Canadian Friends Historical Association

Author: Gordon Thompson

  • Preserving History: FHL Provides CFHA with Digital Images of the Earliest Nine Partners Monthly Meeting Books (1769 – 1851).

    Preserving History: FHL Provides CFHA with Digital Images of the Earliest Nine Partners Monthly Meeting Books (1769 – 1851).

    Friends Historical Library (FHL) at Swarthmore College, PA, hosts one of the most extensive archives of early American Quaker meeting minute books and other documents to be found anywhere in North America.

    All books were photographed in 1950 by Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City and are of a very high quality.

    FHL and CFHA have worked collaboratively for many years to provide improved access to the content of certain minute books. Of particular interest to Canadian Friends and researchers are the minute books which relate to the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting and those of its affiliated Preparative meetings located in New York state and adjacent area of Vermont, the Hudson River Valley and watershed. 

    These meetings were the source meetings for many of the earliest Quaker families to migrate to Upper Canada and establish new meetings in Adolphustown (1798), throughout Prince Edward County (West Lake Meetings) and later meetings found by Timothy Rogers at Pickering and Newmarket.

    As a result of the collaboration, members of the CFHA transcription group have been able to complete and post on the CFHA website complete and searchable transcriptions of the major Nine Partners and affiliated Meetings. Minutes of Ferrisburg, PA are of particular interest as they include many references to Timothy Rogers.

    More recently FHL has been able to provide digital images of three minute books of Muncy Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania. These minute books provide many details of the removals to Upper Canada from the meeting located at Catawissa, PA. The Catawissa Meeting largely relocated to Uxbridge, Ontario and established the Uxbridge preparative meeting under Yonge Street Monthly Meeting in Newmarket, Ontario. Two of the Muncy / Catawissa books have been completely transcribed and posted on the CFHA website. Transcription of the third and longest minute book is ongoing and it is expected to be posted sometime next year.

    Although the FHL holdings of Nine Partners Monthly Meeting have included additional minute books and documents, CFHA has not been able to provide transcriptions because neither the microfilm images nor the original documents had been digitized.  We are pleased to announce that FHL has recently digitized additional material, including the earliest initial Nine Partners minutes and has provided images to CFHA.

    Transcription Coordinator Randy Saylor has received these latest images and reports the following:

    • Images 0001 – 0024 are of a births and deaths register 1810 – 1893
    • Images 1025 – 1798 – 1898 are a marriage register 1798 – 1898 with a 6 page typed index at the end.
    • Images 008 – 0234 are the Nine Partners Men’s Minutes 1769 to 1779 that we have been waiting for!! This will give us a great insight into the war years.
    • Images 0235 – 546 are a minute book for the years 1820 – 1851

    These new minute book images will allow us to learn more about how this meeting dealt with the onset of and duration of the American Revolution up to our existing transcriptions dating from 1779. We also expect to learn additional details of the complaint brought against Philip Dorland. 

    Please watch this space for further updates. Also please note that our new set of images provides us an opportunity to invite additional volunteer transcribers.

    Transcribing can be a very rewarding experience and an excellent indoor activity as we approach the winter months.

    We are seeking additional volunteer transcribers. If you are interested in joining the CFHA volunteer transcription team, please contact [email protected].

    All of our current transcriptions can be viewed on our transcriptions page.

  • Friends Historical Library Provides Minute Book Images

    Friends Historical Library Provides Minute Book Images

    Canadian Friends Historical Association (CFHA) is pleased to announce the latest collaboration with Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. Arrangements are now in place for staff at Friends Historical Library to provide CFHA with digital images of three late eighteenth-century minute books for transcription. All of these minute books relate to the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting and its affiliated Oswego Preparative Meeting. The Nine Partners MM, the Nine Partners school and associated Preparative meetings figure prominently in the northward expansion of Quaker communities up the Hudson River Valley. Such expansions frequently involved the relocation of members of the established meetings to the more remote areas of new settlement. The minute books of Nine Partners and associated meetings provide valuable records of the members who requested certificates of removal and when such requests were submitted and approved.

    Of particular interest to CFHA members and Canadian researchers are records which relate to the Adolphustown Preparative Meeting in Upper Canada. This meeting was established under the care of Nine Partners MM in 1798 under the leadership of Philip Dorland. Although birthright members of Nine Partners MM, both Philip and his brother Thomas had served in provincial militia on behalf of the British during the revolutionary war. As such, they were entitled to claim extensive land grants in Upper Canada when they and their families joined many other UE Loyalists who settled the Adolphustown area in 1784.

