IMMEDIATE FAMILY - QUAKER...OR NOT?
The Meeting House with the Woodward headstones bottom center. 1979 by author.
There has been much speculation as to this family's church affiliation. Some believe Hope's husband, Joseph Woodward, must have joined the Quakers after he married Hope because he is buried in the Sandy Hill Cemetery. Some have mentioned that his parents were Quaker, presumably because they came from a long line of active Quakers back in Chester County in eastern Pennsylvania.
My conclusions are based on the research of records currently available online (November 2018). I believe the Shotwell and Woodward family histories, written in the latter quarter of the 1800s, were repeated on down through the years as other family histories were written.
OBSERVATIONS:
• I have rarely found significant errors in these early books, even though it was exceedingly difficult to find primary documentation at the time they were written.
• I noticed not as much detail exists for lines the book author(s) through whom they did not directly descend. I noticed this because I don't seem to ever descend through those lines (where is the "oh my" emoji when I need it? Lol!)
• Records were not nearly as accessible as they are today.
SOURCES, EVIDENCE & REASONING
(1) Hope was condemned for marrying out of unity, meaning someone not of the Quaker faith according to Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. IV, page 116. This is true per the primary source of Quaker records, and often repeated in various family histories.
(2) It appears that all previous books, websites and family trees left it at that. Quaker records that have relatively recently come online show that, in a meeting with local Quakers, Hope wished to maintain her ability to attend Meetings and admitted her transgression. After deliberation, they agreed. I only found this because I wanted to learn more about Quakers.
(3) Many researchers believed Hope, Joseph and at least Caleb became members because they are buried in the Sandy Hill Quaker Cemetery which happened to be near their farm.
(a) I have conflicting evidence as to whether Quakers had headstones. Not finding headstones for Joseph's parents (Richard and Hannah Taylor Woodward, both of whom died between 1811-1815) does not mean they were Quaker; finding tombstones for Hope and Joseph does not mean they were not. Richard and Hannah very well could have been buried on their farm and lost to the ages; people didn't travel far for burial so deed records should be researched to see where they lived.
Two interesting websites concerning Quaker funerals:
1. https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2014/06/07/gonna-lay-this-body-down-quaker-funerals-burials/
2. http://quakerspeak.com/how-are-quaker-cemeteries-different/
(b) Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania...Volume 1, edited by Henry Elliot Shepherd, accessed online at Google Books November 2018). This book has a couple columns about the Quakers of Fayette County in general and mentions the Woodwards on page 295 which I find curious. The book was published in 1900. The following book written in 1882, mentions many of the same families, but not the Woodwards:
(c) History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, by Franklin Ellis, 1882 accessed November 2018 via archives.org.
Page 654: At Sandy Hill, on Jennings' Run, upon the road between New Salem and Uniontown, the Quakers built at an early day (as early as 1754, and perhaps before), a log meeting-house, and laid out a graveyard. The meeting-house stood for many years, and was long a place where the Friends assembled regularly for worship. After a while, however, the members of that sect, lessening by deaths and removals, became so few in number that meetings were discontinued, and by and by the meeting-house was demolished. The graveyard, thickly dotted with old headstones, is still used for its original purpose.
(d) Quaker information shows that Sandy Hill was only in existence as a weekly Quaker Meeting House from 1802-1834 (or as they called it, a Subordinate Meeting). However, according to a newspaper article of The Evening Standard (Uniontown, Pennsylvania), Friday, Aug 13, 1971, Page 1, the current building was built in 1875 and there was to be a "quiet meeting" in which the public was invited. So I am unclear as to the activities of the intervening years, including who owned the property containing the burial grounds, and who was allowed to be buried in it.
http://www.quaker-chronicle.info/meetings.php?meetingID=36
Another newspaper article I accessed using a free trial on newspapers.com was dated 25 Oct 1948 from the Uniontown Morning Herald (front page). Local Menallen Grange 1091 rebuilding Sandy Hill Cemetery which was "laid out in 1821." Our family visited in 1979 following directions given us by someone in the library and the grounds were well-cared for.
