Salem Quaker Meeting House Controversy

What is the real skinny on the Quaker Meeting House in Salem MA? Love to hear your comments! A picture taken by John Phelan of Lexington MA

Photo from article  Horse and Carriage Days in Salem by Donna Seger

From The Genealogical Quarterly Magazine Volume 2 1901
Also appeared in Putnam's Monthly Historical Magazine and Magazine of New England History

Two years ago the editor of this magazine, in a very moderately worded article, called attention to the error perpetuated by the officials of The Essex Institute by the exhibition of a small structure claimed by them to be the original first meeting-house at Salem. Facts, easily accessible, taken from the town records,, were presented, showing not only how the error first originated, but also why the building so carefully preserved could not be what it was claimed to be. The Institute has distributed thousands of little booklets purporting to give a description of the "relic" and of the original meet1ng-house. It was even proposed to include this sham relic in the add1tion to the Institute building which is contemplated.

The exposure was met with unjust comments by the president of the institution and his supporters, which culminated in a personal attack upon the good faith of Hon. Abner Cheney Goodell (pictured above), one of the vice-presidents, whose name had been used, in an unauthorized manner,as a support to the claim that the Institute had preserved the original building. Mr. Goodell retaliated in an address read to the directors of the Institute, published later in pamphlet form, not only clearing himself from all suspicion of bad faith,but showing conclusively that he had been foremost in opposing the theory when it was first set up; that he never signed, and could not have signed, not being a member of the committee, the statement which has done service so many years, to substantiate the false character of the building. Moreover, he pointed out and made evident to any one who would follow the evidence presented, that Mr. Rantoul, now president of the society, was at the time the statement first saw light acting-editor of the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, and consequently responsible for the misuse of Mr. Goodell's name. Various additional facts, showing the impossibility of the building so carefully preserved being the old meeting-house, were also presented, obtained largely from notes furnished Mr. Goodell by the author of the "Enquiry into the Authenticity of the First Meeting-house."

The result of the controversy was the appointment by the directors of the Institute, of a committee to look into the question. Although two years have passed no report has been made, but it is said, upon excellent authority, that Mr. Sidney Perley (Pictured), who was employed by the committee to search the records for evidence, has completed his task and has arrived at a conclusion coinciding with that advanced in this magazine two years ago, that is, that the building preserved by the Institute is not in any way connected with the first meeting-house at Salem.
In this number we present two views, one representing the building as it now stands, and which has passed all these years for the original meeting-house partially restored. Opposite is presented a view of the building as it was when first discovered and before the restoration. It is to be hoped that the Institute will publish the finding of the special committee. It may be said in passing that the suggestion that this building is the first meeting-house of the Friends is quite as largely theory as the former and now exploded claim. The investigations made by the writer two years ago have convinced him that not only was the first meeting-house erected at a date much earlier than claimed for this substitution, but that it was all that one would expect a place of worship of a so intensely religious people to be. As to its use for secular purposes there can be little doubt, nor that it was roomy, nearly square, and not unlike in shape the types which were persisted in for nearly a century. Against its walls were built shops; it was the rallying place of the watch; it was the centre of the life of the settlement; and it was in every respect worthy of a town which for a time hoped to be the seat of government.

By James H. Emmerton the building was then standing on the land of David Nichols now Proctor Street, off of Boston Street. The original of this sketch went to the family of Mr. John Robinson, of Salem, but a duplicate, the gift of Dr. Emmerton, has been in the possession of the Institute since 1869.

The "cow-shed" As It Now Appears. From a photograph by Frank Cousins. 

Sarah Alice Huntington of Amesbury Massachusetts

 

Sarah Alice Huntington was daughter of Daniel Huntington and Sarah Whitridge Huntington. Donated her ancestral home to the Quaker Society of Friends. See A Genealogical Memoir of the Huntington Family in this Country: Embracing All the Known Descendants of Simon and Margaret Huntington, who Have Retained the Family Name 
Daniel Huntington son of  Moses Huntington and Hannah Page was born March 1806 married December 17 January 1844 in North Berwick Me Sarah Whitridge daughter of Jedediah and Esther Osborne Estes She was born in North Berwick Me May 29 1809.
Daniel was a farmer and belonged to the Society of Friends. He died in Amesbury Mass January 24 1887 His wife died on August 25 1902 Mr Huntington Purchased in 1845 the homestead of Captain Valentine Baglev the hero of the Captain's Well by John G Whittier The old well is still to be seen on the place The house is now called The Huntington Home and is a home for the New England Friends or Quakers a portion of it being occupied by Miss Sarah Alice only daughter of Daniel She Gives This property at her death to the Quakers Association
See The Huntington Family in America: A Genealogical Memoir of the Known Descendants of Simon Huntington from 1633 to 1915, Including Those who Have Retained the Family Name, and Many Bearing Other Surnames 
Children of Daniel and Sarah: George Franklin born August 24 d February 1846 Sarah Alice born May 29, 1850 d May 3 Daniel Edwin born in March 1852
October 19, 1961 Article

From Chronological Record of the Principal Events that Have Occurred in Amesbury, Massachusetts: From the Organization of the Township of Merrimac in 1638 to 1900 
Wingate's ministry 1785 Two companies of Militia formed Mills Capt Nathaniel White Ferry Capt John Barnard Mr Bell's parsonage built afterwards Capt Valentine Bagley's tavern now Mr Daniel Huntington's homestead Rocky Hill meeting house built by Palmer & Spofford  September 6 1924 Boston Herald
 

The house was at one time Amesbury Animal hospital.

