'3"Biographical Sketches . . . ," The Friend (Philadelphia), 29 (Jul. 30, 1856): 404; 30 (Apr. 1 1 , 1857): 244.

44 See Howard T. Dimick, "Triadic Origin of the Gregy Family," Permsyi~aa71ia Gcnealo~gzcal Mogarinc, 16 (1948): 31-37; also Hazel May Middleton Kendall, Quaker Greggs (Anderson, Ind., 1944); also "The Gregg Family," Genealogical manuscript file, IISD.

46 Gilbert Cope, "The Robinsons of New Castle County," Everv Evening, May 19, 1909 (clipping preserved in the genealogical file folder of the Robinson Family, HSD).

Castle Co~lnt \ t i . - : .I executor. He \ , . I . .: . - James Robinwn i:r-- - son." His will r::~::.

daughter ;inn tit t i . . : . ;

.4braham Holl~rlc.,.\ r Ann Robinson. ~ . I . ; L : .

this Ann Robin., tn ..% .:

Sr. It does nor appc..:: of the Friend5 \Ice.; ::. ,

Joseph Robin-' 8 : . . have been a conkl-:,-:: George Robin.(~n. .*r

Oliver and E1il.i:-. were other earl\- -c! . :.

England and \%a- c,,--.

least three son>-1.:.

The earl!. leadrr f county of Durhan: : r .

young man and hcc .-

which the Holline-\\ :

Lurgan Meetin4 ti:.:.

Elizabeth Harlan .I:: : and settled east ofr!:l- 1 Harlan, probahl\ L .::: Dixon. About I t~ ! ' i , . Pennsbury To\\-n-h !; side of the Brarid\ -.,; moved to Londorl ( T r

Following thr ,3!r:

soon was formed \.

1687, at the honic f

Brandywine" .I; 1 season. On 6-2- I t i 9 # . :

"condescends to '3 i ;, wine."50 The fir%[ I:..~P

It was about I ti'. '

-

46 Will of KIL: .:- : '. Delaware Wills . 1 ',

4' Will of ,Jar~:r-. i. . of Delaware W f l ! , . .!#I

"See L;r /o,~, .i. .-.: quoting from a rrnr:.~- :

4 g F o r a d d i ~ ~ c 8 : . : :.:

the Harlan Farni(i " "Newark \ l . . .

I )EL.-\\.\'ARE HISTORY

.i' r0.3 rhe Pennsylvania line. Br.ind\.\\-ine Hundred tended if.: \\-ere inclined to conform I ! heir day, which included

,:(' Robinson lived, Newark . [he youngest daughter of :&irried George Robinson in

.-I ch tcenth century reported ~n died in 1738. Catherine

i in 1754. A few of its last I jr14ing young Wilmington

.! <<

! : I < closely associated with ! -ral\\art members of each i.:krr community in Ulster LI:::il\- relationships. Irf-cj ar the time of the great I:.< luded among these was 1,. t- zunie from Ireland but t .~cquired a large tract of I::.<- famous as the center of

' , 1 t1aL.e been four children : Quaker records give no ( ~ r r c e died on 1-7-1687.~~ t; faniil\ in Delaware are ; ' :!ir early history of the I L rhis early time, George I :.!ih he called Wedgeburg. .:. .ur\-i\.ed by his widow, I

. The %enealogist Gilbert 1 .I: rjed Catherine Holling- 1 . L : !I! himself and was not ! 7.: i r l I ~ e l a w a r e . ~ ~ However, - . ' )n of Newark was one of


Castle County. His name appears on a number of wills, either as witness or executor. He was a brother-in-law of Richard Mankin, ~ r . ~ " n his own will, James Robinson describes himself as "brother of George and Joseph Robin- son." His will mentions his wife, Cathren, and ten children, including a daughter Ann Hollingsworth and a son While Cope believed that Abraham Hollingsworth, oldest son of Thomas Hollingsworth, had married Ann Robinson, daughter of George Robinson, Sr., it seems more likely that this Ann Robinson was a daughter of Jarhes and a granddaughter of George, Sr. It does not appear that James Robinson took any active part in the affairs of the Friends Meeting.

Joseph Robinson, who married Elizabeth Harlan on 9- 12- 17 12, seems to have been a consistent Friend. He could perhaps have been a younger son of George Robinson, Sr., or possibly a son of James Robinson.

Oliver and Elizabeth Matthews and Oliver's father, Thomas Matthews, were other early settlers at Centre. Oliver Matthews was born in the north of England and was described as a "public Friend" (minister). There were at least three sons-Thomas, John, and William-and probably a fourth son, ~ e o r g e . ~ '

The early leader of the Friends at Centre was George Harlan. Born in the county of Durham in northeast England, he had migrated to Ireland as a young man and become associated with the same Lurgan Friends Meeting to which the Hollingsworths and Dixons had belonged. It was under the care of Lurgan Meeting that he had married Elizabeth Duck in 1678. George and Elizabeth Harlan and their four older children came to Delaware in 16g7 and settled east of the present village of Centreville. George's brother, Michael Harlan, probably came at the same time. In 1690 Michael married Dinah Dixon. About 1698/9 George Harlan and family moved north a few miles to Pennsbury Township, across the Pennsylvania line, and located on the east side of the Brandywine. A year or two later the Michael Harlan family moved to London Grove Township in Chester County, ~ e n n s ~ l v a n i a . ~ ~

Following the arrival of the Harlans, the first worship group at Centre soon was formed. At a session of Newark Monthly Meeting held on 10-7- 1687, at the home of Valentine Hollingsworth, Friends living "beyond the Brandywine" were allowed to hold a meeting in that area during the winter season. On 6-2-1690, at the request of George Harlan, the Monthly Meeting "condescends to allow a meeting to be kept constantly over the Brandy- wine."50 The first meetinghouse at Centre was built in 1708.

It was about 1690 that Thomas Hollingsworth, son of Valentine Holling-

-he cl\ ic affairs of New

- - . J I I ~ 30, 1856). 404: 30

: . - f'tnrr?~'lcania Cnealogiral :- :"' ( ~ r c ~ g s (.Anderson, Ind.,

,:.I,

" *-; F~rnrng, May 19, 1909 , .., : .. . . ! \ . IISD).

46 Will of Richard Mankin, Jr., New Castle County Will, C. 27, abstracted in Calendar cf

Delaware Wills , 19. 47 Will of James Robinson, New Castle County Wills, Misc. I. 89, abstracted in Calendar

oJ'Delaulare Wil ls , 26. 48 See Certain Friends Meetings within Baltzmore Yearly Meeting (Indianapolis, 1976), 45,

quoting from a transcript of the records of Gunpowder Monthly Meeting of Friends, Maryland. 49 For additional data relating to the Harlan family, see Harlan, History and Genealogy a/'

the Harlan Family. "Newark Monthly Meeting Records" [Men's Minutes], FHL.


sworth of the Newark Meeting, moved to Centre. In the years from about 1685 to 1688 Thomas had lived in Upper Providence Township in present- day Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was in this area that his stepmother's parents, Thomas and Jane Calvert, had settled with their son, John, and daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. Thomas Calvert, the father, died there in 1685.~' About this time Thomas married a woman named Margaret, possibly his stepmother's sister. Margaret died in 1687, leaving an infant son, Abraham. On 1-3-1692, Thomas Hollingsworth married Grace Cooke of Concord Meeting. By this second marriage there were nine more children. Thomas Hollingsworth was a concerned member of Centre Meeting until the end of his life. He died in 1727.5"

William Dixon, who has been mentioned in connection with Newark Meeting, lived at Centre following his marriage to Ann Gregg. Several of their six children seem to have moved west to Mill Creek Hundred and become founding members of Hockessin Meeting. Following Dixon's death in 1708,~"is widow married John Houghton. The Houghtons had three daughters.

The family of Alphonsus and Abigail Kirk was an important part of Centre Meeting in its early years. Alphonsus Kirk came to Delaware in 1689 from Ireland, where his family were included in the Lurgan Friends community. On 12-23-1692/3 he married Abigail Sharpley of Newark Meeting. A copy of the marriage certificate has been preserved.54

Among the young couples to move into the vicinity of Centre Meeting soon after 1700 were Samuel and Sarah ~ r e a v e s ~ ~ and Swithin and Ann handler.^^ The Samuel Underwood family may have been living in the area as early as 1694, having come from Maryland. While it is unlikely that the parents ever became Friends, at least two or three of the children were members. One son, Alexander Underwood, became a prominent minister, living in his later years at London Grove in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and at Warrington in York County, ~ e n n s ~ l v a n i a . ~ ~

Centre Meeting, after continuing for several generations as a Quaker center, declined in numbers in the late nineteenth century. Except for occasional summer meetings, regular meetings for worship were discontinued about 1905. However, the picturesque meetinghouse, dating from 1796, was

- - - -

"Wills Proved at Philadelphia, 1682-1692," Publications qf the Genealogzcal S o c i e ~ of Pennsyluania, vol. I , 1896. no. 2.