Another paragraph in the newspaper article stated that the plot was part of tract of land purchased by Mordecai John in 1817 and sold to the trustees of Sandy Hill Meeting House for $20 for use as a meeting house and cemetery, although the Quakers would apparently have used the term "burying ground".
(4) Quaker records I recently found with an ancestry.com membership show that Hope was a member when she died, and none of her husband's family were, at least at the time of their own death. While negative evidence is not necessarily evidence, I have come to the conclusion that it is in this case. There is a record of Hope's demise, but on the index page for "W" going back to 1820, there is no mention of another Woodward death, including her son Caleb in 1847, or her husband just five weeks after her own. This index is from the Monthly Meetings which consists of several local weekly meetings or "Subordinate Meetings".
(1) The complete source is here: Ancestry.com. U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I–VI, 1607-1943 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Hinshaw, William Wade, et al., compilers. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. 6 vols. 1936–1950. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1991–1994. Hinshaw, William Wade. Marshall, Thomas Worth, comp. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Supplement to Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: n.p. 1948.
(2) Early Quaker Families, 1650–1800 by Marilyn Dell Brady on June 1, 2009
(3a1) Posted by Lisa Arnold on June 7, 2014 in Collections. The Philadelphia and Ohio Yearly Meetings did not permit tombstones until the late 1800s. Although in Pennsylvania, Fayette County and other nearby Meetings were a member of the Ohio Yearly Meetings, not Philadelphia's.
(4) Written record images source: Citation Information: Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Minutes, 1785-1811; Collection: Quaker Meeting Records; Call Number: MR-O-0048 Title: U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935. Author: Ancestry.com. Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Publisher Date: 2014 Publisher Location: Provo, UT, USA. Repository Information: Ancestry.com.
The one source I have not been able to check is http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/friends/RG2/ohioym.xml#series30 (accessed Nov. 2018)
This is at the Swarthmore College which houses an enormous amount of Quaker material. The web page listed above has the following information about Sandy Hill Meeting house which would be interesting to check but I don't currently have the ability do do so. If you do, please share your results with me :-) :
Sandy Hill Preparative Meeting (Society of Friends : Orthodox)
Sandy Hill Preparative Meeting opened in 1802, and was laid down in 1834. It was part of Redstone Monthly Meeting.
Includes Membership list 1830.
Title: Vital Records
Membership list 1830; 1 fol.;
Affil.: O; Loc.:RG2/O/S31 1.1
Available on microfilm in the Library: SW: MR-O 114
Photograph of Sandy Hill Meeting House by author, 1979.
My conclusions are based on the research of records currently available online (November 2018). I believe the Shotwell and Woodward family histories, written in the latter quarter of the 1800s, were repeated on down through the years as other family histories were written.
OBSERVATIONS:
• I have rarely found significant errors in these early books, even though it was exceedingly difficult to find primary documentation at the time they were written.
• I noticed not as much detail exists for lines the book author(s) through whom they did not directly descend. I noticed this because I don't seem to ever descend through those lines (where is the "oh my" emoji when I need it? Lol!)
• Records were not nearly as accessible as they are today.
SOURCES, EVIDENCE & REASONING
(1) Hope was condemned for marrying out of unity, meaning someone not of the Quaker faith according to Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. IV, page 116. This is true per the primary source of Quaker records, and often repeated in various family histories.
(2) It appears that all previous books, websites and family trees left it at that. Quaker records that have relatively recently come online show that, in a meeting with local Quakers, Hope wished to maintain her ability to attend Meetings and admitted her transgression. After deliberation, they agreed. I only found this because I wanted to learn more about Quakers.
1858 plat map from the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3823f.la000747/?r=0.27,0.38,0.075,0.034,0
(a) I have conflicting evidence as to whether Quakers had headstones. Not finding headstones for Joseph's parents (Richard and Hannah Taylor Woodward, both of whom died between 1811-1815) does not mean they were Quaker; finding tombstones for Hope and Joseph does not mean they were not. Richard and Hannah very well could have been buried on their farm and lost to the ages; people didn't travel far for burial so deed records should be researched to see where they lived.
