USA > Connecticut > New London County > Groton > Groton, Conn. 1705-1905 > Part 19
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"About the year 1850, several noted abolitionists came to New London to hold meetings. Rogerenes from Quaker- town gathered with others to hear the speeches. When the time for the meeting arrived, the use of the court-house, which had previously been promised them, was refused. In this dilemma, Mr. Bolles told the speakers they could go to the burying-ground and there speak, standing upon his mother's grave. The meeting took place, but during its continuance the speakers were pelted with rotten eggs.
"Mr. Bolles often entertained at his house speakers in
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the abolition cause. Such speakers were also entertained at Quakertown, where they frequently held meetings when not allowed to speak elsewhere in the region. The Rogerenes of this place also assisted in the escape of fugitive slaves, Quakertown being, between 1830 and 1850, one of the sta- tions of the Underground Railroad. Fugitive slaves were brought here under cover of darkness, concealed in the meeting-house and forwarded by night to the next station. For these daring deeds the Quakertown people were re- peatedly mobbed and suffered losses.
"Rogerenes were also among the first in the cause of temperance, nor did they confine their temperance prin- ciples to the use of tobacco and intoxicating liquors, but advocated temperance in eating as well. Although never observing the fast days appointed by ecclesiastical law, they made use of fasting with prayer, and fasted for their phy- sical as well as spiritual good, judging the highest degree of mental or spiritual power not to be obtained by persons who indulged in 'fullness of bread.' The Rogerenes of Quakertown have been and still are earnest advocates of temperance principles.
"The isolation and exclusiveness of the Quakertown com- munity in the nineteenth century has already been noted as a distinct departure from the liberal and outreaching policy of the early Rogerenes. There was yet another de- parture, in regard to the freedom of speech, which culmin- ated, about the middle of the nineteenth century, in a division of this community into two opposing parties. At this date, Elder Zephania Watrous was advanced in years; but he had been, and still was, a man of great force of character, and was accounted a rigid diciplinarian. Only a man of such type could have held this community to its strictly exclusive policy for so long a period.
"Free inquiry, with expression of individual views, was favored by the Rogerenes from the first, and formed an important feature of their meetings for study and exposi- tion of gospel truths. Largely by this very means were their youth trained to interest in, and knowledge of, the
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Scriptures. Such freedom had been instituted by the founder of the sect, with no restrictions save the boundary line between liberty and license.
"The elder did not favor free speech in the meetings of the society ; he undoubtedly judged that such freedom would tend to disorder and division. The sequel, however, proved that a society which could be held firmly together, for more than a hundred years, under a remarkably liberal policy in this regard, could be seriously divided under the policy of repression.
"The feeling upon this point became so intense that public meetings were held in Quakertown for full discus- sion of the subject pro and con. These meetings excited wide interest, and were attended by many persons from adjoining towns. The party for free speech won the vic- tory; but the division tended to weaken the little church, the decline of which is said to date from that period.
"For nearly two hundred years, New Testament doctrines as expounded by John Rogers (in his writings) have been taught in Quakertown, and the Bible studied and restudied anew, with no evasion or explaining away of its apparent meanings. Morality has been taught not as a separate code, but as a principal part of the religion of Jesus Christ. Great prominence has been given to non-resistance and all forms of application of the law of love.
"Women were from the first encouraged to speak in Rogerene meetings, the meetings referred to being those for exhortation, prayer and praise. John Bolles wrote a treatise in favor of allowing women to speak in such meet- ings. Mr. Bownas also quotes John Rogers as saying that women were admitted to speak in Rogerene meetings, 'some of them being qualified by the gift of the Spirit.'
"Among the principles rigidly insisted upon in Quaker- town are that persons shall not be esteemed on account of wealth, learning or position, but only for moral and re- ligious characteristics; strict following of the Golden Rule by governments as well as by individuals, hence no going to war, or retaliatory punishments (correction should be
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kindly and beneficent) ; no profane language, or the taking of an oath under any circumstances; no voting for any man having principles contrary to the teachings of the New Testament ; no set prayers in meetings, but dependence on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; no divorce except for fornication ; to suffer rather than to cause suffering. There has always been great disapprobation of 'hireling minis- ters.' None of the Rogerene elders ever received payment for preaching or for pastoral work.
