Stanfield Quaker Notes

The Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy, 1750-1930

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Part 1:  Abbreviations and Definitions of Quaker Terms

Part 7: New Garden Monthly Meeting

The Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy, Vol I, New Garden Monthly Meeting, Page 487

NEW GARDEN MONTHLY MEETING

Guilford County, North Carolina

New Garden Monthly Meeting was set up in 1754 by direction of Perquimans and Little River Quarterly Meeting. This action of the Quarterly Meeting is recorded in the following minutes.

"Perquimans and Little River Quarterly Meeting held at Old Neck in the County of Perquimans, N.C., the 25^th of the 5 mo. 1754. Friends at New Garden requested this meeting to Grant them the privilege of holding a Monthly Meeting amongst them by Reason of the hardship they underwent in Attending the monthly meeting at Cane Creek; And it appeared to this meeting that there is Near or Quite Forty Families of Friends seated in them parts; In consideration of which, this meeting thought propper to grant them there request."

New Garden Monthly Meeting Minutes.

"From our Quarterly Meeting held at Old Neck, in the County of Perquimans, ye 25^th to ye 26^th of ye 5^th mo. 1754.

To Friends at New Garden in Capefair: -

Dear Friends: These are to inform you that your request of having a Monthly Meeting settled among you, was laid before this meeting, and Friends having weightily considered thereof, unanimously agreed to grant your request. Signed on behalf, and by order of, our aforesaid meeting by Joseph Ratliff, Clerk."

A list of the names of some of the men embraced in the original membership of New Garden Monthly Meeting includes

Thomas Beals

Binjamin Beeson, near Deep River

Wm. Beeson

Abraham Cook

Daniel Dillon

Eleazar Hunt

William Hunt

Mordecai Mendenhal, near Deep River

John Mills

Henry Mills

Hur Mills

Thomas Mills

Benjamin Rudduck

John Rudduck

Thos. Thornbrugh (appointed first clerk)

Thomas Vestal

Richard Williams

Among those who became members by the presentation of certificates during the first few months were

James Brown

William Smith, wife and children

Richard Beeson and wife

George Hyatt

Isaac Cox and wife

Anthony Hoggatt and wife

Benjamin Britain

Joseph Unthank, wife and children

Samuel Pearson, wife and children

Nathan Dicks

Zacharias Dicks

Peter Dicks, wife and children

Isaac Pidgeon

Joseph Hoggatt

Robert Hodgson

Hanuel Edwards

George Hodgson

were received in membership by request.

The following account of the early history of New Garden Meeting is abstracted from "Southern Quakers and Slavery", page 104-108:

"Of the settlers who formed the New Garden meetings the first to arrive were doubtless the immigrants from Pennsylvania by way of Maryland. They brought the name with them from Pennsylvania. It has always been a characteristic of Quakers to reproduce the names of the sections with which they have been associated in former years. Many English Quaker names are reproduced in America. There is a New Garden and a Springfield in Pennsylvania. They were carried thence to North Carolina, and from there, in turn , to Indiana." (Dr. Albert Cook Myers, in "Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania", says that New Garden Meeting in Pennsylvania was named in remembrance of New Garden Meeting in County Carlow, Ireland.)

"The first settlement at New Garden was about 1750. In 1751 a meeting for worship was granted by Cane Creek Monthly Meeting. For the next three years the monthly meeting circulated between Cane Creek and New Garden. The settlement must have grown rapidly, for New Garden Monthly Meeting was set up in 1754. It was destined to become the most important meeting in the State, and was the mother of many others. In the first year, 1754, we have settlers coming in from Pennsylvania, from Hopewell and Fairfax meetings, Virginia. During 1755 nine certificates were received, representing Pennsylvania and Virginia only. According to the official minutes, which note all certificates received, there were brought in during the sixteen years, 1754-70, inclusive, eighty-six certificates in all. Of these forty-five came from Pennsylvania, thirty-five from Virginia, one from Maryland, and four from northeastern North Carolina.

"The New Garden settlers were soon to be reinforced by other immigrants who also came from old Quaker stock. These were the settlers from Nantucket Island, Mass. This movement began in 1771, and Libni Coffin was the first Nantucket man to arrive at New Garden. During the period of five years from 1771 to 1775 there were forty-one certificates recorded at New Garden Monthly Meeting from Nantucket out of a total of fifty certificates received."

Migration from the northward stopped suddenly at the outbreak of the Revolution. From that time the meeting were kept up by natural increase, not by new arrivals. About the end of the eighteenth century there began the great migration to the Middle West which sapped the strength of all North Carolina meetings and ended the existence of many. New Garden contributed in large numbers to the movement but had sufficient vitality to withstand the losses in membership.

The birth, death and marriage records of New Garden Monthly Meeting are in two volumes, designated as I and II. In the following abstract, page numbers without volume indication refer to records in volume I; page numbers followed by the figure 2, refer to records in volume II. The men’s minutes herein abstracted extend from 1754 to 1888; the women’s minutes from 1790 to 1878. The women’s minutes prior to 1790 were destroyed "when the house of Prudence Williams was laid waste by fire."