USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > New Garden > Two hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Friends meeting at New Garden, Chester County, Pennsylvania > Part 1
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Gc 974.802 N4215f 1822064
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02232 3007
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/twohundredthanni00newg
1715-1915 M
TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT of
The Friends Meeting AT
NEW GARDEN. CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA Pa.
SEVENTH DAY NINTH MONTH EIGHTEENTH
1822064
COMMITTEE IN CHARGE OF CELEBRATION
Those appointed by the preparative meetings, both branches of the society :
Ezra Webster, Chairman.
Ethel P. Jefferis, Secretary.
Phebe S. Gawthrop, Martha M. Thompson, Amos Barnard, Jennie H. Jefferis, Lawrence Thompson, Elma Webster, Sarah Moore Cooper, Truman Cooper.
Program-1. Frank Chandler, Elma M. Preston, Truman Cooper.
Publicity and Invitation-Elma M. Preston, Amos Barnard, Nathan P. Walton.
Transportation-Ezra J. Webster, Lawrence Thompson.
Preparation of House and Grounds-E. Wharton Short- lidge, Benjamin Walton, Lewis T. Brown, Edward O. Thomas, Harold T. Cooper, W. Lewis Schrader, H. Llewellyn Chandler, Howard Pratt, Walter E. Schrader, Ellwood Webster.
Providing Lunch-Sarah Moore Cooper, Ethel P. Jefferis, Annie I. Pusey, Anna B. Cooper, Jennie H. Jefferis.
Souvenir-Benjamin Walton, S . Anna Chandler, Eva Wright Wollaston.
Treasurer-Lawrence Thompson.
NEW GARDEN MEETING, WHERE ANNIVERSARY WAS CELEBRATED
INTRODUCTION
In compiling a book to make a record of such an event as the 200th Anniversary of a little religious meeting established by a little group of plain people in almost a forest country ; a little group of men and women, quiet and unassuming in their demeanor ; plain, outspoken and direct in their communications, simple and so-called "peculiar" in their garb and all their habits of life, the query naturally arises why did we of this generation think this at all worth while? It meant much thought to make it a success, much time in the preparation, taken from the pressing activities of our busy, present day lives, was it really worth while was a grave question with some.
The answer came back to the descendants of this little group of 200 years ago, still living in this community, in other queries. Was it worth while for them to brave the hardships recited in the history found in this little volume to establish this New Garden Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends? Was it worth while for them to separate themselves from the well established churches and go back to the simplicity of wor- ship taught by the great founder of Christianity and seek the freedom of this new country and build a little log house where they might meet and mingle for spiritual uplift? Was it true that "As iron sharpeneth iron so doth the countenance of a man his friend?
They believed it was. They found comfort and soul eleva- tion sufficient to bring them long distances through great hard- ships thus to meet together while the world outside exclaimed "See how those Quakers love one another."
With these queries stirring the minds of Friends and friendly people of this neighborhood the answer seemed to come clear that it is worth while for us to mark this 200th milestone in some appropriate way, hence the appointment of ten Friends ( five from each branch) in 5th month, 1915, with power to add to their numbers and appoint sub-committees to perfect the plans and carry them to execution. How well they wrought must be left to those who gathered at New Garden on that perfect autumnal day and to those who carefully peruse these pages.
That it was worth while for those pioneer Friends who settled within the then far-reaching limits of the quaint littk.
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meeting house at New Garden is our belief, because they based their faith on foundations, that two centuries have not shaken and the influence of their lives has been passed from genera- tion to generation until we of the present day sometimes feel that our kinship and fellowship with them is closest when our aspirations are keenest to make our journey through life truly worth while, when our soul longings are deepest for a closer touch with and surer guidance by the Divine spark which they felt would illumine every human life that turned to it for counsel. If their dependence upon this "light within," their belief in the fatherhood of God for every man and woman and the universal brotherhood of mankind were strengthened by assembling together it surely was worth while.
If their conselling together helped them to be more active and firm in the promotion of the principles of peace and good will, the equality of the sexes, the moderate use of all things useful and abstinence from all things hurtful, so far as their knowledge went, if it helped them in daily living and practice of those qualities that make for the sanctity of the home, the betterment of the community and hence the righteousness of the nation and the whole world, it emphatically was worth while.