"A gentleman who has been prominent in the Quaker- town Society being questioned, some years since, in regard to the lack of sympathy between the Rogerenes and other denominations, gave the following reasons for a state of feeling on both sides which is not wholly absent even at the present day :
" "The other churches considered cessation of work on Sunday to be a part of the Christian religion, and to be forced upon all such. Many of their preachers were led into the ministry as a learned and lucrative profession, with no spiritual call to preach, being educated by men for that purpose. In many instances these preachers were worldly- minded to a great extent. The churches believed in war and in training men to kill their fellowmen. Ministers and church members used liquor freely. Church members held slaves, and ministers upheld the practice. For a long time the Rogerenes were compelled to assist in the support of the Congregational Church, to which of all churches they were most opposed, on account of its assumption of author- ity over others in the matter of religion. The Rogerenes were fined for not attending the regular meetings, and cruelly persecuted for not keeping sacred the "idol Sabbath" so strictly observed by other denominations. Although per- secution has ceased, prejudice still remains on both sides, partly inherited, as it were, and partly the result of con- tinued differences of opinion.'
"At the present day, meetings in Quakertown are similar to Baptist or Methodist conference meetings. The Lord's Supper is observed once a quarter. In the old times the
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Rogerenes held a feast once a year, in imitation of the last passover with the disciples, at which time a lamb was killed and eaten with unleavened bread. The Sunday service con- sisted of preaching and exposition of Scripture, while prayers, singing of hymns, relation of experience, etc., were reserved for the evening meetings of the society. The latter were meetings for the professing Christians, while the Sun- day meetings were public meetings, where all were wel- comed. It will be observed that this was according to the apostolic practice, and not materially different from the practice of other denominations at the present day.
"If there was so decided an aversion to physicians on the part of the early Rogerenes as has been represented, it has not come down to the present time among the people of Quakertown, as have most of the old time sentiments and customs; yet evidence is not lacking to prove that their predecessors made use of faith and prayer in the healing of disease, and that there have been cases of such healing in this society. One of the latter, within the memory of per- sons yet living, was recounted to us by the gentleman to whom we have referred, upon our inquiring of him if he had ever heard of any cures of this kind in Quakertown. Pointing to a portrait on the wall, he said, "That man was cured in a remarkable manner.' He then stated the cir- cumstances as follows :
"He had been sick with dysentery, and was so low that his death was momentarily expected; his wife had even taken out the clothes she wished placed upon him after death. While he lay in this seeming last stage of the disease, he suddenly became able to speak, and said, in a natural tone, to his wife: 'Bring me my clothes.' She told him he was very ill and must not try to exert himself; but he continued so urgent that, to pacify him, she brought the clothes he usually wore. He at once arose, dressed himself and was apparently well, and so continued. He said that, while he lay there in that weak condition, he suddenly felt an invisible hand placed upon his head and heard a voice saying 'Arise, my son, you are healed,' upon which he im-
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mediately felt a complete change, from extreme illness and weakness to health and strength; hence his request to his wife.
"There are numerous traditions regarding the offering of prayers for recovery by the bedside of the sick, on the part of the early elders of this community, who were sometimes desired to render this service outside of their own society, and readily complied.
