Lydia Ann Conard Chandler ~ The First Matron of the Friends Boarding Home in Waynesville

Lydia Ann Conard Chandler, originally from Highland County, Ohio near Careytown (daughter of Joseph [b. 9th month 22nd day 1805-d. 4th month 6th day 1854] and Rebecca Good Conard [b. 1st month 20th day 1809-d.1st month 2nd day 1885]), lived 16 years after her husband's, Aaron B. Chandler's, death. It is not surprising that Aaron B. would marry a well-educated woman. She had attended Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana after her graduation from high school. Lydia, her parents, three brothers and three sisters were Hicksite Quakers who first belonged to Miami Monthly Meeting in Waynesville. They later helped to establish a Hicksite Meeting near their farm, Clear Creek Meeting. Shortly after her father’s early death when Lydia was 4 years old, the family moved into New Vienna, Ohio in Clinton County. According to her obituary (see below), most of her life was spent in New Vienna, except for her time in school in Indiana and her tenure as the first Matron of the Friends Boarding Home in Waynesville. However, there is some evidence that she also had lived in Columubs, Lima, Toledo and Blanchester, Ohio for a while. She is buried in the Masonic & I.O.O.F. Cemetery in New Vienna, Ohio. Her tombstone reads, "Lydia Conard Chandler, 1850-1931, Wife of A. B. Chandler". Her death notice in The Miami~Gazette reads as follows: "Mrs. Lydia Chandler, wife of the late Aaron Chandler, passed away Monday at her home in New Vienna. Mrs. Chandler was the first matron of the Friends Boarding Home, serving in that capacity for about nine years. After the death of Mr. Chandler she removed to her former home at New Vienna." Her death certificate is dated 3rd mo. 23 day 1931, Volume #6547, Certificate # 14392. (See below to read her full obituary in The New Vienna Reporter).

There is an indication in the Miami-Gazette, that Lydia was hired into another “Matron” job after Aaron B. Chandler’s death. The newspaper reported on Wednesday, January 17, 1917 that "Mrs. Lydia A. Chandler, who has been in Blanchester since early fall, has secured a very lucrative position in the Boys Cottage at the Ohio Masonic Home at Springfield, Ohio." The Boys Cottage is no longer extant. In 1917 Lydia was 67 years old when she took on this job. It is most likely that she was unable to stay in this position very long due to her age. Officials at the Ohio Masonic Home in Springfield were unable to find her employment record. She is reported as living in New Vienna in June of 1917 (Miami-Gazette, June 13, 1917).

Lydia was also a dedicated member of The Order of the Eastern Star. Lydia Conard (before her marriage to A. B.) affiliated with Miami Chapter #107, Order of the Eastern Star in Waynesville on June 11, 1906. The Miami-Gazette reported on June 13, 1906:

". . . After the regular routine of business had been disposed of, Miss Lydia Conard, Matron of the Friends Home, was given a cordial welcome into the local lodge being admitted from a Toledo organization, after which light refreshments were served."

She was an active member. On December 10, 1906 she was installed as Chaplain of Miami Chapter. In 1908 she served on many investigating committees. On December 14th, 1908, now as Lydia Chandler, she was installed as Warder. The following are more examples of her activity. The Miami-Gazette reported on December 3, 1913:

"INSTALLED OFFICERS: Messrs and Mesdames J. E. Janney, J. C. Hawke and C. M. Robitzer and Mesdames A. B. Chandler, F. H. Farr and Maybelle Fitzgerald motored to New Burlington and attended the installation of officers for a new chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star at that place Tuesday evening. Mrs. Hawke acted as installing officer. After the work, a sumptuous banquet was served. All report a splendid time."

In the February 11, 1918 Minutes of Miami Chapter #107 is found the following entry: "Sister Lydia Chandler asked for her demit as she can not attend here any more and wishes to join at New Vienna (#327)." Lydia was received into the New Vienna Chapter #327 on April 5, 1918. The night before her funeral an Order of the Eastern Star funeral service was conducted in her honor (see obituary below).

Aaron B. and Lydia had bought a home on Fourth Street in Waynesville when she retired from the Friends Boarding Home as Matron in 1910. There home was located on Lot #9 and a part of Lot #10 in the Thomas’ Addition to the Village of Waynesville (see Deed Book #101, Page 543). On May 1, 1917, Lydia and her stepson, Walter D. Chandler, transferred the Deed to William S. Graham (see Deed Book #102, Page 387). The Miami-Gazette reported on November 22, 1916:

"W. S. Graham purchased the A. B. Chandler home on 4th Street last week. This property is very desirable and will make the Graham’s a fine home. Mrs. Chandler moved her goods to Blanchester last week and will make her future home at that place. Her many friends here in Waynesville regret her leaving town."

Lydia Conard Chandler was widely liked and admired for her dedicated service as Matron of the Friends Boarding Home. During her waning years she lived at the Friends Boarding Home during the winters. According to the Friends Boarding Home Day Books she lived at the Home as a transient boarder from January 1st, 1928 to March 8th, 1928, from July 7, 1929 to August 18, 1929, and from November 23, 1929 to April 21, 1930. She kept in contact with the residents of the Home and with the Chandlers after Aaron B.’s death. There are many references in The Miami-Gazette to her visits to Waynesville: "Mrs. Lydia Chandler of New Vienna is visiting relations here over Thanksgiving" (November 28, 1917), "Mrs. Lydia Chandler of New Vienna, spent several days last week with Edwin Chandler and family. Edwin Chandler and family entertained at dinner Friday evening, the following guests: Mr. and Mrs. Howard Smith, Mr. Will Smith and daughters Misses Esther and Virginia, Miss Willy Ann Gently of Selma, Ohio and Mrs. Lydia Chandler of New Vienna" (July 30, 1924), "Mrs. Aaron Chandler, former Matron of The Friends Home, is spending a few weeks at the Home" (January 11, 1928) and "After spending several weeks at The Friends Home, Mrs. Lydia Chandler returned to her home in New Vienna last Thursday" (March 14, 1928).

It was also mentioned in The New Vienna Reporter that the Society of Friends shared in Lydia’s Estate. Miami Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends of Waynesville is given $100.00 under the terms of the will of Lydia A. Chandler, filed in Probate Court. It is evident that Lydia Conard Chandler loved the Friends Boarding Home and Miami Monthly Meeting.