52 McCracken, I4'elcome Clazmants, 252. 53 Will of William Dixon, New Castle County Wills, B. 164, abstracted in Calendar of

Delaware Wills , 14. 54 Kennett Monthly Meeting Marriage Certificates, 1692-1821, p. 93, FHL. See also

"Genealogy of Alphonsus and Abigail Kieth," mss. vol. in HSD. 56 Lewis D. Cook, "The Greaves Family of Christiar~a Hundred, Delaware," The American

Genealopisf, 56 (1980): 65-72. % A Record ofthe Descendants ofGeorge and Jane Chandler (n.p., 1937). 57 "A Testimony from Warrington Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania Concerning Alex-

ander Underwood," A Collection of Memorials Concerning Divers Deceased Members and Others of the People Called Quakers in Pennsyluania, New Jersey, and Parts Adjacent, from Nearly the First Settlemen! Thereof to the Year 1787. . . (Philadelphia printed, London reprinted, 1788), 238.

EARLY QUAKERS . \ X I

maintained under the car-

through the efforts of ,JI 1 h:..

Centre were resumed S ;

Friendly persuasion finc! . .I where Friends first a.G.en::

When William Penr; :-- officials to have parric~i..~: Probably the man u p ) : ;. William Welch. This r:a:. with his wife, Sarah. ar;d : given a place on thr Prl .:

in attendance at se\-era: :: late summer of that !ear

New Castle Meetinq \.ere

William Welch dird 'r

of Newark Monthly XI re t i

in New Castle. The Se\\ a:

of 1686 allow for the rnarr i

Turner. This was the rh :~ prominent Friend in I)!;> important position in rei:z

Because the early rr7.1r:;

brief, and because afrer ca in Brandywine Hundred J

much information in the I

at New Castle. Probabl~ ( low ebb. There seem, r , t for worship were held In

Edward Blake \,-as [kc He was also pronllnerl: Provincial Assembly frl ~ r :

and he married Hannat. I Creek Friends ser tlen;er.r Edward, and a dauehrcr

New Castle Friends apF area. In 1687 an atIen:p! \

at White Clay Creek r months. On 8 mo. 5r h : 6

for worship be allo\,ed .lr

--

'a Will of \ \ - ~ l l i ~ i ~ : \ \ - Delaware 59 Wills , 8.

Myers, Immlp7.1:; -. - t

Will of Edward I( :.. Delaware Wills , 10.


sworth of the Newark Meeting, moved to Centre. In the years from about 1685 to 1688 Thomas had lived in Upper Providence Township in present- day Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was in this area that his stepmother's parents, Thomas and Jane Calvert, had settled with their son, John, and daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. Thomas Calvert, the father, died there in 1685." About this time Thomas married a woman named Margaret, possibly his stepmother's sister. Margaret died in 1687, leaving an infant son, Abraham. On 1-3-1692, Thomas Hollingsworth married Grace Cooke of Concord Meeting. By this second marriage there were nine more children. Thomas Hollingsworth was a concerned member of Centre Meeting until the end of his life. He died in 1 727.52

Willian? Dixon, who has been mentioned in connection with Newark Meeting, lived at Centre following his marriage to Ann Gregg. Several of their six children seem to have moved west to Mill Creek Hundred and become founding members of Hockessin Meeting. Following Dixon's death in 17087 his widow married John Houghton. The Houghtons had three daughters.

The family of Alphonsus and Abigail Kirk was an important part of Centre Meeting in its early years. Alphonsus Kirk came to Delaware in 1689 from Ireland, where his family were included in the Lurgan Friends community. On 12-23-1692/3 he married Abigail Sharpley of Newark Meeting. A copy of the marriage certificate has been preserved.54

Among the young couples to move into the vicinity of Centre Meeting soon after 1700 were Samuel and Sarah ~ r e a v e s ~ ~ and Swithin and Ann ~handler.~"he Samuel Underwood family may have been living in the area as early as 1694, having come from Maryland. While it is unlikely that the parents ever became Friends, at least two or three of the children were members. One son, Alexander Underwood, became a prominent minister, living in his later years at London Grove in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and at Warrington in York County, ~ e n n s ~ l v a n i a . ~ ~

Centre Meeting, after continuing for several generations as a Quaker center, declined in numbers in the late nineteenth century. Except for occasional summer meetings, regular meetings for worship were discontinued about 1905. However, the picturesque meetinghouse, dating from 1796, was

"Wills Proved at Philadelphia, 1682-1692,'' Publlcattons OJ the Genealogical Sociely a/

Pennsyluania, vol. I , 1896, no. 2. 52 McCracken, Welcome Claimants, 252. 53 Will of William Dixon, New Castle County Wills, B. 164, abstracted in Calendar oJ

Delaware Wil ls , 14. 54 Kennett Monthly Meeting Marriage Certificates, 1692-1821. p. 93, FHL. See also

"Genealogy of Alphonsus and Abigail Kieth," mss. vol. in HSD. 55 Lewis D. Cook, "The Greaves Family of Christiana Hundred, Delaware," The American

Genealogrst, 56 (I 980): 65-72. 56 A Record ?/ the Descendants oJ George and Jane Chandler (n.p., 1937). 57 "A Testimony from Warrington Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania Concerning Alex-

ander Underwood," A Collection oJ Memortals Concerning Divers Deceased Members and Others OJ the People Called Quakers in Pennsyluania, New Jersey, and Parts Adjacent, Jrom Nearly he Fzrst Settlement Therecf to the Year 1787. . . (Philadelphia printed, London reprinted, 1788), 238.

EARLY QUAKERS \ \ I

maintained under t he ~ . i r -

through the efforts of J l I:::

Centre were resumed Friendly persuasion find .- where Friends first a\?:: ' .

When William Penr; :w- officials to have part~cul;lr Probably the man up(8n +

William Welch. This r:.in

with his wife, Sarah. aric : given a place on the Prl lr :: in attendance at se\-cral :: late summer of that 1 ear New Castle Meeting iserr- 1

William Welch died .8 *r

of Newark Monthly .\Ice.:;

in New Castle. The Sc\,.il of 1686 allow for the mar:; Turner. This was the t h , r

prominent Friend in Dub important position in reliz

Because the earl\ nll!-~;l

brief, and because after cal in Brandywine Hundred * I

much information in the r

at New Castle. Probabli (,

low ebb. There seems r ( 5 for worship were held o r ; 3

Edward Blake wac rhc He was also prominent I

Provincial Assembly fron and he married Hannah I Creek Friends settlemen.. Edward, and a dau%hter .'

New Castle Friend.; a p p area. In 1687 an attempr ..%

at White Clay Creek 7-h months. On 8 mo. 5th :rI%

for worship be allo\.cd a: 1

Will of l$'illlan: \\ - - Delaware 59 Wills , 8.

Myers, Irnrnrqruii -. . ., Will of Eduard H :.-

Delaware Wil ls , 10

I )I-:L.41.CrARE HISTORY

. . , I < . In the years from about drnce Township in present-

. !] I - . i r ea that his stepmother's ' .

b% lth their son, John, and ( .ii\er t . the father, died there

:: .i \\oman named Margaret, : r . 1087, leaving an infant son, vrth married Grace Cooke of h t r e \%ere nine more children. k- r )f Centre Meeting until the

: :(I connection with Newark .ize to .-Inn Gregg. Several of ' . ) llill Creek Hundred and : : i t . Following Dixon's death I . The Houghtons had three

r h \\as an important part of ;.: came to Delaware in 1689

.!i the Lurgan Friends com- \:..irple)- of Newark Meeting. v - r i ed.%

'.~cinity of Centre Meeting . .

3' . '' and Swithin and Ann '. i l ~ \ - e been living in the area \ \ ' i i~ le i t is unlikely that the ':.ree of the children were

t .::::r a prominent minister, .-.:<.,-

. - C:onnty, Pennsylvania, i .2

1. rcnerations as a Quaker !r-rnrh century. Except for r ..\ onhip were discontinued

IT. dating from 1796, was

" :-I) . abstracted in Calendar of

'- : i i - ' i . p. 93, FHI,. See also

- :-f $ 1 Uela~~are ," The AmerIran

!'.-..:..\ i\ania Concerning Alex- - * - ,: .ilrrrrbers and 0ther.r of the ' ' 7 .\Cur11 the Firsl SetrIpmenl

.~ . . - . i iS . 238.


maintained under the care of Hockessin Meeting. In the mid 1950s, largely through the efforts of John V. Hollingsworth, weekly meetings for worship at Centre were resumed. Now, on each First-day, a number of those of the Friendly persuasion find their way to this site in the hills east of Centreville, where Friends first assembled almost three hundred years ago.

New Castle Meeting

When William Penn became proprietor of Pennsylvania, he chose a few officials to have particular oversight of affairs in the Three Lower Counties. Probably the man upon whom he expected to place greatest reliance was William Welch. This man had come to New Castle from England in 1683 with his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Susannah. Soon after his arrival he was given a place on the Provincial Council, where he is recorded as having been in attendance at several meetings early in 1684 and at one meeting in the late summer of that year. It is likely that the first meetings for worship of New Castle Meeting were held in the home of the Welch family.

