Canadian Friends Historical Association

Blog

  • The CQHA 2020 Conference is Postponed

    We repost information from the following webpage:

    Dear CQHA friends,

     

    This is not the message we had hoped to share with you at this point in our planning for the CQHA 2020 conference. Our program committee had worked through proposals and acceptances and was justifiably proud of the program we had put together, based almost entirely in the quality of presentations and their convergence around aspects of Quaker history and culture. We were on the verge of sharing the completed program with presenters, and were planning to open registration by the end of March.

     

    Instead, and with true regret, we are writing to let you know that we have decided to cancel the CQHA 2020 conference scheduled in June at Earlham College. In its place, we are beginning to make plans for a short virtual symposium this coming Fall and a rescheduled gathering at Earlham in June, 2021. 

     

    In recent weeks we have watched the situation surrounding the global spread of the COVID-19 virus with concern, but also with the hope that we might still be able to hold our conference as planned. Emerging guidance in Europe and North America to curtail both travel and conferences for at least the next eight weeks makes that look increasingly impossible. After careful deliberation, and since it is not our wish to heighten uncertainty in uncertain times, we have taken this decision now rather than wait any longer.

    Since CQHA meets every other year, 2021 would have been our year off. We hope that all those accepted for 2020 will be willing and able to present their work at a June 2021 conference at Earlham (specific dates to be determined). We will keep you apprised as new plans for a Fall 2020 online symposium and rescheduled conference next June take shape.

    We deeply appreciate the community that has formed around this conference and we look forward to gathering next year.

    With best wishes to all,

     

    Robynne Rogers Healey

    Convenor, CQHA

     

    John Anderies

    Susan Garfinkel

    Program Co-Chairs

     

    Jenny Freed
    Local Arrangements Coordinator

    https://library.guilford.edu/c.php?g=111690&p=7357286

  • Are you subscribed to the Adolphustown-Fredericksburgh Heritage Society newsletter?

    The Adolphustown-Fredericksburgh Heritage Society has been around since 1989, chronicling the history of one of Ontario’s oldest United Empire Loyalist settler communities. Adolphustown is of particular interest to Quaker historians as the site of the first Preparative Meeting in Upper (or lower) Canada, started in 1798.

    Membership in the AFHS costs only $5 for a lifetime, and comes with it a subscription to the members-only newsletter, which has wonderful articles about Adolphustown & Fredericksburgh history.

    In the April 2020 edition, you will find articles about the Haight farm, the Spencer Burial Ground, early schools, a summer camp in the area, and a collection of historical news clippings of interest.

    Their website is also full of great historical materials and publications, including a call-out for contributions of local photographs. You can find more information about the AFHS and how to become a member on their website:

    http://www.sfredheritage.on.ca/

     

  • Help transcribe ships’ logs from the Nantucket Historical Association

    The Nantucket Historical Association is asking for volunteer help to transcribe handwritten documents. Their collection currently available for transcribing includes ships’ logs and particularly eleven logs written by women, likely captains’ wives.

    The Nantucket area is of particular interest to Canadian Quaker enthusiasts as their whaling and fishing fleets had many connections with Barrington and Dartmouth, NS, which are home to some of the earliest Quaker settlers.

    You can find ships’ logs and other materials to transcribe here: https://fromthepage.com/nharl/

    Setting up an account and getting started is easy.

    If you’d like to look through the NHA’s collection for materials of interest, start here: https://nha.org/research/

    And if you’d like to see if historical Nova Scotian and New Brunswicker Friends are relevant to your inquiries, read this great article from Sandra Fuller in the Canadian Quaker History Journal about the 1787 census:

    Census of Quaker Families in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 1787 (PDF)

  • Textiles in Upper Canada

    Anne Adams on Three Generations of a Quaker Family and Their Textiles

    Published in the 2006 edition of the Canadian Journal of Quaker History, Anne G. Adams’ article, “‘Done Without Spectacles…’ Three Generations of a Quaker Family and Their Textiles,” follows the textile trail of the British-born Mullett family who settled in Upper Canada in 1821. The Mullett family quickly integrated themselves in the Quaker community of Adolphustown and their eleven children married into local Quaker families, including the Haights and Bowermans.

    Adams’ article includes letters sent between family members across the Atlantic and their many discussions of knitting, sewing, and spinning. Of particular interest to textile enthusiasts are the letters sent between the children of William and Mary Mullett and their grandmother, Hannah Clothier, who lived in Somerset, England. In some of their early letters, the Mullett children sent samples of their own spinning and requested their grandmother send pieces of cloth in return. Adams includes an 1825 letter sent from Deborah Mullett in which she notes that her and her sisters were “becoming tailoresses since being in Canada” (39). For those who have recently taken up a craft while staying at home, the letters and diaries of the Mullett family are an exciting window into early and mid-nineteenth century textile making in Upper Canada.

  • Help answer this question: do you know anything about Aaron Tool?

    We recently received the following genealogy question via our contact form:

    A Quaker – Aaron Tool – came from Bucks County, PA, to York County, Ontario. I’ve seen note of him in Yonge St minutes but if there is anything more you can tell me, it would be greatly appreciated. I’ve been to the Friends cemetery in North Toronto and took pictures of the headstones but some were unreadable.

    Do you have any information about an Aaron Tool (or Toole)? Can you help our researcher out with some relevant resources or suggestions for places to find further information?

     

  • The Record Book of Joseph Edwards, Niagara, 1812-1813

    Recently the American National Archives and Records Administration posted this interesting tidbit on their blog:

    Some Americans in Canada: The Record Book of Joseph Edwards, Niagara, Upper Canada, April 1812-January 1813

    If you don’t follow NARA, you may have missed this interesting document – a record book of Joseph Edwards, the Justice of the Peace in Niagara. It includes a hefty list of Americans forced to either depart Upper Canada or swear allegiance to the province. You may recognize a few last names in the blog post: Dorland, Height (Haight?), Lloyd – there is even a Samuel Moore!