VIENNA WOMAN EXPIRES AFTER LONG ILLNESS
Mrs. Lydia A. Chandler, 80, Dies At Home in Village Monday Morning
[Wilmington Journal-Herald, March 24, 1931]
Aaron B. Chandler’s Second Wife

These obituaries were found in the Genealogy Room,
Clinton County Historical Society, Wilmington, Ohio

Mrs. Lydia A. Chandler, 80, of New Vienna, died at her home Monday at 10 A.M. after a lingering illness of several weeks. Death was due to infirmities.

Mrs. Chandler was a long-time resident of New Vienna, having lived there for the past 65 years. She formerly was a resident of Waynesville. She was the widow of Aaron B. Chandler. She was the daughter of Joseph and Rebecca Conard, and was born in Highland County.

Mrs. Chandler was a member of the Hicksite Friends Church at Waynesville, and for the past several years had spent her winters in the Old Friends Home there.

She is survived by a step-son, Walter Chandler of Honolulu, three nieces, Mrs. Geneva Phillips and Mrs. W. A. Newby, of New Vienna, and Mrs. E. S. Creed, of Chicago, one nephew, Charles Conard of Hillsboro, and two great nephews, Charles Chaney of this city and F. L. Conard of Washington C. H.

CHANDLER RITES HELD AT VIENNA WEDNESDAY

Funeral services for Mrs. Lydia A. Chandler, 80, of New Vienna, were held Wednesday afternoon at the home of her niece, Mrs. Geneva Phillips, of New Vienna. Judge Hugh J. Wright was in charge. Interment was made in the Conard family lot in New Vienna.

THE NEW VIENNA REPORTER
OBITUARY OF LYDIA A. CHANDLER

[. . .various families of Friends] from Pennsylvania settled in Highland, Ohio, near Careytown, forming a religious society of Hicksite Friends. One of these families was that of Joseph and Rebecca Good Conard, who found their home on what is now the Henry Sanders farm in 1846, and to whom was born in 1850, a daughter Lydia A. Here with three brothers, Lewis, Charles and Frank, and three sisters, Sarah, Suzanna and Martha, she spent her childhood in that spiritual atmosphere so characteristic of their religious faith and grew into beautiful womanhood with a spirit marked by gentleness and serenity.

From the country and village schools she continued her education at Earlham College, Richmond, Ind. A few years after the father’s death, the family moved to New Vienna, Ohio where she has spent most of her long life. Some years were given in beautiful ministry as Matron of “The Friends Home”, in Waynesvile, O., and with the meetinghouse close by, she found a Christian fellowship, which has ever been a happy memory. It was here in 1908 she married Aaron Chandler, but this happy companionship was for only a few short years, he passing away in 1815, leaving a son, Walter Chandler, now in Honolulu. She was loath to leave those kindred associations to return to her old home town but there was awaiting for her a real welcome by her many friends who have been blest by her quiet, beautiful life and would pay a tribute of love to her today.

In her home we found hospitality, beauty and orderliness; she loved beauty in flower and fabric as was manifest in garden and the plying needle; she never lost that social charm; she did not grow old in spirit for hers was broad and fraternal; hers was an understanding heart, not one that longed and sought for trifles light as air, but lived in thought so pure and good, grateful for the Eternal things; her life was one of kindly ministry and serene faith fraught with the sympathy that cheers.

On the morning of March 23, 1931 she slipped away after some weeks of weariness and restlessness—the journey of four score years was complete.

“Life, we’ve been long together,
Through pleasant and thru cloudy weather;
‘Tis hard to part when friends are dear;
Perhaps ‘twill cost a sign, a tear;
Then steal away, giving little warning,
Choose thine own time.
Say not “Good night”, but in some brighter clime.”

ATTEND FUNERAL: Out of town people attending the funeral of Mrs. Lydia A. Chandler were, Mr. & Mrs. H.E. Conard of Columbus, Dr. Robert Conard, Judge & Mrs. Hugh J. Wright, Miss Ellen C. Wright, Mrs. Emma W. Hale, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Chaney, of Wilmington, Mr. & Mrs. F. L. Conard of Washington C.H., Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Conard and Dr. Ella Blackburn, of Hillsboro, Mr. Levi Lukens of Waldo, Mr. Alonzo Larkin and Mrs. Peter Adams of Highland, Mrs. Burch Trent and Mr. R. K. Larkin of Leesburg, Dr. & Mrs. J. R. Coleman of Loveland, Mr. & Mrs. J. L. Mendenhall, Mr. & Mrs. A. S. Curl, Mrs. Anna Cadwallader, Mrs. Mary Adams, Mrs. Ella Meredith, Mrs. Lena Hartsock, Mrs. George Harsock, Mrs. Mame T. Brown, Mrs. Frank Elbon, Mrs. Frank Miller and Mr. & Mrs. Seth Furnas of Waynesville.

ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR: On Tuesday evening, after the regular meeting of the Order of the Eastern Star, a beautiful service was held in Memory of Mrs. Louis Penn and Mrs. Lydia Chandler. The solo by Mrs. Katharine Williams added much to the impressiveness of the service.

Also see:
Timeline of the Friends Boarding Home and Further Information:
http://www.mlcook.lib.oh.us/Chronological%20Notes%20about%20FBH.htm

Aaron B. Chandler~ Biography, Speech and Obituary:
http://www.mlcook.lib.oh.us/
Aaron%20B.%20Chandler%20Life%20and%20Obituary.htm

Jason Evans ~ Businessman and Philanthropist 1807~1876

Jason Evans was a wealthy Cincinnati pork packer and banker who had been born in Waynesville into the influential Evans family. Jason was one of the sons of Benjamin and Hannah Smith Evans, who had immigrated from Bush River Meeting in South Carolina to Waynesville with their five children. He was the youngest brother of David Evans and the uncle of John Evans who was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to be the territorial governor of Colorado on March 26, 1862 (see, http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/govs/evans.html for more information about John Evans).

The following memorial of Jason Evans is taken from Cincinnati, Past and Present or Its Industrial History as Exhibited in the Life and Labors of its Leading Men by J. Lundy (M. Joblin & Co., Cincinnati, 1872), pp. 114-16. The following memorial was also printed in "Memorial of Cincinnati Monthly Meeting of Friends Concerning our Deceased Friend, Jason Evans (Cincinnati, 1877):

The subject of this memoir was born November 25, 1807, in Warren County, Ohio. His family on the paternal side is of Welsh descent, his ancestors having emigrated to this country near the close of the seventeenth century, and settled in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

His father, Benjamin Evans, at the age of twenty-five, and just after the close of the Revolutionary War, actuated by a spirit of adventure and a laudable ambition to be self-supporting, left the scenes of his youth, and with knapsack on back, traveled on foot to Chraleston, South Carolina. While there, in search of employment, he was induced by some country people to accompany them home to the district of Newberry, where he finally established himself and carried on his trade of auger-making. It was his custom annually to make a journey to Charleston, to dispose of his manufactures and lay in a stock of raw material. These trips were made by wagon, and for a distance of one hundred and fifty miles through a sparsely settled country, and over very indifferent roads.

