USA > Ohio > Miami County > West Milton > Centennial anniversary of West Branch Monthly Meeting of Friends, 1807-1907 > Part 7
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In spite of all the efforts to hold fast the ancient or- der we are conscious here today that somewhere in the course of the Nineteenth Century, a great change came over the spirit and the form of Quakerism. It is not any purpose here either to praise or blame those who brought about that change, but no one who would un- derstand Quakerism at the beginning of the Twen- tieth Century can afford to ignore the causes and ex- tent of the change in the middle of the Nineteenth. The change began in the reaction from Hicksism. Stirred by the Hicksite separation among Friends in America, certain English Friends, among whom Joseph John Gurney and Hannah Backhouse were perhaps the most prominent, came to this country in order to establish the Friends more thoroughly in the knowledge of the Scriptures. The earlier Friends had been afraid to attempt to either teach or read the Scriptures publicly for fear of interfering with the Spirit's work. The consequent ignorance of the Bible had paved the way for Hicksism and Elias Hicks' depreciation of the Bible stirred Friends to a renewed sense of its value. Joseph John Gurney had been influenced by the "Low Church" school of theology in England, and introduced among Friends in this country a greater regard for the ex- ternal authority of Scripture. Now this new attitude towards the Scriptures, while of incalculable value to the Society, resulting as it did in Bible schools and in the use of the Scriptures in preaching and public wor- ship, was nevertheless, the camel's nose in the tent of Nineteenth Century Quakerism, which resulted ulti- mately in the bringing in of the whole beast of external influences. One cannot compare our present attitude with that of the early Nineteenth Century without real- izing how thorough a revolution we have undergone. The early Quakerism was strict as to externals but very careful not to dictate to the individual in matters of the Spirit, whereas the Quakerism at the end of the Nineteenth Century had become indifferent as to ex-
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ternals, but dogmatic in matters of faith and worship. When we come to study the sources of these changes, we find that practically all of them came from outside the Society. They were always regarded as importa- tions into the Society by the elders, who uniformly op- posed these changes when they first appeared. Aside from the new evangelical influence in Gurney, the in- fluences which changed the Society came mostly from the Methodists. The relation of the Wesleyan move- ment to the history of the Society of Friends is a most interesting one. John Wesley and George Fox had very much in common in their methods of proclaiming the Gospel and in their ideas of personal salvation. It is often asserted that if George Fox and his fellow workers had been alive in the middle of the Eighteenth Century, they would have done the work which Wesley did. But in the century that intervened between Fox and Wesley, the Friends had turned their attention to perfecting their organization, healing the wounds of persecution and preserving their testimonies. When the revival of religious interest which permeated all classes of the English people about the middle of the Eighteenth Century, touched the Friends, instead of inclining them to renew the evangelistic work of Fox, and to attempt again to gather another harvest from the English people, their renewed religious zeal took the form of building up and enforcing the discipline, and so the new generation of men, who had been pre- pared by the discipline of history for a more spiritual and vital religion, was reached by John Wesley and gathered and organized into the Methodist Church. The evidences of the Methodist influence in effecting the change in Nineteenth Century Quakerism are easily found. Here I may only mention some which have come under my own observation. In the first place the Methodists exercised a profound influence upon our theology. This is to be seen in the gradual sup- planting of our Quaker standards of doctrine. The
old works ceased to be used in our instruction.
