USA > Maryland > The early Friends (or Quakers) in Maryland : read at the meeting of the Maryland Historyical Society, 6th March, 1862 > Part 1
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Gc 975.2 М365р v. 3,no. 3 1753413
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02243 6387
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/earlyfriendsorqu33norr
840
THE
EARLY FRIENDS
(OR QUAKERS)
IN MARYLAND,
READ AT THE MEETING
OF THE Maryland historical Society, 6th March, 1862,
BY J. SAURIN NORRIS.
PRINTED FOR THE MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
BY JOUN D. TOY.
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THE EARLY FRIENDS, (OR QUAKERS) IN MARYLAND.
THE rise and progress of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, in the province of Maryland, constitutes an episode rather than a prominent integral part of its his- tory ; a thread. in the woof distinct and separate from the whole fabric. By the inculcation of their peculiar tenets, differing so widely from those around them, they imme- diately isolated themselves in a great degree from the world. Even their speech and apparel, so peculiar to themselves, seemed as a barrier between them and the rest of mankind. Abstaining, almost totally, from par- ticipation in political matters, they were content to be governed, not to govern; to yield obedience to the recog- nised laws, where their doctrines did not come in opposi- tion to them; yet when so clashing, presenting a front of quiet, but downright and sturdy resistance; not by force of arms, but by the exhibition of an endurance that con- stitutes one of the most remarkable characteristics of the sect, and which, however open to animadversion, yet com- mands respect from its consistency with their principles, and the unyielding persistence with which it has been maintained.
Suddenly springing into existence in England, under the lead of their founder George Fox, enunciating their
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"testimonies" with boldness and distinctness, which testi- monies or doctrines, in many respects attacked the very foundations of men's prejudices and principles, striking at the root of the established church polity and govern- ment, and in not a few points coming into direct collision with the laws of the kingdom, it is not wonderful that the opposition to them there, should have been bitter and powerful, and when their earliest travellers or emigrants came into the British Colonies of America, they brought the same tenets into lands where the fundamental laws, habits and feelings, were at least measurably in conso- nance with those of the mother country.
The rise of the Society in England dates between the years 1644 and 1648, during which period their earliest meetings for worship were held, and immediately there- after the accession to their numbers was rapid and re- markable. In 1653 their first meetings for "discipline," or ordering the affairs of the Church, were held in the north of England, and from this date may fairly be reck- oned their establishment as a distinct religious body .*
"In 1655 many ministers went beyond sea, and in 1656 some proselytes were made in the American provinces and other places,"t writes George Fox ; and in July 1656 Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, arrived at Boston, being . the first Quakers known to have visited America. Sewell gives a graphic account of their reception and ill usage, and states that after being five weeks prisoners, they were sent back.t This Mary Fisher subsequently accomplished an extraordinary journey to Turkey, and actually visited the Sultan in his camp near Adrianople ; where she was kindly treated by him, and offered a guard to escort her to Constantinople, which she declined, and went thither in safety and unattended.
· Janney's Fox, 482. t Fox's Journal, 1, 222. *Sewell's Hist. I, 203.
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The Colony of Virginia was visited about the same time as Massachusetts, and in this case a woman was also the first missionary of the then new sect. One Elizabeth Harris certainly returned from Virginia in the fifth month (July) 1657, O. S; and it is believed she went to that province in 1656. A letter to her from Robert Clarkson, quoted by Bowden, is dated thus, "From Severn the 14th- of the eleventh month 1657," and underneath is written "This is in Virginia."* It appears to have been generally conceded that the "Severn" named was at a small river of that name, an affluent, or arm of Mobjack Bay, lying on the Virginia shore, between the Rappahannock and York Rivers; and Janney states that a meeting was settled there. Whatever may have been the locality of this Severn, it is certain there are places named in the letter, which give some ground for the supposition that it might be the Maryland Severn. The writer states that "we have disposed of the most part of the books which were sent,"-" at Herring Creek, Roade River, South River, all about Severn, the Brand Neck and thereabout, the Seven Mountains and Kent." Most of these places are familiar as Maryland localities. He also mentions a cer- tain Henry Woolchurch, whose name appears in 1677, among the manuscript records of Friends in Maryland. The question as to where this Severn was, is interesting only in its bearing on the fact of the earliest date at which any Quaker was in Maryland.