Having acquired what was thought in those days to be a comfortable living, he married Hannah Smith, the daughter of a Carolina farmer and a members of the Society of Friends. He too espoused that faith, and with others of that persuasion, were induced to seek new homes by reason of the "testimony they bore" against the institution of Slavery. In the year 1803 an exodus took place, and he, with many of that particular belief, emigrated to the distant Valley of the Miamis, in the then wilderness of the Far West. Their route was through a dreary and almost trackless forest. Their women and children, with a few household effects and a limited supply of provisions, were transported in covered wagons. Their route was through Cumberland Gap, thence through Kentucky~then known as the bloody ground~and they finally after weeks of toil and privation, reached the Ohio River and crossed over into the "promised land", at the village of Cincinnati, then containing less than a thousand inhabitants; pushing on they at length settled in Warren County, not far distant from the present site of Wayensville. Then commenced the struggle to subdue nature and to pluck subsistence from her virgin soil. Soon the log cabin was erected to shelter the wife and wee ones; by day was heard the ringing sound of the axe and the crash of falling timber, and the gloom of night in a primitive forest was dissipated by the brush-fired of the pioneer.

Amidst such surroundings the subject of this sketch (Jason) was born, being the youngest of a family of nine children, five boys and four girls. Farm duties, early imposed upon him, left little opportunity to gain anything more than an insight into the rudiments of an English education. Such a thing as a high school or an academy was then unknown; in fact an education was thought to be complete when one could read, write, and ciper to the singe rule of three. When he arrived at the age of fifteen, the older boys having left home to shift for themselves, and his father being then too infirmed to do manual labor, he found the entire management of the farm devolving upon him. Being blessed with a robust constitution, and possessed of a self-reliant spirit, coupled with indomitable energy, he knew of so such word as "fail" and proved himself equal to the emergency. At this tender age he commenced making regular trips to Cincinnati, driving a four-horse wagon, loaded with farm products, which he usually disposed of in market. Owing to the frequently almost impassable conditions of the mud roads of those days, it was the common practice for several neighbors to start for the city from the same settlement; when one wagon got mired in a slough or balked on a hill, the balance made common cause and doubled teams till the difficulty was surmounted. After disposing of their marketing and gaining the top of the hills back of the city, on their return, it was their custom to stop to blow their horses, count their money, narrate their adventures in the city, and , in fact, to take the first good long breath since they left their homes. The round trip usually required a week, depending much upon the season of the year and the condition of the roads. They aimed to pass the night at some road-side tavern, but if belated, a camp fire in the woods answered every purpose.

Thus time wore on; one year with another being made up of journeys to the city, going to mill, tilling the soil, harvesting the crops, and cutting winter's wood, with scarce an incident transpiring to lend variety to the monotony of a farmer's life, till the year 1829, when he married Amyrah, eldest daughter of John Haines, of Montgomery County. Scarcely had he larned to appreciate the treasure he possessed in a good wife, till death entered his home and claimed the partner of his bosom, adding to his bereavement the care of two children of tender years; these, too, he followd to the grave within a few months.

In the year 1835, having left the farm and settled in the town of Waynesville, he purchased a mill property, consisting of a grist and saw mill, and operated both for several years. The success of this new enterprise may be questioned, as he is free to acknowledge, from his own experince, that "it takes ten mills to make a cent."

In 1836 he married Mary Haines, a younger sister of his first wife, who, with two daughters and a son, still survive to solace and comfort his declining years. The eldest daughter, Sarah, is the wife of W. J. Lippincott; and Susan the wife of B. S. Cunningham; and the son, B . F. Evans, is also settled in life, and is extensively engaged with his two brothers-in-law in the pork-packing buisiness in this city. The whole of this interesting family are living in beautiful suburban villas on Mount Auburn (Cincinnati).

A favorable opportunity offering, he disposed of the mill property in Waynesville, and in the year 1842 moved to Cincinnati, which presented a more extended field for well-directed enterprise. The firm of Evans, Eulass & Pence was formed, and the buisness of pork-packing was carried on for two years, the firm occupying the building on the northeast corner of Sycamore and Ninth Streets. This business connection was dissolved in 1844, and he was then joined by Mr. Briggs Swift, and the same business presented under the firm of Evans & Swift. This co-partnership existed nineteen years; and notwithstanding the vicissitudes which characterized that peculiar branch of trade during the term embraced, it may be noted as a remarkabele instance of either good fortune or sound judgement, or both, that their annual balance sheet never showed a loss.

In the fall of 1857, after the failure of the Ohio Life & Trust Company, Evans & Swift embarked in banking, being joined by Mr. H. W. Hughes under the title of Evans, Swift & Hughes. Mr. Briggs Swift retiring, in 1865, the business was contined under the firm of Evans & Co. In 1863 the firm of Evans & Swift, in the provision business, was dissolved, and their real estate, which had been held in common, was divided. In the fall of the same year, Mr. Evans associated with him his son, Benjamin Evans, W. J. Lippincott and S. C. Newton. In the fall of 1866 his son and W. J. Lippincott retired and the business was continued under the firm of Evans & Newton.

The subject of this sketch has thus been identified with one of the leading business interests of our city for nearly thirty years, and may truly be said to be a pioneer among the pork-packers. When he first embarked in the business in 1842, the principal parties engaged in packing were Samuel Davis, Jr., Hartshorn & Childs, Miller & Johnson, Lot, Pugh & Co., and R. W. Lee. These, with one or two exceptions, have all passed away.

Jason Evans has long been identified with, and maintained, the religious doctrines of the Society of Friends, as promulgated in the writings of Fox, Barkley and Penn, and by his daily walk and conversation, has ever set an example worthy of imitation; unassuming in manner, unobtrusive in speech, and charity for all~ever ready to assist the deserving~ and by the exercise of his many Christian virtues has given proof to those who knew him best, that his profession is not a cloak of self-righteousness but prompted by those higher and holier incentives which ever characterize the true Christian.

