•YAiLE-waimEiasji'inf-

'T'HE edition of this work is
limited to five hundred
copies, of which this is
Number X "1 0

FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE, FOURTH AND
ARCH STREETS..
Showing the west side and. grounds airing the Cen-
tcnniul Anniversary,' . Sixth'-fuonth "... '...•
• --• fourth; 1904;. '•:•
From photograph by Charles F.Wood

The Friends' Meeting-House
Fourth and Arch Streets
Philadelphia

A Centennial Celebration
Sixth Month Fourth, IQ04

Illustrated by numerous interesting
and rare portraits and pictures of
early meeting-houses.

The John C. Winston Company
PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA

Printed and Bound at
8Hj* " Jatanarianal" Bihlr $reus
Philadelphia
The John C. Winston Company

INTRODUCTION.

BY ISAAC SHARPLESS.

On Sixth month 4th, 1904, there met in
and around the old meeting-house at Fourth
and Arch Streets, Philadelphia,about twenty-
three hundred people to celebrate the one
hundredth anniversary of its erection.
The chairman of the committee in charge
of the arrangements was Jonathan Evans,
whose grandfather of the same name was
clerk of the Yearly Meeting one hundred
years before. Meetings were held in both
ends of the house in the afternoon and
evening, and papers were read, which papers
are here collected. Between the sessions the
Friends indulged in social intercourse and
partook of a supper in a tent erected on the
plot to the south of the house.
[Si

Introduction.

An interesting feature of the occasion was
an exhibit of historical pictures from the col
lection of George Vaux, embracing those of
a number of early Friends' meeting-houses
(some of which were water-colors), and
including a pen-and-ink drawing of Fairhill
Meeting-house and a rough pencil sketch of
the meeting-house erected by the followers
of George Keith. The last two are believed
to represent the two earliest structures of the
kind of which pictures have been preserved.
There was also a colored drawing of Arch
Street, west from Third to midway between
Fourth and Fifth Streets, showing its
appearance at the time of the erection of the
oldest part of the meeting-house, including
the residences of several Friends' families
then living there. In addition there was a
water-color painting of the domicile of
another Friend who resided in that street.
What is believed to be the earliest ground-

[6]

Introduction.

plan of the east wing of Arch Street Meet
ing-house, together with an elevation show
ing the building as it was afterwards erected
and as it now appears, was also included in
the exhibit. In addition to the above there
zvas shown a small collection of portraits of
prominent Friends living at the time of the
erection of Arch Street Meeting-house.
An outcome of the deliberations which
preceded the meeting was the formation of
the "Friends' Historical Society." The pur
pose of this movement was said to be the
preservation of letters and other documents
which would throw light on the history and
customs of the Society of Friends, and the
encouragement of historical effort by its
members. It is proposed to hold meetings
for the reading of papers, and a series of
publications will be entered into if sufficient
good material is presented. The present
volume is the first of these publications. The

[7]

Introduction.

portraits and other illustrations are from pic
tures loaned for the purpose by George Vaux
and Sarah Emlen.
It is well occasionally to look back into
the past, and gather up the standards and
principles of our ancestors in the faith. It
is well if it leads us to reconsecrate ourselves
to the cause for which they wrought — the
pure religion of Christ. We may not adopt
all their methods; the testimonies which they
upheld may in part be replaced by others
more vital to our day. But those among us
who see beneath the surface will feel no dis
position to build on any other groundwork
than theirs, nor to adopt modes of action
essentially out of harmony with their prin
ciples. The lack of historic background,
while compatible with much Christian good
ness and zeal and openness of mind, seems,
when applied to congregations, to lead to
opportunism — the selection of methods die-

[8]

THE' GREATER MEETING-HOUSE, SOUTH
WEST CORNER OF MARKET
AND SECOND STREETS
With Court House on the right in the centre of
Market Street. From an early water color

Introduction.

tated by the emergencies of the present and
to destroy that continuity of principle so
essential to the preservation of the type. If
the spirit and motives of the best Friends of
the past were known and read of all of us
who bear the name of Friend, they would be
interwoven through our lives as through the
pages of prophecy is interwoven "thus saith
the Lord."
This fidelity to type need be no bar to
adaptation to condition and circumstance.
With our confidence in the ever-renewed
teaching of God we, of all Christians, ought
to be open to new methods.
" The manna gathered yesterday
Already savors of decay,"
and the slavish copy of the good deeds of
our fathers, the slavish subjection to their
modes of thought and expression, are no nec
essary part of Quakerism. If we approach
the history of the times of old, with pro-

[9]

Introduction.

found devotion for the solid characters and
enduring principles which dominated them,
and with the unselfish resolve to build the
same characters and apply the same princi
ples by the most efficient means in these
times, for which we are responsible, we shall
learn the lesson of our history.
As a little contribution towards this end
these papers are offered to the public by the
FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

[10]

CONTENTS.

PAGE
Introduction  . . 5
Isaac Sharpless.
Early Friends' Meeting-Houses and Their
Relation to the Building at Arch
and Fourth Streets  15
George Vaux.
Some Philadelphia Friends a Century
Ago   43
Susanna Kite.
Poem  81
Francis B. Gwmmere.
Social Life of Yearly Meeting Week —
Past and Present  85
Frances Tatum Rhoads.
The Condition of the Yearly Meeting in
1804  ... . . 113
Isaac Sharpless.
[»]

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Friends' Meeting-House. The Centen
nial Celebration, Sixth Month 4th,
1904  Frontispiece
The Greater Meeting-House, Southwest
Corner Market and Second Streets, 9
The Old Bank Meeting-House ... 17
Pine Street Meeting-House, 1753 . . 21
Friends' Fairhill Meeting-House, 1722 . 24
Septimus Roberts  29
Original Architect's Plans, Showing Ele
vation of Meeting-House . . 33
George Williams. 1766-1850 41
Nicholas Waln. 1741-1813 . 45
Meeting-House, East Side of Fourth
Street, South of Chestnut . 49
Samuel Sansom. 1738-1824 . 57
Richard Jordan. 1756-1826 . . 65
James Pemberton. 1723-1809 . . . 69
George Dillwyn. 1738-1820 ... 73
Catherine W. Morris. 1772-1859 . . 77
[13]

Illustrations.

PAGE
Arch Street Meeting-House, 1904 . 81
Arch Street, West from Third Street . 89
Samuel Smith  ... 93
Rebecca Jones. 1739-1814 . . 97
William Savery. 1750-1804  97
The Bee-Hive Bonnet  101
Residence of a Friend on Arch Street. . 105
Jonathan Evans. 1 759-1839 ... 113
Samuel Emlen, Sr. 1730-1799 . . . 121
Israel W. Morris. 1778-1870 . 125
Robert Proud. . . 129
Thomas Scattergood. 1748-1814 . . 137

[14]

EARLY FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSES
AND THEIR RELATION TO THE
BUILDING AT ARCH AND
FOURTH STREETS.

BY GEORGE VAUX.

In preparing a paper appropriate to the
celebration of the one hundredth anniversary
of the erection of Arch Street Meeting
house, it seems to be suitable to refer to the
several houses which antedated it, as well
as to others occupied by Friends for meeting
purposes. In the first instance it was
inevitable that the immigrants should resort
to dwelling-houses, and perhaps to struc
tures erected for store-houses, to hold meet
ings in until some more suitable place could
be provided.
The earliest building in Philadelphia
erected by Friends especially as a place for
public worship was the first Bank Meeting,
[15]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
or, as it was sometimes called in the early
records, "the Meeting on Delaware Side."
It was built late in 1683 or early in 1684,
and was located on the west side of Front
Street, about sixty feet north of Arch Street.
It was of wood and must have been of a
temporary character, and it may have been
the same building described in the minutes
as the "boarded meeting-house," and if so
the first General Assembly of Pennsylvania
met there. It was probably the scene of
many of the exciting incidents connected
with George Keith's separation. It is cer
tain that on one occasion Robert Turner
(who lived about one hundred yards away),
a disciple of Keith, with one or more of his
followers, entered the meeting-house and
demolished the ministers' gallery. He was
visited by Friends on account of his violent
and disorderly action, but gave them no sat
isfaction, but stated that he always had a
testimony against ministers' galleries, and
that he was well satisfied with what he had
done. [16]

TH& dtp BANK MEETING-HOUSE

This building was pulled down about 1790

A Centennial Celebration.
In 1698 the first Bank Meeting-house had
so far gone to decay that it was in danger of
falling, and it was taken down. For some
years afterward the lot remained vacant.
The meeting-house at Centre Square was
commenced in 1685, and was located ap
proximately where the southwest corner of
the City Hall, at Broad and Market Streets,
now stands. The procuring of mechanics to
build, and of money to pay for the erection,
severely taxed the resources of the colonists,
but the structure was finally so far completed
in 1689 that meetings could be held in it. It
soon became apparent, however, that the
building was so remote from the population,
that Friends generally could not be induced
to attend there, and it is evident that the
project was a failure.
In 1 700 the building was considered to be
useless for meeting purposes, and it was sold
to William Penn, who was then in the coun
try, for one hundred pounds; but Friends
soon after, whilst glad to have the money,
were sorry that they had not the house, and
. [17]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
induced William Penn to give it back to them
without consideration. Not long after, the
building was pulled down and the materials
removed to the Bank lot, where the house
was again erected, it is believed, substantially
as it was at Centre Square. It thus became
the Second Bank Meeting, and it may be
assumed that the pictures which we now have
of that structure give us a fair idea of the
appearance of both buildings.
The Second Bank Meeting was removed
in 1790 and the premises sold. In its place
what was called North Meeting was erected
in Key's Alley, east of Second Street (Key's
Alley was just south of Vine Street), partly
on a lot which had been given to Friends
by George Fox. That structure continued
in use until the new meeting-house at Sixth
and Noble Streets was completed. I remem
ber being in the old meeting-house when a
child and have a distinct recollection of the
general appearance of the interior, though
not sufficient to describe it in detail. The
property was sold to the city of Philadelphia
[18]

A Centennial Celebration.
for a public school-house, and the building
was ultimately destroyed in the great fire
of 1850. The last meeting in Key's Alley
appears to have been held on Third-day,
Eighth month 7, 1838. The new North
Meeting at Sixth and Noble Streets was
built in 1837, and the first meeting for wor
ship was held there Eighth month 12, 1838,
and the first Monthly Meeting, Eighth
month 28, of the same year. It was some
times called St. Isaac's, from Isaac R. Davis,
a member of the meeting who had taken an
active part in its erection.
In 1693 Friends purchased a lot of ground
at the southwest corner of Market and Sec
ond Streets as a site for another meeting
house. The title to this ground was after
wards found to be defective, being only that
of a squatter, which occasioned a good deal
of uneasiness in the minds of Friends, but
subsequently a quit-claim deed was obtained
for a moderate consideration. Upon this lot
in the Twelfth month of 1695 the erection
of the "Great Meeting-house" was com-
[19]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
menced, and it was so far completed in the
Sixth month, 1696, that meetings were held
in it. The architect of this building was
Thomas Jaques, a French Huguenot, engaged
in architecture, who seems to have brought
his ideas of building from France. The
character and appearance of the building are
unknown, as it is believed no picture of it
is in existence, and the descriptions in the
minutes are wholly inadequate to give any
idea of what it looked like.
In 1755 the "Great Meeting-house" was
pulled down to make way for the "Greater
Meeting-house," which was erected on the
same site. Of this structure we have several
authentic pictures giving an excellent idea of
its appearance, which was not greatly dif
ferent from that of the present Twelfth
Street Meeting-house, erected in 1812,
largely with the materials from the "Greater
Meeting-house" which had then been pulled
down. The Hill Meeting, so called from its erec
tion on or near Society Hill, was located on
[20]

PINE STREET MEETING-HOUSE, BUILT 1753.

[21]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
the south side of Pine Street, east of Second.
The principal part of the site was bequeathed
to Friends by the younger Samuel Powell,
who died in 1747. The building was so far
completed in 1753 that the Yearly Meeting
was held in it in the Ninth month of that
year. The holding of meetings there was
discontinued soon after the erection of the
present Orange Street Meeting-house in
1832, and an attempt was made to sell the
ground, which failed, owing to a claim to it
made by the heirs of Samuel Powell, Jr.,
who originally bequeathed it to Friends,
which claim was, however, disallowed by the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania by a decision
handed down in 1851. The property was
sold several years later, quite within the
memory of some now living. We have
authentic pictures of this meeting-house.
The Fourth Street Meeting-house was
located on the east side of Fourth Street,
just south of Chestnut, on the property
belonging to the Forrest Trust. The Cen
tral National Bank, a part of the office build-
[22]

A Centennial Celebration.
ing of the Trust, now stands on the former
site of the meeting-house. It was built in
1763, with the object of providing a more
convenient place for business meetings, and
also to accommodate the Quarterly Youths'
Meetings, which Friends then had a concern
to hold for the benefit of the scholars attend
ing the adjoining school. The building was
placed with its broadside on Fourth Street,
and with its gables facing north and south.
It was finally removed in 1859, when the
present building was erected.
Whilst Fairhill Meeting, strictly speaking,
was not a city meeting, yet it was so closely
associated with them that this paper would
not be complete without some reference to it.
George Fox had given a small plot at Fairhill
to Friends, and it was somewhat increased
in size by purchases of adjoining land. This
plot was on Germantown Road, now Ger-
mantown Avenue, near Cambria Street.
Here was early built the small structure
known as Fairhill Meeting-house. It must
have been erected prior to 1700, but I am
[23]

[24]