William Welch died sometime in the autumn of 1684.~' The first sessions of Newark Monthly Meeting were held in the home of the "Widow Welsh" in New Castle. The Newark minutes for the Eleventh and Twelfth Months of 1686 allow for the marriage of William's daughter, Susannah, and Robert Turner. This was the third marriage for Robert Turner. He had been a prominent Friend in Dublin before coming to Philadelphia to assume an important position in religious and civic affairs.59

Because the early minutes of the Newark Monthly Meeting tend to be brief, and because after early 1689 the monthly sessions were almost all held in Brandywine Hundred or farther away in Christiana Hundred, there is not much information in the minutes about what was going on among Friends at New Castle. Probably Quaker activity in that town dropped to a rather low ebb. There seems to be reason to doubt whether even weekly meetings for worship were held on a consistent basis in New Castle in the early 1690s.

Edward Blake was the leader of New Castle Friends during this period. He was also prominent in civic affairs. He served as a member of the Provincial Assembly from 1687 to 1694. His first wife, Sarah, died in 1687, and he married Hannah DeCou, widow of Jacob DeCou of the St. Georges Creek Friends settlement, in 1689. Edward Blake died in 1695. A son, Edward, and a daughter, Sarah, survived him6'

New Castle Friends appear to have been scattered over a wide geographical area. In 1687 an attempt was made to establish a weekly meeting for worship at White Clay Creek. This effort did not continue for more than a few months. On 8 mo. 5th 1689, New Castle Meeting requested that a meeting for worship be allowed at the home of John Alloway, but by the time of the

Will of William Welch, New Castle County Will, A. 83, abstracted in Calendar of Delaziare Wi l l s , 8.

59 Myers, Immigratton of the Insh Quakers. 257-62. Will of Edward Blake, New Castle County Wills, B. 42, abstracted in Calendnr of

Delaware Wi l l s . 10


next Monthly Meeting the Alloways had moved away." Evidently another Friend, John Brewster, lived in the same vicinity as the ~ l l oways .~ '

One of the first Quaker settlers in Delaware was John Cann. His name is included in the list of passengers on the ship Grtffen, which brought the first contingent of Friends to Salem, New Jersey, in 1675. John Cann was listed as taxable in the records of New Castle County in 1677, and his wife Mary testified in the New Castle Court in the same year. After holding several positions in the government of New Castle County, John Cann was a member of the Provincial Assembly in 1682-83 and served on the Provincial Council in 1684 and 1685. John Cann's daughter Mary married James Claypoole, who held the position of Clerk of Court in New Castle. Although both James and Mary were from Quaker families, there is no record that they took any significant part in Friends' activities. John Cann's sons, William and John, were both Episcopalians. John Cann, Sr., died in Philadelphia on May 2, 1 6 9 4 . ~ ~

George Hogg may have been living in New Castle County from almost as early a date as John Cann. In 1680 he owned 600 acres in Christiana Hundred adjoining Oak Hill, several miles northwest of present-day Wil- mington. He, like other Friends of the period, participated in governmental affairs. He represented New Castle County in the Provincial Assembly in 1696. He was probably married three times. His first wife, whose name seems not to be known, was likely the mother of his children. His second wife was Dorcas (Walliams or Williams) Land, widow of Samuel Land. In 1716 George Hogg married Ann Humphrey of Radnor. Of his four children-George, John, James, and Sarah-John was a landholder in New Castle County but probably never married. James moved to Kent County. George married Hannah Coal1 from England in 1705 and had children, Elisabeth and George. Sarah Hogg married George Gregg, son of the pioneer William Gregg, and had a son, John. George Hogg, Sr., died in 172 I . ~

Thomas Snelling was another Quaker in the New Castle area who had been on the scene for a long time. He was one of the persons granted a patent to land on Bread and Cheese Island in 1668. His name appears on a list of taxables in New Castle County dated March 25, 1678.'"n November 1686 his name appears in the minutes of Newark Monthly Meeting on a list of those subscribing to Yearly Meeting stock. He had a daughter, ~ a r y . ~ ~

James Crawford was one of the British soldiers granted land by Sir Robert

61 John Alloway's name was included on the list of those taxable in New Castle County as of March 25, 1678 (Scharf, Hislory ofDelaware. 1: 153).

62 Will of John Brewster, New Castle County Wills, C . 158, abstracted in Calet~dar of Delaware Wills, 23.

63 For a detailed study of John Cann, see William Ferris Cann. "'l'he Story of John Cann, 1645-1694, of Delaware and His Descendants." mss. vol. in HSD.

M See Mildred Huye Richal-ds, The Dercendants of Samuel Hogg of Wilrnzngloti, Delnll~are (Tucson, 1959).

65 Scharf, Htstory of Delaware, 1: 153 and 2: 915; also see: Oriz~nal Land Titlts in Delaware Conlrnonly Known as the Duke of York Record. . . 1659 lo 1679 (TYilmington, Del., [1903]), 33.

66 Will of John Ball. New Castle County Wills, B. 30, abstracted in Calendar oJ Delaware Wills, 1 1.

EARLY QUAKER> I \

Carr following the I ~ U ! ~ ! died in 1683, lea\-in o ~i -.%

Mary. There seem !, 8 :.-.

himself to be a Quakt.r. :-

a Quaker from )Ian I~::.. :

Meeting. Edward an? .J . and St. Georges C:recL '

'

meeting was appoinrci . r .

1 6 9 9 . ~ ~ ~ a m e s Cra\\ f, , r \ : Thomas M'olla.~tor: -.% .t.

for his service under : r f

also had landholdin?. ::

died in 1686, lea\-in< L:

and Anna, and se\-er.~. .. erem mi ah.^' As is t hc c.x-.

had inclined to\vard rt-.,. 1.

Fox during Fox's \ . i < ~ t .. ' Wollaston name beun. - 17 10 William Wolla\rl ~n . ton married Eleanor K. Catherine Robinson

The Richardson far::.: very early date. John h: England in 1682. Hc .cr.

daughter, Mary. \,-h(t r-..

Richard. Richard Kic I;>: son, Jr., built up the i . = r r ~ Park. This younger J I 11;:. Creek Friends set I len:r: . their descendants \\err. .:; tions.'l

In the earliest rec-cbrti. other Friends \vhn prt .:.~.i

whom little seem\ 1 1 ' 'r

contributed to the c-(111r. . I

of Friends in Fie\\ Jcr-:-.. Joan Morris of Frank{, r c

permission to marr-\ \ \ . .. It can be assumed . I.1.

vitality about 169.i i\ kc.:. Castle from Hampror-1. .\'

~ -

67Scharf.Ifi. . .. . . . : Thonia hrt ,.-. . -,

. . (Philadelphia. : i ; - l~

Rcrord, ,,/ f f , ! -. - '(

'O Kennetr \ 1 , : .. ' . I-

" See Clintc~r. \ . -. . .\

I )I.iI.:\\VARE HISTORY

. .+\\a!.." Evidently another :". CL. the A l ~ o w a ~ s . ~ ~

.\ .i.\ John Cann. His name is ,.:";I:. \\-hi& brought the first . - - - * ' , I. John Cann was listed as .rl 1677, and his wife Mary

r \'A'. .After holding several :'I\. John Cann was a member b on the Provincial Council r: married James ClayPoole, ( '.i.krle. .Although both James r : ~ I record that they took any

i r i ' , ions, William and John, 1 In Philadelphia on May 2,

:<~-tle County from almost as I?-rj acres in Christians lr r h\\-est of present-day Wil- b.ir!~cipated in governmental

iie Provincial Assembly in t- r.1 \\ife, whose name seems ::!dren. His second wife was .i::i~]el Land. In 1716 George

:;I- f o u r children-George, - :" s e ~ v Castle County but

[:ounty. George married drrn. Elisabeth and George. :' enter \t'illiam Gregg, and 4

Xc.i\ Castle area who had persons granted a patent

riame appears on a list of :11-8.'' In November 1686 , : ! h l \ Xleeting on a list of : .i daughter, ~ a r y . ~ ~ ,r.inted land by Sir Robert

- .\.i?lr In New Castle County

,- clb\tracted in Calendar of

.:. .. ' T h e Story o f John Cann, I

.. . . . . . . lorid Titles irr De(azuare . I l r l . [1903]), 33.

: ...<I I I I (.;ll~ndar of Delaware


Carr following the Dutch surrender of Delaware to the British in 1664. He died in 1683, leaving a widow, Judith, and three children: John, James, and Mary. There seems to be no record that James Crawford, Sr., considered himself to be a Quaker, but in 1686 Judith Crawford niarried Edward Gibbs, a Quaker from Maryland. The marriage was allowed by Newark Monthly Meeting. Edward and Judith Gibbs lived in the area between New Castle and St. Georges Creek.67 The Friends minister Thomas Story records that a meeting was appointed in the Gibbs home during his travels in Delaware in 1 6 9 9 . ~ James Crawford, Jr., was a member of Georges Creek Meeting.