Having early won a well-deserved reputation for integrity of character, sound discretion, profound judgment, and a nice sense of business honor, it is not at all surprising that his career as a merchant and banker has been crowned with sucess, or that his character as a man should be referred to as a standard for all to emulate.

Jason Evans, a self-made man, was always very generous in his support of schools. His advantages of schooling were rather limited when a youth but he attained the equivalent of a business education and taught mathematics in the Waynesville public schools. He also was the clerk of Miami Monthly Meeting while he still lived in Waynesville. [i] Before he and his wife Mary moved to Cincinnati in 1843, he was from 1832 to 1840 owner with Stephen Cook of the Jennings Mill along the millrace in Waynesville.[ii] He also owned the Buena Vista Saw Mill one mile below Waynesville.[iii] After becoming sole owner, Evans sold the Jennings Mill to William Oliphant for $14,000 in 1840.[v] Jason became a prominent member of Cincinnati Monthly Meeting being at one time its clerk, a trustee, its treasurer and an elder. He was the largest contributor to the establishment and sustaining of Miami Valley Institute ~ A Hicksite Quaker College in Springboro, Ohio and controlled the majority of the stock. The Wright family of Springboro and the Butterworths of Foster's Crossing supplied the liberal philosophical point of view for Miami Valley College and provided administrative and teaching skills, as well as money. Jason Evans provided the bulk of the material wealth needed to accomplish that mission.

According to Mary Chapman, the author of the book Aron and Mary Wright, Jason and Mary Evans were good friends of Dr. Aron and Mary Wright of Springboro. "Among their close friends were Jason and Mary Evans of Cincinnati. Jason Evans originally came from Waynesville, and with Briggs Swift established a pork packing business in Cincinnati, in which they were very successful. As Jason Evans prospered he acquired other interests, and his son Benjamin and his sons-in-law, Briggs Cunningham and William J. Lippincott, were associated with him. You all know what a close friendship existed between Sarah Lippincott and Mother during their entire lives".

Mary Chapman continues saying that both Aron and Jason were interested in the plight of the Native Americans. The Evans and Wrights made a trip out to the Pawnee Indian Reservation north of Omaha under the auspices of the Society of Friends. (Aron and Mary Wright by Mary W. Chapman [New York: Charles Francis Press, 1942], p. 37-38. Mary Evans was the second wife of Jason Evans. He was first married to Amyrah Haines, the daughter of John and Jemina Haines on November 26, 1825. They had no children. He married his first wife’s sister Mary Haines. and they had three children, Sarah (1837-1916), Susan (1841-1898) and Benjamin (1843).

The Jason Evans' home in Cincinnati was first on 8th Street. In 1865 the family moved to Mt. Auburn at 2314 Auburn Ave. It was a two-story Second Empire style house with an observatory. By 1880 it was owned by Melville Ingalls who was the president of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad. In 1974 the Planned Parenthood opened the Elizabeth Campbell Center in the mansion. Unfortunately, in 1985 there was a firebombing of the center. The mansion was torn down. The new Campbell Center was dedicated two years later (The Bicentennial Guide to Greater Cincinnati: A Portrait of Two Hundred Years by Geoffrey J. Giglierano, Deborah A. Overmyer with Frederic L. Propas (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Cincinnati Historical Society, 1988), pp. 200-201.

[i] (Proceedings~ Centennial Anniversary~ Miami Monthly Meeting~ Waynesville, Ohio, 10th month, 16-17, 1903 (Waynesville, Ohio, Press of Miami-Gazette, 1903), p. 43).

[ii] Jason Evans married Mary Haines of Springboro Monthly Meeting of Friends 11th mo. 1835 (Minutes of Miami Monthly Meeting, Book I, p. 659). On 25th day 10th mo. 1843 Jason Evans and Mary his wife requested a "certificate of removal" for themselves and their minor children, Sarah, Susanna and Benjamin, to Cincinnati Monthly Meeting.

[iii] See, Miami-Visitor, April 7th, 1850 and January 28th, 1852.

[v] Waynesville’s First 200 Years, 1797-1997 (The Waynesville Historical Society: Copyright 1996), p. 234 and 236.

Valley Monthly Meeting (Vinton County)

Valley Monthly Meeting
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
Old US 50,
4 miles East of Londonderry, Ohio

TIMELINE:

• 1906 ~ A Sunday School was organized in Pleasant Valley, about 4 miles east of Londonderry. The Sunday School personnel of Londonderry Friends Meeting would come and conduct the Sunday school in the afternoon and their minister would preach. They would meet in the Boblett Schoolhouse and shortly afterward in a log house across from the school.
• 1908 ~ A new meetinghouse is completed and dedicated.
• 1954 ~ A new basement was dug 60 feet behind the original location of the meetinghouse. The meetinghouse was moved back over the new basement.

Londonderry Monthly Meeting ~ Ross County

Londonderry Monthly Meeting
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
35215 US Rte. 50
Londonderry, Ohio

TIMELINE:

• 1803 ~ 40 persons from Chatham County, North Carolina, left their homes in opposition to slavery and settled in the Salt Creek Valley, a mile or two east of present Londonderry. Friends met for worship in their homes. The third generation felt the need for a monthly meeting.
• 1871 ~ Dedication of the Londonderry Meetinghouse after the area is visited by a delegation from Fairfield Quarterly Meeting and a revival is held by Nathan and Esther Frame. Soon after the establishment of the meeting, a Sunday School was organized.
• 1971 ~ An addition consisting of a vestibule and four clasrooms is built.

Westboro Monthly Meeting (Clinton County)

Westboro Monthly Meeting
(Formerly known as Westfork Monthly Meeting)
(FUM ~ Wilmington College)
US 68
Westboro, Ohio

TIMELINE:

• 1826 ~ Westfork Friends request a meeting for worship for themselves and it is granted from Newberry Monthly Meeting. The old meetinghouse was a traditional Quaker meetinghouse with two doors and a shutter to separate men from women during business meetings. It had a gallery and a raised pulpit. It was located on Westfork Creek and had a cemetery, too.
• 1833 ~ Westfork Meeting for worship is recognized by Fairfield Quarterly Meeting.
• 1840 ~ Westfork becomes a Preparative Meeting.
• 1873 ~ After a revival an indulged meeting at Sycamore was established.
• 1884 ~ The Sycamore meetinghouse was built at the corner of Hunt and Sycamore Roads. Sycamore and Westfork Meetings comprised the Westfork Preparative Meeting.
• 1891 ~ The two preparative meetings request to unite and become a monthly meeting.
• 1895 ~ The old Westfork meetinghouse is dismantled and a new meetinghouse is built in Westboro.
• 1928 ~ Electric lights and a vestibule are added.
• 1971 ~ A complete renovation of the building is done.
• 1987 ~ A fellowship room is added.
• 1990 ~ The entrance was re-built.