A Centennial Celebration.
unable to give the date. I have a picture of
it as it appeared in 1722, and it was removed
comparatively recently, being in the line of
one of the streets. If anyone knows of a
photograph of it, I shall be glad to be
informed of the fact.
We shall now proceed to the considera
tion of the circumstances connected with the
acquisition of the estate at Arch and Fourth
Streets, and the erection of the buildings
thereon. It came into possession of the
Society in 1693-94. Of course before that
date there was a burial place, and it was
probably within the limits of this site, but it
cannot be said with certainty that such was
the case. The plot is L-shaped and con
tains about two and one-third acres. There
are two small private graveyards adjoining.
One of them, the Say Burial Ground, which
is located exactly in the angle of the L, is
about forty feet square, and is surrounded
by a high brick wall. The other, known as
the Fox or Jones Graveyard, lies to the east
of the Say Ground, but does not adjoin it.
[25]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
It is only about seventeen feet square, and
is also closely walled. The access to both
of these burial places is by a private alley
running west from Third Street.
There is reason to believe that the west
end of one of the lots on Third Street was
also used as a private burial ground, as there
is a monument there consisting of a marble
slab, about six feet by two and a half feet,
upon which are recorded the name and date
of decease of a person who died in the early
part of the eighteenth century.
Although Friends came into possession of
the property at the date above mentioned, it
was not until William Penn arrived in Phila
delphia on his second visit that he confirmed
his previous gift and the title was perfected.
On the "first day of October," 1701, Wil
liam Penn issued his patent over his own
signature, and with his great seal attached,
by which the estate was conveyed to Edward
Shippen and Samuel Carpenter in trust for
Philadelphia Friends. This patent contains
the following words :
[26]

A Centennial Celebration.
"To the use and behoof of the people called
Quakers, in Philadelphia, with whom I am
now in communion, and who are and shall
be in union and fellowship with the Yearly
Meeting of the said people at London, for a
burying place."
There has been considerable speculation
as to the meaning of this clause and the
reasons for introducing it. A little consid
eration of the circumstances of the time,
however, will make it clear what William
Penn's design was in placing this limitation
upon the grant.
George Keith had occasioned a separation
among Friends in 1691, as heretofore men
tioned, and his followers set up a separate
meeting, which claimed to be a meeting of
Friends. This organization in the early
part of the following year issued a number
of documents in defense of its action, includ
ing a "Confession of Faith," and a few
months afterwards what it called the second
edition of the same work. A year or two
after this, Keith returned to England and
[27]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
appealed to London Friends to vindicate him
in his action. He did not succeed in this
effort, and in 1695 was disowned by Lon
don Friends. Failing to obtain any follow
ing in England, within a few years he
renounced all claims to being a Friend and
hired himself out to the Episcopalians to
abuse the Quakers. The separate meeting
in Philadelphia was continued, however, and
although the disintegration soon began the
organization survived for some years, hav
ing its meeting-house on the west side of
Second Street, a little south of Arch Street.
There is no doubt that William Penn's
design was to have the grant for the Arch
and Fourth Streets lot in such form that the
Keithean Quakers could have no claim to it.
The whole plot at Arch and Fourth Streets
has been used as a burying ground; much
of it has had two layers of graves placed in
it, and some parts even three. The remains
of the worthies of more than a century lie
within the enclosure which has suggested the
name of the Westminster Abbey of the
[28]

SEPTIM US ROBER TS

A young Friend in 1807 and aged 18
¦ ¦' ¦ '. .^¦¦-*^.

A Centennial Celebration.
Society of Friends. The number of inter
ments has been variously estimated, and
some have guessed as high as twenty thou
sand; but the question is one of pure specu
lation, as many were buried there besides
Friends, and the names of these do not
appear to have been included in the imperfect
records kept by the Meeting. Many such
were interred during the yellow fever visita
tion of 1793. In the erection of buildings on
the plot extensive evidences of burials were
disclosed. Many gravestones have been
placed in the ground at early periods, some
of which have been discovered from time
to time when digging was necessary.
At the Monthly Meeting held in Fifth
month, 1738, the question of the erection of
a meeting-house on the burial ground at
Arch and Fourth Streets was first suggested,
and that location was then definitely settled
upon. A subscription was started to pay for
such a building, to which Friends in Barba-
does contributed fifty pounds. The erec
tion of such a meeting-house was before the
[29]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
meeting for several years, but was finally
abandoned and does not appear to have re
ceived serious consideration again until 1795.
To account for this the following reasons
may be assigned. The gift of Samuel Powell,
Jr., of the lot on Pine Street required that
a meeting-house should be erected there.
The Fourth Street Meeting-house had been
built and the "Great Meeting-house" at Mar
ket and Second Streets had been removed
and replaced by the "Greater Meeting-house"
on the same site. The Bank Meeting had dis
appeared, and the commodious meeting-house
on Key's Alley, known as the North Meet
ing, already alluded to, had taken its place.
There had thus been a gradual increase of
meeting-house accommodations, which prob
ably kept pace with the growing number of
Friends, and were sufficient without an addi
tional structure at Arch and Fourth Streets.
It must have become apparent, however, in
1795 that with the great increase of the
number of Friends in the city, these accom
modations were insufficient. Also that the
[3°]

A Centennial Celebration.
inconveniences of holding the Yearly Meet
ing of Women Friends remote from the
building where the men convened, as had
been the case, had become a serious question,
and one that could not much longer be set
aside, and it was then decided to take the
preliminary steps necessary to carry out the
plan which had been suggested in 1738. The
following year the meeting directed that a
plot in the burial ground should be staked
out as the site of the building, and that no
more interments should be permitted within
its limits. The plot so staked out was two
hundred feet long, east and west, and one
hundred feet wide, north and south. Active
steps appear to have been taken in the year
1800 to prepare for the erection of the centre
building and east wing of the present struc
ture. There is in my hands what was prob
ably the earliest plan for the building, which
seems to have been prepared by Owen Biddle
in that year. It shows the ground-plan of
the centre building and east wing, substan
tially as now erected, but no indications of
[31]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
youths' galleries are found except at the
north end. The west wing is shown by lead-
pencil lines, apparently put in later. There
is also an elevation showing the exterior of
the whole building, almost exactly as we now
see it.
Early in 1803 preparations were made for
commencing the building. The foundations
were laid in that year, and the structure was
proceeded with in 1804. It was completed
early in 1805. The first meeting held in it
was the Women's Yearly Meeting, which
convened there Fourth month 15, 1805. A
careful count made at the time showed that
between sixteen and seventeen hundred
women Friends entered the meeting-room,
and the crowd was so great that some went
away. The western wing was a later construc
tion, though evidently a part of the original
design. It is perhaps somewhat more com
modious than the eastern wing, and better
arranged, showing the results of the experi
ence obtained in the meantime. It was first
[32]

REPRODUCTION OF WHAT IS SUPPOSED
TO BE THE ARCHITECT'S ORIGINAL
P LAN' OF ELEVATION OF ARCH
STREET,. MEETING-HOUSE, DATED
EITHER ' 18-01 or .1803
The center buildittg and east wing were built in 1 804
and the west 1mng added in 181 1. The
Original belongs to George Vaux

A Centennial Celebration.
occupied in 1811, when the Women's Yearly
Meeting convened there on the morning of
Third-day, the 16th of Fourth month, hav
ing the day before been held in the east wing.
On Second-day morning the Men's Meeting
had convened in the Key's Alley Meeting
house, where it had long been held, and
adjourned to meet in the east wing at Arch
Street, on Third-day, Fourth month 16th, so
that on that date the whole structure was
occupied for the first time by the Yearly
Meeting. The whole length of Arch Street Meeting
house, from east to west as we now see it,
is one hundred and eighty feet. The two
large meeting-rooms are eighty-five feet
each, from north to south. The centre
building is fifty-five feet from north to south.
The structure thus embraces within the
limits of the two large meeting-rooms and
the centre building, ground of the area of
considerably over a quarter of an acre, and
is believed to be the largest meeting-house
accommodations occupied by Friends in any
3 [33 1

Arch Street Meeting-House.
city in the world. If the descriptions of the
Devonshire House Estate in London, where
London Yearly Meeting is held, are correctly
understood, it covers an area almost as great
as all the ground owned by Friends there,
upon parts of which are erected many other
buildings besides the meeting-houses.
It has been suggested that some of my
personal recollections as to the neighborhood
of Arch Street Meeting might be interesting.
I was born in 1832, on the north side of
Arch Street, a few doors above Fourth,
almost under the shadow of the meeting
house, which was the most prominent object
in view from our front windows, and I
lived there till after I was twenty-two years
old. My earliest recollection relative to
meeting affairs was the visitation of Joseph
John Gurney to Friends' families in Phila
delphia, which was in the Second or Third
month of 1838. I distinctly remember his
visit to our family, and as I write can see
him sitting at my mother's fireside in the
very chair on which he sat when he picked
[34]

A Centennial Celebration.
me up and placed me on his knee. My gen
eral recollection, however, begins about 1839,
when I was seven years old. Our neighbor
hood was then a quiet residential district.
Many Friends lived on Arch Street, on
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Streets.
Of course there were no street-cars, not even
an omnibus line, only one of which, or at
most two, then existed in the city. The
travel on the street of any kind of vehicles
was not much more than occasional. There
was a fine row of linden trees on the north
side of Arch between Fourth and Fifth
Streets which was ultimately destroyed by
the devastation of the measuring worm. A
single whale-oil lamp hung on a wooden post
was located close to our residence, and was
all that lighted the spot at night. The old-
time watchman with his ladder and flaming
torch could still be seen in the streets, and
even the watchman's midnight cry had not
entirely ceased. On summer evenings the
older children sat on the front doorsteps and
talked with their friends, and the younger
[3Sl

Arch Street Meeting-House.
ones romped and played on the pavements.
Meetings were held in the western wing
of the meeting-house both on First-day
mornings and afternoons, as well as in the
middle of the week. In the morning the
main floor of the building was well filled
both on the men's and women's sides, and
even the afternoon meetings, though smaller,
were fairly well attended. At the head of
the meeting was Thomas Kite, dressed in
brown with knee breeches. At his side was
the elder Samuel Bettle, who continued with
us until the early sixties, and is no doubt
remembered by many. Next to him was
Thomas Stewardson, an elder, a veritable
Quaker of the olden time, clad in a full suit
of drab, with knee breeches and silver
buckles on his shoes, probably at his knees
also, but of this I am not sure. He wore
a black hat of prodigious size, and when
persons appeared in supplication he would
stand holding his hat over his face. He
died in 1841. Beside him was Caleb Pierce,
also an elder, quite a contrast both in appear-
[36]

A Centennial Celebration.
ance and character to the aged veteran next
to him.
At the head of the second gallery was
George Williams, a tall thin Friend, dressed
in brown. Next to him, much shorter in
stature, sat Benjamin Albertson, and beside
him Nathan Kite, still shorter in stature and
very broad, giving him a comical appear
ance, which provoked a nickname that I for
bear to mention. Caleb H. Canby and Wil
liam Hodgson, Jr., I think, were the only
other Friends that sat on that seat. I well
remember when Benjamin Albertson and
Nathan Kite were appointed elders, and
removed their seats into the top gallery.
At the upper end of the remaining seat
facing the meeting sat Isaac R. Davis, a very
fat man, who had recently brought his cer
tificate from Northern District, and on the
same bench John McCollin and Abraham
Haines. At the head of the women's gallery was,
I think, Elizabeth Mason, a minister who
rarely appeared in her own meeting, but was
[37]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
said to preach at some length when visiting
other meetings. Next to her was the sainted
Catharine W. Morris, an elder, and for some
time clerk of the Women's Yearly Meeting.
Born in high life and with social surround
ings of the most attractive character, she
early renounced the world to bear the banner
of the cross. She lived till 1859, and was
buried at the rear of the meeting-house, her
body being carried from her house to the
grave on a bier by a number of young men,
the last funeral of its kind among Friends in
Philadelphia. I think that Jane Pierce, also
an elder, wife of Caleb, sat on the same bench.
The second gallery was filled throughout
its whole length, but I can recall the name
of only one, and she sat at the lower end.
This was Hannah Logan Smith, who occa
sionally had a brief communication to make
to the meeting. She would rise to her feet,
remove her bonnet and hang it on the end
of the gallery rail in front of her, and then
deliver her message. When finished she
would replace her bonnet and take her seat.
[38]

A Centennial Celebration.
Meetings were sometimes held on First-
day evenings by agreement between the four
Monthly Meetings. The meeting-house was
then lighted with oil lamps hung on the
posts and on the walls between the windows.
After some years gas was introduced. These
evening meetings were largely attended, the
room being often filled not only on the main
floor, but many seats occupied in the youths'
galleries. Friends generally from all parts
of the city attended. The North Meeting
Friends would come down past our house in
squads of eight and ten at a time, closely
following one another. William Evans and
his wife Elizabeth generally came up from
Orange Street, and were often engaged in
the ministry, both being forcible and effective
speakers. I will now close this paper with a brief
reference to West Philadelphia Meeting
house, at Powelton Avenue and Forty-second
Street, which is the youngest of all.
In the early part of the last century Wil
liam Hamilton owned a considerable body
[39]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
of land in West Philadelphia. There he laid
out what he called Hamilton Village, and
for the purpose of encouraging the sale of
the lots he donated plots of ground to various
religious denominations as sites for meeting
houses. Among these Friends were in
cluded. The lot given to Friends was on the
north side of Chestnut Street, I think,
between Fortieth and Forty-first Streets, but
it may have been further east. No meeting
house, however, was ever built there. This
lot greatly improved in value and to such an
extent that it was thought, in the sixties,
were it sold the proceeds would be sufficient
to purchase another lot in a less expensive
neighborhood and erect a meeting-house
upon it. It was also apparent that the
Chestnut Street lot was very unsuitable for
the purpose, being next to an edifice built
by another religious denomination. It was
decided to dispose of the lot, but it being
supposed that this could only be done by
order of the court, application was made to
the Common Pleas for authority to sell.
[40]

xFrom a silhouette if$^A%$%¥$gipn of [Sarah Emlen

A Centennial Celebration.
The court referred the case to Joseph A.
Clay, Esq., as Master, who was a gentleman
of high character and a leading lawyer, also
a personal friend of my own. He courte
ously showed me his Master's report recom
mending the sale, and one of the chief points
which he referred to as ground for authoriz
ing it was that the noise occasioned by the
music and other ritual in the adjoining place
of worship belonging to another denomina
tion, rendered the site unsuitable for a meet
ing-house for a denomination whose worship
was largely devotional silence, thus showing
his appreciation of the character of our
method. The court ordered the sale, which
was consummated, and the present location
with its grove of ancient oaks, probably the
most attractive of any of our meeting-house
sites in Philadelphia, was purchased to take
its place. Several years afterward, in 1873,
the present meeting-house was erected,
which, as Friends already know, has been
greatly enlarged and improved in the past
year. \ [41]

SOME PHILADELPHIA FRIENDS
A CENTURY AGO.

