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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTFIELD MEETING AND SCHOOL
NATHAN H. CONROW
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BURLINGTON
558 00 W
2.88 CH
PIKE
190.08
LAND OF WM + ANN LIPPINCOTT
534' 00 E927 CH G/1 .82'
N 35°- 00 w 3.45ch 623.70
ROAD
< LAND PURCHASED FROM WM + ANN LIPPINCOTT 3 . 1 ET 1799
MORESTOW
--
.209.22 ... 3.17 CM
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565000 WS 17CH 209.22
FIST CORNER
ANOTHER ACRE BOUGHT FROM ABRAHAM LIPPINCOTT! 1854.
518-40-E
209.22
€
LAND DEEDED BY SAMUEL SHUTE . TO FRIENDS 7- 7-1791
LAND OF SAMUEL SHUTE N65. 00 €
3.17 CM
209.22
1
ROAD
190.08 N6 - 30 € 2.38 CM
N 18 90 W 917 CM
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https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00conr
Historical Sketches of Westfield Friends School and Meeting
Nathan H. Conrow
1. The Preparative Meeting Assumes Oversight of Abra- ham Warrington's School-1788.
2. Meeting for Worship Held in the School Building- 1794, Meeting House Built-1800.
3. An Endowment Fund is Started-1794.
4. The Wood Lot Supplies Ample Fuel-1797-1866.
5. The Meeting House Burns and is Rebuilt-1859.
6. The Meeting House and Grounds: As They Were in 1871.
7. The Westfield First-Day School Is Begun-1871.
8. The School As I Knew It.
Supplementary Sketches:
Westfield in Helen Marshall's Time by Sarah C. Hutchinson. Assistant to Helen Marshall by Abbie Evans Including SOME INTERESTING HISTORICAL NOTES ON
NEW JERSEY, BURLINGTON COUNTY AND WESTFIELD Nathan H. Conrow
1. George Fox Visits Friends-1672.
2. New Jersey Purchased by Friends.
3. Friends Believe in Education.
THE PREPARATIVE MEETING ASSUMES OVERSIGHT OF ABRAHAM WARRINGTON'S SCHOOL 1788
In 12th Month 1788, Chester Preparative Meeting ap- pointed a committee to visit and have the oversight of a school kept by Abraham Warrington. This school was probably kept in his own home near Fork Landing. Abraham Warrington was the son of Thomas Warring- ton and grandson of Henry Warrington who came over about 1700 and settled on a farm located on the north branch of Pennsauken Creek, a little above Fork Landing. Abraham Warrington married Rachel Evans in 1785.
A minute of Chester Preparative Meeting in 1789 reads as follows: "Trustees appointed in Twelfth Month last to have the oversight of the school taught by Abraham Warrington made a satisfactory report." Joseph War- rington, Thomas Lippincott, Samuel Lippincott, and Samuel Shute were the committee appointed and they were requested to continue care over this school for the next year.
The following minute was recorded at Chester Prepar- ative Meeting held 6th Month 7th, 1791 : "Proposal made by Abraham Warrington for procuring a lot of ground off of the upper corner of Samuel Shute's lands for erect- ing a school house thereon or other buildings, which the meeting unites with and appoint Thomas Lippincott, Samuel Lippincott, Henry Warrington, Joseph Matlack and Wm. Roberts to procure said lot and take a deed and execute a declaration of trust therefor." On Seventh Month 27th, 1791, Friends of Chester Preparative Meet- ing purchased of Samuel Shute one acre and one perch of land, where the school now stands, for six pounds, hard money and shortly afterwards a permanent stone house was built." It is more than likely that this build- ing was started at once and that it was finished ready to open school sometime in 11th Month, 1791.
The stone house was built in the northeast corner of this lot in order to make a larger playground for the
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children. The Preparative Meeting minutes do not state the size or cost or time of building or finishing the school. Probably there was no cellar, as there is no evidence on the surface of any excavation. It was evidently put up to the school committee to raise the funds, buy the material and put up the school house as they saw fit and no questions asked. A growing school and an increasing family had led Abraham Warrington to seek larger quarters and I am sure it must have been he and Rachel who headed the group that pushed for the completion of the school. Abraham Warrington's 4th child was born 4th Month 1st, 1791. This school lot had been selected also by this same school committee a majority of whom owned farms close by and were glad to have the school located near them.