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became very much afraid of the doctrine of the In- ner Light, and the change from the older Quaker theology was so great in certain quarters that today Barclay and Penn are emphatically said to have been unsound. That it was the Methodist theology which supplanted this older Quaker system of doctrine is seen from the fact that some of our leading evangel- ists in this movement were born Methodists. (See
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Reminiscences of. Nathan and Esther Frame, pp. 38, 39, 52.) A couple of years ago, I was reading an ar- ticle in "The American Journal of Theology," on re- cent changes in Methodist theology. As I read, I had a strange feeling that I was in some way familiar with the authors mentioned as standard Methodist writers on theology. The feeling puzzled me because I did not think I had ever read Methodist theological writ- ings. All at once the suspicion flashed into my mind as to the real facts in the case. Laying aside the magazine, I walked around to the shelves in the Earl- ham Library where were kept the works on systematic theology, which Dr. Dougan Clark had placed in the library as reference works, and there they were, the books which were cited in the article as works of stand- ard Methodist writers. Fields' Handbook of The- ology was once used as a text-book at Earlham. It will be remembered that a few years ago, the "Soul Winner," in an effort to prolong its life, fused with the "Life Line," a paper edited by a Methodist, and the two were published together for a little while. Turn- ing from theology to methods of religious work and worship, we find the same Methodist influence. The mourner's bench was borrowed directly, and the feel- ing that so many of the first evangelists expressed,- that it was impossible to have a good evangelistic meeting without singing, is due to the same ideal of evangelistic work. (See Reminiscences of Nathan and Esther Frame, pp. 38. 39, 52.) We find along with this, a movement towards water baptism. The dis- tinction which has been quite commonly heard in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century between Quaker- ism and the gospel is due to the fact that the modern preaching and methods of work and worship are felt to be something different from the original Quakerism which they supplanted. To the older Friends, Quaker- ism was the gospel, and none of them would ever have said as our present day preachers occasionally do, that he "cared more for the gospel than for Ouaker- ism." It was only when those outside influences brought in a method of studving and practising the gospel different from Quakerism that the distinction was made. We find likewise that the Methodist in- fluence is shown in the tendency towards a "one-man" pastoral system. That some sort of pastoral care would be needed after the great revival was quite evi- dent, but it is just as evident that the particular shape
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towards which our pastoral system tended was fur- nished by the example of the Episcopal system of the Methodists.
While the predominant influence in the changes which Nineteenth Century Quakerismn underwent came from the Methodists, other evangelical influences have certainly entered in. This is especially true of the literature which we have read. The literature which has fed the thought and shaped the religious ideals of our Society for a generation has been almost wholly of non-Quaker origin. The sermons of Moody, Tal- mage and Spurgeon, Matthew Henry's Commentary and C. H. M.'s "Notes on the Pentateuch" constituted the staple diet for many of our ministers. Until quite recently our Sunday School "helps" were prepared by men who were not Friends. The publishers for the United Brethren, the Protestant Methodists and the Quakers joined together and one set of "helps" was prepared for all. The only difference between the Friends' Quarterly and that used by the other denom- inations lay in the covers and in the fact that when- ever there was a lesson on the ordinances, something else was substituted for it in the copy which bore the name Friends' Quarterly. Another result of these foreign influences was the tendency towards a definite creed as a basis of fellowship. The early Friends made a great struggle to free themselves from bondage to a creed and to win the right of a free conscience and free belief, but during the last half of the Nineteenth Century there was a steady movement towards making adherence to a definite body of doctrine a condition of good standing in the Society of Friends. English Friends travelling in America are especially struck by this tendency among us. You will remember that the chief objection to the uniform discipline in the west- ern Yearly Meetings was that its statement of doctrine was not full and rigid enough, and that most of the Yearly Meetings only adopted the discipline with the understanding that the Richmond Declaration of Faith and George Fox's Letter to the Governor of Barbadoes were to be included and printed with it. Along with these changes in thought and methods, there was a great revival of life and power and a very great growth in numbers. The end of the Nineteenth Cen- tury thus left us free from bondage to the traditions of the past in an attitude to receive all that seems to us good from every Christian source, and with a large
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membership who are in a position where we may legiti- mately try to Quakerize them if we decide that Quak- erism is still worth while.
I have shown at considerable length the outside in- fluences which produced the great changes in the lat- ter half of the Nineteenth Century. The tendency of these changes was to obliterate all those traits which had constituted distinguishing peculiarities of Friends. If these changes had gone on unchecked, the logical result would have been that we would have become simply a small denomination practising a rather color- less type of evangelical Christianity. But the old Quaker principles were still among us, represented by our ancient literature and by the conservative spirit of our older members, ready to influence us if ever again we turned to the study of our past and tried to correct our practice by it. The close of the Nineteenth Cen- tury witnessed a very decided reaction towards the es- sential principles of Quakerism. This reaction was al- most contemporary with the great shift of population in this country from the country to the cities. In the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, the