BY SUSANNA S. KITE.

In looking over the annals of Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting a century ago, we are
impressed with the number of remarkable
people that were active in the Society at that
time — people of marked personality and per
haps of some we might say peculiarity —
who walked among their fellowmen without
fear or favor doing their Master's bidding,
in many cases enduring hardness as good
soldiers of Jesus Christ. In their religious
visits to distant parts even delicate women
often rode hundreds of miles on horseback,
and encountered many perils both by land
and by sea, so that it seems fitting for us
at the present day to bring them to our
remembrance. It is to a few of these
[43]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
worthies that I wish to introduce you this
afternoon. It was for many years common within
the limits of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
to hold a meeting for worship the day after
each of the country Quarterly Meetings.
These gatherings were called Youths' Meet
ings. "On Sixth-day, the nth of Eighth
month, 1797, such a meeting was held at
Abington. After the meeting had been sit
ting awhile in silence, a tall slim man in the
preacher's gallery, whose head had for some
time been bent down between his knees,
slowly rose. His bent form, his silk cap
and white dress might have drawu a smile
from the heedless stranger who had dropped
in out of curiosity or for amusement, but
there was an earnestness about his counte
nance which bespoke attention and respect.
He spoke briefly, yet forcibly. Apt at illus
tration and felicitous in expression, he caught
and enchained the attention of all, strangers,
children, babes in the truth, and fathers and
mothers in the Church. Guiltless of writ-
[44]

A Centennial Celebration.
ing rhymes he was yet a poet, and throngs
of bright images, carrying forcible convic
tion and Christian instruction flowed from
his lips. His name was James Simpson.
He sat down and a deep silence came over
the tendered assembly. After a solemn
pause Nicholas Wain rose to his feet. His
voice seemed filled with Gospel love, to which
his richly melodious voice gave utterance in
tones so sweet, and yet so forcible, that
every ear was pleased and every intellect
was charmed, whilst the baptizing power of
the Holy Spirit accompanying the word
preached softened the hearts and moistened
the eyes of those who were gathered. He
stood and ministered for about an hour, after
which he fell on his knees and lifted up the
voice of prayer and praise. A solemnity
very unusual covered those assembled as he
ceased to offer on their behalf supplication
to the God of mercy and grace. The
solemnity continued and they remained sit
ting together, baptized into oneness of feel
ing. Those at the head of the gallery at last
[45]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
shook hands in token that the meeting had
closed. The solemnity was still unbroken,
and no one felt like rising to depart. A
pause ensued, Nicholas Wain then spoke out,
'Under the solemn covering we are favored
with Friends had better separate.' A few
young men near the door then rose to their
feet, but the solemnity was still over them,
and observing none follow their example
they sat down again. Sweet, awful silence
continued, until Richard Jordan, standing
up, broke forth with the song of triumph
which greeted the Saviour's entrance into
Jerusalem, 'Hosanna ! Hosanna ! Blessed is
he that cometh in the name of the Lord.'
A few sentences followed, setting forth the
blessedness of these merciful visitations,
these seasons of favor, wherein the Saviour
makes Himself known amongst His people.
He sat down again, and, shaking hands with
the Friend beside him, the meeting closed.
Most persons were so tendered in spirit that
few words of conversation passed among
them as Friend separated from Friend."
[46]

A Centennial Celebration.
Perhaps the most remarkable of the three
Friends mentioned in this extract, taken from
"Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of
Friends," is Nicholas Wain. He was born
at Fair Hill, near Philadelphia, in 1742.
His father died when he was but eight years
old, but he was carefully trained by his
mother and uncle. He attended one of the
William Penn Charter Schools, where he was
well grounded in ordinary English branches,
with Latin and Mathematics. After leaving
school he studied law, devoting also some
time to acquiring German, which was after
wards very useful to him in his law practice,
as the fluency with which he spoke the lan
guage, his cheerful, pleasing and amiable
manners, with their confidence in his in
tegrity, made him a favorite with the Ger
mans in Lancaster County and other Ger
man-speaking parts of the country near
Philadelphia. He was naturally vivacious,
witty and sarcastic, delighting in gaiety and
merriment, but suffered nothing to interfere
with his studies, and was admitted to the Bar
[47)

Arch Street Meeting-House.
while yet under age. Not long after this
he went to London to work in the Temple
Law Schools. Here his early studious
habits helped to preserve him from idle
pastimes and the dissipations of a great city.
The absence of his old associates gave him,
during his hours of relaxation, leisure for
reflection and retirement. His early reli
gious impressions were here revived, and he
determined to lead a different life. Upon
his return home he resumed the practice of
law and was very successful.
In 1772 he was favored with a renewed
visitation. He says that his whole life, even
every day of his life, was laid open and all
his sins brought to remembrance. He had
many times before consulted with flesh and
blood, and reasoned away strong convictions,
but now, through the power of constraining
grace, he gave up to the heavenly visitation.
He was so overwhelmed with sorrow and
contrition that he was totally unable to attend
to his business, and remained in this unset
tled state of mind until he felt it his duty
[48]

MEETING-HOUSE EAST SIDE OF FOURTH
-.SOUTH OF CHESTNUT
• * " ' „ ', -a
The School House, on the right was built in 1745"
The Mee'iingT'House:on the left was built in 1763

A Centennial Celebration.
one morning to go to the week-day meeting
at the old Market Street House. Here he
offered that remarkable prayer which has
been so often quoted. It seemed to be alto
gether on his own account, but had a power
ful effect on all present. He left his seat in
the middle of the meeting, and going up to
the preacher's gallery, there knelt down.
For some minutes, although the congrega
tion rose, no sound was uttered. At last,
with a tremulous, but powerfully melodious
voice, slowly, sentence by sentence, came
forth his confession of his sins, and his dedi
cation of himself and all that he had to the
service of his Divine Master, even if it should
lead to persecution or to martyrdom. Such
was the solemnizing effect that his hearers
were bathed in tears. After meeting he
went quietly home and kept much retired for
a time. He left the Bar, gave up his busi
ness, put on the garb of a consistent Friend,
and in fervency of spirit sought to fill up his
measure of religious duty. He was at this
time about thirty years old.
[49]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
He was a very remarkable man in many
ways. His great natural talents had been
highly cultivated and he had an unusual fund
of humor and ready wit, and although he
said a great many queer things, he very
likely refrained from saying a great many
more than some Friends ever thought of.
One person said of him that, as a great man,
a wise man, a learned man and a rich man, he
knew no one possessed of such childlike sim
plicity as Nicholas Wain'. Although a man
of no ordinary talents, and of great influence
in society, he was remarkable for his con
descension. He was an original, being no
man's copy and feared no man in doing what
he thought was required of him. Faithful
friends, and even children, loved him, but
hypocrites feared him. Although a rich
man, he lived a life of self-denial. He had a
keen sense of the ludicrous, which sometimes
led him to say things for which he was after
wards sorry. We are told that he appeared
at all times with a smile of sunshine on his
countenance. As an example of his aptness
[50]

A Centennial Celebration.
of reply, the story is told that in his first case
at the Bar he had his old law preceptor as
his opponent. His old master, when en
deavoring to reply to the clear legal argu
ment and close reasoning of his late student,
exclaimed, "Have I brought up a young
eagle to pick out my eyes?" "No," forci
bly and distinctly, though in an undertone,
spoke out Nicholas, "to open them."
Arthur Howell, an eminent minister, was
in the habit of leaving his communications
till late in the meeting, often beginning when
it was nearly time for meeting to close. One
day Nicholas walked up to him and said,
"Arthur Howell, what's the reason,
Thou art always out of season?
When it's time to go away
Thou must always preach or pray."
A woman Friend, a minister, was subject
to fits of depression. Nicholas calling one
day to see her, she began, "Nicholas, I am
going to die." "I think there is no doubt
but thou will," said he, "and when thou gets
[Si]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
to heaven give my love to the Apostle Paul,
and tell him I wish he would come back to
earth and explain some of the hard things in
his Epistles." His jovial humor roused her
from her depression and set her to thinking
of something besides herself.
Another Friend being ill, and thinking she
was near her end, sent for Nicholas Wain.
After sitting by her bedside awhile he began,
"There was an old woman lived under a hill,
And if she's not gone, she is living there still."
He then went on to preach her a sermon
on placing her dependence on man, and
pointed her to the true source of strength in
such an hour. The Friend recovered.
On one occasion, Nicholas having gone
somewhat astray in some way, the elders
came to visit him. They rang and rang the
front door bell, but no one came. At last
the second-story window was opened and
Nicholas put his head out and said, "Friends,
you need not come in, the Master has been
here before you."
[52]

A Centennial Celebration.
And so we might go on with many more
stories about him, for an unusual number
seem to have been preserved.
He died in 1813, aged 71 years.
Of a very different sort was simple-
hearted, humble-minded James Simpson.
Some one has said, "We cannot think too
lowly of ourselves if we do not despair."
The same doctrine is characteristically set
forth by our simile-loving Friend : "Friends,
be as little as the snowbirds, and then the
devil can't hit you."
He was born in Bucks County in 1743.
Although a birthright member, as his mother
after his father's death had married a Pres
byterian, he was not brought up under
Friendly influences. On the marriage of his
elder brother he went to live with him, and
became a diligent attender of Buckingham
Meeting. He passed through deep bap
tisms, and when almost sunk into a state of
despair he was favored with a wonderful visi
tation of Divine light to his soul. This he
compared to the sun breaking from under
[S3]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
thick clouds and darting its rays into a room
which might have been supposed to be clean
and in order, discovering not only what was
out of order, but also cobwebs, spiders and
the insects that had taken an abode therein,
thus showing there was much to be done
within the chamber. This Light also showed
him an extensive prospect of labor without,
and he felt that he was commissioned to
preach the Gospel to all mankind. From
this time he believed that he was anointed,
and in due season was called to the work of
the ministry.
He was a man of feeble constitution, and
he found that coopering, the trade in which
he had been trained, was too hard work for
him, so with a partner he opened a small
retail store. It was customary at that time
to sell liquor in all country stores, and the
use of it was general among Friends. About
this time James was engaged, in company
with several other Friends, in paying family
visits in Buckingham Monthly Meeting.
Just before starting he had bought a hogs-
[54]

A Centennial Celebration.
head of rum and left it for his partner to
sell. But while sitting in a Friend's family,
in the course of the visit, the idea of the
harm this rum might do came before him
with such force that he thought he must
return home. But the other Friends were
not so willing to let him go, so he went with
them to several more places, but with the
hogshead of rum continually before his view,
he was silent. Soon all vocal service ceased,
and they sat in several families in silence.
At length they took an opportunity together
to examine into the cause. James said that
he was the Jonah, and upon being pressed to
explain he told them about the rum. They
allowed him to go home and tell his partner
to be very careful to whom he sold it, and he
determined that no more should be bought in
his name, after which the visit was finished
to satisfaction. Not long after this he gave
up his store and tried brush-making, but was
not very successful for the want of a good
market. Feeling much discouraged as to
the means of livelihood, he was instructed by
[55]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
a dream. He thought he was working at a
flour cask, when a man appeared to him and
told him how foolish it was in him to do it
when he knew it injured his health. James
asked what he should do; the stranger then
gave him full instructions as to how to make
brooms, beginning with the raising of the
broom corn, the preparation of it for use
and the whole process throughout. When
he awoke he thought this was so remarkable
that he proceeded at once to carry out the
directions he had received. He soon finished
some brooms and took them to Philadelphia
to sell, but purchasers were few as he stood
in the market, and as he noticed other ped
dlers crying their wares through the streets,
he concluded that it was only pride that was
keeping him from doing the same thing. So
he started out and soon met Nicholas Wain,
who did not altogether approve of the plan
and bought all his brooms. But he seems
to have continued the business notwithstand
ing Nicholas's advice to the contrary. After
a time he moved to Hatboro, within the
[56]

SAMUEL* SANSOM '
'1738-1824

A Centennial Celebration.
limits of Horsham Meeting, and was mar
ried to Martha Shoemaker in 1790. He
travelled about in the ministry to a consid
erable extent, making sometimes long jour
neys and frequently appointed meetings for
those of other societies, or among those who
seldom went to any place of worship. His
meetings were always largely attended and
his ministry was often very remarkable.
Those not our members often attended
Horsham Meeting in order to hear him
speak, and some said that even if he said
nothing they were satisfied just to see him.
He used, as we have before said, wonderfully
beautiful and often poetic language, delight
ing in metaphor and simile, often using the
most simple things as illustrations. He was
often himself instructed by dreams and
visions, and he had intended to have the
most remarkable of these written down for
the help and encouragement of others, but
unfortunately if was never done.
Though endowed, as we have seen, with
a remarkably baptizing gift in the ministry,
[57]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
he was often greatly depressed. Once in the
course of a religious visit, after attending
a meeting at Springfield, Delaware County,
he was visited with deep discouragement, and
said he must go at once home, thinking
himself unfit for the work of a minister of
the Gospel. His companion said that they
had appointed a meeting for the next day
at Providence and must attend it. He
passed a most distressing afternoon and
night, and arose the next morning still
determined to go home. But the friend
suggested that they sit down together and
wait upon the Lord for counsel in the mat
ter. In a short time James, with a bright
countenance and cheerful voice, expressed
his willingness to go to the meeting, saying,
"My Master has been here and said to me,
'Go, and I will send my servant Eli Yarnall,
and he shall come and pray for thee.' " And
the Master did send Eli Yarnall, who very
unexpectedly felt a call to go to Providence,
not knowing of the appointed meeting. He
left his ploughing, however, and went, get-
[58]

