Your Interest in Quaker Genealogy

I had a childhood friend whose family was Quaker, so I've been interested that long. It was a very exciting moment in building my tree to link to known Quaker lines - in my case, Hankins, Sharp, Barnes ... Probably more to be explored. I also connect to the prominent Lucretia Mott (currently 10th cousin 7 times removed)

I think it's their impact on American culture that has me fascinated.

I was researching my ancestry and found my ancestors who were Quakers who came to the Brooklyn in 1643. They were granted land by the Dutch governor. They moved to NJ, and found one of my ancestors potentially buried in a Quaker cemetery about 10 miles from my house.

I didn't know much about the Quaker faith, so enjoying learning about the faith and its history.

Thanks to you both! Would you mind if I quoted either of you?

If anyone else has stories to share, please feel free to chime in.

On a personal level, my interest in Quaker genealogy comes from my interest in the Quaker faith. I suppose I am backwards from many people here in that respect. I appreciate Quaker history and having a chance to get to know more about the individual Friends who helped shape history.

Did you ever see "Six Feet Under?" Great plot line about exploring the Friends spiritual practice. But for me, in exploring my ancestry, it is their political activism and moral creed that stands out. In my tree apparently the American Revolution tested faith and resulted in people leaving the meetings. The other big one was marrying "out" - I'm sure that happened to my direct ancestress.

Hello.
The Quaker Faith is very interesting. I have Quaker family history in my line's [both side's] from RI/NJ/OH/NC/VA..

As time evolved some chose a different Faith to follow, as the fact has been stated the Rev War raised a lot of question's as to the nature of one's believe's. Since they did not believe in War it became a question of survival or staying the Faith for early generation's.

Marriage also raised question's, [needing Church permission] or marrying someone of a different believe, migration played a huge role also.

Charles Burden.

I had no clue that I had Quakers in my family until I began my family tree. My cousin got me started, but her work only went back to about 1830 and did not go very wide. By expanding our shared tree I found several branches had come to America for religious freedom --Catholics, Huguenots and Quakers.

I have always been fascinated by the Quaker faith. I'm the anit-war peace-nik daughter of a career sailor with the United States Navy. I've always had a live and let live attitude. There are Quaker principles that I can completely support. Finding Quakers in my tree was a happy surprise.

Some of my Quaker ancestors were pushed out of the faith during the American Revolution for serving in the Continental Army. Some moved westward after the Revolutionary War and found no other Quakers near enough to hold meetings, and so began to drift from the faith. Others were pushed out for marrying outside the faith. One was banished for slapping a servant and refusing to apologize at Monthly Meeting.

I don't know of any active Quakers in my family today. I descend from those who left the faith for whatever reason.

My Quaker families are Mendenhall, Pennington, Beeson, Thornburg, Musgrave and Cox. I think there's a couple others, but those are the ones that immediately spring to mind.

They lived in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Thanks again to all for replying.

Private User, can I ask who the slapper was? I'd love to read about that. :) If anyone has any particularly interesting Quakers to share, aside from the famous ones, I'd love to hear about why you're drawn to them.

Should I want to quote anyone, I will of course check with you first.

http://www.celebrateboston.com/intolerance/margaret-brewster-quaker...

"Little is known after her public chastisement but it is thought she remained near Boston practicing as a "wise woman ..."

Mysterious Celtic Mythology in American Folklore
 By Bob Curran
Page 148

Ashley, that would be James Musgrave, Sr..

He was a member of a large Quaker colony in Pennsylvania who were of Irish descent. His wife was from the prominent Quaker Cox family.

He was recorded in the MM minutes as being "obstinate." I recorded it all on the overview.

Not many years later he moved to North Carolina. His wife's family had already moved there and started a new Quaker colony. His wife and most of his children remained in the faith but James never attended another MM, or any other church for that matter.

I am what is called a birthright Quaker. My parents were practicing Quakers when I was born. My father's family came to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and my father moved away when he graduated from college.

My mother's maternal line includes Thorne's, Cornells, and Underhills, who were quaker converts in Rhode Island and Long Island.

How could I not be interested in Quaker genealogy?

Ashley, I would love to see the historical records and tombstone at the Quaker church where my ancestor is buried. Any advice as a non-Quaker on how to proceed?

Private User, many Quaker cemeteries do not have stones because they are considered too self-centered or showy. The local Friends Meetings in my area don't have engraved stones, even today. They just put little stones to mark where graves are, and they're not engraved.

I would suggest that you first start by contacting your local Meeting -- they're not called churches -- and asking them for information about the cemetery. If you need help determining who to contact, let me know.

Are you by chance referring to the Shrewsbury Meeting? If so, they have a cemetery page at http://shrewsburyquakers.info/history/burialgrounds.html, and it does look like they have stones there.

Ashley you've inspired me to find the "first Friend in Ireland" on Geni - plenty of American family. If you can improve the profile please do so.

William "The Hammer" Edmundson

My maternal grandmother's family came to the US as Quakers from Wales in 1682. They settled in Bucks County in a settlement of Quakers. I assume they left Wales due to religious persecution. In 1809 the family emigrated to Ontario, Canada. There they settled with other Quakers in York County. It's unclear why they left the US at that time - perhaps as a result of their Loyalist leanings during the revolution although clearly they did not participate. In the Newmarket and Kings Twp areas they attended Friends meetings. However, in 1837 they became involved in supporting the Rebellion so I assume this is when the turn away from the faith occurred. I find the history fascinating and am trying to gain insight into their actions. While many in the family stayed in Canada, my branch migrated back to Buffalo, NY. The family name of this line is Lloyd.