Thomas Wollaston was another soldier who was granted land as a reward for his service under Sir Robert Carr. He lived in Mill Creek Hundred and also had landholdings in White Clay Creek Hundred. Thomas Wollaston died in 1686, leaving his widow, Martha, probably older daughters, Mary and Anna, and several very young sons: Thomas, Richard, William, and Jeremiah.6?4s is the case with James Crawford, we can only surmise that he had inclined toward the Quakers, perhaps having been influenced by George Fox during Fox's visit to New Castle in 1672. In the years following 1700 the Wollaston name begins to appear in Newark Monthly Meeting minutes. In 1710 William Wollaston married Charity Sharpley; in 1713 Thomas Wollas- ton married Eleanor Kinsey; and in 1716 Jeremiah Wollaston married Catherine Robinson.

The Richardson family was associated with New Castle Meeting from a very early date. John Richardson brought his family to Delaware from England in 1682. He served in the Provincial Assembly in 1697. He had a daughter, Mary, who married James Anderson, and two sons, John and Richard. Richard Richardson moved to Kent County, while John Richard- son, Jr., built up the family holdings in the area now known as Richardson Park. This younger John Kichardson married Ann Ashton of the St. Georges Creek Friends settlement in 1704." They had twelve children, and some of their descendants were active in Delaware Quaker affairs for several generations. 71

In the earliest records of Newark Monthly Meeting, we read the names of other Friends who probably lived in the vicinity of New Castle but about whom little seems to be known. In l l th month 1686 John McCombs contributed to the collection of money to be forwarded to the Yearly Meeting of Friends in New Jersey. On 5-3-1687, Phillip David was allowed to marry Joan Morris of Frankford Meeting. On 12-2-1688, Joan Davis was granted permission to marry William Holmes of Salem Monthly Meeting.

It can be assumed that New Castle Meeting had a strong infusion of new vitality about 1695 when John and Rebecca (Perkins) Hussey arrived in New Castle from Hampton, New Hampshire. They were accompanied by perhaps

61 Scharf, FI~sior): of Llela~uar~, 2: 101 7 ; see also 2: 1002.

"Thomas Stor", ThrJournal of lhe Lqe of Thomas Story . . . reprinted in The Friends I~brary . . . (Philadelphia, 184G), 10: 13 1.

" Records o/.Lhe Court u/Neu~ Castle on Delaware, 1676- I681 (Lancaster, Pa., 1904). 395-97. Kennett Monthly Meeting Marriage Certificates. 1692-1821, p. 73, FHL.

'' See Clinton ..\Ifred W'eslager, Thc Rirhordsons of Delaware (Wilmington, 1957).


ten of their large family of children. Five married daughters remained in New ~ n ~ l a n d . ~ ~

John Hussey, Sr., was a son of Christopher and Theodate (Batchelder) Hussey. He was a grandson of Stephen Batchelder, a noted nonconformist preacher in e.arly-seventeenth-century England who had spent some time as a refugee in Holland because of his religious views. It appears that John Hussey, Sr., was a "public Friend," and his son, John Hussey, Jr., was also an approved minister. John Hussey, Sr., served in the Provincial Assembly in 1696. He died in 1707.

Theodate, the oldest daughter of John and Rebecca Hussey, had married Benjamin Swett on May 9, 1682. Benjamin Swett, with his family, seems to have accompanied the Husseys to New Castle, b .~ t Theodate may have died before the move was made or soon a f t e ~ a r d s . ~ ~ Benjamin Swett's grandson, also named Benjamin, helped maintain the New Castle Meeting during its declining years.74

Bathsheba, another daughter of John and Rebecca Hussey, had married Thomas Babb while still in New England. Thomas and Bathsheba Babb settled in Brandywine Hundred. Bathsheba Babb, who died in 1713, seems to have been endowed with some of the same religious fervor as her Hussey and Batchelder forebears. However, the Babb descendants who continued to live in Delaware apparently lacked some of this religious e n t h u ~ i a s m . ~ ~

Three of the sons of John and Rebecca Hussey-Christopher, John, and Jedadiah-lived to marry and have families. Most of the descendants of John Hussey, Jr., joined the Quaker migration to the frontier.

Jan Garretson, whose wife's name was Ann, had lived in the New Castle vicinity since the time of the Dutch control of the area. He had come to Delaware from Gelderland in Holland, sometime between 1657 and 1664. His will, which was dated 1694, mentions three sons, Garret, Casparius, and Cornelius, as well as daughters.76 While there is no record that Jan Garretson was a member of Friends, his sons Garret and Casparius were members. Garret Garretson married Charity Hussey, a younger daughter of John and Rebecca Hussey. Casparius Garretson seems to have married Ann Cox, likely a close relative of William Cox, in whose home the first gatherings of

72 For one account of the ~ u s s e ~ family, see Aiahel H . Pettit, The Peltit Fami!y in America (Portland, Ore., 1906), 114-28, but data concerning later decendants of John and Rebecca (Perkins) Hussey seems confused.

73 Will of Benjamin Swett, New Castle County Wills, C. 169, abstracted in Calendar of Delaware Wills , 22.

74 Will of Benjamin Swett. New Castle County Wills, K. 201, abstracted in Calendar of Delaware Wills , 78.

75 For data relating to the Babb and Hussey families, see contributions by Clara Wallace Eyre in the Babb Family manuscript folder, CCHS.

76 Will of John Garretson, New Castle County Wills, B. 13, abstracted in Calendar of Delaware Wills, 9; also see Don H. Yoder, "John Garretson of Redland Valley," Cawelson News, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 6-8.

EARLY QUAKERS . \ \ I

Hockessin Meeting \\ere !:r Ann (Cox) Garretson r::ar:

the Garretson and H11~9.. The Lewden farnil\ .f.

history of New Casrle \ I - land at Christiana C:reei. I that came to be kno\.r. 3

survived by three ion.- Hannah Richardson Ti* death.77

In 1705 New Ca~rle \Is New Castle on land dona-r a stable institution unr i i :! members found i r con\ e!-. being formed at Hocke.;~ in nearby Wilmingron - \ i

families was migratine 1 4

organize Newber? \lrr Monthly ~ e e t i n ~ . ' "

When Wilmington \ I ( - Meeting in 1750, IVe\\ C1.v new Monthly Meetine t i a separate Meeting ar Sr Meeting was laid do\\n !r

preserved for man! !-eaF.

Farther down the 1k.i Creek near the prmenr developed, which sorneclr

Robert Ashton \\a, c

Georges Creek durine r; there seem to have k n before Robert Ashron a n

Available evidence !r

America on the ship . X k : r

day of the 3rd month :*

77 For a detailrd < r .:-. Families," notebook on i . r .

78 See various islir ' '

Newberry Meeting and !; ,: :--. families.

79 Scharf. HI JIG^ . i- - -

I)EI_.-III'ARE HISTORY

daughters remained in

Theodate (Batchelder) elder. a noted nonconformist i \ho had spent some time as 'lews. 11 appears that John John Hussey, Jr., was also an 1 [he Provincial Assembly in

cebecca Hussey, had married el[. wirh his family, seems to b.11 Theodate may have died I

Swett's grandson, Castle Meeting during its

e k - ~ c a Hussey, had married ' '~nlas and Bathsheba Babb bb. \ ~ h o died in 1713, seems ~ l l ~ l o u s fervor as her Hussey =endants who continued to

leious enthusiasm.75 r \ -Christopher, John, and b f uf he descendants of John ~r~ .~n[ ie r .

lad li\.ed in the New Castle !he area. He had come to

:c between 1657 and 1664. IJnz. Garret, Casparius, and I ' record that Jan Garretson ( I~pa r iu s were members.

neer daughter of John and married Ann Cox, likely the first gatherings of

p-..:!. The Pettit Family in A ~ ~ ~ , ~ ~ -r:dan[s of John and Rebecca

. . 1". abstracted in Ca[endar q

abstracted in Calendar of

:.:riburions by Clara Wallace

I 5 ' 1. abstracted in Calendar of

. . .. . .. ,F'L -


Hockessin Meeting were held in 1730. After the death of Casparius Garretson, Ann (Cox) Garretson married Nathan Hussey, son of John Hussey, Jr. Thus the Garretson and Hussey families became much intertwined.

The Lewden family should also be mentioned in connection with the early history of New Castle Meeting. On August 6, 1695, John Lewden acquired land at Christiana Creek. In 1729 he bought an island in the Delaware River that came to be known as Lewden's Island. He lived until 1744 and was survived by three sons-Joseph, John, and Josiah-and by a daughter, Hannah Richardson. Two other daughters seem to have preceded him in death.77

In 1705 New Castle Meeting constructed a meetinghouse in the town of New Castle on land donated by John Hussey, Sr. The Meeting was apparently a stable institution until the mid 1730s. At that time some of its more distant members found it convenient to join with the new worship group that was being formed at Hockessin, while others were attracted to the new Meeting in nearby Wilmington. Also, a large contingent of the Hussey and Garretson families was migrating to York County in Pennsylvania, where they helped organize Newberry Meeting as a subordinate Meeting of Warrington Monthly ~ e e t i n ~ . ~ ~

When Wilmington Monthly Meeting was set off from Newark Monthly Meeting in 1750, New Castle Meeting had Preparative Meeting status in the new Monthly Meeting. However, after this time the interest in maintaining a separate Meeting at New Castle seemed to wane rapidly, and New Castle Meeting was laid down in 1758. The meetinghouse and burial ground were preserved for many years, the building not being taken down until 1885.~'

Georges Creek Meeting

Farther down the Delaware River from New Castle, along St. Georges Creek near the present town of St. Georges, a small Quaker settlement developed, which sometimes has been forgotten.