A Centennial Celebration.
ting there a little late. He was soon called
to intercede for his friend, that his faith
might be strengthened and help given him
to prosecute his religious service. This
help was granted and James soon arose and
preached a powerful sermon, many being
greatly affected and contrited to tears.
The latter part of his life was spent in
Frankford, where he died in the Fourth
month of 1811, aged about 68 years. He
was a tall, thin man, six feet or over, and
usually dressed in drab. He was very inter
esting in conversation, especially with young
people, and has left to us a beautiful example
of humility and Christian simplicity.
Although Richard Jordan was not a mem
ber of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting till after
1804, he seems so closely connected with it
that a few words about him do not seem out
of place. He was born in Virginia, though
all his earlier life was spent in North Caro
lina. He passed through many deep bap
tisms before he was made willing to lay all
at the feet of his Master and give himself up
[59]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
to do His will. For a long time he thought
he would be as good as he could be without
preaching, but he found that would not do,
and he began to preach when he was twenty-
five years old. He married Pharaby Knox,
"a young woman," he says, "that had sus
tained an amiable character in the world,
and whose religious education far exceeded
mine." She was a true helpmeet to him,
and had very often to stay by the stuff alone
during his frequent visits on religious ser
vice. When he was married, his father
offered him several slaves, but he felt best
satisfied not to take them, which displeased
his father ; and at different times later on in
the course of his travels we find him much
concerned for the welfare of the colored
race. On one of his earlier religious visits,
upon reaching Baltimore, he found the small
pox prevailing in the city, and upon weigh
ing the matter carefully, and James Carey
having offered his house for the purpose,
Richard and his companion were inoculated
for the small-pox. This detained them
[60]

A Centennial Celebration.
about six weeks. His longest absence from
home was during his visit to Europe from
1799 to 1803, during which time he says he
travelled 15,000 miles, and encountered
many perils both by land and by sea.
Not long after his return he felt that it
would be right for him to remove to Hart
ford, Conn., which he did, and after remain
ing there some years he came to live in Cam
den, N. J. He was a plain, old-fashioned
Friend and lived in great simplicity. Doubt
less many of you are familiar with the pic
ture of him, a short, rather stout man, walk
ing along his lane, with his simple little
home in the background.
He was often favored with a powerful
manifestation of Divine grace in the exer
cise of his gift as a minister. During one
of the visits of William Williams, of Ten
nessee, to Philadelphia, whilst sitting at the
house of the Friend where he lodged, a per
son present mentioned that Richard Jordan
had been silent for a considerable time in his
own meeting. "Perhaps," said William, "he
[61 ]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
is making a convert." On being asked to
explain, he said that when he and Richard
lived near together in North Carolina, a
neighbor of theirs, a man of note, conceived
a great inclination to hear Richard Jordan
preach, and for this purpose attended several
First-day meetings, but our Friend was
silent. "Well," thought the neighbor, "Mr.
Jordan only preaches on week-days," so on
week-days he came to meeting, but Richard
remained silent. This continued for several
weeks, until the neighbor found his desire to
hear the preacher subside, but another work
had been imperceptibly going on, and he now
felt that he was not at liberty to neglect the
attendance of either First- or week-day
meetings, and he became convinced of
Friends' principles. After the desire of
hearing Richard had been succeeded by a
willingness to listen to the "still, small voice,"
the seal was removed from Richard's lips
and he began again to preach.
One day a Friend was driving down the
pike near Richard's house at Newton, and
[62]

A Centennial Celebration.
saw him wheeling his wife Pharaby down
the lane in a wheelbarrow. Upon asking
what was the matter, Richard said she had
been sick and he thought a little fresh air
would do her good, and as he had no car
riage he concluded to use the wheelbarrow.
In a letter written from Philadelphia,
while there on a religious visit, he says,
"Notwithstanding the prevalence of worldly
greatness and grandeur among many pro
fessors here, we find a sympathizing rem
nant; our way through this place has been
much easier than we expected."
In another letter dated New Castle, Eng
land, Seventh month 28, 1800, he says,
"Friends are very kind, individuals offer
me assistance — what I suppose they would
think a better polish — but I don't seem free
to accept this part of their kindness. They
seem also to make some difficulty of my drab
hat, but have not as yet forbid the use of it,
so I go on much in the old way." He lived
till 1826, his faithful Pharaby having died
nearly two years before. [63]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
A writer signing himself "Lang Syne,"
thus gives his recollections of the preachers
of the latter part of the eighteenth century.
He mentions James Pemberton, Nicholas
Wain, Daniel Offley, Arthur Howell, William
Savery and Thomas Scattergood as the
"shining lights" of those days. "From the
preachers' gallery, as seen through 'the mist
of years,' " James Pemberton sat at the head
of the gallery, an immovable figure, very
erect and resting with both hands crossed
on the top of his cane.
"Arthur Howell always sat shrouded be
neath his hat drawn over his face, and the
upper part of his outside coat elevated to
meet it, like unto a prophet 'in his mantle
wrapt,' and isolated in thought from all sub
lunary things."
James was the only one of the three
brothers, Israel, James and John Pember
ton, who lived into the nineteenth century.
They were all remarkable men, influential
in the affairs of the Colony of Pennsylvania
and were among the Friends banished to
[64]

RICHARD JORDAN
1756-182&

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Virginia in 1776. They formed the
"Friendly Association" for preserving peace
with the Indians. Israel and James were
active in helping the oppressed blacks, and
both were at one time members of the State
Legislature. James was a man of mild dis
position, and of great intellectual powers
highly cultivated and of ample pecuniary
means. Endowed with sound judgment,
and influenced by large benevolence, he
cheerfully devoted his powers, his time and
his substance to promote the good of his
fellow-creatures. To the various benevo
lent institutions of Philadelphia he was a
liberal benefactor, and in their management
he took an active share. He was an elder,
for many years clerk of the Meeting for
Sufferings and filled with ability many other
offices in our religious society.
Mary Pryor, a minister from England,
writing to her husband from Philadelphia
in 1798, tells him that she is making her
home with James and Phoebe Pemberton,
"who appear as a prince and princess both
[65]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
outwardly and inwardly," and in mentioning
the different Friends who went with her in
her different services, she says, "I am fav
ored with companions far, very far, superior
to myself in my little visits. There are
Samuel Smith, Samuel Emlen, Rebecca
Jones, dear Nicholas Wain, Elizabeth Foulke
(whom she calls 'my Betsy') and most days
my landlady, Phoebe Pemberton, and her
choice husband." She also expresses a fear
lest she should be spoiled by the attentions
received in their most comfortable home.
In a letter dated Third month 15th, she
writes, "All my pleadings could not get me
excused from a fire in my bed-room nights
and mornings."
James Pemberton died in 1809 at the ad
vanced age of 85 years.
This same Friend, Mary Pryor, in an
other letter says, "Yesterday I dined at
Arthur Howell's. I think he may be said
to be 'zealous for the Lord of Hosts.' " He
began to preach before he was 21 years old.
He was often remarkably led to minister to
[66]

A Centennial Celebration.
special cases, of which a number of instances
have been recorded. His public ministry
was peculiar. His voice was loud, and as
he only gave utterance to a few syllables
with each breath his communications ap
peared somewhat abrupt. He was often led
to attend the funerals of Friends, and not
many took place in the city among his ac
quaintances that he neglected. The story of
the wonderful way in which he was led to
go to the funeral of a young woman in Ger
man town, who had been very unjustly ac
cused of a crime, and who had faith to be
lieve that one of the Lord's servants would
be sent to her funeral to testify to her inno
cence, is too familiar to be repeated here.
He seemed at times to be gifted with
prophetic insight. On one occasion an Eng
lish woman Friend here on a religious visit,
was ready to return home, and went with
Arthur Howell on board a vessel just ready
to sail to see if she would feel easy to take
passage on it. That appears to have been
the custom with Friends preparing to cross
[67]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
the ocean on religious service. Arthur be
came distressed and agitated, and drawing a
circle with chalk upon the deck, he said, "I
can see as plainly as I can see that ring that
this is neither the time nor the vessel." The
Friend did not take passage and the vessel
was never afterwards heard from.
A young woman went with some of her
companions into Friends' Market Street
Meeting-house, out of curiosity, being in the
city to see the sights. A minister from Eng
land sat at the head of the women's gallery,
and her sweet solemnity of appearance at
tracted the attention of the young woman.
She kept saying over to herself, "I wish I
was like that lady!" At length Arthur
Howell rose in the gallery, and in an ener
getic manner and sounding voice spoke out,
"Leave off wishing and desiring and seek for
thyself." Of course she was very much
startled and wondered how that strange gen
tleman could know what she was thinking
about. But this short sermon set her to
thinking seriously, and she became eventually
[68]

JAMES PEMBERTON
1723-1809

A Centennial Celebration.
a useful member of the Society of Friends.
Arthur Howell, as well as many other
Friends, was active in doing what he could
to alleviate the sufferings of his fellow-citi
zens during the various visitations of the yel
low fever in Philadelphia. The following
letter from him to his cousin, Col. Joshua L.
Howell, shows what he felt to be his duty in
the matter :
"Phila., Eighth month 13th, 1798.
"My dear Cousin: My lot from present
prospects will be to remain in this city. As
thou knowest, dear Cousin, when a soldier
in the outward army is fixed at his post by
his commanding officer, however dangerous
it may appear to him or others, it is death to
him to desert it, and so do I view my pres
ent situation, and unless I receive a command
from my dear Master and Captain to move
therefrom I dare not, however hazardous my
stay may to myself or others appear. His
power is the same it ever was (it is not
diminished), whatever the sons of defection
may think. He preserved Daniel in the
lion's den and Shadrach, Meshach and
[69]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Abednego in the fiery furnace ; and He can,
and I firmly believe will, preserve me and
all those whose whole trust and confidence
is fixed on Him. Glory to His ever-blessed
name, saith my soul, in that He has redeemed
me from all sublunary enjoyments, and my
soul from the power of the grave, so that
to me death has no terror, neither believe I
will the grave have any victory. That it
may be thy case as well as mine, and all
mankind universally, by a steady attention
to the precious gift of Divine Grace, is the
earnest desire of thy affectionate cousin,
"Arthur Howell."
Although he did valiant service during
this awful period, he entirely escaped the
disease and lived till 1816.
Another Friend who was very active in
this way was Thomas Scattergood. He was
at all times characterized by a desire to do
good to his fellow-creatures. This he car
ried into all the relations of life — in his
treatment of his employees as well as in his
intercourse in his family circle. We read
of his labors among Friends and others at the
[70]

A Centennial Celebration.
time of the yellow fever in 1793, and in
1798, while he was in England on a reli
gious visit his eldest daughter, a young girl
of sixteen died of the disease. His wife and
son were also ill at the same time, but both
recovered. The Yearly Meeting of Ministers and
Elders met as usual on Seventh-day, Ninth
month 22d, 1798, and the meeting for Dis
cipline met on Second-day and adjourned to
the Twelfth month following, but in the
short time that Friends from the country
were in the city a number took the disease
and several died after their return home.
After this it was concluded to hold the
Yearly Meeting in the spring instead of the
fall, as being a time less liable to the fever,
and from 1799 to the present time the third
Second-day in the Fourth month has been
the opening day of Philadelphia Yearly
Meeting. Among the worthies who were prominent
a century ago we have many interesting and
instructive anecdotes of both George Dillwyn
[71]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
and William Savery. In 1784 George Dill
wyn went to England on a religious visit
and was there most of the time for eighteen
years. His wife, Sarah, an excellent woman,
went with him. When he was about start
ing she went into the Men's Monthly Meet
ing in Burlington and asked the advice of
the meeting whether she had better go with
him or not, saying, "I am resigned to go,
or resigned to stay, but most resigned to go."
A large part of his service was in and near
London. He and Thomas Scattergood were
there together, and Thomas felt it right to
appoint an evening meeting at which, how
ever, he was silent and George had all the
vocal service. When the meeting was about
to close Thomas arose and said the language
had been running through his mind for some
days, "What if thou shouldst appoint a meet
ing for thy elder brother ?" Thus these two
brethren labored together in their Master's
service. William Savery was an active, energetic
laborer in whatever his Master called him to
[7H

GEORGE DILLWYN
1 738-1820

A Centennial Celebration.
do. He said there was no room in the Lord's
house for the slothful, and his actions showed
that he believed in the truth of the assertion.
During the visitations of yellow fever in
1802 and 1803 he devoted himself to caring
for the sick and afflicted. Upon one occa
sion Thomas Scattergood felt a strong in
clination to be present at the execution of
two criminals in Philadelphia, which hardly
seemed like a religious concern. He went
to his friend, William Savery, who was at
work in his currier's shop and found him
disposed to accompany him. They watched
the approach of the hurdle in which the
criminals were placed, which they closely fol
lowed for some time and then got upon it.
They felt as if they were dreadfully hard
ened, never having been sensible of the like
before ; but they afterwards believed that this
feeling arose from a deep sense given them
of the state of the minds of the criminals.
When they arrived at the platform they
ascended the ladder after the poor men, and
directly after the execution William Savery
[73]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
felt a powerful impression to address the
multitude assembled. The state of his mind
immediately changed into one of deep com
passion, so much so that it was with diffi
culty that he could forbear weeping. It was
observed that many among the crowd wept.
As soon as he had done Thomas Scatter
good followed, and very impressively and
powerfully pointed out to the people the evil
of giving way to the first temptation to do
wrong, closing the whole with supplication.
The time thus occupied was about an hour
and the crowd quietly dispersed.
Towards the close of the Revolution there
was a remarkable visitation to the young
men of Philadelphia, and a remarkable clos
ing in with the offers of mercy. Jonathan
Evans, strong in mind and decided in char
acter, turned from the evil courses of his
youth and offered his talents and energy to
the service of the Lord who had by the
mighty hand of His Providence brought his
soul out of darkness into His marvellous
light. One day in search of something he
[74]

A Centennial Celebration.
wanted, he was looking over the contents of
an old chest when he picked up a book, and
on opening it his eye caught the words, "The
Light of Christ." He threw it down and
went away. But he could not forget the
words, so he decided to examine the book
further, and found it to be William Penn's
"No Cross, No Crown." He read the book
and was thoroughly aroused to a sense of his
condition, and sought earnestly for pardon
for his past sins. As he could no longer
enjoy the company of his former associates
he kept much retired. At last Daniel Offley,
thinking he had a melancholy fit, tried to
rouse him from it, but Jonathan Evans so
clearly set forth his true state that Daniel
Offley was himself convinced and became a
minister in 1781. He did not live into the
nineteenth century, as he died of the yellow
fever in 1793, when but 37 years old. Jona
than Evans was drafted as a soldier and was
confined sixteen weeks in prison for refusing
to serve. When but twenty-four he was
made overseer of the Southern District
[75]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Monthly Meeting and later an elder, and for
many years he was clerk of the Yearly Meet
ing, as was also his wife Hannah, the daugh
ter of David Bacon. She was said to be a
woman of a kind and loving spirit, and
looked faithfully after the health and train
ing of her children. Being a skillful nurse,
her warm sympathies often led her to minis
ter to the sick and afflicted. Jonathan Evans
was well versed in the Discipline of our
Society. William J. Allinson, writing of the
close of the Yearly Meeting in 1836, thus
speaks of him: "Next sat the man whose
first name is sufficient designation in all the
Society of Friends. As he leaned upon his
cane he reminded you of Rome and every
thing that is rendered venerable by antiquity
and stern endurance. His very appearance
was a grand moral spectacle, the more so to
those who knew him. Versed in all the doc
trines, opinions and usages of the Society,
he detected at a glance the first appearance
of whatever is unseemly. The Discipline is
an open book before him and he is an oracle
[76]

CATHARINE W. MORRIS
1772-1859
From 'a photograph* belonging lo George Vaux
Never before published.