Eastern Hills Friends Meeting (Hamilton County)

Eastern Hills Friends Meeting
(Previously known as Clifton Monthly Meeting)
(Wilmington Yearly Meeting [FUM] &
Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting [FGC])
1671 Nagel Road
Anderson Township
Cincinnati, Ohio 45254
(513)474-9670

TIMELINE:

• During the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement, a number of families in Cincinnati Monthly Meeting, who disagreed with the the policies of Richard Nixon's administration and no longer felt comfortable in Cincinnati Meeting, began to gather for worship in a rented room in the Wesley Foundation in the Clifton section of Cincinnati.
• June 3rd, 1972 ~ "Clifton Monthly Meeting" is established.
• 1975 ~ The meeting requests membership with Wilmington Yearly Meeting and Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting.
• 1988 ~ The meeting moved to rooms in the Seventh Day Adventist school.
• December 2nd, 1990 ~ The meeting changed its name to "Eastern Hills Friends Meeting".
• 1991 ~ Moved the meeting to a new meetinghouse on Nagel Road.

Community Monthly Meeting (Hamilton County)

Community Monthly Meeting
(Member of both Friends United Meeting & Friends General Conference,
Wilmington Yearly Meeting & Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting, and,
Miami-Center Quarter of WYM and Miami Quarter of OVYM)
3960 Winding Way
Cincinnati, Ohio 45229

TIMELINE:

• 1953 ~ A group of Friends who had been meeting with Cincinnati Friends Meeting on Eden Avenue and were interested in taking part in a more active way in social issues, began to meet for worship separately at the Williams YMCA and affiliated with the "Lake Erie Association". Soon they adopted the name "East Cincinnati Friends Meeting" and affiliated with the "Friends Fellowship Council."
• 1955 ~ The group is recognized by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) and they relocate to the "Cerebral Palsy Center".
• 1959 ~ East Cincinnati Monthly Meeting becomes a part of Indian Yearly Meeting (Friends General Conference). I.Y.M (FGC) later is renamed "Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting". They re-locate on Dexter Avenue.
• 1959~ Cincinnati Friends Meeting decides to move out of Cincinnati proper. Some family want to stay and minister to the local neighborhood in the inner city. These 15 family form "Seven Hills Monthly Meeting".
• 1960 ~ "Seven Hills" affiliates with Wilmington Yearly Meeting (FUM).
• 1962 ~ East Cincinnati Meeting (FUM) and Seven Hills Monthly Meeting (FGC) begin to share the same space. They continue this for three years.
• 1968 ~ The two meetings officially unite as "Community Monthly Meeting." The united meeting moved into a new property on Winding Way.

Community Monthly Meeting is a graphic example of the healing of the old Hicksite Separation of 1828. The two major streams of American Quakerism caused by that division are reconciled and those issues of old are not pertinent to the world today.

Cincinnati Monthly Meeting (Hamilton County)

Cincinnati Friends Meeting
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
8075 Keller Road
Cincinnati, OH 45243
http://www.cincinnatifriends.org/

TIMELINE:

• 1811 ~ Cincinnati Friends begin meeting for worship in their homes.
• 1813 ~ Christopher Anthony, a "minister with credentials" arrives in Cincinnati from Virginia. He organizes the meeting. The first log meetinghouse is built at Fifth Street between Central and John Streets.
• 1828 ~ The Hicksite Separation was particularly difficult in Cincinnati.
• 1840 ~ a second meetinghouse was built to accommodate the two separate groups.
• 1868 ~ A new meetinghouse was built at Eighth and Mound Streets.
• 1930 ~ The meeting moves to Eden Avenue in Corryville.
• 1963 ~ The present meetinghouse was built in Indian Hill.

Some noted Quakers who belonged to this meeting: Achilles Pugh (Publisher of "The Philanthropist" and Anti-Slavery Activist), Levi Coffin (President of the Underground Railroad), Murray Shipley (founder of the Children's Home in Oakley), and Dr. William Townsend, who taught for 50 years at the Miami Medical College (now the University of Cincinnati).

Highland Monthly Meeting (Highland County)

Highland Monthly Meeting
(Also known as New Lexington Meeting &
Fairfield Meeting)
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
7896 Church Street
Highland, Ohio 45132
Hwy 73 ~ from Wilmington take Antioch Road to Highland

TIMELINE:

• June 3rd, 1877 ~ First known as New Lexington Meeting and then Fairfield Meeting.
• 1918 ~ The first of three parsonages was purchased
• 1938 ~ Dedication of Sunday School rooms.
• January 1961 ~ The meeting has been known as Highland.

Fairview Monthly Meeting ~ Near New Vienna, Ohio (Clinton County)

Fairview Monthly Meeting
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
6796 Antioch Rd.
New Vienna, Ohio 45159
1 mile E. of Ohio Rte. 729
3 miles North of New Vienna, Ohio

http://home.cinci.rr.com/jrzuehlke/fairviewmtg/index.html

TIMELINE:

• Around 1860~ Friends began to meet for worship in their homes and a Sunday School was established in the Hoskins Schoolhouse.
• 1868 ~ John Henry Douglas, a Quaker evangelist worked with the families in the area and held revivals.
• July 1869 ~ Fairview become a meeting for worship established by Fairfield Quarterly Meeting with approal of Fairfield (Leesburg) and Clear Creek (Samantha) Monthly Meetings. The first meetinghouse was a frame building, 30 X 50 feet with a partition in the center to separate the men's and the women's business meetings.
• 1910 ~ The present brick meetinghouse was dedicated.

Friend Thomas Beals ~ First Quaker Missionary in the Northwest Territory

Long before General Mad Anthony Wayne pacified the west consequently opening the Ohio territory for settlement, Quakers were concerned about the Native Americans that lived in the Northwest Territory. One of them was Friend Thomas Beals (1719~1801), a very weighty Friend, preacher, minister and founder of meetings. As early as 1775, twenty years before the Greenville Treaty, Beals made a remarkable journey to visit the Shawnee and Delaware and others in the Northwest Territory. After holding many satisfying meetings with the Indiana and seeing the rich land, he predicted that eventually there would be a great gathering and settlement of Friends north of the Ohio River.

