Colonial Quills September Tea Party & New Releases

Blurb: 

When a deadly yellow fever outbreak draws Cornelia Gill back home, her new independent life must be abandoned. Injured veteran, Carter Williams, likewise must return to Dogwood Plantation when he suffers grievous family losses. Both become caretakers to younger family members. As the War of 1812 heats up, two wounded hearts begin to heal. But can they manage all that life has handed them?

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Carrie's giving away a copy of Dogwood Plantation in ebook or paperback (USA only unless Book Depository ships to your country) to one commenter on this blog post! 

A Cord of Three Strands

As 1756 dawns, Isaac Lukens leaves the Pennsylvania wilderness after two years with the Lenape people. He’s failed to find the families of his birth parents, a French trader and a Lenape woman. Worse, the tribe he’s lived with, having rejected his peacemaking efforts, now ravages frontier settlements in retaliation. When he arrives in Horsham, the Quaker community where he was reared, questions taunt him: Who is he—white man or Lenape? And where does he belong?

 Elisabeth Alden, Isaac’s dearest childhood friend, is left to tend her young siblings alone upon her father’s death. Despite Isaac’s promise to care for her and the children, she battles resentment toward him for having left, while an unspeakable tragedy and her discordant courtship with a prominent Philadelphian weigh on her as well.

 Elisabeth must marry or lose guardianship of her siblings, and her options threaten the life with her and the children that Isaac has come to love. Faced with Elisabeth’s hesitancy to marry, the prospect of finding his family at last, and the opportunity to assist in the peace process between Pennsylvania and its Indian tribes, Isaac must determine where—and to whom—the Almighty has called him.

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Donald Duncan joined the Patriot cause for noble reasons, battling the British while enduring deprivation and hardship on every side. The war has changed him, and now the battle is internal. Returning home to Virginia is in sight where a new life and his Mary wait for him.

Mary Stewart spends the war years with her family at Stewarts' Green, helping them operate their ordinary. Daily, she prays for Donald's safe return, eagerly waiting for him ... until that day the evil side of war touches her.

Two hearts changed by a war that dragged on for six years. Two hearts left hurting and struggling to find the love and trust they once knew. Is there a path for them to rekindle what was lost; Setting Two Hearts Free?

Buy Now: Setting Two Hearts Free ~ Releases October 6, 2020

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A beloved family nativity set follows four generations through time. In 1899, a mysterious newcomer helps Pastor Seth Shepherd save Christmas. In 1919, while journeying by train, Stella Shepherd befriends a war veteran and finds a reason to cease her wanderings. In 1945, Elodie Wise plans a fundraising ball with the help of her friend, a swanky Hollywood headliner. In 2020, Benjie Gabriel thinks the chef’s position she’s just taken at an award-winning bed and breakfast is temporary, until she gets to know the owner. And as the Shepherd family grows through loving relationships, the nativity set also expands with new treasured pieces.

Released September 1!

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To celebrate this new release, Shannon is giving away one paperback copy of this collection, which she is thrilled to share with three very stellar authors!

The Black Rose

About the Book

1893 ~ Logging has reached its golden era in the growing stated of Wisconsin, and twin sisters Jesilyn and Coriann Beaumont enjoy a comfortable live with family in the bustling, Great Lake city of Superior--until jealousy incites Jesi to seduce Cori's fiance, certain she can claim his heart. When things don't go as planned, a flight and fall from grace lands her in a boom town brothel where a fresh start is denied her.

Camp preacher Paul Winter longs to offer hope in the carousing lumber and mining towns of northern Wisconsin, but his successes have been few, and he's begun to question his calling. Then his ministry is challenged in an unexpected way when he meets a lost and broken red-head he calls Pie Girl. Though willing to offer rescue, he's never had to battle his own longings quite this way before. 

Meanwhile, stung by Jesilyn's betrayal, Corianne finds refuge in refusing to forgive, but bitterness might separate her from a second chance at happiness. When tragedy causes fresh sparks between them, will love fail forever? Or is there a way for both women to begin new lives--and find budding love blooming in places neither of them expects?

Buy the book here, or read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

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 Heart of a Warrior

by Angela K Couch

The Man She Fears Is Her Only Chance For Survival . . .

