USA > Ohio > Miami County > West Milton > Centennial anniversary of West Branch Monthly Meeting of Friends, 1807-1907 > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
38
helpless. There were no hospitals in this country in these early days. I remember of my father taking in a poor member, and he stayed at our house six months. When anybody was sick, they would go to see them. It was not a question whether they were relatives or not. They would always go to look after the suffering and needy in the community about them.
After the country was cleared, the Friends in our community mostly drove to meeting. I was used to going where there were lots of horses hitched. Nearly everybody went for four miles around, and took their families.
Once I went over to Phillipsburg to visit my sister's son, Edward Thomas. We were boys about the same age. I stayed with them all night; the next day was their mid-week meeting. Edward went to build a fire at the meeting house, that was near their home, and I went with him. The name of this meeting was South Fork. A fresh snow had fallen. We built a fire, and went out to get some wood, when we saw a rabbit track. The Friends had not come yet to the meeting, so we struck out, boylike, to hunt the rabbit. Of course we never thought but that we would get back before the meeting assembled. We were gone longer than we thought. When we started back to the meeting house, as we were getting over a fence, Edward ban- tered me for a race. We ran as hard as we could to the meeting house. We did not hear a sound or see a soul ; not one horse was hitched there. I finally got ahead, and happened to be first when we reached the meeting house. We were running so fast, I hap- pened to strike the latch, the door flew open, and I tumbled head long into the meeting house with Ed- ward on top of me, never dreaming that there was. any- one present. Just as Edward fell, he caught a glimpse of his surroundings, and cried out in surprise, "Why there's somebody here." I looked around, and there sat the old Friends assembled in solemn, silent wor- ship. Living near the meeting house, they had walked in without bringing horses and conveyances. Old Ed- ward Thomas sat at the head of the meeting, and in spite of his dignified position, this scene brought a smile to his face. Isaac Thomas and Uncle George Thomas were there. We boys were scared nearly to death, and crept to our seats with our hearts beating, until we imagined they could be heard all over the
39
house. That was the first time I can remember of going to meeting where no horses were hitched, and since then I have been pretty careful how I get into meeting houses. I never went that way since.
Allusion was made at the town Centennial to the high standard of morality and Christian character, that exists among the people of our community at the present time. Union Township was spoken of as the banner township in Miami County. No wonder it is spoken of in that way ; it ought to be the banner town- ship, for it had the banner start.
I want to praise my Heavenly Father for the good lives of these old pioneers, and I pray that the light placed by them here in old Union Township may never go out. We ought to thank God for the good bringing-up that they strove to give us, and for the blessings that have come to us, as a result of this, all through the years. And you that have come here to this Centennial, from the north and from the south neighborhoods, may God bless you, every one, and help you to live lives not less devoted to truth and prin- ciple, than those of the dear old Friends, that settled a century ago on the banks of the Still-water.
HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES OF WEST BRANCH MONTHLY MEETING.
BY ENOS PEMBERTON, WEST MILTON, OHIO.
Impromptu-no paper.
As I look at this programme that has assigned to us our duties upon this occasion, it seems a pleasure to me to look at the picture here of the old West Branch meeting house building, which was erected about two miles south of this place. The most of us here to-day are very familiar with that old place of worship,-a place where our forefathers worshipped,-a place where their children worshipped,-and a place where some of us, in our young experiences in life, had our hearts touched with the love of God.
Well do I remember when my father moved to this country. I was born in 1837, and according to the rules of the Friends, was born a member of the So- ciety. You need not expect as much of me as of my Uncle Joseph, for he is four months older than I am.
I remember my first impression of West Branch Monthly Meeting. It was composed of a large body
40
of Friends ; and sometimes I look back over the past, and think of what these men and women have done for the citizenship of this country. As I look back, I can see some of the noblest men and women that I ever be- came acquainted with. Among them were Thomas Jay and Thomas Hasket.