Thomas Beals was accompanied by his nephew, Bowater Sumner, William Hiatt and Daniel Ballard and their intention was to visit the Shawnee and Delaware tribes of Indiana. However, early in their journey near Clinch Mountain in Virginia, the group was arrested and jailed. They were going to be placed on trial because people were afraid that they were conspiring with the Native American. When it became known that one of them was a Quaker preacher, the officers at the fort asked for him to preach before the trial began. Thomas Beals, a powerful preacher, held a meeting for worship with them and his words helped to convert a young man at the fort and the Friends impressed the rest present by their fervor.

The Quakers were freed and they continued on their journey to pay a religious visit to the Indians. They crossed the Ohio River into what is now the state of Ohio (in the area that later became the eastern part of Indiana Yearly Meeting). After they had many successful meetings with the Natives Americans, they returned home where Beals made his famous prediction concerning the Quaker settlement in Ohio and Indiana.

Also see:

The Famous Quaker Rev. Thomas Beals by Sandra Branson Young
http://bransoncook.systemaxonline.com/RevThomasBeals.htm

Thomas Beals: First Friends Minister in Ohio by Harlow Lindley
http://www.the-roundup.com/quaker/beals/bealsthomas.html

Thomas Beals' Genealogy publilshed online by Duncan Rea Williams III
http://www.drwilliams.org/genealogy/196.htm

Fall Creek Monthly Meeting ~ Hillsboro, Ohio (Highland County)

Fall Creek Monthly Meeting
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
11345 Karnes Rd.
(between US 50 & OH 138)
7 miles E. of Hillsboro
Hillsboro, Ohio 45133

TIMELINE:

• 1806 ~ Miami Quarterly Meeting authorizes a meeting for worship for "Friends of Fall Creek on the waters of Paint Creek".
• On July 7th, 1811 ~ Fall Creek Monthly Meeting was set off from Fairfield Monthly Meeting, also see, Old Fairfield Meetinghouse ~Highland County, Ohio. The original log cabin meetinghouse was located a half mile east and a hlafmile south of the present meetinghouse. The old Quaker cemetery is on the original site.
• 1877 ~ The present brick meetinghouse was dedicated. At this time, Fall Creek, Walnut Creek and Hardin's Creek meetings merged into Hopewell Monthly Meeting.
• 1901-1909 ~ A parsonage was built.
• 1920 ~ Fall Creek once again becomes its own monthly meeting.
• 1937 ~ A Sunday School room and basement were added to the meetinghouse
• 1964-1965 ~ A bathroom, kitchen and rest rooms were added.
• 1980 ~ New pews were added.

Leesburg Monthly Meeting ~ Fairfield (Highland County)

Old Fairfield Meetinghouse & Graveyard

Old Fairfield Meetinghouse restored.

Leesburg Monthly Meeting

(Formerly know as Fairfield Monthly Meeting)
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
South & Church Streets
Leesburg, Ohio

TIMELINE:

• 1802-1803 ~ Bathsheba Lupton, wife of William Lupton, rode on horseback from cabin to cabin encouraging Friends to meet for worship. These early meetings for worship alternated between the Lupton cabin at Fairfield and John Beals' cabin on Hardin's Creek.
• 1804 ~ A primitive pole and log cabin meetinghouse was built on the site of the Old Fairfield Meetinghouse, south of present Leesburg. It is the first house of worship of any kind in Fairfield township of Highland County. A second more substantial log cabin meetinghouse was later built by Jonathan Johnson.
• July 18th, 1807 ~ Fairfield Monthly Meeting established.
• 1822 or 1823 ~ The second cabin is replaced with the brick meetinghouse.
• 1914 ~ The new meetinghouse was built in Leesburg, Ohio.
• 1916 ~ The name of the monthly meeting was changed from Fairfield to Leesburg.
• 1924 ~ The present parsonage was bought.
• 1980 ~ An annex to the meetinghouse was added.

The earliest pioneers to settle in and about the area of Leesburg (then Ross County) were Quakers: Nathaniel Pope from Virginia, who had earlier traveled with Quaker preacher Thomas Beals ~ First Quaker Missionary in the Northwest Territory , John Walters and James Howard (or Hayworth). Before moving to this inland area, they had settled for a season or two at "Quaker Bottom", located on Paddy's Run about a mile above the mouth of the Guyandotte River on the north side of the Ohio River. This was the first settlement of Quakers in Ohio. Thomas Beals and others had settled here. They had planned on staying in southern Ohio but they were not able to purchase land at a reasonable price.

They traveled up the Scioto River on a flat boat and drove the cattle by land. The Popes and their companions eventually bought and settled on the site of Leesburg in 1801-2. According to the History of Ross & Highland Counties, Ohio with Illustrations & Biographical Sketches (Cleveland, Ohio: W.W. William, Printer, 1880), p. 406-407:

Nearly all of the first settlers in Fairfield (township) were Quakers or Friends, and the first religious meetings were held by them. Their simple faith is still predominant in the township and its neighborhood, and has always nurmbered among its adherents more than all other combined. Methodism did not have an early beginning in the township, and Presbyterianism never gained a regular foothold. . .

The Friends coming from Virginia and North Carolina, and some of the earliest with the fresh fervor, awakened by their meeting at Quaker Bottom~the first Friends' settlement in the Northwest Territory~were quick to effect the establishment of religious institutions in the new settlement. Else where we have given an account of the pioneers Quakers of Fairfield, Nathaniel Pope, the Beals, Evan Evans, the Luptons, and others. They began to hold meetings as soon as a sufficient number had arrived. Just precisely when the first Friends' meeting was held cannot be discovered, but it was probably late in 1802, or early in 1803. Bathsheba Lupton is accredit with being the founder of the Fairfield meeting. It is said that, noticing the tendency on the part of the young men and others to make Sunday visits to the Indian encampments, she resolved to effect a change in their habits and customs before they were so far perverted by their life in the wood as to make the return to godliness impossible. Acccordingly, this solemn mentor of morals in the wilderness, mounted a horse and road from cabin to cabin, exhorting in some, administering a stern rebuke in others, and proclaiming everywhere seemliness of piety and the exceeding wrong of leading worldly lives. The result of Mistress Lupton's zealous actions was a meeting, and a beginning having been made, meetings were thereafter regularly held. Up to the time of the build of the meetinghouse at Fairfield, the Sunday gatherings of Friends were held alternately at John Beals, on Hardin's Creek, and at the Lupton's in the Fairfield neighborhood. Bathsheba Lupton died in 1847, aged eighty-seven. . .