All Christina Astle wants is to reach Oregon before her baby is born, but the wagon train is attacked, and her husband killed, stranding her in a mountain labyrinth. Raised in the East, within civilization's embrace, survival is not a skill she's learned. Neither is evading the lone warrior dogging her trail.

Disgusted by the greed and cruelty of men like his white father, Towan has turned to the simpler existence of his mother's tribal people. He is not prepared for the fiery woman who threatens to upturn his entire life ... and his heart.

Connect with Angela: www.angelakcouch.com

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To celebrate this release Angela will be giving away a $5 Amazon gift card! 

  

~*~*~*

Be sure to come over to our Colonial Quills Online Facebook Party, too, tonight from 7-9 Eastern Time!

A Visit to Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum

Pasture with the 1750s Log Farm house in the background

September 22, 2018 was Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day, when free tickets are offered to various museums in the country. We happened to be in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that day, so we got tickets to visit the Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum. While most of the buildings date later than the colonial period, the Log Farm section depicts Pennsylvania German life in the 1750s. This post will focus on the Log Farmstead.

The Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum is the largest museum dedicated to the history of the Pennsylvania Germans (or Pennsylvania Dutch, as they're often called, though they're not Dutch at all—the Dutch comes from mispronunciation of Deutsch, the German word for German). The museum depicts Lancaster County farming life during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through the village, which includes the many structures listed below, and the museum, which houses a collection of farming implements and other decorative arts pieces. In addition, the museum has an award-winning Heirloom Seed Program (growing plants, field crops, and vegetables that are now disappearing), and offers classes in folk art and driving of horses and oxen. It is in every way a living history museum.

The 1750s Log Farmstead includes a log house (two rooms), a pasture, two barns, a spring house, and a woman's garden:

The Log Farmstead

Log Farmstead kitchen 

Log Farmstead bedroom

Log Farmstead barn

Sheep in the barn

My kids favorite part of the whole village: this (gigantic!) hog was having the time of her life in the mud. According to one of the workers, she also loves to eat pumpkins whole.

Bulls in the pasture

This mare and her foal loved eating the Chinese chestnuts (buckeyes) we found growing nearby.

Inside the spring house

Woman's garden

Other buildings in the village include the original brick farmstead and Grossmutter house (circa 1830), a sexton's house (staffed by a leatherworker), a blacksmith shop (moved to the farm from Gettysburg, circa 1880), a farm machinery and tool barn, the Landis Valley House Hotel (built in 1856), the Maple Grove Schoolhouse (an Amish school built in 1890 about three miles from the museum), a country store (recreated to depict 1900), a firehouse, a tin shop, a tavern (recreated to represent a tavern circa 1800–1820), a gunshop, and some outbuildings.

If you're ever in the Lancaster area and would like to visit, the Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum is open year round. More information is available at www.landisvalleymuseum.org.

Pennsylvania's Colonial Plain People: Quakers, Amish, and Mennonites

After my post last month, which touched on Quaker disownment, one reader mentioned how it seemed similar to shunning, a practice most commonly seen in Anabaptist (primarily Old Order Amish and some Mennonite) communities. So I thought this month I’d talk some about these plain communities, their similarities, and their differences during Pennsylvania’s colonial times.

BACKGROUND

Friends (Quakers) first came to America in 1655. The first two settlers were women, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, from Barbados. The Puritans persecuted and imprisoned them, but a local man, Nicholas Upsall, was converted to Quakerism by them and helped establish the first Monthly Meeting of Friends in Massachusetts. Twenty years later, Quakers settled in New Jersey, and with William Penn’s holy experiment, throngs of Quakers who were being persecuted by the crown in England immigrated to America.

Like the Friends, the Amish and Mennonites also came to America fleeing persecution due to their religious beliefs. The first group, Northern German Mennonites, arrived in Germantown (now part of Philadelphia) in 1683, and a much larger migration (this time from Switzerland and Southern Germany) began in 1707, also with Pennsylvania as their destination. The Amish, a more conservative sect who broke away from the Mennonites in 1693, began coming to America in the early eighteenth century.