The following excerpts from Chester Preparative Meeting held 8th Month 6th, 1792, would indicate that the school house was finished sometime before this as the trustees reported for the full school year. Summary of school reports: "It appears that they have generally visited the schools monthly during their continuance, in- spected the general state thereof with the several literary and arithmetic performances of the pupils, to general satisfaction; which reports obtained the general appro- bation of the meeting and their united concurrence in the nomination of the following named Friends as trustees :
"Moorestown School - Morgan Hollinshead (and others). Brick School-John Roberts (and others) and for Friends Lower Schoolhouse, Thomas Lippincott, Joseph Matlack, Samuel Roberts, jun, Samuel Lippincott and John Warrington."
Abraham Warrington was made a trustee of the School in 1797 which would seem to indicate that he had com- pleted his teaching which he had probably begun in 1785. The minutes of our Preparative Meeting fail to inform us who the other teachers were till 1839 when Wm. Parry began his three years of teaching. But Benjamin Hallowell in his autobiography has given us an interest- ing account of his experience at Westfield in the year 1818-19. He mentions that Charles Lippincott was his assistant. This is the first evidence that the school was
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being used to its full capacity of eighty pupils and two teachers. He was nineteen years old at this time and he reports several of his scholars, both boys and girls, were older than he.
At the Monthly Meeting held at Evesham 11th Month 10th, 1801, a minute states that the report of the Com- mittee on Schools being again read was (with some al- terations) approved and recommended to the Trustees and Teachers of our several schools for the Observance ; -"and we believe it would conduce much to their ad- vantage, if the Trustees or Teacher of each school would keep an assortment of school books, from the interest arising on the funds or otherwise; and that no employer may introduce any book into our schools which is not of the same kind without the approbation of the Trus- tees, that the Master may have the advantage of fixing his whole school in proper classes, which we think would much forward the childrens' improvement.
And we think Girls' Schools would be necessary where men teachers discontinue in Summer; and a female as usher in steady schools, at times, who might teach needle- work and obviate the necessity of girls going from such schools to others to learn that art. And we believe it would remedy much inconvenience if Boys and Girls were not allowed to play together in time of relaxation from business but each have proper bounds allotted them."
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MEETINGS FOR WORSHIP HELD IN SCHOOL BUILDING 1794 MEETING HOUSE BUILT 1800
With the school going strong on week days, many Friends of the neighborhood felt that the house could be used on Firstdays for Meeting purposes so on 7th Month 15th, 1794, quoting from the Evesham Monthly Meeting Minutes-"A proposition was made from the Preparative Meeting of Chester to hold meetings for worship at Friends Lower Schoolhouse within the limits of said meeting, not only to accommodate divers mem- bers, living somewhat remote from said Preparative Meeting but those of other professions living contiguous thereto, which being attended to with a good degree of solid weight, there appeared a general concurrence with holding one at the place proposed next Firstday week at the eleventh hour and John Collins, Robert French and Job Haines are appointed to have oversight thereof and report to next meeting.
At a Monthly Meeting held 8th Month 8th, 1794, "The Committee appointed to have the oversight of the Meet- ing to be held at Friends School house reported its being held agreeable thereto and was thought to be a favoured good Meeting." This was the first meeting held at Westfield, date 7th Month 25th, 1794.
"On 3rd Month 1799 Friends, Members of Chester Preparative Meeting, purchased of William and Ann Lippincott for 17 L 17s hard money 2 acres 2 roods and 28 perches of land between the school house lot and the Burlington road on which they shortly afterward built a stone Meeting House and devoted a portion of said lot for a burial place," William Dunn Rogers reports in some historical notes.
The following Minutes provide the known detail re- garding the plans for building the Meeting house.
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Chester Prep. Mtg. 8-6-1799
"Friends prospect constituting the meeting held in the lower School house, of building a Meeting house, having obtained the approbation of the Monthly Meeting, there- fore this meeting appoints the following named Friends (to wit) Caleb Atkinson, John Warrington, Reuben Mat- lack, Joshua Roberts, Wm. Roberts, Robert French, Samuel and Thomas Lippincott, Joseph Matlack and John Collins, to digest a plan and nominate some suitable persons to carry the same into effect, for the approbation of next Meeting."
Chester Prep. Mtg. 9-3-1799
"The Friends appointed at last Meeting to digest a plan etc. for a Meeting house near Friends Lower School house in Chester now reported, that they were now united in one, proposed Samuel Lippincott and Caleb At- kinson to the care and oversight of the buildings, which was satisfactory, and the Meeting uniting into going into a general subscription to defray the expense that may arise therefrom. Wm. Burrough, Isaac Roberts and Morgan Hollinshead are appointed to the care of the subscription and Joseph Matlack treasurer for the same."