To the Friends of this locality since that time it has seemed worth while to continue to hold these meeting to mingle to- gether, to counsel together at the same old place and we of this generation believing it has been good for them and for us, felt impelled to show our appreciation of our inheritance at the beginning of another century.
The whole community response to help was so hearty that in accordance with that spirit and feeling the committee found encouragement to send out over 2000 of the following invita- tions.
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New Garden Friends' Meeting House Built in 1743. View as in 1850.
THE PLACE-New Garden Meeting House.
THE TIME-Ninth Month 18th, 1915. ALL DAY.
THE EVENT-OUR 200th BIRTHDAY.
WHO'S INVITED ?- Thee is our special guest.
WHO'S COMING ?- Thee and all thy friends.
WHAT'S DOING ?- Just Lots -- Memoirs of 200 mighty years, their events, their people; chronicles of those gone, rec- ollections by those here, original brevities by those just com- ing, visions and ideals of New Garden and Quakerism in the centuries yet to be -- all by domestic and imported folks who know what they know, know how to tell it, and know how to quit when they have it told.
You need not bring lunch. Buy it from us. Philadelphia Caterer.
Will meet you at Toughkenamon.
EZRA WEBSTER, Toughkenamon, Pa.
Chairman Committee of Arrangements. .
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When the real work of preparation for the welcome and accommodation of our guests began was the time that the help- ful spirit of the community was proven. The platform and seating capacity under the dear old trees, the trimming and decoration of the platform and the artistic booth for the regis- tration and also the sale of badges, pictures, and "Quaker Ladies" showed the work of willing hands; the twenty autos so cordially granted to the transportation committee, the two auto trucks of provisions, ample for a crowd, brought by the caterer, Isaiah W. Linton, of Philadelphia, and the crowning of all by the ideal day caused hearts to rejoice when the grounds were made so thoroughly alive by what was estimated to be about 2000 people, 1356 having registered in response to the invitation.
The program as given you will find in the following pages. It is now left for us who aided in any way in the preparation of the day's proceedings or partook of the results of that pre- paration to prove whether this anniversary celebration was indeed worth while. Have our ideals for true living here and now been enlarged? Are we stronger and braver to reach those ideals? As we know each other better do we love each other more? Has that love a broader horizon for its boundary helping us to a keener sense of justice and fair dealing with all people in every station of life?
Will our answer to these questions be, without hesitation, "Yes, it was worth while."
ELMA M. PRESTON.
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FRIENDS MEETING. BUILT IN 1830
PROGRAM
1715-BI-CENTENNIAL-1915 NEW GARDEN FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE SEVENTH DAY, NINTH MONTH 18, 1915. Program 10:00 A. M.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME, I. Frank Chandler, Toughkenamon, Pa.
RESPONSE Benjamin F. Whitson, Moylan, Pa.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF NEW GARDEN MEETING- Sarah Moore Cooper, Avondale, Pa. ADDRESS-"The Promise of the Eearly Friends"- Francis R. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa. POEM, by Mary L. Barnard-Read by Eugene Barnard Nelson SCRAPS OF FAMILY HISTORY. Augustus Brosius, Avondale, Pa. RECITATION-"The Quaker Widow" ( Bayard Taylor )- Mary B. Cooper, West Grove, Pa.
2:00 P. M.
REMARKS . . Zebedee Haines, West Grove, Pa. (Zebedee Haines was prevented from being present at the Anniversary on account of sickness.)
JUST A WORD FROM OUR LITTLE FOLKS-
In charge of Mary H. Tudor, Avondale, Pa.
ADDRESS-"Our Opportunities and Responsibilities"- J. Barnard Walton, Philadelphia, Pa. PERSONAL REFERENCES AND INCIDENTS --
Truman Cooper, Avondale, Pa. ADDRESS-"The Forces that Make for Unity in the Churches" -- J. Mason Wells, Kennett Square, Pa.
FOEM-A Concert Exercise -- "We've All Our Angel Side"- First-day School Class of Young Folks.
