| No class or group of records, religious or secular,
has been as meticulously kept as Quaker records. The oldest Quaker records span
three centuries of American history and illustrate a general trend of migration
from New England and the middle Atlantic states southward to Virginia, the Carolinas,
and Georgia, and west into the Northwest Territory to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
and beyond. The importance of these records cannot be overestimated. Not until
recently have Quaker vital statistics been recorded in civil offices; thus, for
about two centuries the only vital records concerning these people are in the
Quaker records. The records are monuments of painstaking documentation, recording
births, marriages, and deaths, as well as evidence of removal from one meeting
to another. (The monthly meeting, during which information is recorded is, in
fact a business meeting.)
Hinshaw's "Encyclopedia" is estimated to contain well over a half-million
entries. The compilation was a tremendous achievement and represented
almost a lifetime of labor. In its production, thousands of records were
located and abstracted into a uniform and intelligible system of abbreviations.
In general, the material is arranged by meeting, then alphabetically by
family name, and then chronologically. Each volume contains a history
of the yearly meeting and each monthly meeting is preceded by a brief
historical sketch.
North Carolina — Volume I
Containing every item of genealogical value found in all records
and minutes of the thirty-three monthly meetings which belong, or ever
belonged, to the North Carolina yearly meeting of Friends (whose records
are known to be still in existence).
This is the first complete volume of Quaker church records for the
monthly meetings of the Carolinas and Tennessee which were part
of the North Carolina Yearly Meeting. The records consist of every item
of genealogical value, including births, marriages, deaths, and minutes
of proceedings. They are grouped together for each meeting by families,
in alphabetical order, and cover 1680 through the early 1930s. The
minutes relating to certificates of removal are numerous and of great
genealogical interest, particularly as they give evidence either of membership
in a previous monthly meeting or membership in a new meeting, thus enabling
genealogists to trace Quaker ancestors from one place to another. Records
contained in this volume refer to the following monthly meetings:
- Perquimans (Piney Woods), NC
- Pasquotank (Symons Creek), NC
- Suttons Creek, NC
- Rich Square, NC
- Core Sound, NC
- Contentnea (Nahunta), NC
- Neuse, NC
- Woodland, NC
- Cane Creek, NC
- Spring, NC
- Holly Spring, NC
- New Garden, NC
- Dover, NC
- Hopewell, NC
- Greensboro, NC
- Center, NC
- Black Creek, NC
- Marlborough, NC
- Deep River, NC
- Springfield, NC
- Union, NC
- High Point, NC
- Westfield, NC
- Deep Creek, NC
- Mt. Pleasant (Chestnut Creek), VA
- Bush River, SC
- Wrightsborough, SC
- Cane Creek, SC
- Piney Grove, SC
- Charleston, SC
- New Hope, TN
- Lost Creek, TN
- Newberry (Friendsville), TN
New Jersey and Pennsylvania — Volume II
Containing every item of genealogical value found in all records
and minutes (known to be in existence) of four of the oldest monthly meetings
which ever belonged to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends.
This volume is complete in itself for the New Jersey and Pennsylvania
monthly meetings which were part of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. It
includes all records of genealogical value, Orthodox and Hicksite, known
to be in existence for the meetings from the latter quarter of the seventeenth
century down to the time the work was originally published (1938). The
records are (1) of births and deaths and (2) minutes and marriages, grouped
together in alphabetical order by family name, in two sections for each
meeting. For the researcher's convenience the marriages are recorded under
the names of both brides and grooms. The work also contains invaluable
abstracts of certificates of removal and admission and actions of disownment.
Records contained in this work are those of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
and include Salem Monthly Meeting (NJ), Burlington Monthly Meeting (NJ),
Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (PA), and Falls Monthly Meeting (PA). Brief
sketches of the various meetings place the work in historical perspective
and document the original records. As with the other volumes in the set,
a master index covers the whole of the volume.
New York — Volume III
Containing every item of genealogical value found in all records
and minutes (known to be in existence) of all meetings of all grades ever
organized in New York City and on Long Island (1657 to the present time)
including both Hicksite and Orthodox groups of the New York Yearly Meeting
of the Society of Friends.
The material in this volume consists of data of genealogical interest
recorded in the books of four monthly meetings covering the activities
of the members of twenty-two Meetings for Worship and other meetings in
New York City and Long Island. These records are supplemented by information
found in family bibles of early Long Island Quakers; also by burial registers
and tombstone data from several burial grounds, Quaker and non-Quaker.
Births, marriages, deaths, and certificates of removal are grouped together
by meeting and arranged in alphabetical order under the family name. About
370 pages are devoted to the important New York City Monthly Meeting;
smaller sections cover the Flushing, Westbury, and Jericho Monthly Meetings.
Unusual importance is attached to this book in that every item in the
entire volume was extracted from original books of records and minutes
and alphabetized by John Cox, Jr., author of Quakerism in the City
of New York, 1657-1930 (1930).