Towards the close of 1657, Josiah Cole and Thomas Thurston reached Virginia; from whence they started on foot to Maryland, where being joined by Thomas Chap- man, they remained until the 2d of the sixth month, 1658, O. S. (which corresponds to the present eighth month, or August,) when they proceeded on their pedes-
· Bowden's Hist. 1, 340.
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trian travels to Rhode Island and New England .* This remarkable journey was made through vast wildernesses on foot, -- and among strange tribes of savages, and is an exemplification of the stout hearts of the men who en- countered its perils for the sake of disseminating their religious tenets. These three men, Cole, Thurston and Chapman, were undoubtedly among the earliest Quakers who visited Maryland. Thurston had previously been in Boston and was banished therefrom, and as in the mean time laws had been made to prevent all vessels from bring- ing Quakers into Massachusetts, he adopted this plan of again entering that Colony by a "back door," as it is quaintly termed in some proceedings of the General Court of Boston relating to his second visit. t
In the early part of 1639, three other Friends visited Maryland-these were William Robinson, Christopher Holder and Robert Hodgson, and through their labors some proselytes were made, or in the words of the Quaker historians, "considerable convincement took place."#
On the 23d July of this year, the Governor and Coun- cil of Maryland issued orders directing Justices of the Peace to seize any Quakers that might come into their districts, and to whip them from Constable to Constable until they should reach the bounds of the province. !!
Thomas Thurston, who has been formerly mentioned, having returned from New England, it is related of him, in a manuscript letter of W. Robinson, dated 1659, and quoted by Bowden, that "he was arrested and sentenced to an imprisonment of a year and day;" and Besse as- serts that four individuals were fined, £3 15s. for evinc- ing their hospitality to him, while another was cruelly whipped "for not assisting the sheriff to apprehend him."
· Bowden 1, 122, and Janney's Hist. 1, 432. # Bowden, 1, 367.
Council Rec. Lib. H. H. p. 20. + Sewell's Hist. 1, 334 to 336.
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From the accounts of the charges against Thurston, as contained in the Records of the Council of Maryland, and from his subsequent history, the inference is warranted that his conduct might have been of such aggressive character as to invite the interference of the civil authori- ties,-and it is not improbable that he was both the cause and the victim of the harsh order of the Gover- nor and Council before referred to .* Seven years after
* The following extracts from the Records of the Governor and Council of Maryland, among the MISS. collections of the Maryland Historical Society, (Liber H. H. from 1656 to 1668) give an interesting view of the suspicion with which the Quakers were received, and of the proceedings relative to Thomas Thurston and Josiah Cole. These proceedings contain no reference to Thomas Chapman, who was the companion of Thurston and Cole: and hence it is inferred that he was more circumspect in his deportment towards the authorities.
July 8, 1658 .- " Upon information that Thomas Thurston and Josiah Cole had refused to subscribe the engagement by the Articles of 24 March last," a warrant was issued to the Sheriff's to bring them before the Council. The "engagement" referred to is contained in the articles surrendering the government of the Province to Cecilius, Lord Baltimore, on 24 March, 1657; O. S. and was a promise to submit to his authority, instead of the oath of fidelity, and applied to the people then resident in the Province.
July 16, 1658 .- "Upon information that Thomas Thurston was prisoner, and Josiah Cole at Anne Arundel seducing the people, and dissuading the people from taking the engagement of . 24th March last,-Ordered to the Sheriff of Anne Arundel to take the body of Josiah Cole, and him in safe custody keep without bail or mainprize."
July 22d, 1658 .- Among other proceedings the oath of Commissioners and Justices of the Peace was tendered and taken upon the Holy Evangelists by all but Wm. Burges and . Thomas Meares, "who pretended it was in no case lawful to swear, whose plea was by the Board disallowed,"-and the said Burges and Meares were supplanted by Capt. Thos. Howell and Thos. Taylor.
July 23d, 1653 .- The Council "take into consideration the insolent beha- viour of some people called Quakers, who at the Court in contempt of an order then made and proclaimed, would presumptuously stand covered, and not only so, but also refused to subscribe the engagement, notwithstanding the Act of Assembly in that case provided, alledging that they were to be governed by God's law and not by man's law ; and upon full debate finding that this refusal of the engagement was a breach of the Articles of the 24th
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this period he gave great trouble to the Quakers them- selves by his extravagances, and the celebrated John Burnyeat writes of him that "he was lost as to truth,
March last, and that their principles tended to the destruction of Govern- ment ;- Ordered, that all persons whatsoever that were residing within this Province, on the 24th March, 1657, should take and subscribe the said engage- ment by the 20th August next, or else depart the Province by the 25th of March following, upon paine due to rebels and traitors, if found within this Province after the said 25th March, and that a proclamation be forthwith drawn to this effect."
