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-George
Fox
Quakers
A man named George Fox in the 1600's has been said to have started
the Quaker religion. He was an English man that wandered around asking
questions to all religious leaders in the area in which he lived.
By asking these questions he was trying to find a person with what
he thought had a direct connection to God. In all of his quests to
find people of such a power, he found many people who had a lot of
knowledge about the subject, but he found no one with the special
gift he was looking for. One day after climbing "Pendle Hill"
he decided that he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to become
a religious leader himself. George Fox then decided to travel across
the land until he found the right place to settle. He ended up settling
with a group called "The West Moore Land Seekers". George
Fox decided to go to a meeting of these newly found friends. After
attending one of their services he decided to start some religion
of his own related to the religion of "The West Moore Land Seekers."
But George Fox's quest did not stop there, in 1652 he traveled to
the "Swathmoore Hall". Here he met the famous Judge Fell.
This judge encouraged him to become a minister; he encouraged George
Fox to follow his dreams.
George
Fox believed, along with his followers, that there should be peace.
The Quakers are completely non-violent people. The United States of
America respects their religious beliefs, the Quakers are not forceed
to join the armed service when there is a draft. Today, Quakerism
still exists in many places in Pennsylvania. William Penn, the man
who settled Pennsylvania State, brought the concept of Quakerism with
him. He was Quaker and so it just started to spread to many people
and now it is a very common thing. In the early 1900's there was a
boom of Quakerism in the United States of America. Not only were there
a lot of Quakers, but the religion also spread to Africa and many
parts all over Europe.
The Quakers have had a major affect on our society. They have started
many well renowned colleges. Many of these colleges are science oriented
because many of the Quakers in the past and still today are scientists.
They have just all around helped us in so many ways.
-The Kennett Meeting House
The Kennett Meeting House lies in the boundaries of Pennsylvania.
Many settlers that followed William Penn here were Quakers. Of those,
most of them were still loyal to their homeland, so they continued
practicing their original religion. A problem arose when the settlers
arrived in the Kennett Square area. The closest meetinghouse was the
Newark meeting House, which was may miles away. That wasn't the problem
though; the real problem was that it was across the Brandywine River.
This was not a problem for most of the year but when it turned cold
in the winter and the water froze they had no way of crossing the
river and getting to the meeting on time. Religious days were very
important to the Quakers and could not be missed. So missing many
important days in a row during the winter season was a very big disappointment
for just about all of the many Quakers in the Kennett area.
As a result, the local Quakers decided to do some problem solving.
They decided to build their own meeting house where it was easily
accessible to them year round. The Kennett Meeting house was finished
being built by 1710, it was enlarged by an addition being added on
12 years later and it was enlarged again in 1731.
Today the many Quakers in this area are using the Kennett Meeting
House. They have regular weekly meetings, where they are still able
to attend year round.
Jeremiah
Bailey| Richard Banard | Bayard
Taylor | George Fox | Howard
Pyle
Martha
Brown |Pierre
Samuel Dupont | Wyeth Family
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