Thank you for the link Ashley! The link showed that a John Fowler Borden, who is listed as buried in Shrewsbury, isn't buried at the Shrewsbury Meeting. He was of the Quaker faith, so he might not have a headstone, or might be buried somewhere else.

Thank you!

@ Maria Edmonds-Zediker - Maria, is your Pennington family connected at all to the Boones, also of PA and NC? My 5th great grandmother was Hannah Boone, who married Richard Pennington after the death of her first husband, John Stewart.

@Jill --
I have Boones sprinkled all over my tree, but mostly from the VA to KY branch of that family. I do have a Hannah Lee Boone of PA in my tree, I was just working on her this week. We are not talking about the same ancestor, her second husband was a Coates, also a prominent early Quaker family. My Hannah was the widow of Judah Boone. Hannah Coates

Can you post a link to your Hannah and/or your Richard Pennington? I would be interested in seeing how they connect to my branch of the family.

The Coates of PA married into two of my Quaker lines, Mendenhall and Musgrave. The Mendenhalls married into the Penningtons and the Beesons. The Penningtons and the Mendenhalls married into the Thornburgh/Thornbury/Thornberry line.

I have a special interest in the Musgrave line (shared with Curator Erica) because I am doubly related to this family - through the Baronets Musgrave and through the Quaker Musgraves. Erica and I have been trying to see if there is a familial connection or a geographic connection, both families originating in the same region of northern England. If it is the same family, what caused the one branch to become Quaker?

I've known for a couple of years that my Quaker roots were from Pennington, Beeson, Mendenhall and Thornbury. The Musgrave line is recent - a couple of months? - and the Coates are brand new to me, having just found out about them through the Coates-Musgrave marriage, which led me to the Coates-Mendenhall marriage.

Maria, In comparing our trees, it looks like the connecting link to Richard Pennington is through his father, Benajah Ephraim Pennington, Sr. Benajah Ephraim Pennington, V
I see your name on the page as Curator.
Richard's wife, Hannah Boone (b.1746 - d.1828) is the sister of Daniel Boone and daughter of Squire Boone and Sarah Morgan.

Private User
I am currently doing some clean-up in the Boone tree and just saw the profile for Hannah Boone, sister of Daniel.

My primary Boone connection is through William Howell Boone, Sr. who married Sarah Lincoln. Sarah's mother was a Salter. My mother was a Salter. http://www.geni.com/path/Maria+Edmonds+Zediker+Volunteer+Curator+is...

My secondary connection to the Boones is through all these Quaker marriages. Benajah Ephraim Pennington, Vis my 10th cousin 11 times removed.

What has been interesting is that I didn't know any of this Quaker background until I started on Geni. My first cousin got interested in genealogy when my third cousin started working on her DAR application. Ann contacted Sheryl and gave her the but. Sheryl contacted me and gave me the bug. I've got a terminal case, because there's few other things I'd rather do than hang out on Geni.

I'm from Squire Boone Jr.. I'm just starting to find my root's.

I am a descendent of Ozwin Musgrave a Quaker from County Armagh in Northern Ireland whose family no doubt originated in Cumberland. In games of first of England was also James VI of Scotland displaced most of the border families to Northern Ireland. John Musgrave immigrated to America first in around 1680 as an indentured servant. He had spent time in the home of William Penn. His father immigrated later. The people in that line included John Musgrave, James, Thomas, Simon, Moses. In the 1740s parts of the family migrated to Wayne County North Carolina. They are registered there in the Quaker books.
My branch of the family migrated from North Carolina to Tennessee in about 1780 1800. My great great great grandfather being Thomas Musgrave born in Wayne County North Carolina died in Hardeman County Tennessee. My great great grandfather Calvin Musgrave migrated to Texas was an early Texas pioneer lived at the time of the Republic of Texas and was an early Texas Ranger. By that time there was no trace of any Quakers that I know of in Tennessee or in the Texas branch. However, another side of the family migrated to Illinois and Indiana and some of them were Quakers

There are two hereditary peers named Musgrave I really don't know if they're related to the vast majority of us with that surname are not most Musgrave's tested our R1B1 the Atlantic modal and show a common ancestor. All indications are they were StrathClyde Britain's regardless of the Anglo-Saxon name Musgrave. It can also be interpreted as a flat mossy plane which is what it is. There is one other Haplogroup of Musgrave's in Yorkshire which is not surprisingly I1 haplo.(the so called Viking gene) Yorkshire obviously being in the heart of Danesland.
The Musgrave's are also intermarried with the Coxes,Stapleto's, and other early Quaker names. I have always found it a bit incongruous that the Musgrave's were Quakers at all given their reputation on the borders as Reivers and the soldiers. Thomas Musgrave of Bewcastle was a Warden(Sheriff) of the West March, and also a captain of the English army. And then meaning what General does now. In fact one of the earliest reports we have of the Musgrave's it described as "the Martial and warlike Musgrave's." In Texas we certainly returned to our warlike roots both on the side of the law and against it. I have always had an interest in Quakers thinking although I myself am a Buddhist to answer that question.

FYI:
Quaker Persecution Project
https://www.geni.com/projects/Quaker-Persecution/33177

Charles Burden.

I have some Quakers that marriage was a factor they left the faith. The family pretty much started in faith several generations back from there. As far as Quaker faith I don't know much about it. I here it different then Amish faith but I see some similarities as well. I just discovering some things as researching my Hartley Family. I like to learn bit about being Quaker or about Quaker faith.
Billie

I added a photo of a meeting house to project photos. I had question it bit of history question instead of genealogical one. Does anyone know how long it took them to build the stone meeting houses? I was amazed at the stone construction.

Billie

Found another Quaker line here.

Dr Griffith Owen

Billie