    The new images to be provided will include the first minute book of the Men’s Monthly Meeting. This minute book covers the period between the establishment of the monthly meeting in 1769 to 1779. It is hoped that transcription of this minute book will add detail to a significant event in the early Quaker experience of Philip Dorland. A number of years ago, CFHA requested and received images of the Nine Partners Men’s Monthly Meeting from 1779 onwards. The specific request was granted on the premise that earlier records would not contain information related to migrants into what would become Canada. It came as a great surprise, then, to discover that the minutes for 1773 recorded the disownment of a late adolescent Philip Dorland.

    Nine Partners Meeting House, built in 1780. Photo taken in 2010 by Daniel Case.

    Once settled in Upper Canada in 1784, Philip Dorland played an important role in the early political life of the young community, and in the establishment of what would become a flourishing Quaker presence at Adolphustown and in Prince Edward County. For a larger account of this history, please see “New Light on Philip Dorland: Prodigal Son to Patriarch” by Gordon Thompson with Randy Saylor in Canadian Quaker History Journal volume 79, for membership year 2014. We look forward with anticipation to learn what this new set of images will reveal about Philip Dorland’s disownment.

    In addition to the Nine Partners MM Men and Joint, 1769-1779 images, we look forward to receiving images of Oswego Prep Mens, 1794-1798 and those of a Bulls Head, Oswego MM Women’s minutes 1799-1817.

    We wish to express our appreciation to Jordan Landes, curator of Friends Historical Library, and her staff in providing these images. Due to Covid 19 lockdowns and closures, we are unable to access additional images at either the Archives of Ontario or the Canadian Yearly Meeting Archives. The new images will provide hundreds of pages of transcription resource material.

    New volunteer CFHA transcribers are always welcome. The work is not hard and is performed at your own pace and convenience. Guidance and advice is provided when needed. Please contact the writer at [email protected] for additional details if interested.

  • March Co-Chair Update

    Dear Members of CFHA:

    The following is a report and update on the activity of the Executive Committee and members during the recent months. We hope you find this information encouraging, for although Covid-19 may have altered our patterns, our work has been progressing well. We invite your comments and questions on the information provided below.

    Many of you participated in our Annual General Meeting presentation featuring Ben Pink Dandelion and Steven Angell in 9th month 2020. By virtue of Zoom technology, we were able for the first time to make participation in the AGM possible for members in every Canadian time zone and beyond.

    During the business meeting that followed, members present were updated on financial, membership, and other activity of the past year. Regular membership has seen little change, but institutional and meeting membership has declined. This can be attributed to the cessation of our hard copy publications, the Canadian Quaker History Journal and The Meetinghouse. Our member services were expanded to now include electronic fund transfer capability to facilitate member renewal and donation options.

    Substantial investments in organizational capacity building and updating saw expenditures greatly exceed income last year. For the first time in the history of CFHA, part-time contract staff positions were created and filled to provide the organization with needed special skills and to perform duties not able to be performed by our available volunteers. Chris Landry, Organizational Assistant, and Allana Mayer, Digital Archivist and website consultant, effected immediate and dramatic progress on a number of CFHA objectives. These included a complete reconfiguration, upgrade and relaunch of the website, acquisition and implementation of a membership administration software program, and the initiation of a ground-breaking Digital Archive facility development project. The investments of the past year have greatly enhanced CFHA’s ability to fulfil the objectives of our mission statement. Our donations received during the past year met our budget expectations, and we wish to take this opportunity to thank all those who donated generously last year and since.

    Last year the transition from printed publications to a weekly blog was completed, and CFHA gained a presence on Twitter and Facebook. We thank Robynne Rogers Healey and Digital Editor Sydney Harker for oversight and sustaining a lively and informative blog. Members and viewers are encouraged to contribute comments and items of historical Quaker interest. Please click here to register as a blog contributor: https://cfha.info/register-for-the-cfha-website/, or here to view our latest and previous postings: https://cfha.info/blog/.

    Thanks are also due to transcription coordinator Randy Saylor and transcriber Carman Foster for adding new transcriptions to the many already available our website. Without access to the microfilm records held at the Archives of Ontario and the Canadian Yearly Meeting Archive at Pickering College, Newmarket, we have relied on our long relationship with staff at Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College to provide minute book images for transcription. Carman is currently working on an additional Muncy Monthly Meeting book containing records of the Catawissa meeting in Pennsylvania. This meeting largely relocated to Uxbridge, Ontario, early in the nineteenth century. Please click here to view our transcriptions: https://cfha.info/transcriptions/.