Report of Board of Care and Relief
The Board of Care and Relief of New England Yearly Meeting soon after its organization in Providence Sixth Month 1904 began considering some central location in the Yearly Meeting with a view to establishing a Boarding Home At its meeting in Eighth Month in Lynn Alice Huntington offered her ancestral home in Amesbury for that use on conditions the Board thought worthy of its careful consideration The property was visited by every member but one and its advantages and disadvantages thoroughly discussed Other localities were still kept in mind but Amesbury has all the time seemed the most central and in many ways more desirable than any other locality brought to the notice of the Board.
In the winter a printed letter was sent to all the Monthly Meetings and to many individuals requesting that it be read in the Monthly Meetings and called to the attention of the membership at large This letter stated the fact that this home had been offered us and solicited contributions great or small to enable the Board to proceed to put the place in order for occupancy should it decide to accept it At a meeting of the Board in Boston in First Month a gift of five hundred dollars was received for this object making seventeen hundred dollars subscribed At a recent meeting in Amesbury the property was again visited and after much deliberation it was the unanimous feeling of the members present that it better be accepted Two others have since expressed in writing their hearty approval of the action Alice Huntington contemplates an addition to the house for her own use and the Board thinks it would be good economy to join her in making the addition and thus secure some conveniences necessary for the comfort of those who may wish to avail themselves of such a home Plans are being prepared and cost estimated

• Recorded by Anna M Gove Secretary or the Board.
• A reference to this in 2011 article New England Friends Home closing

At Odds: My Puritan and Quaker Heritage

A submission by Laura George from her blog, The Great Ancestral Hunt, about the Southwick Family of Salem, Mass. The Southwick family had close relations with the Phelps family in Salem.

I've been moved my many stories of my ancestors but none more so than that of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick and two of their children, son Daniel and daughter Provided who lived in Salem, Massachusetts.

Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of  England were members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in a very puritanical Salem. They were persecuted, fined, whipped, thrown in prison and eventually banished for not following the Puritan ways. They were my 9th Great Grandparents (and 8th great grandparents of Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon, my second cousins, 8 generations removed) and their daughter, Provided, my 8th Great Grandmother. To find out the horrors your family members went through is gut-wrenching. What I find utterly unbelievable is that the Puritans, who left England because of religious persecution became persecutors themselves and many Quakers suffered terribly as a result. Even more shocking to me was to find out that the person who passed judgement on them was my own 9th Great Grandfather, Puritan and first Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Endicott:

"According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "Under his authority the colony of Massachusetts Bay made rapid progress, and except in the matter of religious intolerance in which he showed great bigotry and harshness, particularly towards the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)" (including religious executions), "his rule was just and praiseworthy. Of him Edward Eggleston says: A strange mixture of rashness, pious zeal, genial manners, hot temper, and harsh bigotry, his extravagances supply the condiment of humour to a very serious history; it is perhaps the principal debt posterity owes him."

Quaker Trial, 17th Century

Because of the unfair treatment of their parents, having bear witness to the repeated lashings and imprisonments, Daniel and Provided decided not to participate in a church that was so persecuting and for this they were fined ten pounds each even though it was known they would not be able to pay. The Governor then issued an order in the General Court of Boston that Daniel and Provided would be sold as slaves to any English nation at Virgina or Barbados.  

This image shows my 9th great grandfather, Governor John Endicott attempting to sell my 8th great grandmother, Provided Southwick into slavery. The writing below the image reads:
"The attempted sale into slavery of Daniel and Provided Southwick, son of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick by Gov. Endicott and his minions, for being Quakers." I wanted to know more and after several days of research I came upon the book:
"Genealogy of the Descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem Mass. The Original Emigrants, and the Ancestors of the Families Who Have Since Borne His Name (1881)

I've discovered that books on family Genealogy such as this one don't come cheap! In fact, some can be selling for hundreds of dollars! But, this book was totally worth the purchase as I uncovered so much more than what I had found previously. It included Historical Extracts such as this one: "Lawrence, Cassandra and their son Josiah were imprisoned at Boston for being Quakers and were kept there twenty weeks on a charge of violating a law enacted while they were in prison."

Quaker Meeting House, 17th Century

Eventually all Quakers were banned from setting foot in Massachusetts under "pain of death" although several risked imprisonment and even death by hanging in order to continue their ministry. Lawrence and Cassandra were banished and fled to Shelter Island, Long Island Sound, New York where Nathaniel Sylvester, the island's first white settler gave shelter to them and many other Quakers. Another except from the Southwick Genealogy book reads: "Lawrence and wife Cassandra went to Shelter Island, Long Island Sound, being banished under pain of death in 1659, and died there in the spring of 1660 from privation and exposure; his wife died three days after him."
It was really sad to discover that they died of starvation and exposure. Even though they weren't family members that I knew in the physical sense, they were still my grandparents, whose blood flows through my veins. I still had an ache in my heart for the way they died which seems completely unfair and unnecessary.
Yesterday, as I was sitting on my patio in the morning sun, sipping my favorite brand of coffee and enjoying the views over the lake, I thought about Lawrence, Cassandra and Provided and how this day, this moment of enjoyment is a result of all my ancestors, on both sides of my tree. Those who suffered humiliation and persecution, those that fought and died in war, those who endured hardships in the new lands and on the open prairies. Those that gave me life, protected me and loved me. I honor all of them by continuing my research, telling their stories and keeping memories alive.