It is a matter of record that the first marriage in the township was that of Quakers. Enos Baldwin and Sarah Hunt, respectively the son and daughter of the first Friends (Jesse Baldwin and Phineas Hunt) who settled in the Northwest Territory. They were married at William Lupton's cabin on a Sunday, in the month of November 1804.

The first burial made at the little burying ground by the present Fairfield meetinghouse, was made in 1804, and was that of a woman named Ballard. The second was also a woman named Britton. The church was not built at that time, and the ground now so thickly studded with the long, low mounds and the simple memorial stones, was covered with a dense growth of hazel brush and spicewood. . .

Mildred Ratcliffe, the famous Quakeress preacher, who afterward traveled all over the Untied States, came to Fairfield . . . and on the removal of Jacob Jackson, succeeded him as the preacher to the large Society of Friends who gathered at the old meetinghouse. She left in 1816, and finally settled down for a permanent residence near Brownsville, Pennsylvania, where she died (Also see, Memoir of Mildred Ratcliffe, Philadelphia, 1890). . .

Fairfield monthly meeting had, before its division, upwards of one thousand members. During one period of four years it received more that five hundred members. The establishment of other meetings in the township, and the formation of several colonies from the Quaker element of Fairfield, made a large decrease in the number , but it is still a very strong society. Churches were built for the other meetings, one on Hardin's Creek, which is still in use; one of Lee's Creek, west of Lextingon, which has long since disappeared; one at Oak Grove, north of Lexington, on the Urbana Pike, and near the county line, and one in the village of Lexington built within the past few years.

Fairfield Monthly Meeting was divided into Hardin's Creek, Oak Grove and New Lexington (Highland) Meetings.

Samantha Monthly Meeting ~ Clear Creek (Highland County)

Samantha Monthly Meeting
(formerly Clear Creek Monthly Meeting)
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
US 62
Samantha, Ohio (Highland County)

TIMELINE:

• September 7th,1807 ~ Redstone Quarterly Meeting in Pennsylvania granted permission for a meeting for worship and a preparative meeting to be established in south central Ohio. It would be on Leescreek and known as Fairfield Meeting, see Leesburg Monthly Meeting ~ Fairfield (Highland County) and Old Fairfield Meetinghouse ~Highland County, Ohio). Meetings for worship were to be established at Clear Creek and at Fall Creek. The two meetings would alternate preparative meetings and monthly meetings.
• November 14th, 1812 ~ Clear Creek Monthly Meeting was established. The original log cabin meetinghouse was located on High Top Road. After becoming a monthly meeting, another room was added to the original cabin for the women's business meetings and a large door was cut between the two rooms.
• 1885 ~ A new meetinghouse was built in the nearby village of Samantha and the meeting became known as Samantha Monthly Meeting.

Campus Monthly Meeting ~ Wilmington College

Campus Monthly Meeting
Thomas Kelly Religious Center
Wilmington College
(Member of both
Wilmington Yearly Meeting [FUM] &
Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting [FGC])

Pyle Box 651
Wilmington, Ohio 45177

TIMELINE:

• 1954 ~ Campus Friends became a monthly meeting. The meeting chooses to be an "unprogrammed" meeting. The group originally met in the Fine Arts Building.
• 1962 ~ The Thomas Kelly Center Religious Center was dedicated. It became the home of the Religion & Philosophy Department of the college, it housed the offices of Wilmington Yearly Meeting, and became the meetinghouse of Campus Monthly Meeting.
• 1967 ~ Campus Friends begin a dual membership in Center Quarterly Meeting of Wilmington Yearly Meeting and in Miami Quarterly Meeting of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting.

Also see:
Wilmington College ~ Wilmington, Ohio
Opening and Dedication of the new Quaker Heritage Center at Wilmington College
Who Sends Thee?

Cuba Monthly Meeting ~ Cuba, Ohio (Clinton County)

Cuba Monthly Meeting

Located on the corner of Cuba & Martinsville Rd.
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
P.O. Box 20
Cuba, Ohio 45114

TIMELINE:

• September 3rd, 1896 ~ Cuba Preparative Meeting of Wilmington Monthly Meeting is established. The site is known as "Quaker Hill".
• June 8th, 1921 ~ The preparative meeting becomes Cuba Monthly Meeting.
• 1964 ~ An addition for Sunday School rooms is built.
• 1976 ~ A new parsonage was bought.
• 1981 ~ Bathrooms are built in the meetinghouse and the interior re-modeled.
• 1987 ~ Shelter house was built.

New Burlington Monthly Meeting ~ Greene County

The 1895 New Burlington Meetinghouse

The "old" New Burlington Meetinghouse
comes down to make way for Caesar's Creek Lake.
The "new" New Burlington Friends Meeting

New Burlington Friends Meeting

(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)

Rte. 380 & Cemetery Rd.
Greene County, Ohio

TIMELINE:

• September 13th, 1871 ~ New Burlington Preparative Meeting opened. Friends bought the old 1844 Methodist church in which to meet.
• 1895 ~ A new meetinghouse was built not far from the old Methodist church.
• June 22nd, 1922 ~ New Burlington Monthly Meeting is established.
• 1959 ~ An additon was built onto the church.
• October 15th, 1970 ~ The U.S. government buys the meetinghouse since New Burlington was to be re-located due to the creation of Caesar's Creek Lake. The new meetinghouse is built in "Burlington Heights" on Rte. 380. Also see, Caesar's Creek Valley before Caesar's Creek Lake.

Geneva McClure (Mrs. William Coe), in her "Tribiute to a Lost Town" (Wilmington, Ohio: Cox Printing Company, August 1970, p. 7) wrote:

"We had just two churches in town when I was growing up; a Quaker Church and the Methodist Church. They each had youth groups, the Sunshine Society and the Epworth League.

When the Quakers held their revival meeting each night for a week, we kids would all attend, I'm sure a little good rubbed off on us, but at the time, I must admit it was just some place to go."

Sabina Monthly Meeting ~ Sabina, Ohio (Clinton County)

Sabina Friends Meeting

(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)

Corner W. Elm & Vine Steets
Sabina, Ohio

TIMELINE:

1878-79 ~ Sabina Friends Preparative Meeting was organized during the evangelical efforts of Nathan and Esther Frame of Jamestown Monthly Meeting. They first met in the Sabina Methodist Church. They alternated services with the Methodist minister. The two Bible schools were combined.