July 25, 1638 .- " According to the warrant bearing date 22d instant, Thomas Thurston was brought before the Governor, and the said Thurston being desirous to depart the Province, the Governor ordered the following warrant to be drawn :- Whereas, Thomas Thurston by himself and friends hath desired of me that he may passe on to Annarundel, from whence he hath engaged himself to depart this Province by Monday next, being the sec- ond day of Angust, until whose departing out of the Province, Josias Cole is to remaine as by order of Court provided. These are therefore in the Lord Proprietary's name to will and require you not to molest the said Thomas Thurston during the time limited for his stay, and so soone as he shall signify to you bis intention presently to depart, that you sett at liberty the said Jo- sias Cole; Provided, that if they or either of them, shall be found within this Province after the aforesaid second day of August, unless made unable to depart by sickness, they or either of them be apprehended and proceeded against according to lawe in theyr case provided."
For twelve months from this period the Council does not appear to have been troubled with the Quakers,-but Thurston having returned from New England, again attracted attention, and accordingly on the 23d July, 1659, the following proceedings were had :
" Whereas it is to (too) well knowne in this province that there have bin (been) several vagabonds and idle persons known by the name of Quakers that have presumed to come into this Province as well dissuading the people from complying with the military discipline in this time of danger, as also from giving testimony, or being Jurors in causes depending between party and party, or bearing any office in the province," the Justices of the Peace are directed to apprehend and cause them to be whipped from constable to constable until they should reach the bounds of the province.
August 3, 1659 .- Thomas Thurston was brought before the Governor and Council by Warrant from Col. Nathaniel Ctie, -and pleaded that the order of 23d July, related to the "time then to come," and was not applicable to bim, be being at that time in the Province. This plea was allowed, but "the Board
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and became a vagabond and fugitive as to his spiritual condition, and little otherwise as to the outward."*
In 1660 or 1661, Josiah Cole was banished from Mary- land, but on what charge is not related. t
About this time Geo. Rofe, another minister visited the American Colonies, including Maryland, and on the 15th of 9th month, 1661, he writes to Geo. Fox, from Barbadoes, that "many settled meetings there are in Maryland and Virginia and New England."# In 1663, he paid a second visit to this Province, and was drowned during a storm in the Chesapeake Bay. !!
Thus far the history of the early Quakers in Maryland is confined to the aspect they presented as travelling members of a new and strange rengious sect. It is not improbable that many of the settlers became converts,- in fact it is so asserted by their journalists,-while the emigration of their members from England, added to the . number here, as it did in other provinces. As citizens of the colony, and of their position in it, we know but little,-owing, in some degree, doubtless, to their volun- tary abstinence from participation in political affairs, as well as to the doubtful position they were placed in by their doctrines in regard to oaths, tithes or church rates, bearing arms, &c.
doth judge, that the said Thos. Thurston be forever banished this Province," ou pain of being whipped with thirty-eight lashes, and sent out of the Pro- vince,-and any person presuming to receive, harbor or conceal him after the tenth day of the present month, should be fined 500 lbs. of tobacco.
November 28, 1661 .- "Then was called John Everitt to answer his con- tempt in running from his colors when prest to goe to the Susquehanna Fort- pleaded that he could not beare arms for conscience sake :- Ordered that the said Everitt be tryed at the next Provincial Court, and in the interim be com- mitted into the Sheriff's hands, and that the Sheriff impanel a Jury against that tyme, and in the meane tyme the said Everitt to be kept in chaynes and bake his own bread."
· Bowden, 1, 372. t Bowden, 1, 370. # Bowden, 1, 347. ] Bowden, 1, 362.
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As pioneers in the work of establishing in the wilder- ness a new religious sect, they gave to that object their earnest and persistent labors; and amid the trials inci- dent to the settlement of a new country, -common to all who encountered its difficulties,-they laid broad and deep the foundations of their Society,-the effects of which remain indelibly impressed on the history of our State, many of whose most respectable and prominent families find their American origin among the plain Friends, who on both shores of the Chesapeake, set up their meetings, and in their lives consistently practiced the doctrines which their ministers so fervently preached.