LANGUAGE

Friends came primarily from England, so they spoke English. That said, they employed “plain speech”—using thee, thou, thy, and thine, as well as some other speech differences, as a denial of any caste system in human interactions. While plain speech is used much less now, some Friends still speak it while interacting with other Quakers.

Amish and Mennonites generally spoke German, as well as a dialect of it called Pennsylvania Deitsch (commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch now). Pennsylvania Dutch is still used by Old Order Amish people, as well as by many in the Old Order and conservative Mennonite communities.

DRESS

In colonial times, Quakers didn’t have a prescribed dress. However, they did clothe themselves differently from those around them. During the eighteenth century, they tended to wear clothing that had been in fashion ten to fifteen years prior, mainly due to their frugality. They dressed well (many were quite wealthy), took care of their clothing, and wore it for as long as it lasted. As well, adornments (of which there were many in high society) were discouraged. Some Friends were more “plain” than others, and in the nineteenth century the dress became more distinct. Plain dress among Quakers is fairly uncommon now, although there are some Friends in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia who have taken up dressing plainly again (as well as using plain speech regularly).

Not much description is given of colonial-era Amish and Mennonite clothing, although author Daniel Rupp, in his book on Lancaster County, reported that in 1727, “a number of Germans, peculiar in their dress” had settled in the county. Of course, no specifics on this peculiar dress are given. Clearly, they dressed differently from those around them, but that could mean several things. We know they eschewed adornments, like the Quakers, and that by the nineteenth century, dress became prescribed. Today, the Old Order Amish follow (fairly) strict dress codes that differ some by community, and the Old Order and more conservative Mennonite groups do as well.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Christianity: Colonial Quakers were Christians. They believed in the deity of Christ, and that their salvation came only through Him. As well, they gave great attention to the “Inner Light” (God’s presence within a person), a belief that is unique to Friends. While not all Friends are Christians today, Quakers still hold fast to their belief in the Inner Light.

Amish and Mennonites were and are Christians as well. They believe in the deity of Christ, although some of the most conservative groups don’t believe in assurance of salvation. They definitely have never espoused the Inner Light, and some sects would consider it blasphemous.

Worship Services: The Inner Light resulted in Friends’ “meeting for worship,” which was quite different from Amish and Mennonite church services (or any other Christian service, really). During meeting, Friends sat in silence—praying, meditating on Scripture, and listening for the Inner Light—then stood up and speak if so led. These meetings often went on for hours during colonial times. While the earliest meetings were held in Friends’ homes, meetinghouses were generally built soon after families settled in an area.

Amish and Mennonites differ among themselves on worship. The Old Order Amish have never had meetinghouses, instead meeting in members’ homes. Historically and currently, Old Order and conservative Mennonites meet in meetinghouses, and hold services of up to three hours. (Side note: their wooden benches are equally as uncomfortable as Quaker wooden benches ☺).

Nonresistance: Drawing on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Friends, Amish, and Mennonites hold nonresistance as a stalwart tenet. This includes not fighting in or contributing to war in any way, turning the other cheek, and rejecting capital punishment, among other things. For this reason, Pennsylvania had no militia until the 1750s. Somewhat connected, all groups also contributed to the care of the less fortunate. The Amish have always tended to be more insular in this way, whereas Friends have been very generous in their care of others. Mennonites vary from more insular to very generous, depending on which group they belong to.

Discipline: Friends, Old Order Amish, and Old Order Mennonites (and some conservative Mennonite sects) have historically used some form of discipline on members who step out of bounds. Friends called it disownment, and while it rescinded membership, those who were disowned could still interact with family and friends, attend meeting, etc. The Old Order Amish called it shunning, and a shunned member’s relationship with the family and community was basically completely severed. The Old Order Mennonites called it excommunication, and while it was generally not as severe as shunning, it resulted in much distress.  Disownment is rare among Quakers today, but the Amish and Old Order Mennonites still practice shunning and excommunication respectively.

Three of Pennsylvania’s plain communities—all come to the state as a result of religious persecution—similar and yet different. If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them.

A Colonial Quaker Wedding: What's Love Got to Do With It?