The meeting minutes have nothing to say as to the size, the cost or time when the building of the Meeting house was completed. However, John Hunt in his diary tells of going to its first meeting held there on 12th Month 21st, 1800. "My wife, youngest daughter and I went to the Lower Chester Meeting, being the first held in their new meeting house. It was well filled and I had a satisfactory open time." This is the only source that I have found to establish the fact that the meeing house was built and finished in the year 1800. In the spring of 1801 a request was made to Evesham Monthly Meet- ing to establish a Preparative Meeting and that it be called Westfield. This request was duly granted by the Monthly and Quarterly Meeting and the first Westfield Preparative Meeting was held in 7th month 1801.
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AN ENDOWMENT FUND IS STARTED 1794
The need for financial help was early recognized by the management of the school. So on recommendation of the Quarterly Meeting a subscription list was started in 1794 with the idea of beginning to meet the need of assistance in schooling, for those families whose finances were in a low condition. This list was headed by the teacher, Abraham Warrington, and included several other friends with substantial amounts which totaled 137 pounds and 15 shillings, equal to about $689.00.
In the will of Samuel Shute, dated 1823, he says, "I order and direct my executors to pay to John R. Parry, treasurer of Westfield School of Friends or to the succes- sor in office the sum of ($500.00) to be put at interest, on good security, the proceeds whereof to be applied at the direction of the trustees of said school for the time being, for the education of friends children and others in lowish circumstances.""' Item: "I order and direct my executors to pay to Chester and Easton schools the like sum to be applied to the like purposes."
Samuel Lippincott, who died in 1830, said in his will: "Fifthly and to the treasurer (for that time being) of Westfield School and to his successors forever, the sum of $200.00. In trust nevertheless, that the said sum shall be placed out at interest in good security and the interest thus accruing applied to the school education of the poor and necessitous children residing within the limits of said school and no other use, intent or purpose what- ever. The aforesaid legacies excepting to the grandchil- dren then in minority to be discharged in one year after my decease."
The next big increase in the endowment fund was in 1866 when the woodlot was sold and $2650.00 was added.
An undated report of the School trustees signed by Clayton Conrow and Rebecca Thomas states that : "They had one school under their care, the past year held in two sessions, of four and a half months each. The winter session was taught by a male and the summer by a fe- male, both members. Average attendance in winter 19,
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in summer 8, ... The winter session was partly free to the patrons, the summer session entirely so."
This report, which must have been just previous to 6th Month 1871, shows that the endowment fund was a substantial help in running the school.
On 1st Month 25th, 1875, Wm. Parry and Wm. Evans made a report for the school committee which shows the amount of the endowment fund $4150.00 invested in bonds and mortgages in which the interest is paid half yearly at the rate of 7 per cent, yielding an income of $290.50. The report contains an item showing "Expen- ditures for more than a year, paid for schooling purposes, teachers' salaries, fuel, etc., part of which belongs to the previous year $415.87, balance in treasury $110.77."
According to this $125.37 was collected from the patrons; showing that the interest on the endowment fund again provided aid in running the school.
There has been one later addition to this fund. Eliza- beth H. Parry in her will, dated 1937, said: "Third: I give and bequeath to Westfield Monthly Meeting of Friends the sum of $4000.00 to be known as the "Howard and Elizabeth H. Parry Fund," which sum is to be in- vested by the said Westfield Monthly Meeting of Friends and the income therefrom is to be used for establishing a scholarship or scholarships in the Westfield Friends School under the direction of the Committee in charge of said school, preference to be given in the awarding of said Scholarship or scholarships to Friends Children. And if the said Westfield Friends School shall at anytime be discontinued then it is my desire that the said income of the said fund of $4,000.00 shall be used by the said Westfield Monthly Meeting of Friends for maintenance purposes."
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THE WOOD LOT SUPPLIES AMPLE FUEL 1797-1866
The school had been running less than six years when it became evident to the school committee that wood was getting scarcer every year and that the thing to do was to buy a large wood lot which would furnish plenty of fuel for the school house for years to come. With this end in view, Chester Preparative Meeting bought a heav- ily wooded tract of land containing 15 acres, for $41.00 an acre. This lot was close by and just across the Bur- lington road to the north, between Westfield and the tenant house, recently owned by Benjamin Lippincott. The lot went back for nearly 1/2 mile (3614 chains). As much of this wood was cut each year as would supply both meeting and school. This was done for more than fifty years and proved to be a very good investment. This lot also furnished something beside wood, as a gravel vein was opened up and the roads around the meeting house were given a good coat of gravel.
