The first Monthly Meeting was held at the home of Thomas Duckett in on the 10th day of the second month, 1684.Īnother Meeting was held at the home of John Bevan. Some of these families were the founders of Old Haverford Meeting, and as was the custom with the early Friends, until a Meeting House could be built, the homes of the members was where the Monthly Meetings were held. Haverford was unique in that it was a wilderness, whereas many other settlements already had previous residents. The first Welsh settlers arrived in Haverford Township in 1682. Welsh Quakers Establish Meeting (1683-1693) Therefore, the Welsh settlers who came to reside in what would be called the “Great Welsh Tract” were better educated, and probably better off financially than the average English settler. Unlike the gentry of England, the teachings of George Fox were much better accepted by the Welsh aristocracy. These townships’ names came from the Welsh phrase, “Hen wlad fy nhadau,” which translates to “the land of our fathers.” Those who came took up much of the west side of the Schulkill River, that would eventually become the townships of Haverford, Merion, and Radnor. They had previously purchased about 40,000 acres of land before arriving in America. This Meeting eventually became Chester Monthly Meeting.Īmong the early settlers to the Delaware County, the majority were Welsh Quakers. On November 10, 1681, the first recorded Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends was held by Quakers living in Marcus Hook and Upland, in the home of Robert Wade. In addition, he wrote that he would “heartily comply” with whatever “sober and free men could reasonably desire for the security and improvement of their own happiness.” In a letter dated June 14, 1681, Penn promised the inhabitants of Pennsylvania that they would be allowed to be governed by laws of their own making. On March 4, 1681, King Charles II granted the Patent to William Penn for the Province of what was to be Pennsylvania. (For a who’s who in our Burial Ground, click here.) John Fenwick, Edward and John Wade, and Richard Noble made the first settlement at Salem, New Jersey. The first members of the Religious Society of Friends to settle along the Delaware River, arrived on 1675 aboard the ship Griffith. Old Haverford Friends Meeting was established in 1683 to serve a portion of the Welsh Tract, comprising Haverford, Merion, Radnor, and Plymouth Meetings.
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