William Penn marries Hannah Callowhill, 1696

Centuries before Tina Turner belted out, “What’s love got to do with it?” members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) were, in a sense, asking the same question with regard to marriage. Their answer? Everything and nothing.

In colonial times, marriage in America looked quite different than it does now. Today, most people “marry for love” (romantic love), and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as other forms of love accompany and bolster it. In the eighteenth century, however, while some couples certainly married for romantic reasons, many more built their marriage on a foundation based on necessity. Gender roles were generally prescribed, and many aspects of adult life required (or were at least easier) with a spouse or other family member of the opposite gender to carry their part of the workload.

Quakers were no different, with companionship and friendship being paramount in a marriage. Romance certainly played a part in relationships as well, but primarily in the milieu of shared devotion to the Lord. Many times, companionship and friendship coupled with shared devotion to God resulted in romantic love, creating a formidable bond.

Of course, that’s pretty much where the commonalities between colonial marriage and colonial Quaker marriage ended. As early as the seventeenth century, many Quakers embraced revolutionary ideas about marriage and gender roles. Leader George Fox wrote that for those living in the Light and perfected by Christ, husbands and wives could be equal “helpmeets.” This was quite radical considering that male leadership was implicit in American culture, and not all Quakers agreed with Fox. Even so, Quaker life was steeped in the spiritual equality of all; many women became traveling ministers, leaving behind their families to acclimate to periods without them—all with their Meeting’s blessing.

Some other facets of colonial Quaker marriage?

Men and women chose their own spouses (there were no arranged marriages), although to be married by the Meeting, parental consent was required. Without parental consent, the couple could not go to the Women’s Meeting (the women’s leadership for the Meeting, which handled vetting marriages as part of their responsibility) for its consent. And without the Meeting’s consent (Women’s Meeting and then the Men’s Meeting), there was no marriage—unless the couple decided to go to a minister of a non-Quaker church or to the justice of the peace. That was highly discouraged, however, and it always resulted in “disownment,” or expulsion from Meeting for “marrying out of order” or “contrary to discipline,” as Friends called it. (Not to worry. Once the expelled couple acknowledged their transgression and proved that they intended to be obedient Quakers going forward, the Meeting reinstated their membership.)

Marriage to non-Quakers was never condoned. Friends were expected to marry within their own religious community, and any Friend who married a non-Quaker (by a minister or justice of the peace) was automatically disowned. However, members who were disowned could still worship with Friends, and eventually, with acknowledgment and proven behavior, could regain membership. (Long before modern-day worship songs, Quakers were proclaiming that God is a God of not the “second chance” but the “another chance.”)

So what did love have to do with Quaker marriage in colonial times? Well, that depends on what kind of love you’re talking about. Love in a spirit of companionship, friendship, and shared devotion to Christ? Everything. Love in a spirit of romance and pleasure? Often nothing. Or perhaps nothing at first. But with God, all things are possible and love never fails.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and Angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I had the gift of prophecy, and knew all secrets and all knowledge, yea, if I had all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and had not love, I were nothing. And though I feed the poor with all my goods, and though I give my body, that I be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.

—1 Corinthians 1:1–3 (1599 Geneva Bible)

Colonial Quaker Holidays (or Lack Thereof)

An early Quaker meeting (courtesy of U.S. History)

We're just about halfway through what we call Easter Week, the commemoration of the days before Christ's resurrection. Nowadays Americans celebrate Easter in different ways—some with egg hunts, Easter baskets, and springy-looking outfits; others with an emphasis only on the events of the week in AD 30; others with a combination of the two; and others yet with no observation at all. Really, in that regard, not much has changed in the last two hundred and fifty to three hundred years.

Our colonial ancestors also had various ways of celebrating Easter, although there were certainly no plastic eggs, chocolate rabbits, or people in bunny costumes like we see today. For most Christian colonists, Easter was a holy time that brought additional church services during the week and a lamb dinner after the Resurrection Sunday service. However, some Christians, namely the Society of Friends—or Quakers—didn't celebrate it at all.