OFFICERS
TRUMAN COOPER, Chairman. I. FRANK CHANDLER, Vice Chairman; (who presided at the afternoon session.) ETHEL. P. JEFFERIS, Secretary.
READING FROM THE SCRIPTURES AND GREETING
BY TRUMAN COOPER, AVONDALE, PA., CHAIRMAN.
"Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater :
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which [ please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."
Friends-We greet you not only as our guests today, but as guests to the memory of your departed ancestors, who aided in the founding of New Garden Friends Meeting.
Your presence in such large numbers brings gladness to those who have been active in the arrangement for this Bi- Centennial celebration-here's a grand reunion of families, friends and churches.
Some of you have left your homes early and journeyed far to be with us this morning; we trust at your departure when the day is done, it will not be with a sense of disap- pointment.
There are among you the faces of very many who were familiar at New Garden more than forty year ago. It's the home of your childhood that welcomes you back. It's your fore-father's land-and that land has much to be thankful for. In all its past years of civilization it has never been torn by battles or blood-hed, it has never been bowed in sorrow by pestilence or famine.
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The subject-matter which has been prepared for our en- tertainment today, has been gleaned with care, but doubtless you will observe errors, and omissions as well, for which we will beg the indulgence .of your charity when criticising.
The purpose of our thus observing the present anniver -. sary is that it shall be an occasion of entertainment, of in- struction, and that the bonds of our Christian Brotherhood shall be strengthened by it.
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ADDRESS OF WELCOME
Today, Friends, we meet to commemorate the 200th anni- versary of this meeting, and upon me has devolved the pleasant duty of extending to you a greeting.
This occasion to me, Friends, is an inspiring one and when I look around and about me, I naturally wonder what I can say that will make this welcome warmer and more hospitable.
The softened faces of our older friends, the beaming coun- tenances of those in the middle walks of life, and our younger friends, ever joyous and gay, all of these willing and ready to do their duty wherever way may open; these speak to me of a welcome louder than any words of mine can tell. It is true, friends, that the little primitive meeting houses, scattered here and there throughout our land, like our public schools, have wielded a beneficial influence in shaping the characters and moulding the Christian lives of many who have gone forth from these, making them worth while, by achieving prominence in their chosen localities and vocations.
Everything that tends to make a nation powerful, a people intelligent, progressive, respected, is embodied in the principles and testimonies of the Society of Friends. Among these is temperance, which today is stirring the country from coast to coast, likewise the cause of equal suffrage giving to our wives and sisters and mothers the same rights as given to men, and above all that of peace. How happy, how thankful all should be, that we have at the head of this United States a man who holds most dear and near to his heart that principle of Peace, one of the fundamentals of the Society, as against war and preparations therefore.
Friends, we meet today not as members of any one re- ligious denomination, for I see before me many of other re- ligious faiths, and we are glad that you are here and we greet you all as friends. Many of you have left kind friends, com- fortable homes, travelled long distances to help share in the festivities of this day. May this be a pleasant recollection to refer to in by-gone years; may you not be disappointed in the realization of what you expected to see and hear on this 200th anniversary.
Such meetings as these, are opportunities for meeting old friends and renewing by-gone fancies and recollections. Many
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new acquaintances will be made and impressions left on the mind that will either elevate or lower us in the estimation of our friends.
This union of forces, with different ideas and interchange of sentiments, make us better men and women, with a broader and keener sense of view; more liberal in our judgment, and more willing to forgive, as well as forget.
There are many here today outside the doors of any re- ligious faith. We extend to them the right hand of fellowship, hoping that this day will find you working with others in some religious organization for the advancement of God's kingdom here on earth. Of yourself little can be done; in unity of pur- pose there is strength.
Do we as Friends, as followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, realize the great responsibility that rests on us individu- ally? Do we know that the profession we make, if truthfully, honestly, and justly applied, is in direct accordance with the will of God and will lead us into paths of peace and righteous-
And now, friends, when you go from here may you count this day pleasantly and profitably passed; may all of us have ich the touch of the Divine in our presence today. Again I say, welcome to all.