In the early history of West Branch, there was a par- tition in the meeting house, that divided the men from the women. After awhile, there was some agitation in reference to. removing the wall that separated them, but some objected. One day after a wind in the Fall, leaves had been blown into the chimney; and when the fire was started, the room on the women's side was filled with smoke, so that they had to take their seats with the men. One of the agitators took occasion to remark, that if they couldn't get them out any other way, they would smoke them out.
Well do I remember how bashful I was, when I was asked to carry a message to the women's meeting.
None but members of the meeting of Ministers and Elders were allowed to attend the business sessions of that body. Sometimes the husband would belong and sometimes the wife, but the one that was not a member stayed outside while the other was in the meeting.
Along about the close of the Civil War, I came home from the conflict and was married to Mary Hoover, who was not a member of the Friends. I married con- trary to the Friends' rules and discipline. A commit- tee was appointed and came to see me, and wanted me to make acknowledgement. I thought a great deal of my wife, and asked them to give me a trial, which they decided to do, and I was continued in membership.
My present wife was first married to Henry Yount, who was not a member of the Friends. A committee waited upon her, and not getting satisfactory results, she was disowned from the meeting. The committee's decision in the case was as follows :
"Thursey Yount, formerly Pearson, who has had a right of membership in the Society of Friends has ac- complished her marriage contrary to the discipline, and has been treated with, without the desired effect, therefore she ceases to be a member with us."
LINAS MOTE, HANNAH L. MOTE, Clerks.
In after years, her husband died; I was married to
41
her, and she was received back into membership. We have both been members ever since, and are neither of us sorry of it.
I remember when I first commenced my ministry. I began in West Branch Monthly Meeting. I needed a great deal of encouragement, my friends. Some- times I would become very discouraged, but Thomas Jay and Thomas Hasket would come to me and say, "Be of good cheer." Then, there were others that would say they were a little fearful that I would not hold out. They would look back over my life,-my army life,-and it was very discouraging to me.
It used to seem to me an odd thing to sit in a meet- ing and listen to an organ and singing ; but now I am used to it and, in fact, I rather like to hear it. I never pretend to sing very much myself, but I like to listen to others. We are progressing, my friends, but we want to keep in close touch with the power of God, for we must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
The men used to keep their hats on when they sat in the meetings, refusing to uncover their heads, be- cause it was obligatory upon the subjects of the old world to remove their hats, when entering the pres- ence of the crowned heads, and by their action they demonstrated that they did not bow to worship human beings, but recognized a higher power.
When I reflect upon what West Branch Monthly Meeting has accomplished,-when I think of the young men and women preachers, that God has sent out from here, that have gone from place to place to preach the Gospel, I feel thankful for the privilege of being a member of this monthly meeting.
After I had commenced preaching here, I asked the privilege of the monthly meeting to visit some other meetings ; and the Friends granted me the liberty of doing so. I cannot forget the kind hands that were extended to me, as I went about from place to place to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As we look back over the history of the past, we know that God has watched over us,-over the citizens and Friends in this community,-not only over West Branch Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, but all of the religious work in general. May God bless the dif- ferent meetings represented here to-day, and may He bless you all.
2 P. M. QUAKERISM AND SLAVERY. BY ANNA MAY PEMBERTON.
If one line of work more than all others has char- acterized the Friends, it has been the line of reform. In the early days of Quakerism, to be a Quaker was to be a reformer. They believed in the inward light as something higher than conscience,-the revelation of God himself in the human soul. They laid great stress on human responsibility and the Divine guidance of the individual. No priest did the thinking for them.
It was but natural that a people, that believed in the universal priesthood of believers, should advocate the inherent right of liberty to every man, regardless of color or race. From the very dawn of Quakerism, they set to work to right the wrongs about them. Christianity meant something to them only as it had to do with the betterment of human life. "Stitch away, thou noble Fox :" wrote Carlyle, "every prick of that lit- tle instrument is pricking into the heart of slavery, and World-worship, and the Mammon-god." George Fox himself was a reformer. He opposed everything in law, government or common life that was contrary to the spirit of Christianity. The light that illumined his pathway has never been extinguished. The prin- ciples he advocated and to which he devoted himself, have been felt in every step of human progress since his time.