In the colonial Quaker community (and in the lives of some contemporary Quakers), days in general were handled differently from that of non-Quakers. The common names used for days of the week and months of the year were eschewed due to their original pagan origins; instead, January was First Month, February was Second Month, Sunday was First Day, Monday was Second Day, and so on. As well, holy days (or holidays) were not celebrated at all. This included birthdays, anniversaries, and religious and non-religious holidays. In the Quaker mind, every day of the year was considered holy unto God, not just special days and times. According to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's 1806 Rules of Discipline, "the observation of public fasts, feasts, and what they term holy days; or such injunctions and forms as are devised in man's will for divine worship; the dispensation to which outward observations were peculiar, having long since given place to the spiritual dispensation of the gospel." For the colonial Quaker, every day was worthy of celebration.

While most of us would likely say we prefer celebrating holidays over not doing so, we probably would also agree that there's truth in considering all days holy unto God. Every day is indeed a gift from Him, and research has shown that people are happier when they embrace gratitude as a way of life.

This week we are especially thankful, as we celebrate Jesus' death on the cross to save us from our sins. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift" (2 Corinthians 9:15 NKJV).

Isaiah Lukens: Colonial Clockmaker

The Lukens family (originally spelled Luyken and then Lucken) were Dutch Mennonites who, due to religious persecution in Holland, ended up in Krefeld, Germany, in the 1600s. They endured more persecution there, and Jan Lucken eventually sailed for America aboard the Concord in 1682. He and his wife were among the original settlers of Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), at some point became Quakers, and went on to have twelve children. These people, who braved their first winter in America living in a cave along the Schuykill River, went on to become a family well-known in colonial Philadelphia and in areas to the north of the city. Jan Lucken’s great-grandson, Seneca, and especially his great-great-grandson, Isaiah, were noted clockmakers.

Seneca Lukens (born 1951) was a farmer and self-taught watch- and clockmaker who lived his entire life in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a small Quaker community north of Philadelphia. While he was quite well-known for his watches and clocks during his lifetime, he is now equally as known for allowing Elizabeth Graeme Ferguson, the “most learned woman in America” during colonial times, to live in his home in her latter years. Seneca’s son Isaiah, however, would be most know for his occupation:

Isaiah Lukens, daguerreotype by
Charles Wilson Peale

“Isaiah Lukens, the son of Seneca, was born August 24, 1779, in Horsham, where he received but a common English education, but by subsequent diligent study he acquired a profound knowledge of the sciences. He learned clock-making from his father, and the excellency of the workmanship of his high-standing clocks, spreading far beyond the circle of his neighborhood, formed the basis of his future reputation. He made the clock of Loller Academy, Hatboro, in 1812, and the large clock in the State-House steeple in 1839, for which he received five thousand dollars. In early youth his mechanical skill exhibited itself in constructing wind-mills for pumping water, and air-guns of improved construction, besides other ingenious appliances. While a young man he made a voyage to Europe, spending some time in England, France and Germany, in visiting the greatest objects of interest, particularly those involving a high degree of mechanical knowledge. He finally settled in Philadelphia, and became a member of its several literary and scientific institutions, and was one of the founders and a vice-president of the Franklin Institute. He died in the city November 12, 1864, in age the youngest of the family.”[1]

Here are a few pieces of Isaiah Lukens' craftsmanship:

To the right is a clock made for the Philadelphia Bank, which was at the southwest corner of Chestnut and Fourth Streets. It remained there until the bank moved in 1859. At that time it was sold at auction by M Thomas & Sons, and bought by Henry Bird, librarian at The Athenaeum, for twenty-three dollars. The clock is thirteen feet high, and is now on display in the Busch Room of The Athenaeum.

He also designed and built the clock that graced the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), in 1828. This clock replaced the former clocks built by Edward Duffield and then Thomas Stretch. Lukens' clock kept Philadelphia's time until 1876, when it was moved to Town Hall in Germantown. It was then incorporated into Germantown's new municipal building in 1924.

Lukens clock at Loller Academy, 
on the night of it's rededication (12/31/2015)

Another Lukens clock is in the Loller Academy building (now the municipal building), in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, which was built in 1812. Similar to the clock that would later be made for the State House, it is a seven-day clock with a bell above it that chimes on each hour. The clock fell into disrepair during the twentieth century, and over the last several years has been undergoing restoration by the Millbrook Society (Hatboro's historical society) and Winships' Pieces of Time. It was rededicated in a ceremony on New Year's Eve 2015, although the Winships are still making some repairs to return it, as closely as possible, to its original state.