Robert Ashton was considered to be the leader of the Friends at St. Georges Creek during most of the period covered by this study. However, there seem to have been two or three Friends families settled in that area before Robert Ashton arrived in Delaware.

Available evidence indicates that the Robert Ashton family came to America on the ship Shields of Stockton, which "sett sail from Hull on the 8th day of the 3rd month 1686 and landed at New Castle in the territories of

77 For a detailed study of the Lewden family, see Robert P. Elmer, "Lewden and Allied Families," notebook on file in HSD.

78See various issues of the periodical Garretson News, 1941-1959?, for details relating to

t - . j . ~ n d \.alley," Garretson News, Newberry Meeting and for genealogical data pertaining especially to the Garretson and Hussey families.

79 Scharf, History of Delaware, 2 : 872.


pennsilvania in the 5th month following. "'O The Ashtons were likely accom- panicd by the brothers Isaac and Jacob DeCou and their families. Robert Ashton was a native of Yorkshire in England. His sister, Susanna, had been the first wife of Isaac DeCou. The DeCou family had lived in the vicinity of Tudworth in Yorkshire for two or three generations. Their forebears had been refugees from the Huguenot persecution in ~ r a n c e . ' ~

In partnership with Isaac DeCou, Jacob DeCou, and Richard Darkin, Kobert Ashton purchased a tract of land known as "Chelsey" on the south side of St. Georges Creek. Isaac DeCou died the winter following their arrival, and his widow and children relocated in the vicinity of Burlington, New .Jersey. Less than two years later Jacob DeCou also died. Jacob's widow, Hannah, married Edward Blake of New Castle early in 1689, and her two surviving children, Hannah and Abraham, accompanied their mother to live in New Castle. In this way, the Ashtons soon came into possession of most of the Chelsey land tract.

Robert Ashton kept in contact with Friends of Newark Monthly Meeting to the north, but his family also maintained ties with the Salem Meeting across the Delaware River. Two of the Ashton daughters, Susannah and Sarah, married men from the Salem ~et t lement . '~ It has already been mentioned that a third daughter, Ann, married John Richardson, Jr., of the Ncw Castle Meeting on 7-7-1704. Robert Ashton's sons, John and Joseph, were active in Friends affair^.'^

Of those families already settled along St. Georges Creek before the arrival of the Ashtons and DeCous, it appears that the family of Thomas and Ann Laws may have already been Friends. T h e thrce daughters-Ann (Laws) (Humphreys) Ashton, Mary (Laws) (Howie) McCoole, and Jane (Laws) (Hide) (Ireland) Thomas-all were members of Friends in their later ycars. The will of Thomas Laws is dated February 24, 1 6 8 7 . ~ A son, John Laws, died in 17 17, unmarried.'"

Ellis Humphreys, who married Ann Laws, had acquired land on St. Georges Creek as early as 1675.'" He had sons: Kichard, Ellis, and Leonard. Following his death, his widow married John Ashton.

"Extract from the Birth and Death Records of Salem Monthly Meeting of Friends, Salem, New Jersey, quoted in The Genealogy o f the DeCot~ Famtly, comp. by S. Ella DeCou and ,John Allen DeCou (n.p., 1910), 10.

Genealogy of the DeCot~ Family, 3-77. " Minutes and Marriage Records of Salem Monthly Meeting of Friends, June 30, 1692,

Feb. 24, 1693, abstracted in William Wade IIinshaw, Enryclopedia of Arn~rican Quaker Genealogy (Ann Arbor, Mich, 1938), 11: 51.

"See "Ashton." 2 vols., comp. by Thomay Butler, Collection of GSP. %Will of Thomas Lawes, New Castle County Wills, Misc. I. 282, abstracted in Calendar

o j Delaware Wil ls , 8. 85 Will of Joseph Laws, New Castle County Wills, C. 88: abstracted in Calendar of Delaware

Wil ls , 20. ""Ellis Hurnphery Land," Walter Wharton's Land Survey Regisler, 1675- 1679 . . . Ed. by

Albert Cook Myers (Wilrnington, 1955), 50-52.

Ht.:,, .it: ,:. .::. : ' :-:-

\I.*., : I "- - i-,.- .:-.

. . i ~ f b . - .

rL j ('rcei, x-... I .:-'

1: I. Ilkel\ : : . .A. !i.:- .

I r..)!::aj .C;!lc;;.:l< ..-r-

-. :i. Ralph Pr;::.c- : :- *

--.:ri\ a . I Tc ~h }'hilip Er~e!.:nc: r..: :

.,:(e h a \ i n o i.;;?.: r.-

: ..iritativri in xr... t'.:.. \ f , l l t l l l , \lr?!.:.; F.. : ,...id t \ \o daugii:t-r. K-

. ,n:e to Del;i\\ .tr.. f: r

Kr t~ecca rnarrlrc: I --r

.:...trr~ed Joseph KT.;..:: \l.hile Ph111p A:.. :

i':;~ladelphia url:;. k: .- -:..ide their hon:c- ir: - :. , : \ ic affair,. bvi:.: .. .::id 1 ;(HI. He a l , 9 * % t

...CII c o n s t r ~ c ~ ~ d .I: -.

.::;d or hers \,ere \\ .:rr.%

.-. u.;ed as a b~r \ : : . . i

t ' r rVk I \ leet~rie \\a- - :.;rrrs[ t o the r lv \ \ \IP

Thoriias Engl,i1-8~: 0%

: robabl\ eitilc-r .: .. :. -::.irried Harin,~!: I H .\ iio later- nlarr:c<: f :

Pn~ l~ id r l p t~ i ' t ( iu r ; : . .~ . t

..J. ..- 111 i"\\cr l)~..:.~, .::!

Froni an car:.. i:.:".

\ ~ I p ~ ~ q ~ ~ i r l i l l l l r l h t i .: 7:

.::.,d \lar:arc! \-:.:.-:

( . ~ & , r l ! \ . , S?\% . J r ? . , . .

( ' < , r t > i ~ f,~riliI\ , ,< ( I,: . ,

1)ELXLVARE HISTORY

I :.t- -\htons were likely accom- 8.1 and their families. Robert kil\ ,ister, Susanna, had been

::I' had lived in the vicinity of ~crations. Their forebears had

I:! France. 81

Ik-(:ou. and Richard Darkin, \* '1 "Chelsey" on the south ;\ inter following their arrival, ~lcinitv of Burlington, New

(.!ll also died. Jacob's widow, Ir- early in 1689, and her two ~r:!panied their mother to live ":" into possession of most of

I 8 ' se\\.ark Monthly Meeting :in with the Salem Meeting

daughters, Susannah and :?-f11.-' It has already been john Richardson, Jr., of the

t t r 1 ' i sons, John and Joseph,

ric- C.'reek before the arrival : . i n~ i l~ of Thomas and Ann '-*. daughters-Ann (Laws)

b f ~ C'oole, and Jane (Laws) k ricrlds in their later years. . ' $ 7 A son, John Laws,

;:.id acquired land on St. IL hard. Ellis, and Leonard. : , r i .

\ I , : ;I ill\ Meeting of Friends, : I :p h!. S. Ella DeCou and

- . : z ( l f Friends, June 30, 1692, - . . . . ' -4~iertran Quaker G ~ n e a i o ~

. . . r (;.sP. : -.;-'. abstracted in Calendar

" -.:, ' ~ d I ~ I Calendar of Delaware


Benjamin and Susanna Gumley were other early Delaware Quakers. On May 14, 1687, Benjamin Gumley and Thomas Snelling were named as guardians for the children of Hannah The Gumleys lived at Black- bird Creek in New Castle

It is likely that Hannah Prime, for whose children Benjamin Gumley and Thomas Snelling were named guardians, was considered to be a Friend. Her son, Ralph Prime, is mentioned in Duck Creek Monthly Meeting minutes as early as 1708.