In 1671, in the West Indies, Fox was crying out against the evils of slavery in the very midst of it. He earnestly advised his people to deal justly with the slaves, to bring them up in the fear of the Lord, and after certain years to set them free. This was the means of stirring up great opposition and persecution ; and in 1676 a law was passed "to prevent the people called Quakers, from bringing their slaves to meet- ing." But they did not feel that so unjust a law could justify them in relinquishing their advanced ideas of justice toward an oppressed people. The meetings were held at their homes; but for allowing slaves to attend them, at one of which were eighty, at another of which were thirty, Ralph Fretwell was fined eight hundred pounds and Richard Sutton three hundred. It was said the safety of the island would be endan-
43
gered, if slaves imbibed the religious teaching of their masters.
Individual Friends bore testimony from the begin- ning against slavery, but it had existed for genera- tions, had come to many by inheritance, and was not an easy thing to be gotten rid of. Among the converts to Quakerism in the new world were many slave-holders. Members and even ministers in other denominations held slaves.
The first protest ever entered by any religious or- ganization against slavery was in 1688, when a com- pany of German Friends, who had settled in Pennsyl- vania, sent a memorial to their Monthly Meeting on the subject. It was written by Francis Daniel Pas- torius, a young man of education and refinement, a member of the Society of Friends and a friend of Wil- liam Penn.
"Who, in the power a noble purpose lends,
Guided his people unto nobler ends,
And left them worthier of the name of Friends."
They put the question on the basis of the Golden Rule :- "Pray, what thing in the world can be done worse toward us, than if men should rob or steal us away, and sell us for slaves to strange countries," "Being now this is not done in a manner we would not be, done at therefore we contradict and are against this traffic of men-body."
Whittier writes, in his "Pennsylvania Pilgrim,"
"behind the reverend row
Of gallery Friends, in dumb and piteous show, I saw, methought, dark faces full of woe."
"Help for the good man faileth: Who is strong, If these be weak? Who shall rebuke the wrong, If those consent ? How long, O, Lord ! how long?"
For a long time the original paper was lost, but it was found by William Kite, in 1844, and is now in Philadelphia.
After eight years, in 1696, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting sent down its first advices on the subject. Thus, this little company of German Friends began a movement, that was destined to spread into wide phil- anthropy and purge the Friends' Society from the guilt of slave-holding.
44
At first the queries read were in reference to buying and selling of slaves, and then the question began in reference to holding slaves at all. Many a heated de- bate took place on the subject in the different meetings before the Society was purged, but finally, they de- clared, that no one could be a member of the Society of Friends and be a slave-holder. Wilson, in his "Rise and Fall of the Slave Power," says, "The Friends' So- ciety was the first and only denomination to purge it- self entirely of the great iniquity ;" and not until the conscience of the Society was aroused by the unequivo- cal decisions of its ecclesiastical tribunals, showing slavery to be a sin to be repented of and forsaken, did it achieve the distinction." The Society often required members to compensate slaves for past services on set- ting them free.
John Woolman, a minister among Friends, was a potent factor in the work of clearing the Society, and many times his voice was heard in the meetings. His attention had been called to the subject in 1843, when a young man, when asked to write a bill of sale for a negro his employer had sold. He did it, but was greatly troubled in conscience over the thought of writ- ing a bill of sale for a fellow creature. From this time on, he was an uncompromising advocate of freedom for the slave. He traveled, both in the North and South, trying to convince the people, especially his own breth- ren, that slavery was inconsistent with Christianity. Anthony Benezet was another faithful advocate; and while his brothers were engaged in trade, he esteemed wealth of small consequence compared to a work for humanity. He wrote articles for publication on the subject of slavery. So earnest was he that if he went for a drive or walk, he took tracts with him and studied how to make it serve the cause.