cities of our country underwent a very rapid growth, until to- day they contain half the population of our country and thoroughly dominate our life. Now the Quakerism of the early Nineteenth Century was rural, and Quak- erism remained so practically through the century. Friends do not seem to have had the faculty of build- ing their meeting houses where cities were going to grow up, and in the shift of population to the cities, the Society of Friends lost a whole generation. The changes that had come over the Society had brought in a spirit of interdenominationalism and our younger members did not feel that there was any essential dif- ference between Quakerism and the other simple evan- gelical churches, so that when they moved into the cities where there was no Friends' meeting, they did not feel that it was worth while to undertake the sacri- fices necessary to establish and carry on a struggling, small Friends' meeting when they could go to large and influential Methodist or Presbyterian or Baptist churches, which were already there. But at the close of the century there was a revival of the study of the history and literature that is distinctive of Quakerism, and the immediate result of this influence of our past was to put a check. to the tendency to accept without modification the general form of protestantism about
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us. A careful study of the Quinquennial Conferences, which were the forerunners of the Five Years' Meet- ing, shows that each of them was characterized by a reaction from some extreme tendency away from Quakerism. The principal question at the Richmond Conference in 1887 was whether Friends should adopt the practice of the ordinances or not, and the Declara- tion of Faith which the Conference adopted reaffirmed our ancient position against them. The tendency towards a monarchical ministry brought that question to an issue in the Indianapolis Conference of 1892, and the decision of the Conference was a reaffirmation of our former position in favor of congregational free- dom in worship, and a form of pastoral care which did not bestow governing powers on the minister. In 1897, the most important question was whether we should have one type of Quakerism and preserve the organic unity of the Society, or whether each Yearly Meeting should go on its way developing an individu- ality of faith and practice of its own. The decision of the Conference was in favor of unity, and the adop- tion of the uniform discipline and establishment of the Five Years' Meeting was the result. The first Five Years' Meeting, in 1902, was mainly concerned with the organization of its departments of work and the determination of their powers and duties, but the ques- tion of freedom of thought and of our attitude towards theological systems came prominently before the meet- ing, and while there was no definite action taken, the refusal of the meeting to commit itself to any definite doctrinal standard, put a check upon the tendency to- wards a creedal basis of fellowship.
We have passed in review the striking characteristics of the Quakerism of the Nineteenth Century. It was a century of progress for us. In spite of exceptions here and there, we have been willing to learn and to grow. Throughout the century, the Society has been composed mainly of men and women of great earnest- ness. The Society has escaped the perils of dead forms and binding traditions, and has demonstrated that it is able to go on and keep pace with the progress of life. It was a great work for it to cast off its grave-clothes, to build new churches, and to convert and gather in multitudes of men and women. If in the Twentienth Century we are able to show the same spirit of sacrifice for that which we hold to be true and right, if we show the same earnestness in seeking
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for that which is best, if we continue to have adapta- bility to changing conditions and capacity for growth in numbers and power, and if at the same time we can profit by our past mistakes. there is a future for our Society greater than has been its past.
SEVENTH DAY, 9 30 A. M. BRANCHES THAT HAVE SPRUNG FROM WEST BRANCH.
BY ELI JAY, RICHMOND, IND.
The "Branches that have sprung from West Branch" are understood to be the meetings of various kinds that, directly or indirectly, have been derived from it. As the only boundaries limiting its territory were the Big Miami on the east and the Ohio River on the south, it would appear that all the Friends' meetings that have been established north and west of these rivers, to the Pacific Ocean, would make up the branches to be inquired about. It will be best in con- sidering these, to enumerate them in the larger groups of Quarterly Meetings, so that our attention shall not be confused by the multitude of small meetings estab- lished in the last hundred years.
In 1809 Whitewater Monthly Meeting in Wayne County, Indiana, about 40 miles west, and in 1811 Mill Creek, four miles east, were set off from West Branch and established by Miami Quarterly Meeting, Warren County, Ohio. This Quarterly Meeting had been tak- en from Redstone Quarterly Meeting in Pennsylvania and with its approval established by Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and opened at Waynesville, Ohio, Fifth Mo. 12th, 1809. It was composed of four Monthly Meet- ings, Miami, 1803, West Branch, 1807. Centre, 1807, and Fairfield, 1807.
I. Sixth Mo. 13, 1812, West Branch Quarterly Meeting set off from Miami Quarterly Meeting and established by Baltimore Yearly Meeting, was opened, to be held alternately at West Branch and Whitewater, composed of four Monthly Meetings, West Branch, 1807, Whitewater. 1809, Elk. 1809, and Mill Creek, 18II. West Branch Quarterly Meeting is now con- posed of two Monthly Meetings and has a member- ship of 553.
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2. Whitewater Quarterly Meeting set off from West Branch and established by it, and Ohio Yearly Meeting, was opened at Richmond, Indiana, First Mo. 4, 1817. It was composed of two Monthly Meetings, Whitewater, 1809, and New Garden, set off from Whitewater and established by it, and West Branch Quarterly Meeting and opened in 1815. Since its opening Whitewater Quarterly Meeting has taken part in establishing fifteen Monthly Meetings, and five Quarterly Meetings. Ten of these Monthly Meetings were taken in establishing the five Quarterly Meetings, one was attached to another Quarterly Meeting, and two small ones in Florida have been laid down, leav- ing four, its present number with a membership of 1600.