    The Who are the Quakers? panel set continues to be among the most frequently viewed items on our website. The principal creator of that set, member David Newlands, has completed a draft of a set of eight new panels documenting the life and ministry of George Fox. Final completion of this new set awaits the reopening of Friends House in London, and the granting of permission to use certain copyright graphics and images. Watch for updates. Please click here to view the existing Who are the Quakers? panels: https://cfha.info/about-quakers-in-canada/.

    Friendly Friday sessions via Zoom were launched last year on alternate Friday afternoons between 1:30 and 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. The initial concept was to utilize group readings of the Nickalls edition of the Journal of George Fox to acquaint seekers and those unfamiliar with the principles and testimonies of Quaker faith and practice. Things did not work out that way. Instead, a relatively small but loyal group of participants consisting almost entirely of members and attenders of meetings has developed. All are welcome, and participants from Hawaii to Germany have joined in via Zoom. In the course of a dozen sessions, we have delved deeply into most of the first two chapters. These sessions are neither lively discussions nor particularly academic. Rather, they have acquired the tone and characteristics of worship sharing. Those familiar with this work by Fox know that it is a very intense, challenging, and difficult to understand text. The slow but thorough pace of the group has facilitated knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the foundational ministry Fox was and continues to communicate to our present day. Thanks to Chris Landry for sending out the meeting notifications and to Donna Moore for hosting the Zoom sessions and preparing the on-screen reading texts. Click here to register for receive Friendly Friday notifications: https://cfha.b.civicrm.ca/civicrm/event/register?id=3.

    In summary, we remain a very active group dedicated to achieving our mission statement goals and organizational potential. We hope you will continue to support us in this important work through your membership and your contributions both historical and financial. If you have never contributed to CFHA preciously, please consider making a one-time or planned giving donation today. Donations can be made directly to CFHA via cheque or electronic transfer, please see our website for details. CFHA is a registered Canadian charitable organization. Charitable donation tax deduction receipts will be issued for all donations. Please click here to view our donor information page: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/canadian-friends-historical-association/.

    Submitted on behalf of the CFHA Executive Committee,

    Jeff Dudiak and Gord Thompson, Co-Chairs

  • CFHA Celebrates 48 Years!

    Many organizations have their own creation story, and CFHA is no exception. It came into being out of a concern for the preservation of a small, somewhat decrepit little meetinghouse out in the countryside west of Uxbridge, Ontario. When word that this meetinghouse might be purchased and moved to the United States reached Toronto Monthly Meeting, Kathleen Schmitz-Hertzberg made it her goal that the building and its heritage not be lost. Out of this a wider concern for the preservation and appreciation of Quaker legacy in general developed. Together with fellow Toronto Monthly Meeting member Grace Pincoe, the concept of the Canadian Friends Historical Association took shape. Establishment of the Association in 1972 provided an organization where non-Quaker academics, Quaker descendants, and historians could join members of the Religious Society of Friends in shared concerns and activities.

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    Photo of Uxbridge Quaker Meeting House

    The rest, as they say, is history. A viewing of the CFHA website contents reveals the significant and numerous accomplishments of CFHA during the past 48 years. This includes many scholarly articles, outreach resources (including our new “Who are the Quakers?” panels), plus an ever-growing library of searchable transcriptions of minute books and documents.

    While much has been accomplished, many more areas of concern remain. Modern technology now opens possibilities to preserve and promote appreciation of Quaker faith and heritage that Kathleen and Grace could not have imagined. Like many similar volunteer organizations, CFHA has been challenged to adapt and modernize. This work is being diligently pursued. That CFHA has survived 48 years is itself a remarkable achievement. We trust that new generations of members and supporters will help sustain and realize the great potential and important work of CFHA in years to come. As for that little meetinghouse near Uxbridge, it has been lovingly embraced by the wider community and is cared for by the Friends of Uxbridge Meetinghouse.

    The Canadian Friends Historical Association is a similar success. As we celebrate 48 years of achievements, we wish to thank the very many members, contributors, and supporters who have made CFHA an unique, fun, and enriching community.

    Happy birthday, CFHA!

     

  • Co-Chair Update

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    Though Covid-19 has thrown our upcoming AGM a few curveballs, we’re excited at the prospect of having members join us virtually on Saturday, September 26th (11:00 AM EDST Toronto time) for the CFHA Annual General Meeting. All members are encouraged to attend, and guests may request to participate by writing to [email protected]. Perhaps a silver lining through all of this is the ability to accommodate members from all across North America for the first time, and we hope it allows more of you to participate.