Philip England had come to Philadelphia from England in 1683. His first wife having died, he married a widow, Elizabeth Hatton at Elizabeth's plantation in New Castle County on 10- 1- 1688, under the care of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Elizabeth's first husband was William Hatton, and they had two daughters, Rebecca and Martha. Soon after the Hatton family had come to Delaware from Lancashire in 1684, it appears that the daughter Rebecca married Joseph Harris. Following his death in 1688, Rebecca married Joseph ~ n ~ l a n d . "

While Philip and Elizabeth England kept their official residence in Philadelphia until Elizabeth's death in 1708, Joseph and Rebecca England made their home in southern New Castle County. Joseph took an active part in civic affairs, being elected to the Provincial Assembly in 1692, 1695, 1698, and 1700. He also was a concerned Friend. By 1703 a meetinghouse had been constructed at St. Georges Creek, and Joseph England, William Hor. and others were warranted ten acres of land enclosing the meetinghcuse tc be used as a burying ground for the people called ~ u a k e r s . ~ When ~ ' l ~ c k Creek Meeting was established in 1704, Joseph England transferred his interest to the new Meeting, which met at a location closer to his home.

Thomas England, while he is not mentioned in Philip England's will, was probably either a son or close relative of Philip England. Thomas England married Hannah DeCou, daughter of Jacob DeCou and Hannah DeCou, who later married Edward Blake. Thomas and Hannah England lived in Philadelphia during their later years, but they had extensive property holdings in lower Delaware.

From an early date, some members of the Georges Creek Meeting lived in Appoquinimink Hundred. Among those was the large family of Alexander and Margaret Adams. They had moved into the area from Monmouth County, New Jersey, about 1703. Daniel Corbit, the ancestor of the noted Corbit family of Odessa, may have come to Delaware as early as 1705.

'' Will of Hannah Prime, New Castle County Will probated May 14, 1687, abstracted in Calendar oJDelaloarr Wills , 9.

S S O . . rzgtnal [,and Titles in Delawarr Cbmrnonly Knou'n as The Duke of >brk R ~ c o r d . . . 1649-1679 1 (Wilming-ton, 19031, 33.

" Will of William Hatton, New Castle County Wills, Misc. I. 174, abstracted in Calendar ufDelaware Wills, 8. Abstracter's reading of names listed in will may not be accurate.

Scharf, Htsfor): oJ Delaroare, 2 : 1006.


As late as 8-2-1703, Georges Creek Meeting was considering affiliation with Newark Monthly Meeting to the north." However, after the organization of Duck Creek Monthly Meeting in 1705, Georges Creek Friends decided to affiliate with the new group. They submitted their decision to Duck Creek Monthly Meeting on 4- 17- 1706.'~

Georges Creek Meeting continued for many years as a viable Preparative Meeting of Duck Creek Monthly Meeting. However, by 1765 the number of Friends in the St. Georges Creek area had become much reduced. In 178 1 a new meetinghouse was authorized to be built in Odessa. The Meeting was transferred there and became known as Appoquinimink Meeting. The membership of this Meeting was split by the Orthodox-Hicksite separation among Friends in 1827. The Orthodox Friends at Odessa became members of the Orthodox Meeting in Wilmington. The Hicksite Friends, who kept control of the meetinghouse, faded away with the death of John Alston in 1874. The quaint little meetinghouse was reopened in 1939, and meetings have been held there on a limited basis since that time under the care of Wilmington Monthly

The Early Friends in Lower Delaware

Prior to 6-7-1704, when Chester Quarterly Meeting authorized the estab- lishment of a meeting for worship at Duck Creek near present-day Smyrna, there were no worship groups south of New Castle that had been formally recognized by the larger community of Friends. However, there had been scattered families of Friends living in lower Delaware for about as long as there had been Friends living in northern New Castle County, and it is likely that a number of informal worship groups had developed in the region. This certainly had been the case at St. Georges Creek.

There were traveling Friends ministers who passed through lower Delaware from time to time and who appointed meetings in the homes of those sympathetic to Friends. The journals of at least two of these traveling Friends have been preserved, those of Thomas Story and Thomas C h a ~ k l e ~ . ' ~ These writings give evidence that there was much religious ferment among Friends in the region in the period immediately preceding and following 1700. New people were brought into the Quaker fellowship and worship groups were strengthened and increased in number.

There had been a Quaker presence in Lewes from as early as 1678. William Clark [or Clarke] settled there at about that time. He was one of six businessmen living in the vicinity of Dublin, Ireland, who had joined together

Newark Monthly Meeting Records [Men's Minutes], 1686-1739, p. 20, FHL. 92 Duck Creek Monthly Meeting Mrn's Minutes, 1705-1800, Rev. copy, p. 2, FHL. 93 See John Sharpless Walker. A Story of the Odessa Quakers (n.p., 1967), a pamphlet

narrating the history of Appoquinimink Friends Meeting. Thomas Story, Journal, reprinted in Friends Library, 10: 130-32; Thomas Chalkley, A

Collectton of the Works of Thomas Chalkley (Philadelphia, 1790), 47-49 and other passages.

In I r i 7 7 to purihaw .: : : B\. l l i~~e \\.ilIia~:: (::.::*. .:--

hi.; \\-a!. acre\. r hr Ik..: .. .:. On 1 I - 13-ltj79 \ \ . I . ; :L: : .

to Honor Hul~ne. .i: k - 4

the care of Salen: \ I ::: . \\.illiam Clark \ \A- F-:-

through the veab h e :a,:

Penn became proprir: r

responsibilities undr: !r.c

thr King's justice. A::,:

.-issembly as pro\-incia. .. times from 1683 unr : .

president of the counc~; ir.

that he decided to bt1116 a

House, one of the era:;: i7O4/S at Neu C:a.tlc-. .! I>ela\s.are Assem bl! I n : '

\t7hile William C:larh ;. Le\s-es during his 1iietin.c responsible for the cc1r::r lfargaret Fisher and .$

Pennsylvania colon\ i n

\-icinit!. of Le\s-es. belle\ :n

too far upstream on [ k c I he spent much of hi. :

eovernmental mat ten if&j/86.''

Thomas Fisher \%.L. I,:,. dird, but he soon tt rc l i , . r;. \laude. daughter oi J , 1-51 and three sons. Thcjrr:~. F

ti97 and in 1 ;CH!

On 6-16-1712 -Ph~'rr..a

(:reek Monthly \lw.!::.i

" I t is difictl:! ., . .: - I

.:. Prrin~,itanla .\lap,l-:c, . !: - \\ 111 of \V~llian~ C:l.irh : * . - - I

;L . . ~ , , ~ / I P J I I J '. to[lh( (,(v;. i : ,, . yi For a drcir;;i.. . '

? ~ q . ~ l t a n i a in thr ( 1 . :,- .- -,

F'h~ladelphia. 18-2 . .. . : !!:.:,.,rtlo/ S.irtr1 .., P.7- ; . .;- . .

9: Fur an r\.c:::..- 1 . ? J 7 , ( < ; ! , , < , # , ( l h< F: tz. ! :- , !'-.

I>EI,.\LVARE HISTORY

\%a> considering affiliation [ lo\% e\ er, after the organiza-

~t- l~rgc5 Creek Friends decided 1 vhr~r decision to Duck Creek

,.cars as a viable Preparative -. r \ er. by 1765 the number of ,r::e much reduced. In 1781 a ; r i Odessa. The Meeting was ~ in~rn jnk Meeting. The mem- ,\-Hicksite separation among m a became members of the - I.riends, who kept control of I John .4lston in 1874. The i L t . and meetings have been lder the care of Wilmington

Delaware

wt in? authorized the estab- .b near present-day Smyrna, --r lr that had been formally

tlo\\-ever, there had been I ~ \ % a r e for about as long as .~ \ r l r County, and it is likely P X rloped in the region. This

u-d through lower Delaware 12. in the homes of those

o f t hese traveling Friends Ihornas Chalkley.94 These

o i . ferment among Friends E .ud following 1700. New ~ n d worship groups were

rr. A\ rarlv as 1678. William r:le He was one of six

I: \ % ho had joined together

. .-, . - < ! I . p 20, FHL. '. ' Kc\ copy. p. 2 , FHL.

.--I ,. :I p . 1967), a pamphlet

1; Thomas Chalkley, A - . ' - . i ( 1 1 hrr passages.


in 1677 to purchase a proprietary share in West Jersey lands from Edward Bylling. William Clark arrived in New Jersey late in 1677, but he soon made his way across the Delaware River to what is now Sussex County, ~elawa~-e.95 O n 11- 15-1679 William Clark of the Whorekill on Delaware Bay was married to Honor Hulings at Robert Zane's house in New Salem, New Jersey, under the care of Salem Monthly Meeting. It was likely a second marriage for both.