Two interesting websites concerning Quaker funerals:
1. https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2014/06/07/gonna-lay-this-body-down-quaker-funerals-burials/
2. http://quakerspeak.com/how-are-quaker-cemeteries-different/
(b) Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania...Volume 1, edited by Henry Elliot Shepherd, accessed online at Google Books November 2018). This book has a couple columns about the Quakers of Fayette County in general and mentions the Woodwards on page 295 which I find curious. The book was published in 1900. The following book written in 1882, mentions many of the same families, but not the Woodwards:
(c) History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, by Franklin Ellis, 1882 accessed November 2018 via archives.org.
Page 654: At Sandy Hill, on Jennings' Run, upon the road between New Salem and Uniontown, the Quakers built at an early day (as early as 1754, and perhaps before), a log meeting-house, and laid out a graveyard. The meeting-house stood for many years, and was long a place where the Friends assembled regularly for worship. After a while, however, the members of that sect, lessening by deaths and removals, became so few in number that meetings were discontinued, and by and by the meeting-house was demolished. The graveyard, thickly dotted with old headstones, is still used for its original purpose.
http://www.quaker-chronicle.info/meetings.php?meetingID=36
Another newspaper article I accessed using a free trial on newspapers.com was dated 25 Oct 1948 from the Uniontown Morning Herald (front page). Local Menallen Grange 1091 rebuilding Sandy Hill Cemetery which was "laid out in 1821." Our family visited in 1979 following directions given us by someone in the library and the grounds were well-cared for.
Another paragraph in the newspaper article stated that the plot was part of tract of land purchased by Mordecai John in 1817 and sold to the trustees of Sandy Hill Meeting House for $20 for use as a meeting house and cemetery, although the Quakers would apparently have used the term "burying ground".
Hope's gravestone, from Find-A-Grave, permission of photographer, accessed November 2018.
Index.
Monthly meeting (Westland) record of Hope's death. Notice the traditional Quaker dating style.
Hope and Joseph died about five weeks apart. Their markers are of light color, son Caleb 1822-1847 are to the left of Hope with a sandstone marker.
They would have been married 50 years in just a couple months.
(1) The complete source is here: Ancestry.com. U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I–VI, 1607-1943 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Hinshaw, William Wade, et al., compilers. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. 6 vols. 1936–1950. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1991–1994. Hinshaw, William Wade. Marshall, Thomas Worth, comp. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Supplement to Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: n.p. 1948.
(2) Early Quaker Families, 1650–1800 by Marilyn Dell Brady on June 1, 2009
(3a1) Posted by Lisa Arnold on June 7, 2014 in Collections. The Philadelphia and Ohio Yearly Meetings did not permit tombstones until the late 1800s. Although in Pennsylvania, Fayette County and other nearby Meetings were a member of the Ohio Yearly Meetings, not Philadelphia's.
(4) Written record images source: Citation Information: Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Minutes, 1785-1811; Collection: Quaker Meeting Records; Call Number: MR-O-0048 Title: U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935. Author: Ancestry.com. Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Publisher Date: 2014 Publisher Location: Provo, UT, USA. Repository Information: Ancestry.com.
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This is at the Swarthmore College which houses an enormous amount of Quaker material. The web page listed above has the following information about Sandy Hill Meeting house which would be interesting to check but I don't currently have the ability do do so. If you do, please share your results with me :-) :
Sandy Hill Preparative Meeting (Society of Friends : Orthodox)
Sandy Hill Preparative Meeting opened in 1802, and was laid down in 1834. It was part of Redstone Monthly Meeting.
Includes Membership list 1830.
Title: Vital Records
Membership list 1830; 1 fol.;
Affil.: O; Loc.:RG2/O/S31 1.1
Available on microfilm in the Library: SW: MR-O 114
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