    The CFHA will circulate a ‘Documents in Advance’ package for members to review prior to the AGM. This allows our virtual meeting to run smoothly, as this package will include the typical reports and statements which have been submitted for review and approval at the AGM. Our meeting will also include a separate moderator to manage the media traffic and facilitate the work of the Co-Chairs.

    At the time of writing, other items are in the works for the AGM, including the possibility of an interesting presentation following the AGM. Please continue to watch for additional details as they become available. Any questions or comments may be forwarded to [email protected].

  • Randy Saylor presents Guide to Quaker Sources to Quinte branch of Ontario Ancestry

    Randy Saylor has supported CFHA in many ways. He initiated the CFHA website and served many years as webmaster. He also initiated in Canada collaborative internet transcription of Quaker minute books, a project he continues to administer. A Quaker descendant himself, Randy has spent decades researching and writing about diverse aspects of Quaker experience. To assist other researchers, some years ago Randy compiled a guide to understanding the structure and availability of Quaker records. Who better than to provide a virtual presentation on the subject to the Quinte branch of Ontario Ancestry this past weekend?

    Over 80 participants logged in on June 20th to the presentation. Randy first acquainted the viewers with the hierarchal structure of Quaker meetings and the interlocking nature of their records which results. This provides viewers a good sense of how records of activity related to membership, marriage or disownment. For example, records can originate in a smaller local “Preparative” meeting and then advance upward to then also appear in subsequent records of the “Monthly’” meeting and on, in some cases, to the “Quarterly”, “Half-Yearly”, and Yearly meeting sessions respectively. Likewise, the written decisions, financial requirements, epistles, and amendments to the book of Discipline moved the other way through the successive superior meetings back down to the local Preparative meeting, being duly recorded at every stage. These records were supplemented by those of communications such as certificates of removal, that were exchanged directly between meetings. The net effect has been a boon to researchers as some aspects of the historical information may be preserved somewhere in the document chain even if a particular minute book may have been lost or destroyed.

    Randy made use of various charts of the historical meetings under the care of New York Yearly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to show how extensive the Quaker presence had been in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Arthur Dorland charts of initial to early 20th century meetings in Canada were used to show the numerous meetings which existed in the greater Quinte area. These were in a band extending from Adolphustown in the east through Prince Edward County to Cold Creek meeting (present day Wooler Monthly Meeting), the only surviving meeting, in the west.

    Randy was able to draw upon his own family history to illustrate some aspects of Quaker practice and principles. His Quaker ancestor Jemima Hubbs was disowned from her local meeting when she “married out” to captain Charles Saylor. Such “going out of the good order of our Society” could be remedied by providing the meeting with a written acknowledgement of error. Like many other Quaker women in like circumstances, Jemima provided the requisite letter and was restored into membership.

    Randy provided a tour of the CFHA website, including the many searchable transcriptions of local Quaker minute books available on the site. Participants were also provided access to Randy’s recently updated Quaker research guide. This useful aid to researchers is available on the CFHA website.

    The presentation was illustrated with some 20 slides in a PowerPoint format. The PowerPoint and text of the presentation has been posted on the Quinte branch website and can be accessed here: https://vimeo.com/431945751/f2828d0745

    Also available on the CFHA website are two presentations Randy made at CFHA events in recent months: “Quaker to Slave Master”, and “Quakers Who Were United Empire Loyalists: An Exploration.” Both are well researched, detailed explorations which extend and clarify unexpected aspects of Quaker experience.

    Anyone interested in joining the transcription group is invited to contact [email protected] for more information.

    Comments on the webinar given by the Quinte Branch can be found here: https://quinte.ogs.on.ca/2020/06/22/early-quakers-in-upper-canada-notes-by-randy-saylor/

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    A History of Society of Friends (Quakers) in Canada, A.G. Dorland, MacMillan, 1927

  • Save the Date! AGM Planning Underway

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    As set out in the Canadian Friends Historical Association governance, the Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held on a weekend towards the end of September. This year’s AGM will take place on September 26th, 2020. Please save this date!

    We can expect some changes thanks to Covid-19. The main meeting room at Friends House in Toronto has been booked, but it is too early to know whether an in-person AGM will be possible. Look for updates in the coming weeks.

    It is very likely that even if an in-person meeting is possible a virtual component will also be included. This will allow members from the Maritimes to the Pacific to take part in the proceedings.