This was the one property still held jointly by both Preparative Meetings when in 1866, the wood being all cut off, the land was put up at auction and sold to Nathan Leeds, a Branch Pike Friend who lived on the Riverton Road. The figure it brought was $3975.00. One third of this sum went to the Branch Pike Meeting and two thirds to the Brick Meeting. This division was based on the number of men Friends in each Meeting. In both cases the Meeting added its share to its School's endow- ment fund.
Note: Copy of the deed taken from Evesham Monthly Meeting Minutes (1797-page 39) :
"This indenture made 2-25-1797 between Thomas Yoeman and Abigail Lippincott his wife of the first part and Wm. Evans, Samuel Shute, Benjamin Warrington and Joshua Lippincott all of the township of Chester, Yoeman of the other part-trustees of the meeting. Whereas Thomas Lippincott, great grandfather of the grantor hereof, was in his lifetime lawfully seized, left it by will to his son Isaac and then to his son Thomas.
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Then it went to Wm. Lippincott, oldest son of above Thomas. He sold it to his brother Thomas 10-14-1794 grantor hereof ... for 122 pounds and 12 shillings in gold or silver coin, part of the said 203 acres.
"Beginning at a stone in said Burlington road North 27 degrees and 30 minutes West 36 chains and 25 links to a stone in Caleb Atkinson line 2nd thence North 62 degrees East 3 chains and 30 links to a stone, corner in said Atkinson line; 3rd thence by the remainder of the 203 acres South 30 degrees and 53 minutes East to a stone corner in said Burlington road. Thence 4th-59 degrees West down the said road 5 chains to the place of beginning and containing 15 acres of land, strict measure."
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THE MEETING HOUSE BURNS AND IS REBUILT 1859
Excerpt from the Minutes of Westfield Preparative Meeting. "At a meeting of Westfield Preparative Meet- ing held 3-31-1859 the Meeting House belonging to this meeting was accidentally destroyed by fire on the 20th instant. To take into consideration measures for rebuild- ing the Meeting House, Asa Lippincott, Israel Lippin- cott, Samuel R. Lippincott, Wm. Lippincott and Nathan H. Conrow were appointed to collect information and suggest plans for the construction of a new house and to submit the same to our next meeting for our considera- tion." Signed by William Parry, Secretary.
The above committee were then later appointed to serve as a building committee and authorized to proceed with the construction of the new meeting house as soon and in such manner as they thought advisable. The first plan was to have partitions to come down and divide the room for business purposes; but this plan was changed and they decided to build a room in the rear of sufficient size to accommodate the Preparative Meeting. Israel Lippincott was appointed treasurer.
On 3rd Month 20th, 1859, when fire destroyed the meeting house it also destroyed a number of trees that were close to the building. These had been removed but there had been no new planting done, so in the spring of 1861 a group of men Friends met one morning in 4th Month to plant a grove of evergreens, Norway Spruce and other trees on the North and East. These trees when grown were quite a shield to the Meeting House, giving it an air of repose. As Heulings Lippincott used to tell the story. It was when the planting was completed and the Friends were preparing to leave for their homes, one of them stopped in at the Post Office across the pike to get the morning paper. He came out with the startling news that Fort Sumter had been fired on! This definite- ly fixes the date of this planting to have been 2nd day, 4th Month 13th, 1861.
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THE MEETING HOUSE AND GROUNDS AS THEY WERE IN 1871
The large room in the meeting house was the same size it is now. There were two large windows looking toward the south. Venetian blinds hung at all the win- dows-the same ones that are there now. The benches are also the same, but they had an uncomfortable narrow board at the back, replaced by a wider one about 1900. There were strips of carpet down the centre aisle and around the two coal stoves. I remember that an elderly Friend, John W. Haines, used to sit on the bench behind the stove to get warm, before taking his seat next to the head of the meeting. A brussels carpet came to us about 1880 as the gift of two grandmothers, Mary W. and Anna H. Lippincott.
There was one small committee room at the back, where the Men's Preparative Meeting was held and where the Adult Bible Class met during the Firstday School hour. This annex was only one story high and contained four or five benches seating about thirty people and was heated by a wood stove. This little room also contained the Firstday School library with its shelves of books along the North West wall. This room was a very busy place after Meeting on Firstdays when we children brought back our library books and exchanged them for others to read during the week. Swiss Family Robinson, The Rollo books, and Boys of Other Countries were some of the books I remember. We looked forward each month to the Scattered Seeds which were distribut- ed to us through the Firstday School. On Preparative Meeting days the Women Friends held their Preparative Meetings in the large room of the Meeting house and the men withdrew to the small room; each group to transact its own business and to report to its own Monthly Meeting at Moorestown.