Kilty, in his "Landholder's Assistant," instances an obligation from Francis Armstrong relative to the taking up of some land for the use of Peter Sharpe, which is dated the "nineteenth day of the third month called May," with said Sharpe's acknowledgment at the foot thereof, and which bears date the "twentieth of the fifth month 1665." In a note he says, "the singularity observed in this con- tract of naming the months by their numbers, cannot well be accounted for, as no other instances of it have been perceived, and the people who now have that prac- tice were scarcely tolerated in Maryland. Strangers (at least) of that description being treated, when found in the province, with indignities which I do not chuse to mention."*
It is evident that Kilty was ignorant of the earlier existence of the Quakers in Maryland. The use of num- bers for naming the months being a peculiar custom of Friends, might be taken as conclusive proof that Arm- strong and Sharpe were of that sect,-but there are other evidences of the fact,-one of peculiar interest is given by Mr. Davis in his "Day Star," where he quotes the
. Kilty's Landholder's Assistant, 88.
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will of Peter Sharpe (who was a physician) dated in 1672, giving "to Friends in the ministry, viz: Alice Gary, William Cole and Sarah Mash, if then in being,-Wen- lock Christerson and his wife ; John Burnett and Daniel Gould, in money or goods,-forty shillings worth a piece; also for a perpetual standing, a horse, for the use of Friends in the ministry."*
The instance given by Kilty refers to the earliest period which I have met with, in which the Quakers appear as land owners.
Wenlock Christerson, mentioned as one of the devisees in Dr. Sharpe's will, was one of those who figured prom- inently in Boston during the trials of the Quakers there. While the trial of William Leddra was progressing in that city, in March, 1661, this Christerson, who had himself been previously banished thence on pain of death, suddenly appeared in Court, as the friend and sympathizer of the prisoner,-braring all consequences to himself, that he might possibly aid his friend, and serve the cause he had so fearlessly and earnestly em- braced. He was again arrested, tried and sentenced to be hung, but after a few days he was, with twenty-seven others, released .; In 1664 he was whipped with ten lashes, in each of three towns in Massachusetts, and driven into the wilderness .; In 1674 he was a petitioner to the Assembly of Maryland, in regard to oaths and affirmations,-|| and his name frequently occurs among . those of the Friends in Maryland. The Half Year's Men's Meeting, held at John Pitts' on the Eastern Shore, · in the 8th month, 1679, took some order relative to secur- ing Elizabeth Christerson for what legacies were given to
. Davis' Day Star, 78.
¿ Bowden's Hist. 274.
t Sewell's Hist. 1, 338.
] Ridgley's Annapolis. 60.
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John Stacy by Wenlock Christerson, "he now being set free," (i. e. dead.)*
In April, 1672, George Fox arrived in Maryland, land- ing at the Patuxent, and just in time to reach a "General Meeting for all the Friends in the Province of Mary- land," which had been appointed by John Burnyeat to be held at West River. He describes it as "a very large meeting," "and held four days, to which, besides Friends came many other people, divers of whom were of consid- erable quality in the world's account."t
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After the meeting for public worship, they held a meet- ing for Church discipline,-the first that appears to have been held for that purpose in Maryland.#
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This meeting at West River is celebrated in the history of the Qualers in Maryland, as being the first general meeting of their members, and which has been succeeded by others known as "Half Year's Meetings," "Yearly Meetings," "Quarterly Meetings," &c.
Immediately after this meeting Fox appears to have continued his labors by preaching his doctrines, and es- tablishing meetings for discipline, at various places in the province. He has left a very complete, interesting and curious record of his travels in Maryland, and other American colonies,-written with great plainness of dic- · tion, and bearing evidences of his earnest devotedness to the cause he had espoused.
In October, 1672, he attended the "General Meeting for all Maryland Friends," at "Treadhaven Creek,"1 at or near where now stands the town of Easton, Talbot County. This meeting held five days,-the first three for public worship; and the other two for discipline, at which the men and women held separate meetings, as is
. MSS. Records of Md. Friends.
t Fox's Journal, 123.
+ Janney's Life of Fox, 328. | Fox's Journal, 131.