3. In 1818 Blue River Quarterly Meeting, set off from West Branch, and established by it and Ohio Yearly Meeting, was opened composed of two Monthly Meetings, Lick Creek in Orange County, Indiana, set off from Whitewater in 1813, and Blue River in Wash- ington County, Indiana, set off from Lick Creek in 1815 and each established by West Branch Quarterly Meeting.
(The following Quarterly Meetings were established by Indiana Yearly Meeting with the approval of the Quarterly Meeting from which it was taken. The date following the name of the meeting is the year of its opening.)
4. New Garden Quarterly Meeting, set off from Whitewater, composed of two Monthly Meetings, New Garden, 1815, and Cherry Grove, 1821, was opened in the northern part of Wayne County, Indiana, First Mo., 1823, now composed of three Monthly Meetings and has a membership of 862.
5. Westfield Quarterly Meeting for Friends in Preble County, Ohio, and Union County, Indiana, com- posed of three Monthly Meetings, two of them, Elk, 1809, and Westfield, 1821, from West Branch Quar- terly Meeting, and one Silver Creek, 1817, since 1834 called Salem, from Whitewater Quarterly Meeting, was opened in Third Mo., 1825. It is now composed of two Monthly Meetings, Elk and Salem, and has a membership of 295.
6. White Lick Quarterly Meeting, set off from Blue River. was opened in Second Mo .. 1831, composed of four Monthly Meetings. White Lick, 1824, and Fair- field, 1827, both in Hendricks County, Indiana, Bloom-
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ingdale, 1828, in Parke County, and Vermilion, 1827, in Vermilion County, Indiana.
7. Bloomingdale Quarterly, set off from White Lick, was opened in Second Mo., 1836, in Parke Coun- ty, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Vermilion, 1827, Bloomingdale, 1828, and Sugar River, 1831.
8. Spiceland Quarterly Meeting for Friends in Henry and Rush Counties, set off from Whitewater, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Duck Creek, 1826, Spiceland, 1833, and Walnut Ridge, in Rush County, 1836, was opened at Spiceland in Third Mo., 1840, to be held alternately at Spiceland and Walnut Ridge. Now four Monthly Meetings, membership 2307.
9. Northern, now Fairmount Quarterly Meeting, Grant County, Indiana, set off from New Garden, was opened Third Mo., 1841, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Mississmawa, 1833, and Back Creek, 1838. It now has five Monthly Meetings and a membership of 2220.
IO. Salem Quarterly Meeting, Henry County, Iowa, set off from Bloomingdale, Indiana. was opened in Fifth Mo., 1848, composed of two Monthly Meet- ings. Salem, 1839, and Pleasant Plain, 1843, both in Henry County, Iowa.
II. Union Quarterly Meeting, Hamilton County, Indiana, set off from White Lick, was opened in Sec- ond Mo., 1849, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Westfield, 1836, and Richland, 1841.
12. Concord, now Thornton Quarterly Meeting, set off from Bloomingdale and Fairmount, was opened Fifth Mo., 1852, composed of four Monthly Meetings, Sugar River, 1831, Sugar Plain, 1841, Greenfield, 1844. and Honey Creek, 1847.
13. Pleasant Plain Quarterly Meeting, Henry County. Iowa, set off from Salem, was opened in Fifth Mo .. 1854, composed of four Monthly Meetings, Pleas- ant Plain. 1843. Richland, 1851, Spring Creek, 1851, and Three Rivers, 1852.
14. Red Cedar, now West Branch Quarterly, Red Cedar County. Iowa, set off from Salem, was opened Fifth Mo., 1858, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Red Cedar, 1853, Winniskirk, 1855, and Blooming- ton, 1856.
15. Western Plain, now Bangor Quarterly Meet- ing. Marshall County, Iowa, set off from Pleasant Plain, was opened Sixth Mo., 1858, composed of two
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Monthly Meetings, Western Plain, 1855, and West- land, 1856.
16. South River, now Ackworth Quarterly Meet- ing, Warren and Clinton Counties, Iowa, set off from Pleasant Plain, was opened Third Mo., 1860, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Bear River and Three Rivers.