Upon his death, Isaiah Lukens was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Franklin Institute, for which he had previously served as vice president. My favorite title for him, however, is "cousin."

---

[1] Theodore Weber Bean, History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1884), 876.

Pennsylvania: William Penn's Holy Experiment

The Peaceable Kingdom (Edward Hicks, c. 1834) exemplifies Quaker ideals.

William Penn, Pennsylvania’s founder, was an English Quaker who received the charter to Pennsylvania as the result of a debt owed to his father, Admiral Sir William Penn. The younger Penn, who grew up in English high society, began attending Friends meetings while living on a family estate in Cork, Ireland, and publicly joined the Society of Friends at the age of twenty-two. This soon got him arrested multiple times, as King Charles had placed stringent restrictions against religious groups other than the Anglican church. The Crown especially hated the Quakers, who believed all people (whether royalty or commoner) were created equal.

Despite persecutions, imprisonments, and being disowned by his family, William Penn’s Quaker faith burgeoned, getting him exiled from English society. He eventually ended up in Newgate Prison, and his dying father, who had gained respect for his son’s religious convictions, made peace with him and paid the fine to have him released. Sir Admiral Penn, knowing his son would face even worse persecution after his death, set the conditions for the founding of Pennsylvania. After the admiral’s death, young William Penn proposed to the Crown a partial solution to England’s religious strife: a mass emigration of English Quakers to America. To Penn’s surprise, the king granted him a large charter, giving him a large tract of land west of New Jersey and north of Maryland.

William Penn, a strong believer in religious tolerance and a man all too familiar with religious persecution, set forth to make his land (first called New Wales, then Sylvania, and finally Pennsylvania) a “Holy Experiment”—a haven for persecuted religious minorities. Within fifty years, the commonwealth had a quickly growing city (Philadelphia) and was home to people of several religious backgrounds.

The Society of Friends

Quakers began worshiping (silently, of course) at Upland in 1675. After Penn received his charter, Quakers emigrated in large numbers from England, Ireland, and Wales. They settled primarily in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, and controlled Pennsylvania’s government until 1756, when their pacifism became unpopular with nonpacifistic Pennsylvanians during the French and Indian War. While Quaker dominance gradually diminished as people of other religious backgrounds made Pennsylvania their home, many Friends Meetings still exist today, often worshiping in the same meetinghouses used three hundred years ago.

The Pennsylvania Germans

Most Pennsylvania Germans belonged to the Lutheran and Reformed churches, but Pennsylvania also drew several smaller groups, primarily the Mennonites, Amish, Dunkers (German Baptist Brethren), Schwenkfelders, and Moravians. A small group of Mennonites and Quakers arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683 and settled Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), and by the 1730s, more Mennonites and the first Amish immigrants had arrived in Pennsylvania. The Schwenkfelders started arriving in 1731, and the Moravians in 1741. These smaller groups, all believers in nonresistance and baptism upon confession of faith in Christ, settled north and west of Philadelphia to farm the land. The Moravians soon became known for their mission work among the Native American tribes.

The Church of England

William Penn’s religious tolerance was so great that he allowed those who belonged to the Church of England, the same group that had persecuted him in England, to come to Pennsylvania. The Anglicans held services in Philadelphia as early as 1695, eventually building Christ Church, still one of Philadelphia’s most notable churches. With the addition of its spire in 1754, Christ Church became the tallest building in North America.

The Catholic Church

The first Catholic congregation was organized in 1720 in Philadelphia, and they built their first chapel in 1733. Pennsylvania had the second largest Catholic population during Colonial times, but their numbers were hardly large. Even in 1757, of Pennsylvania’s 200,000 residents, fewer than 1,400 were recorded as Catholic. This number is substantially higher today, with 28% of Pennsylvanians now characterizing themselves as Catholic.