"That the founders of this community, both men and women, were persons of no ordinary mental and physical vigor is attested by the excellent mental and physical con- dition of their descendants, after generations of inter- marriage within their own borders. At the present day, it would puzzle an expert to calculate their complicated rela- tionships. In a visit to this locality, some years since, we met two of the handsomest, brightest and sweetest old ladies we ever beheld, each of whom had passed her eightieth year, and each of whom bore the name of Esther (as did the wife of John Waterhouse). Both were descend- ants of John Rogers, and of the first settlers of Quaker- town several times over. One of them told us that her grandmother took a cap-border to meeting to hem in the time of the great countermove, at which time and for which cause she was whipped at the New London whipping-post ; also that for chopping a few sticks of wood in his back-yard, on Sunday, a Quakertown man was 'dragged to New Lon- don prison.' This is but a hint of the traditions that linger in this community regarding the days of persecution. The other lady, a daughter of Elder Zephania Watrous, lived in the old meeting-house, where she was born. In the room with this gentle and comely old lady were five generations of the Watrous family, herself the eldest, and a child of four or five years the youngest, all fair representatives of Quakertown people; healthy, intelligent and good-looking.
"To a stranger in these parts, it is a wonder how the inhabitants have maintained themselves in such an appar- ently sterile and rocky region. In fact, these people did not depend upon agriculture for a livelihood. Although
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thus isolated, they were from the first thrifty, ingenious and enterprising. The property of the first settlers having been divided and subdivided among large families, it was not long before their descendants must either desert their own community or invent methods of bringing into Quakertown adequate profits from without. Consequently, we find them, early in the nineteenth century, selling, in neighboring towns, cloths, threads, yarn and other commodities of their own manufacture. A large proportion of the men learned trades and worked away from home during the week. Many of them were stone-masons, a trade easily learned in this rocky region, and one in which they became experts. In later times, we find some of them extensively engaged in raising small fruits, especially strawberries.
"Although, with the decline of persecution, no new leader arose to rank with those of the past, bright minds have not been lacking in later days in this fast thinning community, which, like other remote country places, has suffered by the emigration of its youth to more promising fields of action.
"Timothy Watrous, 2nd, invented the first machine for cutting cold iron into nails. He also made an entire clock himself.
"Samuel Chapman, a descendant of John Rogers and John Waterhouse, is said to have made and sailed the first steamship on the Mississippi. He founded large iron- works in New Orleans. His son Nathan was one of the founders of the Standard Iron Works of Mystic.
"Jonathan Whipple, a descendant of John Rogers, having a deaf and dumb son, conceived the idea of teaching him to understand by the motion of the lips, by which method he soon spoke sonorously and distinctly, and became a man of integrity and cultivation. Zerah C. Whipple, a grandson of Jonathan, becoming interested in this discovery, resolved to devote his life to its perfection. He invented the Whipple Natural Alphabet, and with the aid of his grandfather, Jon- athan, founded The Home School for the deaf and dumb, at Mystic.
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"Julia Crouch, author of "Three Successful Girls," (a descendant of John Rogers and John Bolles), was a Roger- ene of Quakertown.
"Ida Whipple Benham, a well-known poet, and for many years an efficient member of the Peace Society, was of Quakertown origin.
"In recent years the Rogerenes of Quakertown have given much attention to the cause of peace and arbitration. The Universal Peace Union having been established by the Quakers, soon after the rebellion, the people of Quakertown invited members of that society to join them in holding a peace convention near Mystic, the most suitable available point in the vicinity of Quakertown. Accordingly, in August 1868, the first of an unbroken series of yearly peace meetings was held in an attractive grove on a hill by the Mystic River. Including the invited guests, there were present forty-three persons. The second meeting, in August 1869, showed such an increase of interest and attend- ance that the Connecticut Peace Society was organized, as a branch of the Universal Peace Union, and Jonathan Whip- ple of Quakertown was elected president. This venerable man (to whom we have before referred), besides publishing and circulating The Bond of Peace (a paper advocating peace principles), had long been active as a speaker and correspondent in the cause so dear to his heart.
"In 1871, James E. Whipple, of Quakertown, a young man of high moral character, having refused from conscientious scruples to pay the military tax imposed upon him, was arrested by the town authorities of Ledyard and confined in the Norwich jail, where he remained several weeks.
"About the same time, Zerah C. Whipple, being called upon to pay a military tax, refused to thus assist in up- holding a system which he believed to be anti-Christian and a relic of barbarous ages. He was threatened with imprisonment ; but some kindly disposed person, interfering without his knowledge, paid the tax.