    (Perhaps those of you with extensive knowledge on the topic can speculate in the comments whether this is the Samuel Moore, who at that time had just moved to Upper Canada from Nova Scotia and held several properties.)

    A number of the people listed are from Pennsylvania and New York, and taking a look may lead you down some helpful new research paths. While some of these names may be Quakers, there is also a section especially noting members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which may help those of you working on religious history more broadly.

    The record book in question has been digitized and can be found here:

    https://catalog.archives.gov/id/158587783

    Happy reading!

  • 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.

     

  • New transcription: Pelham Monthly Meeting Women, 1828-1860 (O-5-1)

    We’ve updated our transcriptions page with a new upload: Pelham Monthly Meeting’s Women’s book from 1828-1860.

    You can also see the PDF here: http://cfha.info/PelhamO-5-1.pdf

    Thanks as always to our wonderful volunteer transcribers!

    Our team is always happy to accept new volunteers. If you find yourself with free time while sitting at home, consider joining us to transcribe digitized meeting books. The only skills required are patience and the ability to read handwriting. The experience is enriching and educational – you may find interesting stories, ancestors, mention of places you know, and a heartfelt connection to the past. If you think you’d like to try your hand at transcribing, please get in touch!

    Whereas a number of friends having Identified themselves with those who have seceded from the Principle of friends, and emb[r]aced the doctrin of Elias Hicks, and not allowing friends the privalage of holding meeting in the meeting hous, therefore after solid consideration friends have removed to the house of Robert Spencer to hold our Monthly meeting there

    The Clerk going with the seceders have deprived friends of the use of the Books and minutes, which neceseated friends to transact their business without them

    This meeting therefore appoints Elizabeth Hill Clerk for one year and Mary M. Taylor to assist her

    This meeting appoints Elizabeth Hill and Jane King to visit Hannah Husband the former Clerk and demand the minutes and other property belonging to the meeting as this meetings just right, and report to next monthly meeting agreeably to the directions of the yearly meeting in the subject and the Clerk is to furnish the committee with a copy of this minutes signed by the Clerk

  • Reflections on the Middlesex Centre Archives’ Heritage Fair, February 22, 2020

    Reflections on the Middlesex Centre Archives’ Heritage Fair, February 22, 2020

    Gord Thompson and I met Dave Zavitz from the Middlesex Centre Archives when we staffed a CFHA booth at the Ontario Genealogical Fair in London in June 2019. Dave, well familiar with CFHA from his own Quaker background, invited us to set up a CFHA display at the Middlesex Centre Archives’ Heritage Fair this last February. This event was in its third year, and it was easy to determine that the event had gained momentum within the historical community. We were very pleased to be invited to attend.

    The Municipality of Middlesex Centre is located close to two Quaker meetings: Coldstream Monthly Meeting at Coldstream, and Yarmouth Monthly Meeting at Sparta, Ontario. These Quaker meetings have been held continuously since they were established in the 19th century.

    There was a real community feel to the Fair, with many people meeting old and new friends.
    There was lots of positive energy there, and the time went very quickly. We were able to raise the awareness of Quaker ancestry to those in attendance. We had in-depth conversations with well over 20 people, many of whom wanted more information about CFHA. Our conversations often started with “Do you have Quaker ancestors?” Sometimes the answer was no, sometimes maybe, and sometimes yes. Visitors were often drawn to the maps of Quaker settlements, often looking for familiar place names. They also really enjoyed reading the “Who are the Quakers?” panels on the display boards. The local Middlesex Banner newspaper representative interviewed both Gord and I, and referenced our booth in their article about the Fair. I was so happy that Gord made the trek from Markham, bringing with him the display materials and his in-depth knowledge of Quaker history. We hope to find ourselves at the Middlesex Heritage Fair in 2021!

    It is worth visiting the Middlesex Centre Archives. The Archives includes Quaker materials such as records from the Marsh Store in Coldstream. The Marsh family were Quakers, and it would be great to learn more about the materials the Archives has about the family and their store.

    It was not surprising to learn that the Archives have a number of very dedicated volunteers. They have incredible enthusiasm for their work. Thanks to Dave for inviting us!

    Here’s the website for the Archives: http://middlesexcentrearchive.ca

     

  • Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College supports CFHA transcriptions

    We are pleased to be advised that Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College will make images of men’s and women’s minute books from Muncy Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania. Muncy Meeting (formerly Catawissa Monthly Meeting) was the source meeting of many Quaker migrants who relocated in Upper Canada at the beginning of the 19th century.

    Once the images are transcribed, the information will be of particular interest to descendants of Quakers who established the Uxbridge, Ontario Monthly Meeting. Members of the Catawissa Monthly Meeting found themselves unwelcome in their community in the years following the American Revolution. In the early 1800s, the Catawissa Quakers of Muncy Meeting moved in a group to present day Uxbridge.

    We would like to express our appreciation to Friends Historical Library for their continuing support of CFHA transcription work. Transcriptions of various minute books and documents related to Nine Partners Monthly Meeting and its associated meeting Ferrisburgh Preparative Meeting previously provided by Friends Historical Library have been transcribed and are posted on the CFHA website.

    Watch this space for news about transcription of the Muncy minute books.

    As always, we want to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the work of our wonderful volunteer transcribers who so productively generate text-searchable versions of these minute books. If you are interested in joining our transcription team and getting up close and personal with Quaker minute books, get in touch!