The Presbyterian Church

The Scotch brought Presbyterianism to Pennsylvania, with the first congregation organized in 1698 in Philadelphia. Scotch-Irish immigration from 1710 till 1775 ushered in around 200,000 people to the Colonies, with most coming to Pennsylvania before spreading west and south. Presbyterians now make up approximately 4% of Pennsylvania’s population.

The Methodist Church

Methodists arrived in Philadelphia later in the colonial period. Their first church, St. George's Church, was built in 1769 and is the oldest Methodist building in America. Methodists now make up around 5% of Pennsylvania’s population.

The Jewish Community

Colonial Pennsylvania had a significant Jewish population. The first Jewish Philadelphian recorded was Jonas Aaron, in 1703, but sources show that Jews were in the area before then. Mikveh Israel, founded by Spanish and Portuguese Jews, was established in the city in 1740.

Nowadays, American states include a myriad of different religions. During Colonial times, however, Pennsylvania stood out. While other colonies restricted members of certain religious groups, William Penn opened Pennsylvania to all who worshiped God. Through this, he helped change the trajectory of an entire country.

Quaker Worship: Listening in Silence

Horsham Friends Meeting – Horsham, Pennsylvania

Depending on where you live in the United States, you may know absolutely nothing about the Society of Friends (Quakers) or you may know quite a bit. I grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania, which has been a stronghold of Quakerism for more than three hundred years. Some of my earliest ancestors on this continent were Mennonites who became Friends, and I still live about five minutes from Horsham Friends Meeting, which they helped found in the early 1700s. While I don't agree with all the tenets of modern Quakerism, I’ve attended Horsham Meeting many times over the years.

The novel I recently finished is a fact-and-fiction narrative that takes place in Horsham, with some of my eighteenth-century Quaker ancestors as characters. Obviously, writing about people who lived almost three hundred years ago requires quite a bit of research on just about everything. However, I found one thing that hasn’t changed much in three centuries: how Friends worship. I’d like to share that with you today.

Before I continue, let me point out that Friends now have two types of worship—“programmed” (similar to Protestant church services, with a pastor who preaches a sermon, singing, etc.) and “unprogrammed” (silent worship). I’ll be describing an unprogrammed meeting since that is how Quakers traditionally worshiped and it is what I’m familiar with.

Upon entering a Friends meeting house, the first thing noticed is generally the simplicity. The aesthetics of many meetings have changed little over hundreds of years. Horsham Meeting has stark white walls and wide-plank wood flooring. Some of the benches were originally used in the previous meeting house, which was torn down when the current (much larger) meeting house was built in 1803. Dark wood stain abounds—on the floor, the benches, the balcony above, and the square pillars and the separators between them—and the scent of wood and varnish (which I’ve come to love) fills the air. The separators are now raised and worshipers can sit anywhere, but years ago men and women each had their own side and the separators provided individual spaces for the Men’s Meeting and Women’s Meeting (the two met separately once a month, either during or after worship, to discuss business).

Meeting for worship begins with silence. Friends General Conference describes well the reasoning behind this: “Quaker worship is based on silent waiting, where we expect to come into the presence of God. In this living silence, we listen for the still, small voice that comes from God through the Inward Light. Worshiping together in silence is a way for a community to be brought together in love and faithfulness."

During the meeting, anyone who feels inspired to speak will stand (or sometimes sit, in the case of elderly members) and say what's on their heart. They may quote Scripture, a poem, or text from a book; describe how the Lord is working in their life; offer a prayer; or speak about something important to them or to Friends as a whole (such as social justice issues). After the message is given, the speaker will sit and the silence again resumes. Other Friends then speak as they are led, changing the subject or building on (or refuting, occasionally) what others have said. And in the rare case that someone's message causes concern for any reason, a "weighty" Friend will stop them with a kind but firm, "Friend, thee has said enough." After about forty-five minutes to an hour, someone (usually an elder) will shake hands with another person, indicating that worship has ended, and everyone then shakes hands with those around them.

In Colonial times, Friends neither sang nor participated in any type of music at any time, but singing and playing musical instruments, as well as other creative arts, are now quite acceptable and encouraged in the Quaker community. I expect that some meetings sing more than others. At Horsham, I remember singing only during Christmas Eve worship. And while meetings generally last less than an hour now, they traditionally could go on for two or three hours (or more). Many meetings now also have what they call First Day School, or Sunday school for children.