"In 1872, a petition signed by members of the Peace Society was presented to the legislature of Connecticut
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praying that body to make such changes in the laws of the State as should be necessary to secure the petitioners in the exercise of their conscientious convictions in this regard. The petition was not granted; but the subject excited no little interest and sympathy among some of the legislators.
"In the summer of 1874, Zerah C. Whipple, still refusing to do what his conscience forbade, was taken from his home by the tax collector of Ledyard and placed in the New Lon- don jail. His arrest produced a profound impression, he being widely known as the principal of the school for teach- ing the dumb to speak, and also as a very honest, high- souled man.
"During his six weeks' imprisonment the young man ap- pealed to the prisoners to reform their modes of life, re- proved them for vulgarity and profanity, furnished them books to read, and began teaching English to a Portuguese confined there. The jailer himself said to the commissioner that although he regretted Mr. Whipple's confinement in jail on his own account, he should be sorry to have him leave, as the men had been more quiet and easy to manage since he had been with them. On the evening of the sixth day, an entire stranger called at the jail and desired to know the amount of the tax and costs, which he paid, saying he knew the worth of Mr. Whipple, that his family for gen- erations back had never paid the military tax, and he wished to save the State the disgrace of imprisoning a per- son guilty of no crime. This man was not a member of the Peace Society. Mr. Whipple afterwards learned that his arrest was illegal, the laws of the State providing that where property is tendered, or can be found, the person shall be unmolested. The authorities of Groton did not compel the payment of this tax by persons conscientiously opposed to it.
"In 1872, The Bond of Peace was removed to Quaker- town and its name changed to The Voice of Peace. Zerah C. Whipple undertook its publication and continued it until 1874, when it was transferred to a committee of the Uni- versal Peace Union. It is now published in Philadelphia as
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the official organ of that society, under the name of The Peacemaker.
"The call of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe for a woman's peace society was heartily responded to by the Connecticut Peace Society, and the 2nd of June was for years celebrated, by appropriate exercises, as Mother's Day.
"The annual grove meeting increased rapidly in attend- ance and interest. The number present at the tenth meet- ing was estimated at 2,500. In 1875 it was decided to pro- long the time of the convention to a second day's session, and the two days' session was attended with unabated interest.
"Jonathan Whipple, first president of the Connecticut Peace Society, died in March 1875. Shortly before the end he was heard to say: 'Blessed are the peacemakers; but there has been no blessing promised to warriors.'
"The grove meeting is now held three days annually. It is the largest gathering of the kind in the world. The large tent used at first was replaced some years since by a com- modious wooden structure, which is the property of the Universal Peace Union.
"From the first, some of the most noted speakers on peace and kindred topics have occupied the platform, among them Belva Lockwood, Mary A. Livermore, Julia Ward Howe, Aaron M. Powell, Rowland B. Howard, Robert Treat Paine, Delia S. Parnell, George T. Angell, H. L. Hastings, William Lloyd Garrison, etc. The Hutchinson family used fre- quently to sing at these meetings. The only one now re- maining of that gifted choir, a gentleman as venerably beautiful as any bard of ancient times, has in recent sum- mers favored the audience in the grove with several sweet songs appropriate to the occasion.
"It is said that the winding road leading about Quaker- town is in the shape of a horseshoe. May this be an omen of honors yet to come to this little battlefield, where an isolated, despised, yet all-devoted band have striven for nearly two centuries to be true to the pure and simple pre- cepts of the New Testament as taught them by sufferers for
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obedience to those truths, beside many a fireside where tales of woe for past endeavors, mingled with prayers for future victories, have nerved young hearts to the old-time en- durance, for His name's sake.
"Many are the noble men and women who, from first to last, have been content to live and die in this obscure local- ity, unhonored by the world and sharing not its luxuries or pleasures, consoled by the promises of the New Testa- ment : promises which are not to the rich and honored (as such) but chiefly to those who for obedience to the teach- ings of this Word are outcast and despised, poor and un- learned, and even, if need be, persecuted and slain.
