Friends Meetinghouse (Wilmington, Delaware)
Encyclopedia
Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house at 4th and West Streets in Wilmington, Delaware
in the Quaker Hill
neighborhood. The meeting is still active with a membership of about 400 and is part of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
. It was built in 1815-1817 and added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976.
at the house of Governor Lovelace in September 1672, when George Fox
visited the town. After William Penn
became proprietor of the "Three Lower Counties," as Delaware was then known, regular meetings were formed in Newark
, Centre and New Castle. Regular meetings did not begin in Wilmington until 1735 when William and Elizabeth Shipley built a one-story brick house near Fourth and Shipley Streets that was used for worship as a Preparative Meeting, officially beginning in 1738. In 1750 the status of Monthly Meeting was granted by the Concord Quarterly Meeting
.
The first dedicated meetinghouse was built across the street from the current site in 1738 and measured 25 feet (7.6 m) square. The second meetinghouse was built in 1748 on the current site and could hold 500 people. The present building was opened on September 25, 1817 and is said to hold 700 people. A school was founded here in 1748 in the meetinghouse built in 1738, which has evolved into the Wilmington Friends School
. In 1937 the school moved from Quaker Hill to the Alapocas neighborhood of Wilmington.
John Dickinson
, the “penman of the Revolution,” is buried in the adjoining burial ground, as is abolitionist
Thomas Garrett
and Delaware Governor Caleb P. Bennett
.
Thomas Garrett
, one of the best known conductors on the Underground Railroad
, was a member of the meeting, and lived on Quaker Hill at 227 Shipley Street. He worked closely with Harriet Tubman
and is said to have helped 2,700 slaves reach freedom. About 1,500 people came to his funeral at the meetinghouse in January, 1871 where Lucretia Mott
spoke.
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
in the Quaker Hill
Quaker Hill Historic District (Wilmington, Delaware)
The Quaker Hill Historic District in Wilmington, Delaware is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The 1979 listing covered 110 contributing buildings over . The listing was increased in 1985 to include 41 more contributing buildings over an...
neighborhood. The meeting is still active with a membership of about 400 and is part of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, or simply Philadelphia Yearly Meeting or PYM, is the central organizing body for Quaker meetings in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, area....
. It was built in 1815-1817 and added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976.
History
The first Quaker meeting for worship in Delaware was held in New CastleNew Castle, Delaware
New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, six miles south of Wilmington, situated on the Delaware River. In 1900, 3,380 people lived here; in 1910, 3,351...
at the house of Governor Lovelace in September 1672, when George Fox
George Fox
George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
visited the town. After William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
became proprietor of the "Three Lower Counties," as Delaware was then known, regular meetings were formed in Newark
Newark, Delaware
Newark is an American city in New Castle County, Delaware, west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware.- History :...
, Centre and New Castle. Regular meetings did not begin in Wilmington until 1735 when William and Elizabeth Shipley built a one-story brick house near Fourth and Shipley Streets that was used for worship as a Preparative Meeting, officially beginning in 1738. In 1750 the status of Monthly Meeting was granted by the Concord Quarterly Meeting
Concord Friends Meetinghouse
Concord Friends Meetinghouse is a historic meeting house on Old Concord Road in Concordville, Pennsylvania. The meeting was first organized sometime before 1697, as the sixth Quaker meeting in what was then Chester County. In 1697 the meeting leased its current location for "one peppercorn yearly...
.
The first dedicated meetinghouse was built across the street from the current site in 1738 and measured 25 feet (7.6 m) square. The second meetinghouse was built in 1748 on the current site and could hold 500 people. The present building was opened on September 25, 1817 and is said to hold 700 people. A school was founded here in 1748 in the meetinghouse built in 1738, which has evolved into the Wilmington Friends School
Wilmington Friends School
Wilmington Friends School, the oldest existing school in Delaware, is a preschool through 12th grade Quaker school in Wilmington, Delaware. The school was founded in 1748 by members of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends ....
. In 1937 the school moved from Quaker Hill to the Alapocas neighborhood of Wilmington.
John Dickinson
John Dickinson (delegate)
John Dickinson was an American lawyer and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. He was a militia officer during the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania and Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of...
, the “penman of the Revolution,” is buried in the adjoining burial ground, as is abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
Thomas Garrett
Thomas Garrett
Thomas Garrett was an abolitionist and leader in the Underground Railroad movement before the American Civil War....
and Delaware Governor Caleb P. Bennett
Caleb P. Bennett
Caleb Prew Bennett was an American soldier and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and a member of the Democratic Party who served as Governor of Delaware.-Early life and family:Bennett was born in Chester...
.
Thomas Garrett
Thomas Garrett
Thomas Garrett was an abolitionist and leader in the Underground Railroad movement before the American Civil War....
, one of the best known conductors on the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, was a member of the meeting, and lived on Quaker Hill at 227 Shipley Street. He worked closely with Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross; (1820 – 1913) was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more than 70 slaves...
and is said to have helped 2,700 slaves reach freedom. About 1,500 people came to his funeral at the meetinghouse in January, 1871 where Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Coffin Mott was an American Quaker, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights.- Early life and education:...
spoke.