A Centennial Celebration.
to expound its meaning. When he speaks,
and he is not lavish of his speeches, the clerk
may safely make a minute, for the question
is settled; Jonathan is not mistaken. Not
that he assumes dictation, not that he wishes
to carry his point, but, as I said, the Dis
cipline is an open book before him, and he
knows all about it without thinking twice.
"Be it that he is fallible like the rest, he
has overcome more than almost any ten men
had to contend with. When he is gathered
to his fathers the Society will miss him, and
then, and not till then, will they appreciate
his worth."
Rebecca Jones was a very interesting char
acter in the early days. Her mother was a
zealous member of the Episcopal Church,
and tried to bring her daughter up in the
same profession. But when quite a child,
she often asked permission to go to Friends'
meetings and her mother did not object.
When asked why she liked to go, she said
that Friends were a good people and she
liked their way, for there was not so much
[77]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
rising up and sitting down as there was at
church. She did not care for their preach
ing, but was always best pleased with silent
meetings. She became much exercised in
mind, not knowing what to do, and finally
concluded to write to an English Friend,
Catharine Payton, then visiting in Philadel
phia. She slipped her letter without a sig
nature into the Friend's hand just as she was
going into meeting one day, and when
Catharine Payton asked Anthony Benezet if
he could tell who wrote the letter, he
answered, "I don't know, unless it be romp
ing Beck Jones." She was at this time about
sixteen years old. She was afterwards an
active member of the Society, a minister for
over fifty years. She was a teacher for
many years and at the same time active in
her calling as a minister. She went on a
religious visit to England in 1784, crossing
the ocean in the same ship with Samuel
Emlen and George Dillwyn, and did not re
turn till 1788. In 1793 she was very low
with the yellow fever, but she was raised up
[78]

A Centennial Celebration.
again, and though often in feeble health she
lived till 1818. She was one of the first
seven women Friends on the Westtown Com
mittee, and was very active in getting the
new house ready for occupancy in 1799. In
her early days as a member of the Society
she is described as "a sober maiden with cap
on head and kerchief pinned with mathe
matical precision. Bright-eyed intelligence
and vivacity of spirit, chastened by Christian
watchfulness and circumspection beamed in
her countenance, where energy and decision
sat enthroned. She was a minister of the
Gospel, youthful yet wise, fervent yet
cautious, nicely balancing submissiveness to
her elder Friends with independence of char
acter, humility with self-respect. At that
time she was the hope of the aged, in after
life the veneration of the young."
But time warns us that we must draw this
rambling account to a close, leaving unmen-
tioned many worthies who were useful in
their day and generation, the descendants of
many of whom are here to-day, and who,
[79]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
taking the places of their ancestors, are fill
ing up their measure of usefulness and mak
ing history for future generations.
The following is quoted from the editorial
in the Friend of Fifth month 14th, 1904:
"Not non-conformity with the common
drift gave our standard-bearers their author
ity, but Truth's authority gave them their
non-conformity. 'Ye shall receive authority
after the Holy Spirit is come upon you.' In
that Divine influence and power consisted
their authority; and into that must we with
as single an eye and heart return if we are
to have the same authority again."

[80]

FRIENDS'. MEETING-HOUSE, FOURTH AND
ARCH STREETS, PHILADELPHIA
Showing' the. original east wing and centre building .
"at the left With the west wing erected '¦¦-¦''
later at. the right ¦?'
(Copyrighted by George B. Wood) ]

POEM.

BY FRANCIS B. GUMMERE.

I.
Song calls for heroes, bids the thunder chime
Subservient rhythm, and on a cloud of
need,
That frowns its wrath over some perilous
time,
Writes in swift lightning runes of noble
deed.
Song throbs to the indomitable heart
Of martyred Sidney, and the word he sped
When his grim headsman, loath to play the
part,
Held back the axe, bent o'er the block, and
said, —
e [81]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Missing the message men give ere they die,
"Wilt speak? Wilt stand? Wilt rise
again f" But like
Arrow or levin came the stern reply :
"Not till the general resurrection! Strike."
Song haunts old palaces, cathedral choirs,
Majestic ruins, mountain crags, the dome
Of sunset vista, and where beacon-fires
Leap from their cliffs and red the tumbling
foam.
Song haunts the solitudes of glorious death,
As where, from barren hills to barren
waves,
The heart of Scotland sighs and Scotland's
breath
Moans dirges o'er the covenanters' graves.
II.
What, then, have we to win the grace of
song?
What deed, what passionate word, what
storm of tears,
What joy exultant flashes out along
The dim procession of our silent years ?
[82]

A Centennial Celebration.
What champions greet us from that petty
strife,
Trim heroes of the basket and the store?
What solitude, what majesty of life,
In this mid-city's dull and futile roar ?
And here! Vain quest for organ-music
streaming
With the long chant, for carved and
vaulted fane,
For marbled memories and legends gleaming
Purple and crimson from the sun-flushed
pane!
No chapel solitudes; no mourners kneeling
With sigh and tear before that piteous
form,
To hear His voice of consolation stealing
As once upon the Galilean storm. . . .
III.
House of our fathers, and have these thy
walls
No word of answer for the singer's quest,
No sudden, spirit-traced memorials
Of lives that peered the bravest and the
best?
[&3]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Of struggles in the wilderness ; the word
Of courage flashed from clash of doubt
and faith ;
The cry of agony ; the whispers heard
From souls triumphant in the gates of
death?
And we, shall we who hold thy memory
dear,
And praise our heritage, and round thee
throng,
Tune no brave chorus for thy hundredth
year,
Compel no paean on the lips of song?
Nay. Song for thee has no insistent strain,
And writes no epic of thy fates. A thrill
Of deeper harmony shall make us fain
To stand before thee reverent and still, —
As mountaineers, once gained their cloud-
girt islands,
Above the mists, above the broken light,
Take into deeps of silence out of silence
The ministrations of the infinite.
[84]

THE SOCIAL LIFE OF YEARLY
MEETING WEEK— PAST
AND PRESENT.

BY FRANCES TATUM RH0ADS.

In sharp contrast with the familiar asso
ciation of "Yearly Meeting" with "merely
eating," are these words from a recent edi
torial in The American Friend on the "Im
portance of Christian Fellowship" :
"In the early days of our Society (note
the name) fellowship and social intercourse
were* the most prominent thing. If anybody
suffered, it was an affair of the whole group.
Everybody knew everybody. It was a
society. The members felt themselves united
in a great living, active fellowship. There
has sometimes been a disposition to laugh
at the monthly and quarterly meeting din
ners, and at the clannishness of Friends as it
[»S]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
was in the days of our youth. These things
were just as important as Discipline or
Queries. They did more to hold the Society
together than any legislation of business
meetings did."
A better understanding of the significance
of this contract can be reached if we study
somewhat in detail the social life of our
Yearly Meeting during three periods : that
of a century ago, that of what we may call
the middle period and that of the present
day. Perhaps the most complete picture of the
social life of Philadelphia Friends a century
ago, is to be found in the Memorials of
Rebecca Jones, a book that will amply repay
the study of the young Friends of these
times. Of her it might have been said, as it was
of another prominent member of this Yearly
Meeting, that she was "good for both
worlds." Her letters and journal convey
not only her deep spiritual exercises and
those of her friends, but also many details of
[86]

A Centennial Celebration.
their daily lives, and of the conduct of her
school, her "little shop" and her "humble
habitation on Brook's Court, convenient to
North Meeting."
Her first appearance in Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting was in 1755, when she was
but sixteen; not far removed from that
romping girlhood which had earned her the
title of "wild Becky Jones." She had at
tended meetings often before this time, but
was not aware that only members attended
the sittings of the Yearly Meeting. How
ever, "seeing so many plain Friends she felt
uneasy, and as if she had no business there,
which was increased by a whispering she
fancied she heard near the clerk's table.
Catharine Kallendar, leaving her seat, went
upstairs and sat by her, and seeing her about
to rise, she laid her hand upon her kindly,
and presently they both went out, when
Catharine informed her that those meetings
were exclusively for members, but she be
lieved that the time was not far distant when
it would be proper for her to attend them."
[87]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
This wise and gentle dealing had the de
sired effect, and Rebecca Jones notes in her
journal, "Though I left the meeting in much
distress, yet no hardness got in. . . .
My love rather increased, not only to this
Mother in Israel, but to the whole flock."
And it was only three years later, in 1758,
that she made her first appearance in the
ministry, when •"some Friends spake encour
agingly to me," she says, "and I met with
no opposition."
It is interesting to note her own encour
aging attitude toward the young people of
the Yearly Meeting, when years after she
writes to Henry Drinker, "but, dear Henry,
thou knowest we old people cannot see as in
the days of our youth, and therefore it is a
comfort that there is a lively prospect of a
succession among the dear youth. May they
be kept down to the immortal root in them
selves and preserved as fruit-bearing
branches, is my prayer for them."
We may mark as a characteristic of the
Friends of a century ago the use made of
[88]

ARCH STREET WEST FROM THIRD TO HALF
WAY BETWEEN FOURTH AND FIFTH
STREET'S AS IT APPEARED WHEN THE
MEETING-HOUSE WAS BUILDING
• Residences of Friends appear on the right
-^'{ReprodtKed from Birch's Views Published 1799).

A Centennial Celebration.
their young members in the work of the
Church, when they showed a right fitness for
it. Jonathan Evans was made an overseer
at 24 and an elder at 36 years of age.
John Smith, who married the daughter of
James Logan, was made clerk of the Yearly
Meeting when but 19. A German Friend,
who had gone out while the matter was
before the meeting, coming in and hearing
its decision, paused as he passed John Smith
on his way to his seat, and clapping him upon
the shoulder, said, in an audible and emphatic
voice, "Stay dy mind upon de Lord, John !"
Perhaps there is no more striking charac
teristic of the life of that time than the
social visiting which was abundantly prac
ticed without the aid of any meeting's com
mittee. Elizabeth Drinker's journal is much
taken up with lists of their callers, and the
people whom they visited. When an even
ing passed with "none but our own family"
she makes a marked entry, as of a most un
common thing.
The Philadelphia of that day was like a
[89]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
country town. Small wooden benches by
the door steps on Arch Street were filled on
warm evenings with family groups greeting
acquaintances who passed by.
On the nineteenth of Sixth month, 1804,
occurred the death of William Savery, "our
endeared brother," Rebecca Jones calls him.
And he was endeared, not only to Friends,
but to many others in Philadelphia.
An incident which occurred soon after his
death, gives an interesting picture of the
time. In Front Street, opposite the end of
Brook's Court, stood Peter Brown's black
smith shop, where was employed as foreman
one Jacob B  , an elderly man, and a
sober-minded Methodist, who had lost three
daughters in the yellow fever epidemic of
1802. William Savery had in this, as in
many other instances given his personal at
tention at the risk of his life. A few days
after his decease this man went up the court
to fill his noggin at Rebecca Jones' pump,
which, on account of the quality of its water,
was resorted to by persons from many
[90]

A Centennial Celebration.
squares distant. Seeing her seated by her
open window, he thus accosted her, "May be
you won't have any objections to hearing a
hymn I've made to sing over my work,"
adding that "it helped his mind to soar
while his hands were engaged in necessary
labor." He then proceeded to sing his
verses with much emotion, which, with no
claim to poetical elegance, contained a warm
expression of regard for the virtues and
value of William Savery; clearly showing
that a memorial to the worth of this "disin
terested and faithful minister of Christ"
lived in the hearts of others than his own
people. Under date of Fifth month ist, 1805,
Rebecca Jones writes, "Since the last note
our Yearly Meeting has been held, and
though throughout it was a low time, yet a
good degree of weight and solemnity at
tended, and I trust some strength and en
couragement were received by the true
burden-bearers. The Women's Meetings
were held in the new house built for that
[91]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
purpose in Arch Street burying grounds, and
were very large. It was said by some men
Friends that took the account, that 1,600
were accommodated in it. G. Dillwyn and
W. C  made us a visit and were lively
in their service. Charity Cook and Ann
Alexander visited the Men's Meeting, in
which the latter had lively testimony. I was
marvellously supported in sitting so many
long meetings, and for which I desire to be
humbly thankful to my ever-blessed helper
and sure Friend. The meeting closed on
Seventh-day about n o'clock, but not as
soon as we wished and hoped it would."
She adds, "yesterday a meeting for other
societies was held at the Arch Street house
at C. Cook's desire." And, again, "Ann
Alexander had a large meeting for the in
habitants of this city in our new house on
Arch Street and was greatly favored
therein." On the 9th of Fifth month, 1805, was held
the Quarterly Meeting for the black people,
which was, Rebecca Jones records, "the last
[92]