Ohio — Volume IV
Listing marriages, births, deaths, certificates, disownments,
etc. and much collateral information of interest to genealogy, history,
biology, and social conditions Volumes IV and V comprise a two-volume
set, each volume containing about half of the Ohio Quaker genealogical
records. Volume IV is the largest of the two and is in fact the largest
volume of the whole Encyclopedia. Quakers arrived in the Old Northwest
by the thousands, establishing hundred of Meetings for Worship and erecting
an unprecedented number of monthly meetings. Volume IV contains the genealogical
records found in all original books of the thirty monthly meetings listed
below and now belonging to, and under, the jurisdiction of the two presently
(1946) established Ohio Yearly Meetings; namely, the Wilbur and Gurney
Branches of the Society of Friends in Ohio. Twenty-five of the monthly
meetings are in Ohio, four are in Pennsylvania, and one is in Michigan.
The thirty monthly meetings whose records of births, marriages, and deaths
are included in this volume are as follows:
- Westland, Washington County, PA
- Redstone, Fayette County, PA
- Sewickley, Westmoreland County, PA
- Concord, Belmont County, OH
- Plymouth-Smithfield, Jefferson County, OH
- Middleton, Columbiana County, OH
- Short Creek (Mt. Pleasant), Jefferson County, OH
- Salem, Columbiana County, OH
- New Garden, Columbiana County, OH
- Stillwater, Belmont County, OH
- Providence, Fayette County, PA
- Carmel, Columbiana County, OH
- Alum Creek, Delaware County, OH
- Flushing, Belmont County, OH
- Somerset, Belmont County, OH
- Sandy Spring, Columbiana County, OH
- Goshen, Logan County, OH
- Upper Springfield, Columbiana County, OH
- Deerfield (Pennsville), Morgan County, OH
- Plainfield, Belmont County, OH
- Marlborough, Stark County, OH
- Chesterfield, Athens County, OH
- Gilead, Morrow County, OH
- West, Mahoning County, OH
- Greenwich, Morrow County, OH
- Plymouth, Washington County, OH
- East Goshen, Mahoning County, OH
- Columbus, Franklin County, OH
- Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH
- Adrian, MI
Ohio — Volume V
Listing marriages, births, deaths, certificates, disownments,
etc. and much collateral information of interest to genealogy, history,
biology, and social conditions.
This volume completes the Ohio Quaker genealogical records. It contains
the genealogical records found in all original books known to exist of
the twenty-one monthly meetings listed below. These records now belong to and
are under the jurisdiction of the Wilmington Yearly Meeting, Clinton County,
Ohio, and/or the Indiana Yearly Meeting, Richmond, Indiana. All twenty-one
meetings are located in south-central, western, and southwestern Ohio.
Records of meetings formerly held in these areas, but now laid down (including
Hicksite), are included. Ohio Yearly Meeting was established in 1813 by
Baltimore Yearly Meeting and took jurisdiction over all meetings in Ohio,
western Pennsylvania, and Indiana. (Indiana Yearly Meeting was established
in 1821 and took jurisdiction over western Ohio and all of Indiana.) The
monthly meetings included in this volume are as follows:
- Miami, Warren County, OH
- Fairfield, Highland County, OH
- West Branch, Miami County, OH
- Center, Clinton County, OH
- Elk, Preble County, OH
- Caesar's Creek, Clinton County, OH
- Fall Creek, Highland County, OH
- Mill Creek, Miami County, OH
- Clear Creek, Clinton County, OH
- Union, Miami County, OH
- Cincinnati, Hamilton County, OH
- Newberry, Clinton County, OH
- Lees Creek, Highland County, OH
- Springfield, Clinton County, OH
- Westfield, Preble County, OH
- Green Plain, Clark County, OH
- Springborough, Warren County, OH
- Dover, Clinton County, OH
- Hopewell, Clinton County, OH
- Wilmington, Clinton County, OH
- Van Wert, Van Wert County, OH
Virginia — Volume VI
Completed under tremendous difficulty (Hinshaw died shortly after
compilation of the material), the sixth volume of this monumental reference
work deals with Virginia Quaker genealogical records.
Virginia Yearly Meeting (later disbanded and attached to Baltimore Yearly
Meeting) comprised thirteen monthly meetings and all particular meetings
ever established within the state of Virginia with the following exceptions:
(1) those particular meetings west of the Blue Ridge in the Valley of
Virginia and those immediately south of the Potomac (belonging to Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting and later Baltimore Yearly Meeting), and (2) the nine particular
meetings in the extreme southwestern part of the state (belonging to North
Carolina Yearly Meeting).
As in the preceding volumes, births, marriages, and deaths are arranged
by monthly meeting, then alphabetically by family name and then
chronologically, with all names listed in the index at the end of the
book. In addition to the records of the monthly meetings named below (at
which the vital statistics were meticulously recorded), this volume includes
separate sections containing the marriage bonds of Campbell and Bedford
counties. Records contained herein refer to the following monthly meetings:
- Chuckatuck
- Pagan Creek
- Western Branch
- Black Water
- Upper
- Henrico
- Cedar Creek
- Camp Creek
- South River
- Goose Creek (Bedford County)
- Hopewell
- Fairfax
- Crooked Run
- Goose Creek (Loudoun County)
- Alexandria
|
Dates
and details of vital events (birth, marriage, death)
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