    We are striving to prepare year-end reports, minutes of last year, etc., into a ‘documents in advance’ package. This will be distributed far enough ahead of the meeting to facilitate efficient conduct of business and our typical friendly convivial gathering. We look forward to welcoming everyone in September.

  • CFHA to produce new ‘George Fox’ set of ‘Who are the Quakers?’ display panels with grant from Samuel Rogers Memorial Trust

    CFHA is pleased to announce that design and production of a new set of ‘Who are the Quakers?’ panels will commence shortly. The new panel set will present the life and ministry of George Fox, widely regarded as the spiritual and organisational founder of the Religious Society of Friends.

    The layout and composition of the new panels will be consistent with the popular existing set. The new set will consist of 8 panels. These will chronicle the early years of George Fox, his  early profound epiphanies and “openings”, his middle years when he and others overcame harsh persecution to build up the Society, and his later years in London.

    The cost of graphic design layout and manufacture of 2 sets will total $2000. CFHA would like to express its sincere appreciation to the Samuel Rogers Memorial Trust for providing a $1000 grant. This has enabled the project to proceed.

    Any additional financial contributions would be most welcome. CFHA is a registered Canadian charitable organization. Charitable donation tax receipts will be issued for any donation of $20 or more. Please contact [email protected] for details on how you may contribute, or donate online through our CanadaHelps profile.

  • Annual Gathering at Uxbridge Friends Meetinghouse Postponed

    The Committee of Friends Meetinghouse, Uxbridge, Ontario is a group of local Uxbridge and area citizens who have provided stewardship and access to the 200-year-old local Quaker meetinghouse. They are the group which organizes and presents a popular annual gathering and contemporary church service mid-June of each year.  It is not uncommon for this to be a standing-room only event.

    This year the event is postponed but not cancelled. Circumstances allowing the gathering will be rescheduled to September or October 2020. Details will be posted as soon as available.

    Learn more about Uxbridge Quaker Meetinghouse at http://uxbridgequakermeetinghouse.com/contact.html

  • New transcript! Plus: Help the CFHA Document Historical Quakers

    Today we are announcing a new transcription available for your perusal: Muncy Women’s Monthly Meeting 1799-1819. This document was provided for our transcription by Swarthmore College Library, and was transcribed by Carman Foster.

    Those settling under the Pelham Meeting in the Niagara area and including the Yonge St Meeting around Newmarket mostly came via New Jersey and Pennsylvania meetings. Muncy was one of those meetings. Muncy Monthly Meeting was established in 1799 by Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting out of Catawissa Monthly Meeting.

    – Randy Saylor, from the transcription preamble

    Has the coronavirus pandemic created some unclaimed hours in your weekly schedule? Are you looking for a safe, indoor activity that would so engage you that you entirely forget about viruses for a while? We may have some interesting and worthwhile ideas for you to consider:

    1. Become a volunteer CFHA transcriber. This is a very rewarding aspect of CFHA work, and new transcribers are always welcome. Previous experience is helpful but not essential. We will provide images of original hand written minute books or other documents, and guidance on the conventions we use to create useful research-friendly transcriptions. You can work at your own pace. You will be transported back in time as far as two centuries or more. Learn of the challenges of earlier Friends and their uniquely eloquent forms of expression. Interested? Contact [email protected] to find out more.

    2. Are you curious by nature? Like a good puzzle? Thanks to transcriber Carman Foster, we are now, for the first time, in a unique position to pose some simple but worthwhile research questions.

    Carman has transcribed one of three minute books of Catawissa Monthly Meeting (designated Muncy MM by Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College). As many of you know, many of the Catawissa Friends relocated to Uxbridge, Ontario. There they formed the core of the Uxbridge meeting. 

    As Carman has noted, Muncy 1799-1819 Women is “loaded” with records of removals to Pelham MM in Upper Canada. Removals to Pelham MM were issued until the end of 1806. Later removals were addressed to the recently established Yonge (“Young”) Street MM.

    Take a look at these transcriptions from our collection:

    Here is where things get interesting. Because we already have Pelham MM transcriptions, perhaps we could develop a little team to answer some questions:

    1. How many removals were addressed to Pelham MM, and what dates were they issued?
    2. How many were issued to US meetings? Which ones, and when?
    3. Of the Pelham removals, whish ones were recorded in the Pelham minutes as being submitted, and when?
    4. How many removals were issued to single, marriageable-age women and men? Many removals include this information.

    Sound interesting? Contact [email protected] for more details.