17. Kansas, now Springdale Quarterly Meeting in northeastern Kansas, set off from Whitewater, Ind., and Ackworth, Iowa, was opened Third Mo., 1862, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Kansas, 1860, Spring Grove, 1860, and Cottonwood, 1861.
18. Wabash Quarterly Meeting, Wabash and Am- boy, Indiana, set off from Fairmount, was opened Third Mo., 1865, composed of three Monthly Meet- ings, Wabash, 1857, Amboy, 1853, and Birch Lake, Michigan, 1841, now has four Monthly Meetings and a membership of 971.
19. Walnut Ridge Quarterly Meeting, Rush Coun- ty, Indiana, set off from Spiceland, was opened Second Mo., 1867, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Wal- nut Ridge, 1836, and Carthage, 1866. It now has five Monthly Meetings and a membership of 1617.
20. Cottonwood Quarterly Meeting, Cottonwood County, Kansas, set off from Springdale, was opened Third Mo., 1868, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Cottonwood, 1861, and Toledo, 1867.
21. Spring River Quarterly Meeting, in southwest- ern Missouri and southeastern Kansas, set off from Springdale, was opened Sixth Mo., 1869, with two Monthly Meetings, Spring River, 1867, in Kansas and Union, 1868, near Carthage, Missouri.
22. Hesper Quarterly Meeting, in Douglas and Johnson Counties, Kansas, set off from Springdale, was opened in Third Mo., 1870, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Spring Grove, 1860, and Spring- field, 1864.
23. Marion Quarterly Meeting, Marion, Indiana, set off from Fairmount, was opened in Third Mo., 1872, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Mississ- mawa, 1833, and Deer Creek, 1869. It now has six Monthly Meetings and a membership of 1607.
24. Winchester Quarterly Meeting, Winchester, Indiana, set off from New Garden, was opened in Seventh Mo., 1874, composed of three Monthly Meet- ings, Cherry Grove, 1821, White River, 1824, and Pop-
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lar Run, 18 -. It now has eight Monthly Meetings and a membership of 4323.
25. Vandalia Quarterly Meeting, Cass County, Michigan, set off from Wabash, was opened in Second Mo., 1887. It now has five Monthly Meetings and a membership of 259.
26. Dublin Quarterly Meeting, in the western part of Wayne and eastern part of Henry Counties, set off from Whitewater, was opened in Second Mo., 1888, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Dublin, former- ly Milford, 1823, Springfield, 1820, and Hopewell, 1841. It still has the same, with a membership of 1183.
27. Van Wert Quarterly Meeting, Van Wert, Ohio, set off from West Branch, was opened in Fifth Mo., 1889, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Van Wert, 1875, Middle Point, 1881, and Friends Chapel, 1885. It now has two Monthly Meetings and a membership of 804.
28. Long Lake, now Traverse City Quarterly Meeting, set off from Vandalia, was opened at Tra- verse City, Michigan, First Mo., 1892, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Long Lake, 1881, Pleasant Grove, 1886, and Manton, 1890. It now has five Monthly Meetings with a membership of 468.
29. Eastern Quarterly Meeting, held alternately at Cincinnati and Selma, Ohio, set off from Miami, was opened in Second Mo., 1892, composed of two Monthly Meetings, Cincinnati, 1815, and Greenplain, Selma, Ohio, 1821, still has the same Monthly Meetings with a membership of 296.
30. Puget Sound Quarterly Meeting, Seattle, Washington, set off from Winchester, Indiana, and Newberg, Oregon, was opened in Ninth Mo., 1907, composed of three Monthly Meetings, Seattle, Tacoma and Everett and a membership of 290.
Yearly Meetings derived, in part, from West Branch Monthly Meeting :
I. Indiana Yearly Meeting set off from Ohio Year- ly Meeting, was opened at Richmond, Indiana, the 8th of Tenth Mo., 1821, composed of five Quarterly Meetings, Miami, 1809; West Branch. 1812 ; Fairfield, 1815 .; Whitewater, 1817, and Blue River, 1818. In addition to these five Quarterly Meetings, Indiana Yearly Meeting has established twenty-eight Quarterly Meetings (28) making in all thirty-three. Of these five were taken to constitute Western Yearly Meeting
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in 1858, five to constitute Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1863, four to constitute Kansas Yearly Meeting in 1872, and three to constitute Wilmington Yearly Meet- ing in 1892, leaving sixteen, the present number of Quarterly Meetings now constituting Indiana Yearly Meeting with 19,626 members in sixty-four monthly meetings and one hundred thirty-nine particular meet- ings.
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