There was a meeting for worship every Fifth day (ex- cept on Monthly Meeting days when it was held at Moorestown.) The children of the school always at- tended. I can remember sitting on one of the short benches with my mother, with three long benches just behind us, full of big girls from school, some in their
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late teens-about 30 of them. This, of course, was be- fore the Public School opened in 9th Month, 1871. It was the only school serving the community and it took everybody of good character for the small tuition fee. Howard B. Lippincott tells me colored children by the name of Wester, were attending there in 1871 when he, too, was a scholar.
The fence in front of the School (South) was a six foot high worm fence of new cedar rails and it extended from the graveyard eastward to the Moorestown road. Then Northward along the road to the Meeting house driveway was a board fence, each board being four feet high and about one foot wide. The same kind of fence surrounded the graveyard. The rest of the property was enclosed by a wooden, picket fence painted black, the pickets slanted forming alternate A's and V's. The grounds thus enclosed made a nice place for the care- taker and some others to pasture their cows. The grave- yard was being used then as a pasture for a mare and a colt belonging to Thomas Evans. One boy is known to have ridden the colt safely down the roadway, but was spilled when it began to jump the graves.
These grounds (Meeting and School) were entered by the opening of three large gates, two for the Meeting and one for the school. These gates were kept closed during the pasturing season, except on Meeting days. After all had departed the gates were again closed and the cows turned in to pasture. The cows doing all the mowing that was done. Directly in front of the Meet- ing house adjoining the stile at the end of the footpath, there was a small gate which had an iron weight attached to a chain to close it automatically, and again opposite the Schoolhouse was a stile used by the children and others on entering or leaving the grounds. These two stiles were of course necessary, to keep the cows from getting out of the enclosure. If a small gate had been used some youngster would have left the gate wide open.
The Arch St. Discipline, 1834, recommends for the teacher, "That a lot of ground be provided in each Monthly or Preparative Meeting sufficient for a garden, orchard, grass for a cow, ... and a suitable house erected thereon." We have always had plenty of grass for a
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cow, but have never had, (as far as the records show) a teacher who had a cow to pasture.
The double horse sheds stood near the road, just South of the driveway leading to the Meeting house from the Moorestown-Riverton road. Here we used to play "An- thony Over," a game much liked by children of that time. These sheds were moved over to the hill just West of the Meeting house and remained there until they were torn down in the 1930's. The long sheds stood further east before they were moved back to the new boundary line after the purchase of one acre of land from the farm of Joseph Thomas in 1880.
The board fence around the graveyard was useful as a hitching place for horses at big gatherings such as funerals and Firstday School Unions, when there were not enough horse sheds to hold all the horses. After the board fence was torn down and the hedge planted, a rail- ing made of 2x3 heart pine supported between locust posts was put up as a protection to the hedge and a place to tie horses. It sometimes happened that on two sides of the graveyard there was a continuous line of horses and carriages fastened in regular rotation around it. Dur- ing school days this railing was frequently used by chil- dren who tried their skill at "walking fence." This rail- ing was torn down when automobiles came into common use.
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THE WESTFIELD FIRST-DAY SCHOOL IS BEGUN 1871
Westfield Firstday School was started in the fall of 1871 with Ezra Lippincott as superintendent. There were three classes in the regular Firstday School. The young- er Class was taught by Anna Sutton Lippincott. The next larger children by Emily Lippincott and the older children by Clayton Conrow. Each of these classes had a corner in the large room of the meeting house, and by talking quietly these were able to get along comfortably. The Firstday School was always opened by an assembly. After a reading from the Scriptures the roll was called, and each scholar responded by standing and reciting a verse from the Bible. At the close of the assembly, the adults retired to the committee room and took up the study of the Bible under the leadership of Susan W. Lip- pincott. At the close of Firstday School the assistant superintendent, Heulings Lippincott, read from the Scriptures. After a short recess, meeting started and everybody stayed. Ezra Lippincott continued to serve as superintendent until 1904, when Sarah H. W. Conrow was appointed. She served for five or six years and was followed by Frances Haines. The committee room con- tinued to serve its purpose until 1906, when another story was added, and by enlarging the base, it gave three ad- ditional class rooms for the Firstday School.
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