SAMUEL SMITH
A minister 'of this time. From a pencil sketch

^M^lp ^

1 / 1*

i V ¦*

1 1 H
ft, • \. 1 •

n 1 U

\H ¦ \ I ^1 ¦*

\ 1 K

X
1

- -.._-*-*"

A Centennial Celebration.
meeting of the sort, as Friends, upon weighty
deliberation, were united in the belief that
the service of them was over, and they have
now several places of worship of their own,
of which they were very judiciously and
affectionately informed by Nicholas Wain
and the meeting ended with solemnity."
Thus the Friends of that time had their
share of the "Race Problem" to work out.
Many of their trusted servants were found
among the colored people, and were made
literally a part of the family. When Rebecca
Jones writes to John and Hannah Pember
ton she sends a message of love to Oranock,
their "black man." There were colored
Friends and others who habitually attended
Friends' meetings. In some houses, as that
on Key's Alley, there were separate seats
for them, and our late Friend, Israel John
son, used to bear his testimony against this
by sitting with them.
An interesting item in connection with
this custom refers to Capt. Paul Cuffee, the
story of whose life is told in one of our
[93]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Friends' tracts. By his own exertions he
prospered greatly in business, and was in
1806 the owner of a ship, two brigs and
several smaller vessels, beside other property.
He used his means largely in the help of his
poor African brothers, making two voyages
to Sierra Leone in his own vessel, manned
by colored sailors. We are told in the ac
count of his life that "he was warmly
attached to the. Society of Friends, of which
he was a member, and sometimes expressed
a few sentences in their meetings which gave
general satisfaction." On the occasion of
the incident referred to above, he left his
seat, walked up into the gallery to a place at
the head of the meeting and, standing there,
preached a remarkably powerful sermon.
At its close William Savery moved his place,
and touched his arm, directing him to a seat
beside himself, but Paul Cuffee made a ges
ture of dissent and walked back, down the
aisle, to his place among his own people.
That the standard of "plain dress" a cen
tury ago differed from what has been cus-
[94]

A Centennial Celebration.
tomary in the Yearly Meeting since, as well
as from that which had preceded it, is shown
in a quotation from an old diary given in
Amelia M. Gummere's book on Quaker cos
tume, which narrates how "Martha Routh,
a minister of the Gospel from old England
. . . was the means of bringing bonnets
into fashion for our leading Friends." After
some further details concerning "the hoods
on the cloaks of our overseers, and other
active members," which "have increased to
an alarming height or size," the extract con
cludes, "how unlike the dress of their grand
mothers !"
We are told that Rebecca Jones' bonnet
had "a soft crown and a very large cape,
spreading in three points, one down the mid
dle of the back and one reaching to the tip of
each shoulder."
An imposing structure this must have
been, but not so graceful in outline or lovely
in coloring as the bonnets of a later period.
When we hear the tone in which recollec
tions of the white, plain bonnet are uttered,
[9Sl

Arch Street Meeting-House.
we feel that there must be a fine choice of
words to paint it as it was. "Ah," said a
Friend whose hair is silvery now, "if
thee could only get some one to describe
those white, plain bonnets to thee! I used
to sit at my uncle's front window when I
was a boy to watch them; Arch Street was
lined with them as the young women hur
ried by to meeting." His tone said more
than his words, and one could almost fancy
them, gleaming like white lilies, and seem
ing to bend and sway, like lily-stalks in the
breeze, as their wearers nodded to friends
or chatted together. No wonder that, as
tradition says, the street boys sometimes ran
on ahead and then faced about to catch a
glimpse of some especially fair girlish face in
its pure framing. The gayer Jersey girls
had sometimes a hint of pink coloring, like
the arbutus of their own woods.
Of the dress of the men Friends less ac
count is preserved. It is recorded of the
personal appearance of Jonathan Evans,
"His remarkable figure is not easily forgot-
[96]

WILLIAM SAVERY
1 7,5 o-r 1804
From a silhouette in the />•'-' :¦•-' tsl-u of Sarah Emlen
REBECCA JONES
1739-1818
From a silhouette in "the possession ^ Sarah Emlen

A Centennial Celebration.
ten, being aptly described by Henry Cope
as reminding of a Roman senator. Dressed
in a long broadcloth coat and knee-breeches
to match, ribbed stockings, shining shoes and
silver buckles, overshadowed by a broad-
brimmed beaver hat, with a cane in his
hand, he was ready for whatever might come
in his daily round."
We may carry the comparison to a Roman
senator a little further, and say, with
Macaulay, —
"The Romans were like brothers in the
brave days of old," for family affection and
the ties of blood were very strong. It is
said of one family, prominent in the affairs
of our Yearly Meeting, "The children of
each household were adopted by all the rest,
and the weal or woe of any member of the
clan vibrated from end to end."
It is true that many of the prominent
Friends of a century ago lived "within sound
of the State House clock," but that there
must have been a goodly number out of
town is shown by the establishment of the
7 [97 1

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Pemberton fund. The will of John Pem
berton, dated 1794, disposes of "Part of my
pasture land on the Wissahickon Road in
the Northern Liberties. ... In trust
for the use of Friends, members of the same
religious Society as myself, for the accom
modation of the horses of such Friends who
may attend the Yearly Meeting, the Quar
terly Meeting of Philadelphia, the Meeting
for Sufferings or other religious service of
our religious Society, from what parts soever
they may come."
John Pemberton died in 1795, but it was
not until 181 1 that the first appointment of
trustees was made by the Meeting for Suf
ferings. Somehow one always fancied the horses
grazing on the original "Pemberton lot" and
drinking from "Pegg's Run," but, as a mat
ter of fact, the ground seems to have been
rented from the beginning, and the Friends'
horses quartered in different places. In
1 84 1 the trustees received from the Legisla
ture of Pennsylvania power to sell the prop-
[98]

A Centennial Celebration.
erty and the money has been invested; the
income from it being still used to pay the
travelling expenses of Friends.
The Jersey Friends often left their horses
in the neighborhood of Camden (where one
hospitable man entertained a stableful
throughout the week, we have heard), and
crossed in rowboats to the city. The weather
of Yearly Meeting week seems to have early
acquired its reputation, for an uncle of my
mother's used to tell how he remembered the
Jersey Friends re-crossing at the close of the
meeting and the people on the wharf saying,
"There goes the last boatload of Quakers!
Now we shall have pleasant weather !"
In regard to the provision of the house
holders of early days for the Yearly Meeting
guests, we may well believe that it was
ample. It was David Bacon, of whom
Rebecca Jones writes in 1800, "D. Bacon
remains an upright pillar, sound and steady,"
who originated that pleasant anecdote which
has been handed down to us about how
horned cattle must have plenty of room, but
[99]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
many sheep can be happy in a small fold.
This when he was asked how he could ac
commodate so many! He is said to have
had a plan for keeping quantities of oysters
alive in his cellar.
A family anecdote of this period describes
the chairs in a great-grandmother's parlors
filled with Yearly Meeting guests, and the
young hostess herself modestly seated in the
large wooden cradle, which after the custom
of the day was part of the furniture of the
living rooms.
Mary Evans remembered as a child seeing
Nicholas Wain choose a bunch of pipes and
hand them to her, bidding her take them
home with her, as Yearly Meeting was com
ing on, and these were especially fine ones.
Elizabeth Drinker mentions the visit of sev
eral Friends to her while her husband was
exiled in Virginia, tells how "Samuel Emlen
spoke by way of testimony" and adds, "Ye
Friends stayed talking with us and smoking
their pipes until after three o'clock."
Later she writes, "I went this morning to
[ioo]

THE BEE-HIVE BONNET
>g&J.'< <&.*%* <
Worn in the latter part of the Eighteenth Century.
The figure is probably Lydia Hollingshead.
From a picture in possession
i,. ... .v"4-'°f Sarah Emlen

A Centennial Celebration.
H. Pemberton's. Found her smoking her
pipe with two officers, one of whom is quar
tered there." In at least one family "a keg
of Pepper's beer" was a part of the Yearly
Meeting provision.
Coming down to the middle period we
find Friends living in somewhat different
style, but no less hospitable, and we are
enabled to gather some recollection of the
social life of Yearly Meeting week by eye
witnesses, which may already seem like
scenes from the past to our younger mem
bers. The country Friends arrived betimes, as
one of them says, "On First-day afternoon,
or on Sixth-day after father and mother
became members of the Select Meeting,
starting early in the day, so that the one of
our brothers who went with us could bring
back the horses that night, thus making a
round trip of about fifty miles. All who
were going to Yearly Meeting went at that
time, and that was by no means the whole
family, certainly not the children as at pres-
[IOI]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
ent. Our driver would come down again
on Sixth-day, attend one session of the
Yearly Meeting and bring us back. I re
member once, however, in the troubled times
near 1827, father and mother had to stay in
town until Second-day. . . . Clothing
was sometimes carried in bandboxes, and
one Friend is reported to have carried his in
a bureau drawer or a drawer taken from a
high chest."
"My father," says another, "was born in
1800. I remember his telling me of being
taken by an aunt to an evening meeting in
the Arch Street house, whether the very first
of such gatherings I cannot say. However,
the impression made upon the child's mind
was deep. The size of the room, the unusual
illumination, the white dresses of the young
women, made him think of the 'troops of
the shining ones,' and were vividly remem
bered through his long life."
"There were more young girls to attend
then than now. Even in my childhood all
the upper galleries were thronged at the
[ 102]

A Centennial Celebration.
time of Yearly Meeting, and a late-comer
was glad to secure a place on one of the
staircases. But a great-aunt has told me
that in her girlhood there was a great deal
more 'unbecoming behavior' than in my
early days. These white-robed maids did
not hesitate to sit on the backs of the gal
lery benches and exchange confidences to the
dismay of the would-be listeners. And in
the course of the past fifty years there is still
further improvement in decorous manners.
More I think than can be accounted for in
mere decrease of numbers."
In the middle part of the late century a
considerable number of uninterested meet
ing-comers found the yard a pleasant parad
ing ground, and there were not wanting
many attentive and genial youths from "the
other side," as companions. I don't remem
ber joining the procession, but glimpses
through the open doors were beguiling.
Then, in those days, when, as often seemed
to happen, the "Men's Meeting" was released
before our own, a large "curb-stone commit-
[103]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
tee" filled the sidewalk from the women's
gate to Fourth Street. Some were there
"looking for their wives," and others con
fessed the same motive for the future. So
impressive and formidable was this "com
mittee" that there were those who felt it a
great relief and comfort to slip out of the
Fourth Street gate if, as sometimes hap
pened, it was found unlocked.
How full Arch Street used to be of
Friends, all the way to Tenth and Eleventh
Streets, after meetings! So many who en
tertained lived on Arch Street, and coming
out after the afternoon sitting, how the level
western sunshine lighted up the new gowns
and bonnets !
"In my girlhood the time of Yearly Meet
ing was like to the gathering of the tribes at
Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover. The
invitations were perennial, and I had almost
said immutable." In one household the bed
steads were put as closely as possible in the
chambers, and the washstands . removed to
the entries. In another a large chest in the
[ 104]

'.RESIDENCS QFW'KRIEND ON ARCH STREET
"•MMoVS-rfOURTH
This is as it appeared in" 1804. g Built in 1792. !

A Centennial Celebration.
attic served as a bedstead for one member
of the family.
Of one Friend we are told that she always
made a large baking of pies on the Seventh-
day before Yearly Meeting and another dur
ing the week, when the holding of the Select
Meeting postponed the morning session,
"Thirty guests might come to dinner, as
many to supper and, of course, the lodgers."
Small wonder that the "delicious plum pies
and cocoanut puddings" vanished.
The country relatives who were thus roy
ally entertained were sometimes helpful in
their turn. Dozens and dozens of fresh eggs
were sent in and choice spring veal for roast
ing in one family. In another, a special vari
ety of sausage, called "Tom Thumb," was
carefully prepared and smoked in the autumn,
hung all winter, was then sent to town and
after long boiling was thinly sliced and gave
a delicious flavor to the Yearly Meeting tea.
Pickled oysters and damson tarts are choice
memories in one mind, in another, oranges,
"much more rare then than now."
[105]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Of one Friend who belonged to this mid
dle period it was said in his memorial, "His
house and heart were ever open to receive
and entertain the many who sought his
society for counsel or assistance, and in social
intercourse his conversation was peculiarly
instructive and engaging."
In the opening sentence of this paragraph
we strike the key-note to the genuine old-
time Yearly Meeting hospitality. (That
which dignified it beyond "merely eating.")
"His house and heart were ever open!"
It was the open heart — the heart "at leisure
from itself, to soothe and sympathize" — that
produced the charm of such evenings as
Whittier has sung in "The Pennsylvania Pil
grim," where he says of the hospitality of
Pastorius, —
" But best he loved, in leisure hours, to see
His own dear Friends sit by him, knee to knee,
In social converse; genial, frank and free.
Then sometimes silence (it were hard to tell
Who owned it first), upon the circle fell."
[106]