I. FRANK CHANDLER.
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RESPONSE
BY BENJAMIN F. WHITSON
T HE response to the welcome that has been extended to us is apparent without any expression of words from me. The presence here this morning of so many from other localities, who have come because of former residence in this vicinity, or associations that are dear to them, is proof that we believed we should be welcome whether anything were said about it or not. Surely it is cause for gratitude when in the spirit of good will, old neighbors and friends are summoned to meet together and "renew their youth," on a spot dedicated to religion, and for a purpose fundamentally religious.
Just what expression from me would be proper under these benign circumstances has been the subject of considerable thought with me. But, as your Committee has given me neither limitations nor instructions, perhaps it is permissable for me to be quite informal, and to say just what I feel in my heart to say.
My memory runs back to the day when Mark Hughes and Priscilla Hoopes were married in the other Friends' Meeting House down the road a little way. I was quite a small chap at that time, and didn't know any better than to go without having been formally invited. But I was a member, and the meeting was a regular mid-week meeting, and so I had a right to be there. The house was so crowded, however, that I came near sharing the fate of some big folks who could not get inside.
That was forty years ago and the first wedding I had ever attended. My thoughts about religion and about men and women were less analytical than now. I gathered impressions rather than ideas. I have no recollection of any words that were expressed, but I was a keen observer of deportment. Probably it would be indelicate for me to say much on this public occasion regarding my childish observations and inter- rogations. But there was one thing in particular that all thru my childhood and youth I never understood. It was this, Why should we be so decided in our choice of the particular meet- ing house we should go to, and why should we regard it as wrong to go to other meetings? We used to drive twice each
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week to a Friends' Meeting six miles distant, when, in a pretty little. grove of oak trees, less than half a mile from our gate, was a Friends' Meeting that, so far as I could see, was just as good (or bad, if that is what one ought to say.) My parents never set me wise to these secrets. It may be that I was not capable of comprehending them. Sometimes we try to com- prehend more than is best for us.
Prejudices we know, are strong in childhood, but I cannot recall any feeling of unkindness in our family toward the people with whom we could not affiliate in worship. It was their theology, not their conduct, that we could not endorse. Their lives must have been, with rare exceptions, "clean and blameless amongst men;" and at that innocent age, I was in- fluenced by example and emotion more than by precept and theology. The only religious appeal that affected me much as a boy of eight years was the appeal to the Witness for Truth in my own soul. This I was beginning to understand.
Is it not even so with most people all thru life? What they are counts for more than what they believe. What we are, however, is governed, largely, by our beliefs. "As a mian thinketh in his heart so is he," is one of the proverbs of Solo- mon. We may not be always true to our profession of dogma, but we are constantly expressing in action the convictions that govern us.
I was talking with a man about the war in Europe. He claimed to be neutral, but, as I listened to his denunciation of the Germans, I discovered his convictions on the subject. He was like the fellow who declared "I am absolutely neutral; I don't care who licks the Germans, just. so they get licked." (The way to lick the Germans is to treat them as you would treat an irritable and proud neighbor-be just, be courteous, be kind.)
I rejoice exceedingly that the disposition seems to grow stronger year by year for the two branches of the Society of Friends to affiliate. We of the third and fourth generation following that lamentable scism of 1827 are able to see that, as is the case usually in war, both sides were blameworthy; and, likewise, each side had some justice in its contention. But, while the conflict waged, neither side was charitable towards the other, and the result was wasting and destruction on both sides.
In our loyalty to our respective meetings, we all, I fear, have fallen into the error of forgetting our common Christian- ity. We have been like the Scotchman at the inland mission in China. A young Oriental in the ardor of his newly found
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faith, said to the Scotchman, pleadingly: "Are you a Chris- tian?" "Na," said the Westerner, "I am a Scotch Presby- terian."
But a better day has dawned for us all. The generation of those who are of the age I was forty years ago, are likely to find in unity of service a unity of feeling; and forty years hence there shall be, I hope and believe, a Society of Friends in America as united as any other Protestant denomination. Already the call for standard bearers of peace in a world gone mad with war and fear of war, has presented to us, of every branch and class, a field for united action. And, I thank God, the call is heard; and we have men and women, not a few, who, if necessary, will give their own lives in and for this service as courageously as ever men went forth to battle.