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now their custom. Being held just six months after the first General Meeting at West River,-and being thence for many years afterwards, semi-annually, held alter- nately at these two places, those meetings were some- times called "Half Year's Meetings."
Fox remained in America until after the "General Meeting for the Province of Maryland," at West River, which commenced on the 17th of 3d month 1673, and lasted four days.
The next day being the 21st, he set sail for England, so that the first and last meetings attended by this cele- brated man, in America, were held at the same place, at West River in Maryland. In describing this meeting he says, "divers of considerable account in the government, and many others were present, who were generally satis- fied, and many of them reached, for it was a wonderful glorious meeting."*
A curious description of one of these General or Yearly Meetings is given by Samuel Bownas, an English Quaker, who travelled for the second time in Maryland, in 1727. "The Yearly Meeting now came on, which held four days, viz: three for worship, and one for business. Many people resort to it, and transact a deal of trade one with another, so that it is a kind of market or change where the cap- tains of ships and the planters meet and settle their af- fairs; and this draws abundance of people of the best rank to it."t
This promiseuous gathering of people. no doubt led to some abuses, and probably to the annoyance of the Friends, for in 1711 they advised an address to the Government "for ye prevention and suppressing the practice of bring- ing drink near our Meeting House in the time of our Yearly Meetings," and in 1725, an Act was passed to pre-
. Fox's Journal, 142. t Life and Travels of Samuel Bownas, London, 1756:
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vent the sale of liquors in booths within one mile of the Quaker Yearly Meeting house in Talbot County, or two miles of the Yearly Meeting house near West River in Anne Arundel County .*
George Fox having established. the meetings for disci- pline in Maryland, they appear to have been regularly kept subsequently. The earliest manuscript records-of the General or Yearly Meetings, which are now extant, commence in 1677, and are regularly continued from that period. These Records are now in the possession of the Meeting which is held in Lombard Street, between How- ard and Eutaw Streets, and are kept in the meeting house there. They are in a remarkably good state of preservation,-are comprised in several volumes of irreg -. ular size and.binding; and are written mostly in fair and legible characters,-but as the minutes are evidently the production of many different persons, the style is corres- pondingly diverse; and in many of them but little atten- tion is paid to orthography, while punctuation is utterly ignored.
The first Record is thus dated, "Att our General Man's Meeting at West River in the year 1677,"-the month is obliterated ;- and the first Minute refers to a debt due to the estate of William Lewis, deceased, by one of the members "according to a judgment of a former Man's Meeting,"-which debt not being satisfied, a Committee, consisting of Wm. Southbee and Thos. Taylor, was de- puted to see to the matter, and give an answer at the . next Man's Meeting.
This early instance of the care of the Quakers to keep their membership clear of injustice, may be taken as a
· Bacon's Laws, 1725, chap. 6.
t Bowden gives a copy of an Epistle "from the Men's General Meeting at West River, in Maryland, the 6 'day of the fourth month, 1674;' to the Men's Meeting of Friends in Bristol, England."
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specimen of their subsequent action in such cases, and numerous Minutes are found of similar proceedings by their meetings.
The second Record is dated " Att our half-yeares Man's Meeting (some words obliterated) Treadhaven Creek the 3d day of y. 8th Month 1677."
The first Minute is thus, "It was agreed upon by the Meeting that. John Edmondson, Bryon O'Mealy and Ralph Fishbourn doe goe to. Vincent Lowe and shew him Robert Ridgley's letter and treat with him about the report he spread abroad of friends that were chosen Assem- bly Men,"-shewing that thus early in the history of our State, the Quakers held some offices of consequence under the proprietary government. .
That the Society had an appreciation of the importance of keeping records of their Meetings, is shown by another minute at this Meeting, ordering "that John Hilling should be paid 4001bs. of tobacco for writing the concerns of ffriends on this side,"-probably meaning on this side of the Bay.
At the same Meeting it was "thought fitt and meete that a Stock should be gathered for the service of the · truth," "and the supply of the poore amongst us," "every ffriend being left to his freedom what to give," and the subscription list is given in full. The amount subscribed was 8650lbs. of tobacco. Among the subscri- bers was Thomas Taylor, whose name appears among others, in a manuscript of the Monthly Meeting of Bris- tol, England, quoted by Bowden, and is styled "one of the Council and Speaker of the Assembly."
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