William Clark was serving as justice of the peace in Lewes in 1680, and through the years he had many other official duties there. When William Penn became proprietor of Pennsylvania, William Clark was given many responsibilities under the new government. In 1683 he was serving as one of the King's justices, and in 1690 he was appointed by the Pennsylvania Assembly as provincial judge representing the Lower Counties. At various times from 1683 until 1703 he served on the Provincial Council, being president of the council in 1686. He spent so much of his time in Philadelphia that he decided to build a house there. This came to be known as the Clarke House, one of the grandest mansions in the city. William Clark died in 1704/5 at New Castle, shortly after having served as Speaker of the first Delaware Assembly. In 1708 his widow married Thomas ~edwel l . '~

While William Clark was considered to be the most prominent Quaker in Lewes during his lifetime, it appears that the Fisher family was primarily responsible for the continuing presence of Quakerism in Lewes. John and Margaret Fisher and their sons Thomas and John had arrived in the Pennsylvania colony in 1682. John Fisher, Sr., acquired property in the vicinity of Lewes, believing that the new city of Philadelphia was being built too far upstream on the Delaware River to become a viable port. However, he spent much of his time in Philadelphia, where he was involved in governmental matters. His career in the new land was brief, since he died in 1685/86.97

Thomas Fisher was probably scarcely seventeen years old when his father died, but he soon took charge of the family affairs. In 1692 he married Mary Maude, daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Maude. They had four daughters and three sons. Thomas Fisher was a member of the Provincial Assembly in 1697 and in 1700.

On 6- 16- 17 12 Thomas Fisher and Cornelius Wiltbank attended Duck Creek Monthly Meeting and requested that a Meeting be settled in the

95 It is difficult to locate an exhaustive biography of William Clark. See various references in Pennsylvanza Magazine of Hzstory and Bzography including. 61 (1937): 328 and 75 (1951): 133: also Will of William Clark of Sussex. . . , "Abstracts of Wills and Administrations of Sussex County," Puhhcations of the Genealogical Soczely of Pennsylvania, 11 (193?): 217.

96 For a description of Clarke Hall, see John F. Watson, Annals of Philadelphra and Pennryluania in the Olden Tzme, 1 : 374-75; Correspondence hetween William Penn and James Logan (Philadelphia, 1872), vol. 2, p. 35. These latter volumes were drawn from Memorials of the Hzstorrcal Sociely of Pennsyluanza, vols. 9 and 10.

97 For an extensive account of John Fisher and his descendants, see Ann Wharton Smith, Genealogy of the Fisher Family (Philadelphia, 1896), particularly 9-36.


Lewes area, to meet at Lewes one week and at the home of Cornelius Wiltbank the other. However, Thomas Fisher probably became ill shortly after this and died in 1713/14. A recognized Friends Meeting was not established in the area until 1720 when Cold Spring [or Cool Spring] Meeting was organized. It was located about eight miles outside of Lewes. The Meeting was discontinued in 1817.

Jane Maude, sister of Thomas Fisher's wife, evidently lived in the Lewes area most of her later life.98 She was four times married but probably had no surviving children. Her fourth husband was Cornelius Wiltbank, who has just been mentioned. The Wiltbank family were of Swedish background and had lived in the Lewes area for many years. Cornelius Wiltbank represented Sussex County in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in 1698.

Elizabeth Maude, the widowed mother of Mary (Maude) Fisher and Jane (Maude) Wiltbank, had in 1676 married Dr. Thomas Wynn, also a Quaker. He was a member of the first Provincial Assembly in 1683 as a representative from Philadelphia and became its first Speaker. In 1685 Thomas and Elizabeth Wynne became residents of ~ewes."

The Rowland and Miers families were associated with the Lewes Quaker community from early times. Samuel Rowland had come to Sussex County from England in 1682.lW His son, Thomas Rowland, married Sarah Miers, daughter of John and Mary (Haworth) Miers. James Miers, son of John and Mary, married Margery Fisher, sister of Thomas Fisher. As the years went by, the Fisher, Rowland, and Miers families became even more interrelated.

Philip and Sarah (Gush) Russell were Quakers who had come to the Pennsylvania colony from Bristol, England, in 1683. In 1685 Philip Russell was granted a license to keep an inn at Lewes. He was among those who first formed the Assembly of the Lower Counties in 1704. There seems to be little information available concerning the Quaker activities of Philip and Sarah Russell while they lived in Delaware, but it is known that their son Joseph was first appointed representative of Cold Spring Meeting to Duck Creek Monthly Meeting in 1721.1°'

Norton and Rachel Claypoole and their young family also seem to have been part of the small Quaker circle at Lewes. Norton, brother of the more noted James Claypoole of Philadelphia, had arrived in Lewes in 1678. His wife and young son came three years later. Norton Claypoole was a member of the Provincial Assembly in 1686. He died in 1688.1°2

Samuel Preston was an important Quaker leader in southern Delaware during the closing years of the seventeenth century. He was born in 1665, probably at "Preston" on the Paxtuxant on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

McCracken, M'eLome Cla~tnanls, 557. 99 McCracken, Welcome Claimanls, 558-87. 1 W Smith, Genealogy ofthe Fisher Fami!y, 22. lo' George Ely Russell, "Philip Russell of Lewes, Quaker," Amertcan Genealogisl, 56 (1980):

88-91. '02 Rebecca Irwin Groff, Genealogy of Ihe Claypoole Fam+ of Philadelph~a, 15881893 (Phil-

adelphia, 1893), 20-55. See also numerous references in C. H. B. Turner, comp., Some Records of

Sussex Counly, Delaware (Philadelphia, 1909).

EARLY QUAKERS . I \

He had been reared a. .: I. Rachel Lloyd ar t h ? !I- r-

Delaware. Rachel \\ .i. .:

Pennsylvania. Samuel Presron bri .:-

from 1690 to 169.< ! I , . ---:

1693 and 1701. In : v , ' ~ . .. on a religious jourr:r.. . -. Philadelphia b\ 1 - 4 . I~c \\.as also involved I r i ; ..- in 1711/12. He d~ed ::. : '

Joseph Boorh. dt\r::* Creek], was amone 17. -r

Thomas Stor)..'" J(,.cj.n I England. He t \ . a q an rdr:.

Spencer ar Lewes clr; \ Provintial Assembl\ ir: : I

rhe most zealous oi (2. ~nrrumental in e.tabli.r..~ ;\here he was a n1en:b.r Spring ~ ~ e e t i n ~ . ' " '

\\.e have alread\ rr:.:~::

..,ere among [he earll-7 ( 2 [)elat\-are. The earlie! :n: krllvrna. include [he naz.1

.:;r area for some rirr :c ;r

: - r t i . The first clerk t i I : t i : . \\ife. l larrha. .:

., )man member ar I ) . . -: nieces Rebecca F . i . i . a

The Duck C:reeL 1 1 :.! -.r'itiiare beine .t!l: -

- - . I . : \ of Rebekah t rc+..:n

1- r-rl.\nd. lare Kt.:: (

: , - .. : r i c ial :\..sen~bl~. f ,r:-.. t ..iht'r burial r r i r t r i i . .:; -- : \\ liliam Freelar::: .i-. r ..-. .if, ,rerxer~~ior-.ec: \l-:r

.-? . ,,, - -- .

1 )El..-l\\'.4RE HISTORY EARLY QUAKERS AND MEETINGS 145

nk: 'it the home of Cornelius He had been reared as a Quaker in that locality. On July 6, 1688, he married rr probably became ill shortly Rachel Lloyd at the home of Francis Cornwell in the county of Sussex in .c-d Friends Meeting was not Delaware. Rachel was a daughter of Thomas Lloyd, deputy ~roprie tor of I~"rle [or Cool Spring] Meeting Pennsylvania. ::.lle~ outside of Lewes. The Samuel Preston became a justice in Sussex County in 1689 and was sheriff

from 1690 to 1693. He represented the county in the Provincial Assembly in r . t'\-idently lived in the Lewes 1693 and 1701. In 1699 he accompanied the Friends minister Thomas Story 3 r:larried but probably had no on a religious journey. Samuel Preston had moved his official residence to (-nlrnelius Wiltbank, who has Philadelphia by 1703. There he was engaged in the mercantile business and rr of .'i\\.edish background and was also involved in governmental affairs, serving as mayor of Philadelphia [lrnelius Wiltbank represented in 17 11/12. He died in 1 743.1°3 - 1 ~ ~ e m b l y in 1698. Joseph Booth, described as living near "Muskmillion Creek" [Mispillion f'ln '.\iaude) Fisher and Jane Creek], was among those convinced of Quakerism under the ministry of r b ~ ~ m a s Wynn, also a Quaker. Thomas ~ t o r y . ' ~ ~ Joseph Booth had come to Delaware from Scituate in New tjJi 111 1683 as a representative England. He was an early settler in Sussex County and had married Frances '.ikrr. In 1685 Thomas and Spencer at Lewes on November 28, 1690. He served in the Pennsylvania

Provintial Assembly in 1695, 1700, and 1701. Joseph Booth became one of -: .I! ed \\.it h the Lewes Quaker the most zealous of Quaker evangelists in southern Delaware. He was i had come to Sussex County instrumental in establishing the Friends Meeting at Murderkill [Motherkiln] >. 1 .ind. married Sarah Miers, where he was a member. He also encouraged the formation of the Cold J.i!l:eh .\liers, son of John and Spring ~ e e t i n ~ . " ~ :L- Fihher. As the years went We have already made mention of the Hatton and England families who c.i!rlr e\.en more interrelated. were among the earliest Quaker settlers in the vicinity of resent-day Smyrna, .'kt.r\ \\-ho had come to the Delaware. The earliest minutes of Duck Creek Monthly Meeting, centered at :'a,< In 1685 Philip Russell Smyrna, include the names of other Friends who had probably been living in 4~ among those who first the area for some time prior to the organization of the Monthly Meeting in : - ' '-1. There seems to be little 1705. The first clerk of Duck Creek Monthly Meeting was Absalom Cuffe.