"Not because that good man, Jonathan Whipple, was more conscientious or talented than many another of the Rogerenes of this locality, but because he was a good speci- men of the kind of men that have from time to time been reared in this society, there is given in the following note* an abstract from a published account of his life, a copy of which was forwarded to us by his daughter, Mrs. Whaley, in 1893. In the letter containing this enclosure she said : 'I hope that justice will at length be done our so long mis- understood and misrepresented people.'
* Jonathan Whipple was born in 1794. He never attended school, but it was not from lack of inclination, for he most ardently de- sired . an education, The reader from which his mother taught him his letters he learned so thoroughly that he could repeat it verbatim. In arithmetic he had not instruction further than the fundamental rules, but while he was yet a boy he learned enough of numbers to answer for ordinary occasions. His father set him his first copies in writing but he improved so rapidly that he soon needed better instruction and got neighboring school-tenchers to write copies for him. Ere many years had elapsed, he had no need of copies, since he ranked in penmanship among the first.
Although Mr. Whipple was a hard working mason, he so much felt the need of more education than he possessed, that, after he had married and settled down in life, he set about informing him- self more thoroughly than his previous opportunities had allowed. He so far qualified himself, that he was employed several terms to teach a school of over seventy pupils. In point of discipline and promptness of recitation his school ranked first in town.
He contributed many articles to various papers, touching on the great topics before the public. The temperance cause received his hearty support, for he was a total abstinence man, at a time when even the most respectable men regularly took their "grog."
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"Presentation of facts belongs to the historian; but the effect and uses of the information thus afforded is for the reader. We have collected and set in order such attested facts as we have been able to discover relative to the history of the Rogerenes, of which sect the people of Quakertown are the only distinct representatives of the present day.
"If at the end of this history it should be asked: 'How can the Rogerene sect be described in briefest terms?' we reply :
"The doctrines and customs of this sect were patterned as closely as possible after the early church of the Gentiles, instituted under apostolic effort and direction ; hence it in- cluded the evangelical portion and excluded the unevangeli- cal portions of the doctrines and customs of every sect known to Christendom. Should a new sect be brought into existence on strictly evangelical lines, it would, to all intents and purposes, be the same as the Rogerene Society. It is
He was an abolitionist of the most radical type long before the names of Garrison and Phillips were known in the land.
As an advocate for universal peace, he was found among the pioneers in the cause. In short, he was a philanthropist in the broadest and truest sense of the word; he labored all his life for the good of his fellow-creatures. He was kind and generous; was never engaged in a law-suit in his life, and spent more time with the sick than any other non-professional man of our acquaintance. In the summer of 1820 the typhoid fever raged in his neighbor- hood; he spent his whole time, without a thought of reward, among the sufferers.
His blameless and useful life made him respected and beloved wherever he was known.
'The fame, however, that he acquired was chiefly due to his remarkable success in teaching the deaf to talk.
When the youngest of his five children was old enough to walk, he noticed that, although the boy seemed active and intelligent, he made no effort to speak. The discovery that his little Enoch was actually deaf was a trial that seemed greater than he could endure. To think that this (his youngest) son must be forever shut out of the world of sound and. doomed to endless silence was unendurable. After many fruitless trials to make the boy hear and repeat what he heard, the father gave it up as useless.
Mr. Whipple had never heard of the schools in Europe where the deaf are taught articulation and lip-reading; but, at length, noticing that Enoch would sometimes attempt to repeat a word, if he was looking directly at the speaker's mouth, he thought oc- curred to the father that perhaps every word had a shape, and that by learning the shape of each letter, as moulded by. the mouth, the boy might be taught to imitate it. The task was begun.
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evident, however, that a marked feature of the Rogerene sect would be lacking to such a church in modern times, viz., the constant need of withstanding ecclesiastical laws whose unimpeded sway would have prevented the existence of any truly evangelical church. It is easy to perceive that the growth of such a spirit of close adherence to New Testa- ment teachings as animated the Rogerenes would tend to the obliteration of sects.
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