While the Mennonite church is my home (sometimes what goes around comes around), I must admit that there is beauty and purpose in silent worship. We live in a busy, noisy world, and I daresay that the devices so popular in our current culture battle to make silence a thing of the past. “God gave us two ears and only one mouth,” an elderly Quaker woman told our meeting years ago. “He speaks with a still, small voice, and how are we to hear Him unless we’re silent?” How, indeed?

If you have any questions about an unprogrammed meeting, I’d be happy to answer them. 

Quaker Plain Speech

When most people hear the term plain people, they generally envision the Amish or conservative Mennonites. But other plain groups (those who dress modestly and with no unnecessary adornments) also exist. Historically, Friends (Quakers) were also plain, although their outward expression of plainness tended to vary, unlike in Amish and conservative Mennonite communities, where dress is usually prescribed.

In addition to manner of dress, plainness has also involved speech. While the Amish and many Mennonite groups speak Pennsylvania Dutch (a dialect of German), Friends have used what they call “plain speech.” Some sources claim that plain speech is now nearly extinct, but I’ve heard it used in Friends Meetings in southeastern Pennsylvania and in Ohio.

So what is plain speech? Unlike Pennsylvania Dutch, it’s not an actual language, but a refusal to employ speech that would be dishonest in any way, would capitulate to the vanity of the world, or would utilize words with a pagan origin.

The Honesty Factor

Years ago, an older Friend told me a story from his childhood. He and his father passed a herd of sheep in a field, and he pointed out that one sheep was black. His father responded that he shouldn’t call the sheep black (which would imply that the entire sheep was black) because they could only see the half of the sheep that was facing the road. Therefore, calling the sheep black could be untruthful, as the unseen side might be white (not likely, but possible). Now that’s taking honesty to an all new level.

The Vanity Factor

Traditionally, Friends refused to use titles with personal names. Instead they would use the person’s first and last name only; for example, Reverend Smith would become simply John Smith. This historically caused discord with nobility and other higher-ups in society who enjoyed lip service, as did Friends’ continued use of some aspects of seventeenth-century English (think King James Bible) long after it became antiquated. Old English used singular and plural forms of second-person pronouns (thee/thou and you), while modern English now employs you as both the singular and plural. Friends continued to use the singular forms (considered intimate) instead of the plural form (considered formal), unless addressing more than one person:

–         Thee (used in place of objective you): May I help thee?

–         Thou (used in place of subjective you): Thou should not do that.

–         Thy (used for your when the word following it started with a consonant): Where is thy hat?

–         Thine (used for your when it was the last word of the sentence or the word following it began with a vowel): Is this thine? Did thou see it with thine own eyes?

–         You (used when speaking to more than one person): I will come with you.

Sometime in the eighteenth century, Friends’ use of thou died out, at least in speech (letters and other historical documents show it was still used in writing). Thee became the norm for both objective you as well. For example, Thou should not do that became Thee should not do that. 

The Anti-Pagan Factor

Many people don’t realize it, but the English names for days of the week and months of the year have pagan origins. For example, Sunday was in honor of the sun god, Monday was in honor of the moon god, and Saturday was in honor of the Roman god Saturn, while January was in honor of the Roman god Janus, March was in honor of the Roman god Mars, and May was in honor of the Greek god Maia. With this in mind, Friends have historically refused to use these names. In plain speech, days and months are numbered. Sunday is First Day, Monday is Second Day, Tuesday is Third Day, and so on. Months follow the same convention: January is First Month, February is Second Month, March is Third Month, and so on. While many Friends now use the typical names for days and months, the sign in front of every Friends Meeting I’ve passed by (both in Pennsylvania and Ohio) gives the times for First Day Meeting for Worship and First Day School (Sunday school). I don’t expect that will change anytime soon.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this primer in Quaker plain speech. 

Christy Distler writes cross-cultural contemporary and historical fiction about faith that overcomes and grace that restores. When not penning novels, she provides editorial services to publishing houses and independent authors through Aspire Editing Services. She lives with her husband and children in southeastern Pennsylvania, where her family has lived for over three hundred years.