1880 ~ The present lot was purchased and a one story brick meetinghouse built. It is still there with many additions.

1881 ~ The first Friends Bible School conducted in the new building.

1895 ~ The parsonage was built.

1898 ~ The meetinghouse was re-modeled.

1933 ~ Interior of the meetinghuse was re-modeled.

1859 ~ A kitchen and bathrooms added.

Chester Monthly Meeting ~ The McMillan Settlement

A view of Chester Meetinghouse across the fields.

The 1914 Chester Meetinghouse today.

The Chester Graveyard

The old 1844 brick meetinghouse.

Chester Monthly Meeting
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)

3451 Gurneyville Rd.
8 Mi. N. off SR 68 N
Wilmington, OH 45177 (Clinton County)
Sunday School 8:45 am Worship 9:45 am

TIMELINE:

• 1824 ~ Indulged meeting under Center Monthly Meeting. They met in a school located on the Thomas McMillan farm.
• 1828 ~ The present lot was donated and a log cabin meetinghouse built.
• 182-30 ~ First burials in the graveyard, John Baxter and his wife, Mary McMillan Baxter. The east side of this cemetery was used to bury runaway slaves who died on their journey.
• 1844 ~ A brick meetinghouse was built.
• 1914 ~ The old brick meetinghouse was replaced with the present meetinghouse.
• 1858 ~ A parsonage was built.

Chester Monthly Meeting has been actively involved in the Underground Railroad, in the peace ministry, in temperance, in missionary work and relief efforts, has supported conscientious objectors during times of war, and supported a Japanese hostel in Cincinnati during World War II. They continue their enlightened work.

Newberry Monthly Meeting ~ Martinsville, Ohio (Clinton County)

There is a large Quaker graveyard behind the
meetinghouse.

Newberry Monthly Meeting
(Martinsville [Newberry] Monthly Meeting)

(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)

112 E. Main St., OH 28
Martinsville, OH 45145
(937) 780-4311
Sunday School 8:30 am Worship 9:15 am

TIMELINE:

• 1809/1810 ~ First indulged meeting for worship is conducted in the home of John Wright, the first Quaker settler near Martinsville from Newberry County, South Carolina. The meeting was under the care of Clear Creek Monthly Meeting.
• 1813/1814 ~ Seven acres of land are donated to Friends by General William Lytle. The site of the present meetinghouse and cemetery are on land obtained from Aaron Betts in exchange for some of the Lytle land. The first meetinghouse was made of logs. Later a brick meetinghouse was built. It was destroyed by fire.
• Decemeber 2th, 1816 ~ First meeting as Newberry Monthly Meeting.
• 1844 ~ A large frame meetinghouse was built.
• 1846 ~ First Day School (Sunday School) is established.
• 1883 ~ The present meetinghouse was built.
• 1937 ~ An annex was added to the meetinghouse.
• 1955 ~ A parsonage was built.
• 1962 ~ The name was changed to Martinsville (Newberry) Monthly Meeting

Xenia Monthly Meeting ~ Xenia, Ohio (Greene County)

(Above & Below) The "new" Xenia Meetinghouse
Built in 1960.

The old Xenia Meetinghouse
Chestnut & High Streets

Xenia Monthly Meeting
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
Established ~ 1905

502 Chestnut St.
Xenia, OH 45385 (Greene County)
Corner Chestnut & High Sts., off SR 380 N. of SR 68
(937) 376-1010
Sunday School 9:00 AM, Worship 10 AM

TIMELINE:

• 1897 ~ Efforts to start a meeting in Xenia begin.
• 1904 ~ With the efforts of Amos Cook and evangelistic Quaker minister, Esther Cook, the small community grows.
• May 26th, 1905 ~ Xenia Monthly Meeting formally opens.
• 1908 ~ First meetinghouse is built on Chestnut & High Streets.
• 1960 ~ The new meetinghouse is built.

Spring Valley Monthly Meeting ~ Spring Valley, Ohio (Greene County)

Old Spring Valley Meetinghouse ~ Spring Valley, Ohio
Located at Mound & Water Streets
Now Spring Valley Baptist Church

TIMELINE:

• July 11th, 1811 ~ First mention of a request to establish the "Mendenhall Meeting" in the Caesar's Creek Monthly Meeting Meeting minutes. Names associated with the establishment of this meeting are: Mendenhall, Walton, Sanders, Stanfield, Anderson, Sexton and Ellis. The earliest site of the meeting was across from Richland School on Rte. 380 in Greene County.
• April 26th, 1822 ~ Mendenahall and Plum Grove Friends ask to have a single Meeting.
• February 26th, 1824 ~ The two combine and become "Richland Preparative Meeting", a preparative meetings of Caesar's Creek Monthly Meeting.
• 1828 ~ The Hicksite Separation does not divide this meeting and Richland Meeting is wholely "Orthodox".
• 1842 ~ The village of Spring Valley is laid out by the Waltons and the Barretts.
• 1875 ~ "Richland" Meeting moves into Spring Valley and becomes "Spring Valley Meeting".
• 1922 ~ The meeting became "Spring Valley Monthly Meeting".
• 2003 ~ Laid Down

Wilmington Friends Meeting ~ Wilmington, Ohio

Wilmington Monthly Meeting ~ about 1892

Wilmington Monthly Meeting today
(FUM ~ Wilmington Yearly Meeting)
North Mulberry & Locust Streets

66 N. Mulberry St.
Wilmington, Ohio 45177
Clinton County
(937) 382-2349

Worship 10:00 AM
Sunday School 11:15 AM Fellowship at 11:00 AM
www.wfmeeting.org
wfmeeting@verizon.net

TIMELINE:

• 1825 ~ An indulged meeting for worship begins in Wilmington.
• 1826 ~ Visit by Elias Hicks which increases the tension between "Orthodox" and "Hicksite" Quakers and the indulged meeting divides.
• 1837 ~ Wilmington Friends asked Center Monthly Meeting (Orthodox) for a new indulged meeting.
• 5th Month 12th day 1868 ~ The first Monthly Meeting was held.
• July 18th, 1896 ~ The present building was dedicated.
• 1931 ~ Callie Fairley Memorial Room and a modern kitchen the basement are built.
• 1952 ~ Educational wing was added.
  
  One of the famous Quaker ministers of this meeting was noted Quaker theologian, Thomas R. Kelly (see, http://www.barclaypress.com/writers/index.php?authorID=192). Other Wilmington College professors have also served as ministers.