A Centennial Celebration.
"Only the old clock ticked, amidst the dearth
Of sound; nor eye was raised nor hand was stirred
In that soul-Sabbath, till at last some word
Of tender counsel or low prayer was heard."
Such evenings the older Friends still with
us can vividly recall. "Imagine," says one
of them, "hearing Stephen Grellet telling,
with the French accent he always retained,
the marvellous story of his conversion, and
subsequent journeys in his native land. Or,
later, Daniel Wheeler, recounting how the
way had been made plain for him amid many
perils, and often when his patient heart was
aching with the news of bereavement at
home. His was truly a victorious faith !
Our Friend recalls the interest with which
she heard John M. Whitall tell of the guid
ance in temporal matters which had been
granted to him after a time of waiting, sil
ently and in faith, upon his Divine Master.
Or Thomas Wistar's lively narratives of
his adventures among the Indians, by whom
his ready sympathy and unselfish care for
them were so fully appreciated that they
[ 107]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
called him "the-man-with-the-tear-in-his-
eye." Many here can recall a square parlor on
Pine Street where the genial hostess reme
died her lack of hearing by a ready under
standing, unfailing tact and a love of young
people so strong as to draw toward her all
that came under influence. She understood
how to bring together strangers of congenial
character and to draw out the diffident or re
tiring. The simple refreshment always pro
vided, and the general ease and freedom
tended to increase the flow of enjoyment and
innocent mirth. To many a shy Westtown
boy or isolated country girl these evenings
were a happy memory for the rest of the
year. These are pleasant pictures over which we
might linger, but rather let us ask, what have
we to-day in their stead ?
The last quarter century has changed the
social customs of Yearly Meeting week
greatly and of necessity. White plain bon
nets and embroidered crape shawls with all
[108]

A Centennial Celebration.
their grace and charm would have been
sadly out of place on Arch Street on the
20th of last Fourth month, when we drew
our prosaic winter wraps close and bent our
heads before the chilling wind. Just as un-
suited to our modern life are some of the
old customs.
Our Yearly Meeting is held in the centre
of a great city. The homes of Friends once
clustered so thickly on Arch Street, near the
meeting-house, are largely replaced by great
business establishments. Most of our mem
bers live in the suburbs, and come and go by
train or trolley. "Rapid transit" does not
tend to conversation by the way. In the
afternoon or evening meetings, a pause is
often made to allow those who must take an
early train to leave the room. We have not
time to be entertained as our forefathers
were. The spirit of hospitality exists just
as of old, but it must be exercised in new
directions. To return to our contrast. The modern
thinker and writer on Christian fellowship
[ 109]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
finds that the breaking of bread together was
blessed to higher purposes; was far more
than "merely eating." He bids us not de
ride it, but seriously consider its benefit.
Now what have we to promote the social
life of Yearly Meeting week?
We have the lunches furnished at the
meeting-house, we have the afternoon and
evening meetings and the "teas" between
them, which are most helpful in this direc
tion. We continue to have the kindly inter
est of the people of Philadelphia, as is shown
by the daily press.
We had in the Women's Meeting this year
the presence of many children, and the plan
proposed and carried out of the writing of a
letter from the Yearly Meeting to its child-
members. The time has passed when there
is no longer room for the children, and when
Friends "are advised" not to bring them.
The time has come when we realize that the
social life and the spiritual life of our Yearly
Meeting in future years will depend upon the
loyalty of these children to their religious
[no]

A Centennial Celebration.
Society, and that it rests with us who are
parents and teachers to lead them to an in
terest in and love, for our meetings and our
principles. We had recently the faithful labors of a
Yearly Meeting's Committee, which brought
about not only a spiritual strengthening of
our smaller meetings, but much pleasant
social intercourse in our homes with Friends
before but little known to us.
All this is encouraging. If our meetings
are no longer so thronged or crowded that
women Friends needs be "advised to draw up
their pockets" (then worn separately from
the dress) to make more room, there is evi
dence in the choice of seats that even our
younger members come to listen, and, it may
be, take some part in the business of the ses
sions ; not to talk or to look idly about them.
And if a "tea" at a meeting-house, or a
lunch in a public room, seems but a poor
substitute for the old-time custom of leisurely
meals and ample time for conversation, we
can only turn for comfort to the remem-
[m]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
brance that it is "the spirit that giveth life"
and that real Christian fellowship belongs to
all time, and is the mark of the true disciple
whenever and wherever found.
That there is a desire on the part of many
of its members to cherish the social life of
our Yearly Meeting we have had abundantly
proved upon this occasion.
So let us say with our good Quaker poet,
" I will hold
With newer light my reverence for the old,
And calmly wait the births of providence."

[I"]

JONATHAN EVANS
H759-i83c ig ;- *
Enlarged and reproduced from a photograph which
was probably taken from a pencil sketch, ' It
is now, as.is supposed, published
for the first time ,

THE CONDITION OF THE YEARLY
MEETING IN 1804.

BY ISAAC SHARPLESS.

Friends came out of the Revolutionary
War with diminished numbers, but a clear
record in relation to their non-combatant
views. That the most of their leading mem
bers were at heart British sympathizers seems
to me extremely probable, and equally so
that many of the country Friends were on
the other side. They were united, however,
in stringently disowning everyone who took
any part in warlike matters in connection
with either party. Those who were lost to
the Society, perhaps 400 in number, were of
two classes. One was the militant, public-
spirited Friend, of social and political im
portance, who openly sided with the Ameri
can cause. Such were the Morrises, the
Biddies, Thomas Mifflin and Timothy Mat-
s [113]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
lack. They occupied prominent positions in
the American army or government. Had
they remained Friends, they would have
been equally prominent in affairs of the
Church. They stood for liberal ideas and
intelligent participation in public affairs, and
their loss left the Society distinctly weaker in
these tendencies. They mostly became Free
Quakers, who soon disintegrated. The
other company consisted of a number of
Friends on the outskirts of the Society, of
comparatively low moral standing, who went
into the army because they had no princi
ples of any sort. Thus we find given as
causes for disownments, the joint charge of
joining the army and encouraging cock-
fighting, being engaged in street fights or
other of the prevailing loosenesses of the
times, together with positive immoralities.
When John Adams came down to attend
the Continental Congress, he made this entry
in his diary, under the date of September
17th, 1774: "Dined with Miers Fisher, a
young Quaker and lawyer. We saw his
[114]

A Centennial Celebration.
library, which is clever. But the plain
Friend, with his plain, though pretty, wife,
with her 'thees' and 'thous,' had provided us
with the most costly entertainment." This
Miers Fisher, who was a staunch Friend,
and afterwards one of the Virginia exiles,
met one of the class of dubious patriots with
a naked rapier in his hand.
"What wilt thou do with that dangerous
weapon?" said the young lawyer.
"I expect to fight for my property and my
liberty," said the combatant Friend, with
great bravado.
"As for thy property," Fisher replied,
"thou hast none, and as for thy liberty, thou
owest that to the clemency of thy creditors,
me among the rest."
This class was no loss to the Society, and
would probably have been disowned if there
had been no war.- A few of the disowned
Friends, like Owen Biddle, acknowledged
their misdeeds and came back into full stand
ing, but the total loss to the Society was
considerable.
["Si

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Moreover, the Friends lost in the prestige
and influence, which they had held to a very
large extent before the war, as the leading
citizens of the colony. They went quietly
on with their religious work, but for a time
their political activity ceased. They repre
sented a lost cause in popular estimation.
This, however, soon began to rectify itself,
and by the time Washington came into the
presidency, in 1789, matters had somewhat
changed. He probably represented the
popular view when he said, in reply to an
address sent to him by the Yearly Meeting,
"Your principles and conduct are well known
to me, and it is doing the people called
Quakers no more than justice to say that,
except their declining to share with others in
the burdens of common defense, there is no
denomination among us who are more ex
emplary and useful citizens."
It is probable that at no time in the history
of the country did the numbers of Friends
increase as rapidly as during the twenty
years between the close of the revolution and
[116]

A Centennial Celebration.
the building of this meeting-house. Part
of this was a natural increase. It was a
time of early marriages and large families.
It was also a time of a general prosperity in
the nation in which the Friends were large
sharers. They were continually spreading
out into the uncleared lands contiguous to
them. It was a time of the settlement of
many new meetings. Thus Abington Quar
terly Meeting was set up in 1786, Haddon-
field in 1794 and Cain in 1800. Horsham
Monthly Meeting was established in 1782,
London Grove in 1792, Medford in 1793,
Catawissa in 1796 and Chester (N. J.) in
1803. While in the score of years preced
ing our date, the particular meetings of Wil-
listown, White Clay, Marlborough, West
Grove, Fallowfield, Cropwell, Westfield,
Columbia, Loyal Sock, Berwick and Fishing
Creek were set up. A little later than this
Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, set off
Twelfth Street to the west and Green Street
to the north. It was also a time of consid
erable spiritual interest. During the latter
[117]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
days of the war there was what we would
now call a revival. The common sufferings
of Friends had drawn them together and
spiritual life was strong. A number of
young Friends, who had lived thoughtless
and some of them loose lives in young man
hood, now became serious Friends. Among
these may be mentioned Jonathan Evans,
Peter Yarnall, Nicholas Wain, the leader of
the Philadelphia Bar, William Savery, and
Daniel Offley. All of these were to become
conspicuous in the Society.
The year under consideration is probably
about the time of maximum numbers in the
Yearly Meeting. Just about 1800 there be
gan a considerable migration of Friends to
western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
Whole meetings, sometimes carrying with
them their Monthly Meeting organizations,
would pick themselves up from different
parts of the country and travel westward.
In 1820 it was estimated that 20,000 Friends
were west of the Alleghenies, and a large
proportion of them had gone from Philadel-
[118]

A Centennial Celebration.
phia Yearly Meeting. There were now more
than 1,000 Friends' families in the city of
Philadelphia. As to actual numbers in the
Yearly Meeting, it is difficult to give an
accurate statement, though there were prob
ably between 30,000 and 40,000. By the
time of the separation, twenty-three years
later, the number of the two bodies was
estimated by Thomas Evans and Halliday
Jackson from different standpoints as about
26,500. In this year, 1804, five couples
passed meeting at North Meeting in Phila
delphia in one day. The possibility of the
catastrophe of the separation had hardly
dawned upon the meeting, and with a large
number of strong men directing its affairs
and a continually increasing membership,
which even a rigid administration of the dis
cipline did not seriously check, with a feel
ing of a restoration of confidence toward
them on the part of their fellow-citizens, and
with no apologies to make for their past con
duct, one can readily appreciate that the year
1804 saw the meeting in a hopeful and a
[119]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
generally satisfactory condition. There
were, however, causes of weakness. One of
these was educational. Westtown school
had been open five years and its effects had
not become visible. There had developed as
the result of long years of absence of higher
training a strong tendency towards a dis
trust of education. It came partly from the
views held concerning the ministry, that
human learning was rather a detriment than
an advantage. They were, however, saved
from some of the evil results of hereditary
educational limitations by the character of
their principles that led them out into
philanthropic and benevolent work in a way
which was itself educative to a large extent.
We find at this time, therefore, that, with
the exception of a few Philadelphia Friends
whose education had been taken care of
privately and whose business interests kept
them wide awake and liberal, there was a
condition of intellectual mediocrity prevalent
throughout the meeting. There was hardly
an adult who could not read and write ; there
[ 120]

SAMUEL EMLEN, SENIOR
1730-1799
From the original pencil sketch in the $bH$$$sxon of
Sarah Emlen. Never before publishesdf--

A Centennial Celebration.
were comparatively few who were scholars.
Some, like Enoch Lewis, were, by sheer force
of will and the stimulation of their own
intellectual perceptions, pulling themselves
out of the ranks of mediocrity, and scattered
around over the country one could hear of
farmers who spent their nights in the solu
tion of mathematical problems or in reading
the classics. But it may be doubted whether
any openness of mind, developed in this way,
gave them any larger place when it came to
the church assemblies.
Let us see now what were the subjects
which were agitating the Friends in this year
1804. Westtown, as I have said, had just
been opened. The city Friends had declared
a little time before that, as they had paid
most of the money for an institution which
country Friends would more particularly use,
they proposed that the recipients of the bene
fits should also contribute something, and
this year there came up a proposition that
inasmuch as Westtown was already burdened
with a debt of something over £3,000, it
[121]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
would be desirable that this should be paid
off so as to accommodate the family at the
school and improve the farm. Encouraging
accounts were received of the progress of
this movement, and it was deemed certain
that in the course of the coming year the
fund would be completed. Westtown was
beginning to justify the efforts of Friends
by the quality of its results, and it was being
used to prepare laborers for their fields.
Philadelphia had charge of a number of
Friends in upper Canada, north of Lake On
tario. They were suffering from some leg
islation, requiring of them oaths, which pre
vented them from taking complete title to
their property, except by violating Friendly
convictions, and they were anxious that
Philadelphia Friends should get the matter
remedied. This they succeeded in doing,
and, moreover, in order to prevent the
Canada Friends from falling into undue
ignorance, they received a proposition this
year from two young men, who proposed to
fit themselves to go there as teachers, if the
[ 122]

A Centennial Celebration.
Meetings for Sufferings would pay their
Westtown bills. This was heartily agreed
to. Yonge Street Quarterly Meeting in
Canada was this year set up.
The slave question was not entirely set
tled even among Friends. The annual
query is answered as follows : "One meeting
mentions that there are a few cases of mem
bers holding slaves, particularly circum
stanced, and another that several Friends
had purchased slaves for a term of years,
all of which are under care. Those black
people who live among Friends appear to be
kindly treated and some endeavors used for
their encouragement in a religious and vir
tuous life." A committee was appointed to
go down to Annapolis and remonstrate
against certain legislation against the
"grievously injured black people." The
Meeting for Sufferings is encouraged by the
Yearly Meeting as follows : "The injuries
and cruelties which the black people in many
parts are exposed to and have to bear in
much depression and sorrow, afresh exciting
[123]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
painful sympathy in many minds, it is desired
that the Meeting for Sufferings may
weightily recur to the subject and as open
ings for service in this interesting concern
present, endeavor through the persuasive
energy of divine love to advocate the cause
of the oppressed, holding forth to the under
standing of those who are immediately or
remotely engaged herein, that our efforts for
the promotion of universal righteousness are
dictated by that benign spirit which seeks
the essential good of all."
Nor were they quite through with their
sufferings due to their peace principles.
Militia laws were still troublesome and dis
traints of goods, while not as excessive as
in the years immediately following the war,
were considerable. Something like £2,000
had been taken from Friends by distraints
for warlike purposes during the three or four
years prior to this date, and a committee
was sent this year to Lancaster, then the
capital of Pennsylvania, protesting against
the laws which produced these results.
[124]