.i\ities of Philip and Sarah His wife, Martha, was a daughter of Philip England. There was an elderly L! 1 0 \ \ n that their son Joseph woman member at Duck Creek, Eline Gouldsmith, who named in her will i:lr lleeting to Duck Creek her nieces Rebecca England and Martha cuffe.'OG

The Duck Creek Monthly Meeting minutes for 11-16-1709/10 mention a 1.: iC~rnil). also seem to have certificate being sent to Philadelphia Monthly Meeting concerning "the

orton. brother of the more realty of Rebekah Freeland being the daughter of Mary Hall, wife of William ::. c.d in Lewes in 1678. His Freeland, late of Kent County." William Freeland was a member of the ! . (:la).poole was a member

, , : r 2 Provincial Assembly form Kent County in 1687, 1690, and 1692. Philadelphia

' .in> Quaker burial records, under the category of "Deaths of Persons not Friends," :.l(ic-r in southern Delaware list William Freeland as having been buried in Philadelphia on 1-12-1698.1°7 "" He was born in 1665, The aforementioned Mary Hall, probably his second wife, was likely a Friend k..l-trrn Shore of Maryland.

103 Story, Journal, reprinted in Friends Library, 10: 130; Colonial Families ofPhiladelphia, ed.

John W. Jordan (New York, 191 I), 72-73.

I 104 Storv, Journal, reprinted in Friends Library, 10: 130-31.

lo5 "Testimony from Duck Creek Monthly Meeting in Kent County on Delaware ! .- , . : iori (;rnealogist, 56 ( 1 980): Concerning Joseph Booth," A Collectton ofMemorials . . ., 88-89.

'Ob: Will of Eline Gouldsmith, New Castle County Wills, B. 169, abstracted in Calendar of -"-. ir.phio. 1588-1893 (Phil. Delaware Wills , 14.

. .-:-[-I ~ u r n p . , Some Records of 'O' Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Birth and Death Records, abstracted in Hinshaw,

Encyclopedia ofAmerican Qt~aker Genealogy, 11: 443.


and seems to have been related to the Hatton family. Susannah Freeland, who married Timothy Hanson, Jr., at the Philadelphia Friends meetinghouse on 9-9-1 704, seems to have been a daughter of William Freeland and his first wife, Susanna Richardson who was a daughter of John Richardson of Kent County, a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council in 1683-84.'*

The brothers Caleb and Hasadiah Offley were included among other early members at Duck Creek. Then there was the family of Thomas and Hannah Shaw. Hassadiah Offley's will indicates that Thomas Shaw was his nephew. Other families included those of Ralph and Martha Prime and of John and Jane Wood. The names of William Sterne and Margaret Cohone also appear in early Duck Creek minutes.

The first Duck Creek Meetinghouse was built on the outskirts of Smyrna near the site where the first burial ground is still to be found. By the beginning of the nineteenth century a new meetinghouse had been built within the town of Smyrna. The Duck Creek Meeting was closed about 1850. The meetinghouse in Smyrna was sold in 1865, after having been occupied by soldiers during the Civil War and left in a dilapidated condition. After having been occupied by the Smyrna seminary for a number of years, the building burned in 1876.1°9

In 1707 a Friends Meeting was organized that included Friends living on both sides of the border of Kent and Sussex counties. Eventually this Meeting became known as Murderkill [Mutherkiln] Meeting, with a meetinghouse located near Magnolia, Delaware.

Beginning about 1730 Friends living along Mispillion Creek formed a separate Three Runs Meeting that seems to have functioned at least inter- mittently throughout the remainder of the eighteenth century. In 1 790 a new meetinghouse was constructed at Milford, and a Meeting was kept up there until about 1833.

The earliest Friends in the region of the Murderkill and Mispillion creeks included John and Elinor Robinson, Waitman and Lydia Sipple, Timothy and Susanna Hanson, Nathaniel Hunn, Edward Needham, Ellis Ostem, John Edmonds, Robert and Ann (Edmonds) Porter, Mark Manlove, and Matthew Manlove.

In 1712 Friends living in east-central Kent County formally organized Little Creek Meeting, although there had probably been a worship group there since 1705."~ The burial ground of the Little Creek Meeting is still maintained two miles west of the village of Little Creek, and the shell of the meetinghouse, now used for storage purposes, is still standing across the road from the burial ground.

LOB Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Minutes and Marriage Records, abstracted in Hin- shaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, 11: 557; Comly Family In America (Philadelphia, 1934), 845-49, 867-8 1 , 983.

109 Will of Hasadiah Oflley, New Castle County Wills, C. 54, abstracted in Calendar of Delaware Wills , 20; Frank R. Zebley, The Churches of Delaware, (Wilmington, 1947), 193-94.

110 Chalkley, Works, 49.

EARLY QUAKERS .\XI)

Of the Friends \s hu !n Joshua Clayton, alone L* :.r

1698, a tract of 200 acrF r.

time he married Sarah So (King) Needham and \%id.

The family of John and F area until about 1 7 12 T h r ; of their sons married da~iafi the Cowgill famil:. helped ::: for many generations. e\ r::

In 1805/6, Friends ern-!c of Dover. A Friends schw 1; i 1814 regular meetine fur r* 1

Meeting had been torn alla and after Little Creek \In continued as the onl!. curl.1

The hip-roofed meetinehl * i

center for Quaker acti\.ir \ :I

In barest outline \se ha\ r of the Society of Fr~end. I reveals the fact that the earl of proportion to the~r nur - that this short sketch \ * 111 e gation of the life and a c ~ 1 l r

Three Lower Count~eq ( 1 1 .r

"' McCracken 1% t,. -, - 'I2 McCracken I l r -, -

I)E I..A\VARE HISTORY

o n family. Susannah Freeland, ladelphia Friends meetinghouse f \\ill iarn Freeland and his first rr of John Richardson of Kent niral Council in 1683-84."' ere included among other early family of Thomas and Hannah Thoma5 Shaw was his nephew. b f art ha Prime and of John and I Xlarqaret Cohone also appear

u ~ l t on the outskirts of Smyrna 1s still to be found. By the

reetinghouse had been built , fe t ing was closed about 1850. 1 5 . after having been occupied a dilapidated condition. After n ior a number of years, the

hat included Friends living on nrles. Eventually this Meeting fwr inq. with a meetinghouse

F .\lispillion Creek formed a a \ e functioned at least inter- t en th century. In 1790 a new a Xleeting was kept up there

rderkil l and Mispillion creeks I ~ n d Lydia Sipple, Timothy ard Needham, Ellis Ostem, Porter. .Mark Manlove, and

( :oun t y formally organized 2;lbl\ been a worship group 1.1rtle Creek Meeting is still Ir C:reek. and the shell of the .! 1 1 1 <tanding across the road

r - lir Records. abstracted in Hin- - .-, . . . '- .... in .imerz~.a (Philadelphia,

( - 4 abstracted in Calendar of i\ n:llplon. 1947). 193-94.


Of the Friends who became active members of Little Creek Meeting, Joshua Clayton, along with his brother John, had purchased on June 15, 1698, a tract of 200 acres on Walker's Branch of the Dover River. About this time he married Sarah (Needham) Bedwell, daughter of Ezekiel and Sarah (King) Needham and widow of Henry ~edwell."'

The family of John and Rachael Cowgill did not move to the Little Creek area until about 1712. They were from Bucks County, ~ e n n s ~ l v a n i a . " ~ Two of their sons married daughters of John and Sarah Clayton. Descendants of the Cowgill family helped maintain the Quaker witness in southern Delaware for many generations, even to the present day.

In 1805/6, Friends erected a new building at Camden, a few miles south of Dover. A Friends school flourished there for many years, and beginning in 1814 regular meeting for worship was held there. After Murderkill Monthly Meeting had been torn apart by the Orthodox-Hicksite separation of 1827, and after Little Creek Meeting was laid down in 1865, Camden Meeting continued as the only surviving Meeting of Duck Creek Monthly Meeting. The hip-roofed meetinghouse in the village of Camden still serves as the center for Quaker activity in southern Delaware.

I Conclusion

In barest outline we have endeavored to sketch something of the beginnings of the Society of Friends in early Delaware. Surely even this brief study reveals the fact that the early Delaware Friends exercised an influence far out of proportion to their numbers. If it accomplishes nothing else, it is hoped that this short sketch will establish some basis for a more thorough investi- gation of the life and accomplishments of the people called Quakers in the Three Lower Counties of the province of Pennsylvania.

"' McCracken, M'rlrome Claimants, 135-43. 'I2 McCracken, M.'efcome Claimants, 125-27.

Documents

1'. Quakers in Delaware in the Time of William · PDF fileQuakers in Delaware in the Time of William Penn ... County to the northeast and Chester County to the west. However, the immigration