Friends organized the first Anti-Slavery Societies in America. In communities where they had freed their slaves, other persons would bring their slaves into the neighborhood. For the purpose of hindering this and as a means of advancing the cause, they began to form organizations, Clarkson says, as early as 1770. From this time on, until the emancipation, America was nev- er without Anti-Slavery Societies within her borders. These first societies were formed exclusively by mem- bers of the Society of Friends ; but interest grew and deepened, and four years later, in 1774, under the lead-
45
ership of James Pemberton, individuals of other de- nominations were united with them. Benjamin Frank- lin became a member, and finally was chosen Presi- dent of the Pennsylvania Society.
As the Quakers led in America, so did they lead in England. In 1783 the English Friends organized the first Anti-Slavery Society ever organized in England. The same year they sent a petition to the British Parliament against the slave-trade, being the first ever addressed to that body on the subject.
The Society of Friends, having cleared itself of the sin of slave-holding, a great desire took possession of it for the entire extinction of the slave trade and of slavery itself. Then memorials and remonstrances be- gan to pour down upon legislative assemblies and per- sons of power. In 1773, Friends living in East and West Jersey, obtained more than three thousand peti- tioners to the Legislature, praying for more equit- able manumissions of slaves in that province.
The first American Congress met in 1789. The next year, 1790, the Quaker petitions were sent in. Then came the great storm in Congress, over the Quaker petitions on the subject of slavery, and kept that aug- ust body in a constant uproar for days, while the men in Quaker garb sat in the galleries, awaiting the de- cision of the highest power of Government, on this important question.
The first petition was sent by the Yearly Meeting of Friends in Pennsylvania, and was seconded by one from New York. These petitions asked whether it were not within the power of Congress, "to exercise justice and mercy, which, if adhered to, must produce the abolition of the slave-trade." Violent opposition at once arose. The Quakers were branded as mis- chief makers, who had come here to meddle in a busi- ness, with which they had nothing to do. Smith, of South Carolina, said the mere discussion would create alarm. His constituents wanted no lessons in mor- ality, least of all, of such teachers. Baldwin, of Geor- gia, declared that there was more important business of the Union to be transacted. There was the plan for the support of the public credit. there was the Post Office Act and the Additional Revenue Act. What more important business could the government be engaged in than the freedom of the slave? Had the Quaker petitions been granted. it would have pre- vented the awful war of the 60's. It is much the
46
same way now, many in politics tell us that they have no time to consider questions of moral reform, that there are questions of greater importance. After all that had been said, Congress failed to grant their peti- tions in behalf of human freedom, and increased the lines given to slavery. But the Quakers were not dis- heartened, and as they vacated the seats in the galler- ies, and left the hall, it was with no scowl or wicked insinuations against their opposers. They felt that they were right in this matter, and heeded little the scorn and abuses cast upon them. Firm in their con- victions that right and truth would conquer, they went quietly away, but only to return again and enter their protest against the great evil. Von-holst says, in his Constitutional History,-"Year after year, the Quakers came, indefatigably, with new petitions, and each time received the same scornful treatment. Southern dele- gates expressed their scorn in a bullying fashion, for the tenacity with which these men of earnest faith ever constantly came back again to their hopeless work."
In 1793, a fugitive slave law was passed. In 1797, when the Quakers came with a petition from the Year- ly Meeting at Philadelphia, one of their grievances was, that one hundred and thirty-four negroes, that had been set free by Friends, had, by a law made in North Carolina in 1777, been seized and reduced again to bondage. This stirred bitter opposition. Harper, of South Carolina, declared that it was not the first. second or third time that the house had been troubled by such applications, and that they had a very dan- gerous tendency. Thacher, of Massachusetts, said, that if people were aggrieved, they would not be like- ly to stop until the house took some action, if it were seventy times seven. Rutledge, of South Carolina, fa- vored a strong censure, such as a set of men ought to meet, "who are incessantly importuning Congress to interfere with a business, with which, by the Constitu- tion, they have no concern." He was for laying the memorial on the table or under the table, that the house might have done with the business, "not to-day, but forever." But they were not done with the business forever, and if slavery remained, they never would be, while the right of petition was open and there were any Friends living under the American flag. Theirs was a voice never to be silenced, while the sound of a chain was heard, Dr. David Gregg, in his little
.