ISRAEL W. MORRIS'
[778-1870

A Centennial Celebration.
About this time the English Friends, and
the English people in general, were suffering
from poverty. The Americans were pros
perous and took up a collection, which was
called the "American Fund," for their relief.
George Stacey acknowledged the receipt of
£8,326, of which Philadelphia furnished
£5,798. He distributed this amount among
810 Friends and 420 others, and sent his
thanks as follows: "While contemplating
with comfort the assistance that has been
yielded, it considers it but just to our
American brethren warmly to acknowledge
their benevolence and sympathy, and to add
that the cases which have been brought to
view, and the gratitude and thankfulness
which have been expressed, abundantly
evince the importance of the aid which has
been administered."
Another matter of interest in history came
to a head in this year 1804. Very soon after
the settlement of Province, Caleb Pusey un
dertook a collection of letters and documents
to be used in writing a history of the Quaker
[125]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
experiment. He pased it on to Isaac Nor-
ris and he in turn to several other Friends,
until it came to John Kinsey in 1747. He
was clerk of the Yearly Meeting and was
appointed officially to write the history. He
died three years later, and others worked on
it in a desultory sort of way until 1771, when
it was turned over to Robert Proud, head
master of the school, now the Penn Charter
School. Proud got it into shape, and in
1785 it was inspected by a committee. For
some reason they did not warmly approve
of it, and refused to acknowledge it as a
Yearly Meeting matter, though, at the same
time, they encouraged him to print it as his
own production. This was done and every
one is now glad to recognize it as the best
history of the times. The unfortunate
author, who considered that he was working
all the time for the Yearly Meeting, lost his
time and considerable money, for without
official sanction the sales were not very large.
Now the matter came up. The Meeting
for Sufferings felt that he had a claim upon
[126]

A Centennial Celebration.
them and ordered the payment of $500, which
was approved, and he to that extent reim
bursed. It was a tardy acknowledgment
in the author's old age, which should have
been extended to him twenty years earlier.
Friends were slow to come over from pounds
to dollars, and while both were in use in this
transition period, the old standards were still
most commonly employed.
Friends on the continent of Europe were
also to be provided for. Chamless Wharton
had just left a legacy for meeting-houses
and other expenses of Friends in France and
Germany. An opening appeared just at this
time in Pyrmont, in Germany, where a num
ber of Friends were located, and £1,200 was
sent to them. French editions of Penn's
"Rise and Progress of the Society of
Friends" and Mary Brooks's "Silent Wor
ship" were issued to aid the movement.
To show where they were on the liquor
question, the answer to the query for 1804 is
given: "The subject of distilled spirituous
liquors has afresh claimed the weighty at-
[ 127 ]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
tention and care of the respective Quarterly
Meetings. It appears there are 89 members
who retail or trade in this article, and who
either distill it or rent their stills for that
purpose. Some have had their cider distilled
and divers use ardent spirits at the time of
hay and harvest." While this sounds seri
ous, it is doubtful whether, as compared with
the rest of the community, much substantial
progress has been made among Friends.
This, too, was the time when the Indian
movement in western New York was started.
The Yearly Meeting had just ordered the
purchase of the Tunesassa tract and the
gradual improvement of the Indian .natives
began to work. We are celebrating the cen
tennial of this institution as well as of Arch
Street meeting-house.
Then it was one of the occasions also, when
the discipline was being revised. A careful
examination might show the purport of the
changes made. I do not believe they were
serious or important, for among Friends it
was not a revolutionary time. Prior to this
[128]

ROBERT PROUD '¦"
1-7 2 8-18 1 3

A Centennial Celebration.
Friends were accustomed to report as to their
success in making converts among the out
side bodies. It is interesting to note that
even in the midst of the Revolutionary War
in 1780 they could state "that divers persons,
of sober conduct, professing to be convinced
of our religious principles, have, on their ap
plication, been received into membership."
No statement, however, appears in 1804.
Whether the answers were discouraging, or
whether additions to membership had come
to be considered as of little moment, I do
not know.
The Yearly Meeting of 1804 was held in
the Fourth month, from the 16th to the 20th,
inclusive. The previous decade had been the
occasion of the visitations of the dreaded
scourge, the yellow fever, to Philadelphia.
It was at its worst in the late summer and
early autumn, and just at this time was the
historic date for the holding of the Yearly
Meeting. With unfaltering regularity the
Friends attended, and Warner Mifflin, Daniel
Offley and many others fell victims to
9 [129]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
their devotion. But the sacrifice seemed un
necessary and unjustifiable, and the date had
been changed to the spring, by the rule which
still governs it.
While we are on the subject of changing
dates, it may be pertinent to suggest that
two weeks earlier would be a more conve
nient time for some of the schools within
our body, which desire to honor the appoint
ment of the Yearly Meeting by a vacation,
as well also for that considerable, but unfor
tunately diminishing, class of members who
earn their living by tilling the soil.
In 1804, with a certain historic propriety,
as if anticipating the inspiration of the pres
ent occasion, Jonathan Evans was clerk.
There were two sessions daily, and the busi
ness was transacted with probably as much
promptitude and as little loss of time as at
present. It would be a matter of great interest if
we could reproduce the physical appearance,
and, still more, the spirit of this occasion.
We may assume that the meeting-houses
[ 130]

A Centennial Celebration.
were full of Friends and that the peculiari
ties of garb were much more conspicuous
than at present. About 2,000 of each sex
attended Yearly Meeting in those days. "In
this our large and solemn gathering," they
wrote the year before, "we have the accept
able company of brethren from all the Yearly
Meetings on this continent but one, and an
evident increase of weight in our delibera
tions has been experienced." The coun
try Friends, who then constituted the great
bulk of the Yearly Meeting, had driven in
from their farms, in their homespun, home
made garments, without any suggestion of
sartorial fit. The better dressed, but still
plain and peculiar city Friends were scat
tered among them with democratic sim
plicity. One can gather a few facts about some
of the leaders. James Pemberton, now an
old man in his eighties, whose brother Israel
had been called in his time "the king of the
Quakers," and who, if anyone, had succeeded
to the inheritance, had had a most in-
[131]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
teresting career. He began his public ex
perience while still in his twenties as a mem
ber of the legislature of colonial Pennsyl
vania. He became a leader there, always
advocating the strongest Quaker measures,
and in 1756, when the French and Indian
War was declared, he, with the best Friends
resigned, and then, for the first time in the
history of the colony, broke the Quaker
majority. His instinct for public life could
not, however, be quelled. A few years later
we find him back again, doing the old work.
When the Revolution came on, he was one
of the exiles to Virginia with his two
brothers, and his political career was ended.
The energy and resources which had hith
erto been expended in politics, now went to
philanthropy and education. As a director
of the Friends' Public School, of the Penn
sylvania Hospital and practically all other
benevolent institutions in Philadelphia, he
did his work for his native city. In 1790,
on the death of Benjamin Franklin, he suc
ceeded him as president of the Pennsylvania
[132]

A Centennial Celebration.
Abolition Society, the most active of aboli
tion societies which memorialized Congress
most frequently and effectively, and stirred
up the southern blood most bitterly. He was
active in the establishment of Westtown,
and to him John Dickinson appealed in his
endeavor to show the Society of Friends
that religion and education were not incom
patible. And now, in his declining days, full
of years and honors, he maintained a clear
head and a liberal policy toward oncoming
questions. Thomas Scattergood had just returned
from England, where he had been studying
the conditions at Ackworth School. He had
spent weeks there and had written out in
careful detail every item of management,
so that Westtown under his influence had
become, to a very large extent, a copy of
Ackworth, and even down as late as the
time when I was a boy there, certain Ack
worth customs, impressed by Thomas Scat
tergood, were still in existence.
Nicholas Wain had just deceased. His
[133]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
had been a most interesting career. Schol
arly and eloquent, he had worked his way
up to a position of leadership and great re
muneration at the Philadelphia Bar. Sud
denly the brilliant lawyer was found on his
knees in a quiet meeting uttering the prayer
which is still on record and which Dr. Weir
Mitchell has placed, in a somewhat garbled
form, in the mouth of the mythical Israel
Sharpless. He closed out his practice and
gave himself up to the work of religion and
philanthropy. His talents were given freely
to the service of the Society. As clerk of
the Yearly Meeting during the Revolution
ary War he had a difficult part to perform.
He could never get over his propensity for
joking, and no doubt truthfully declared,
when some serious Friend protested, that he
had overcome more temptations in that line
than his protestor had ever felt. No other
Friend has left such a fund of good stories,
told in a quaint way.
Another interesting character of the time
was Peter Yarnall. He, too, lived a gay
[i34]

A Centennial Celebration.
and careless life. One of his diversions was
to mimic, in a ribald manner, to his gay as
sociates, the ministry of his father. Having
studied medicine, he went as a surgeon on a
privateer during the Revolutionary War.
He returned after a successful voyage with
a share of the spoils accorded to him. But
he, too, was overtaken by a sudden convic
tion and made a radical transformation,
which things seem to have been more fre
quent in those days than now, into a con
sistent Friend and effective minister. Dur
ing all the rest of his life he tried vainly
to find the owners of the goods he had se
cured as a privateer, and in making his will
he left the money to trustees with instruc
tions to continue the search, and, if unsuc
cessful, to apply the money to something as
much in accordance with the original own
ership as they could devise. I do not know
what they did with it, but his will, as George
Canby has recently ascertained, is on file in
the City Hall.
The clerk, Jonathan Evans, was then 45
I i35]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
years old, in the midst of the greatest vigor
of a very vigorous life. His early life also
had been thoughtless and had been brought
into Quaker lines by reading William Penn's
"No Cross, No Crown." The force and
honesty of the man brought him into promi
nence and he was now leading the yearly
meeting in its representative position. Wil
liam J. Allinson says of him, after he had
served out his time as clerk of the Yearly
Meeting, "when Jonathan Evans speaks, and
he is not lavish of his speeches, the clerk may
certainly make a minute, for the question is
settled; Jonathan is not mistaken." He was
to live thirty-five years longer and to exer
cise a most potent influence upon the life of
the meeting, which influence was transmitted
to the most remarkable line of Friendly min
isters which our Pennsylvania history has
ever seen in one family.
Many other men of like strong and posi
tive convictions could be mentioned, but it
is impossible to complete the list. A recent
writer has said that this is the day of weak
[136]

THOMAS SCATTERGOOD
1748-1814

A Centennial Celebration.
convictions. And she illustrated it with the
statement that she had just been hearing a
man express very positive views, entirely
diverse from hers. "Here," she thought, "is
the man that I want." So with all her elo
quence she expounded her opposing state
ments in, as she thought, a convincing and
positive manner. Much to her disgust, in
stead of continuing to argue for his beliefs,
he quietly remarked, "Well, there is much to
be said in favor of that way of looking at
the question also." Such were not these
ancient Friends. There was no latitudinar-
ianism about their beliefs. They were sure
of their ground and equally sure that the
opposing ground was false, and so led the
Yearly Meeting in strong and positive ways.
These were the leaders, but what of the
rank and file? This is a question which it
is difficult to answer from historical data.
There is surprisingly little in print to tell of
the general quality of our ancestors one hun
dred years back. My own impression is,
however, from answers to queries and from
[i37]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
the few journals of Friends which make
indirect references to this sort of thing, that
while there were many sober and serious
people the general life of Friends in this day
is vastly better than it was then; that in the
cities there was a gaity and indulgence in
doubtful pleasures to a larger extent than at
present, and that among the country Friends
there was a coarse and careless attitude
which we never see. William Forster, who
travelled through the country a little later,
says of one of these country districts, "the
appearance of the young people, as in many
other places, was discouraging." Such a
statement may indicate much or little. It
was not from lack of ministry. With regard
to another meeting, he makes the remark,
"they have no minister among them, a rare
thing in this country." I should think that
any facts bearing on the moral and social
conditions of Friends in their private capac
ity, from the time of the Revolution down
to the memory of those now living, should
be treasured up, and the history of these
[138]

A Centennial Celebration.
times written with more care than has ever
been attempted. In the matter of Bible
reading, there was evidently great remiss
ness. The concerned Friends knew the
Bible well, but among the others it was much
neglected. Some applied to it the same rule
which they applied to preaching, that it
should not be read unless there was an im
mediate drawing of the spirit to perform the
service at the time, and under such a theory
they would pass weeks or months without
opening the book. William Forster tried to
encourage more frequent reading. He
wished them to collect their families at least
on First-day, but he says, "I fear that even
so much as this is not so common a practice
as might be desired." The growth of care
lessness, the result of abounding prosperity,
of lack of intellectual and religious educa
tion, and the beginning of a teaching due
to a distorted view of a fundamental doc
trine of early Quakerism, were having their
unhappy effects upon the masses of the
Society. [ i39]

Arch Street Meeting-House.
Rebecca Jones, writing in 1796 to an Eng
lish friend, says, "I expect thou hast accounts
of our great works which are in contempla
tion; such as attempting to civilize the in
habitants of the wilderness ; and to establish
a boarding school after the manner of your
Ackworth; build a large meeting-house
(after your example) to accommodate both
sexes at the Yearly Meeting; admit black
people into Society membership, etc., etc."
The time under consideration seems to me
to be a kind of watershed in the history of
the Yearly Meeting. For twenty years pre
viously it had been growing in numbers and
in the strength of its strongest men and
women. From that time forward it became
weakened by dissensions and emigrations.
Our friends could not see into the future,
and, with a fatalism which has not been un
common in our Society, they were often
inclined to trust that a good spirit would
deliver them from the evils to come, and
which some of them foresaw as of the size
of a man's hand on the horizon. But to
[ 140]

A Centennial Celebration.
most of them the outlook was strong and
cheerful, and on this year of last century, the
thirty thousand or more of Friends which
constituted our Yearly Meeting, were carry
ing through their business and farm opera
tions, attending their semi-weekly meetings,
and going to their religious appointments
with a satisfaction born of a large assurance
of rectitude of principle and the conscious
ness of the sheltering care and blessing of
their heavenly Father.

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