But to qualify aright as peacemakers, we should be at peace amongst ourselves. All bitterness and wrath and malice must be put away, and we must be loyal to the Prince of Peace in whose cause we desire to enlist. It is not enough that we be simply "clean and blameless amongst men." These are the characteristics of a lazy Christian. They are negative virtues. So far, good; but the need of the hour is positive religion. Something more is required of us than merely self-denial. We are called to take up something, and to follow something. It is not enough that we be negatively good, ( free from vices), we must be good for something.
I have said that deportment counts for more than theology. And yet the difference between the deportment of a brutal savage and that of a tender-hearted Christian is due, to a large extent, to a difference in belief. One worships a god of wrath and lust, the other worships the God of mercy and of love. We are no better than our ideals. It is important, therefore, that we have a true vision of God before our eyes continually- even the revelation which He gave us in Jesus Christ-and we must be loyal to that vision.
For what is Christianity if it be not as defined by Prof. Faunce, the President of Brown University. Christianity, he says, is the revelation of a purpose and the development of that purpose. Whose purpose? God's purpose. "It is the revela- tion thru Jesus of Nazareth of the eternal unchanging purpose of God, and the development of that purpose in the lives and institutions of men." May we not all unite upon this definition of Christianity? Is not this a true definition of what it must have meant to the apostles and the early church ?- the revela- tion, thru Jesu of Nazareth, of the everlasting purpose of God,
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and the development of that purpose in the lives and institu- tions of men.
As announcers of this supreme revelation, as developers of this divine purpose, the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be lived and taught in a language that the people understand, but its message must be uttered with the same old urgency and direct- ness ;- Repent ! Repent ! Repent ! "For God appointed us not unto wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation thru our Lord Jesus Christ."
In conclusion, I beg you to allow me to state in the words of our English Friend, William C. Braithwaite, what I regard as the basis of belief upon which I think we already are sub- stantially united, and in which we may labor together har- moniously to the honor of Truth. He says, "Our gospel will find its central inspiration in the Son of Man; whose incarna- tion of the Larger Life made him also Son of God. We shall learn from his Spirit the truth and from his heart the Love of God. The Christ of history will be united vitally in our evangel with the same life springing up in the lives of his fol- lowers, and leading on to fresh vision and achievement, as the great process of the salvation of humanity goes forward, linked in one spiritual experience with Christ and His cross.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH
BY SARAH MOORE COOPER
T HE duty of a historian so the dictionary tells us, is to give an account of what has occurred in the past, and also the place and date on which it occurred. As the history of the founding of New Garden Meeting and its prog- ress during the past 200 years has fallen upon mie, it would be a very straightforward task to hunt up the records and copy them down, following up the dates and changes that have oc- curred as time passed on. But I hesitate to follow out that line of history too closely, for it has been repeatedly said to me, "Don't give us too many dry statistics, which we will forget before we get home, but give us something interesting and spicy in our meetings' history."
Had I only known in my girlhood days that this task was going to devolve upon me today, how many things of interest I might have treasured up in my memory, that were handed down to me by my parents and grandparents, all of whom were members and constant members of this meeting almost all their lives; where their marriage vows were spoken, and where, one by one, all that was mortal of them was laid to rest in this cemetery. But there is only a remnant left here and there that I can get hold of to weave into history, and perhaps to fill up some of these strands in the book of memory, I may have to call somewhat upon my imagination, for the angel of death has called home every one of the preceding generation that lived in this neighborhood.
Our earliest records seem to show that the land upon which this meeting house stands, and the neighborhood surrounding it, was patented by William Penn, Jr., about the year 1706. He being about to return to England, left it in charge of his at- torneys, Griffith Owen, James Logan and Robert Ashton. The land was not immediately taken, but in a few years several families arrived from Ireland, and, settling there, gave the name of New Garden to their new home, in remembrance of that place in Ireland. The first sale of land was made to Mary Rowland in perhaps, 1708. In 1712 Gayen Miller purchased 700 acres, and conveyances of John Miller, James Lindley, John Lowden, James Starr, Michael Lightfoot, Joseph Hutton,
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