47
book, "The Quakers as Makers of America," says, "History can ask no grander illustration of the power of protest than Quaker life on American soil. Why is it that there is no African slavery to-day within our borders? It is because the Quakers as early as 1688 issued their protest against slavery, and kept it issued until the nation was educated up to the emancipation proclamation. But mark this: They invested their all in their protest. They meant it, and they made the American people feel that they meant it."
In Virginia, the heart of the slave country, Friends bore faithful testimony on the subject. One of the most faithful workers here was Robert Pleasants, who was President of the Manumission Society, organized in 1790. Through his interposition in courts of law, he was the means of procuring liberty for several hun- dred slaves. He wrote letters to Washington, Madi- son and Patrick Henry on the subject of slavery, and received favorable and kindly replies from all. Pat- rick Henry says, "Believe me, I shall honor the Quak- ers for their noble efforts to abolish slavery. It is a debt we owe to the purity of our religion, to show that it is at variance with a law that warrants slavery."
There was a time when Friends had much power and influence in the state of North Carolina, and a number of their members held offices of trust. Steph- en D. Weeks speaks of the time when John Arch- dale was governor, as the "golden age of Quakerism," here, but with the increasing power of slavery and their testimony against it, they met severe opposition. In spite of their petitions to the Legislature and other efforts, a harsh act was passed in 1779 that struck a heavy blow to their work in the interest of colored people, that they had been carrying forward so hope- fully. From this time on, they found themselves com- bated more and more strongly by the slave power.
Slavery and Quakerism could not agree, and it is not to be wondered at, that when the Northwest Ter- ritory was opened up, declaring that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" should exist "except as a punishment for a crime," they set their faces to- ward the new territory. Many of them sold their land for less than its real value. On horse-back, in wag- ons, over mountains, wading rivers, they came by hun- dreds and settled in Ohio, Indiana and other states. I am told that there are thirty-five thousand Friends in Indiana. What Quaker home in Ohio and Indiana
48
has not its legends concerning the departure? Their watchword was, "Away from the land of slavery." The exodus of Friends from the South, on account of slavery, presents one of the most pathetic scenes in American History. The number of those that mi- grated amounted to thousands. Almost all left Georgia and South Carolina. Great numbers left Virginia, and her numbers were so weakened that Virginia Yearly Meeting was laid down, after it had existed for al- most a century and a half. In its place, the Half Yearly Meeting was established, that reports to Bal- timore.
While the South lost some of its best citizens by the removal, those that came north to Ohio and Indi- ana, had much to do in making them the strong, liberty loving states they became. In Indiana, deter- mined effort was made to introduce slavery into the Territory : and the Friends, by their persistent efforts, -working through "Log Conventions" and in every possible way, furnished much of the agitation, that succeeded in driving back the pro-slavery sentiments in the growth of the young state. Theodore Clark Smith says, "Wherever the Quakers settled, we can trace the anti-slavery agitation."
These settlements in the North also became centers for the underground railroad. When this myster- ious institution began its work no one can tell, but before 1800, it is known, that numbers of slaves escap- ed from the South, quietly crossing the line into the free states, and Friends aided them on their way to Canada. There were regular stations, with men as careful as any salaried conductors could be. These men risked property and, in many cases, their lives, for the one sole purpose of benefiting humanity, with no hope of popularity or money. They recognized a law higher than the law of state, and would be true to principle at any cost. They were accused of being disloyal to the government, and were opposed and often persecuted for their faithfulness in this matter. But now, how changed! They are looked upon by many as the glorified in American History, because they sacrificed so much for what they believed to be right. We have not time to go into details on this interesting subject, or even to mention the leaders.
The way Friends dealt with the question, both in the North and South, forms the basis of a very in- teresting study. In the Southern states it was against
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.