My Quaker Family Tree

A brief background of the Society of 'Friends'

Quakers were an "odd little sect" that arose in northern England amidst the turmoil of their Civil War between (1) the basically middle class "puritans" of the cities and towns, and (2) the more aristocratic old-line liturgical "cavaliers" loyal to the Stuart royalty.

The founder, George Fox, wanted a way to worship God in the tranquil simplicity of the gospel, with a far more complete reliance on the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers than what the main Established Church allowed. It was not easy going at first. He explained, "My relations were much troubled at me that I would not go with them to hear the priest; for I would get into the orchard or the fields with my Bible by myself." As the movement spread, the leading of the Divine Light prompted Quakers to act in ways that got them in even deeper trouble. They refused to bow before important dignitaries, clergy, lords, prelates, even the king himself. Only God was worthy of worship. They "thou'd" even the high and well-born, those of wealth and status. They left hat on, and refused to bow, even before the lords temporal and religious.

Whence the name, "Quaker"? Having called themselves simply "friends" - reminiscent of the name given Abraham of old, the "friend of God" - the novel nickname Quaker was clearly not intended as a compliment. Perhaps the likeliest explanation is that the "Quaker" tag was suggested by "their trembling or excitement when gripped by religious ecstasy." (says Daniel L. Edwards). If such is correct, they early on took pains to make sure the only source for such manifestations of worship could only be Divine.

Possibly in reaction to the negative rumors, they aimed to speak but little, the better thereby to "listen" to the Spirit of the Divine within. Well might have been said of them the words of Juvenal, Raro sermo illis, et magna libido tacendi. (Seldom do they speak, and much prefer silence.) Virtually devoid of dogma and theology, their focus was on "living" the virtue they espoused. Thus, they obsessed with "practicing" and ethics in this world, in the here-and-now. Simple, unadorned personal integrity outranked religious doctrine by a vast margin, in the Quaker view.

England was ripe for such a radical faith, with such a spare theology but powerful in their life of conviction, courage in the face of intimidation, and simple trust in the values they deemed Infinite in duration. In the large cities, including London, Quakers found their reputation for simplicity and plainness and utter honesty, while alienating them socially from Puritans as well as Cavliers, actually enhanced their standing in business. Quakers were sought out for their integrity. Their word was their bond.

Moneylending (one on one) evolved into banking almost like we know today, and it is said that four out of five of the Banks coming into existence in England of the 17th century were of Quaker origin, including Barclay's, Lloyds, and ... (Can someone help on this?) They came to be known far and wide for their rock solid integrity and honesty. A people willing to suffer beatings, persecution, imprisonment, fines, even exile for their scruples of conscience stood out like a sore thumb. Refusing to take oaths, their simple objective, so central to their entire lives, was to let their yea be yea. To tell the truth absolutely, to keep their word at all costs. Fiat justitia, ruat coelum.

In America, the first Quakers were in southern Massachusetts, descendants of Pilgrims (otherwise known as Brownists, or separatists, and related to the earliest baptists of Gainsborough, near Scrooby). The Puritan authorities of Boston did not emulate the benign tolerance that Cromwell had extended to Quakers. Rather, they persecuted them mercilessly, and many Quakers fled to Rhode Island (or Long Island) in an effort to escape the religious oppression. It is said that by the time of the American Revolution, the majority sect in Rhode Island was Quaker.

Cromwell had enforced a religious toleration (but alas not to Catholics), officially welcoming Jews back to England, and protecting Fox's followers - the Quakers. But in 1660, he died, the Stuart King was brought back (Restoration), and a period of bitter persecution began. Quakers were whipped, tortured, imprisoned without trial, deprived of possessions, and many sought relief in exile. Then, in 1680, the King granted William Penn a colony - Pennsylvania - which immediately became a haven for the Welsh (and other) Quakers, and later for the oppressed of any religion. Penn's Welsh Barony.

In America, as in England, Quakers seem to have been drawn, despite the commercial or capitalist success many Quakers achieved, to positions and ideals on behalf of the weak, or oppressed, or needy. The history of social progress is filled with Quaker contributions, from the campaigns for fairer treatment of indians, to prison reform, to more humane conditions for the mentally ill, to women's rights, to abolitionism, to movements, time and again, promoting peace between nations: the "Peace Testimony" of Friends.

The early American psychologist and philosopher of religion, William James, said of the Quakers that they are a sect "almost impossible to over-praise," so significant have been their achievements in this world, on this earth. Far from being a "pie in the sky" religion whose manner of coping with the world's troubles is escapism -- or a cosmology that Marx might call an "opium" to numb believers' awareness, Quakers seemed time and again to plunge right into the issues, and to seek, as they were able, to come up with solutions (however unpopular with those who had never mulled the issues.)

The list of famous Quakers would fill a book. Numerous presidents have Quakerly antecedents in their roots, some have considerable (recent) Quaker heritage, including Hoover and Nixon. And while the president and vice president of the Confederacy were named after Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, Lincoln was named after his Quaker grandfather Abraham, a name that seemed to embarass him. Nevertheless, the famous Lincoln beard is a "Quaker beard" -- that is, a simple, biblical beard with only the hair of the upper lip kept shaved.

The list of Quaker activists in the social realm is very extensive. I mention only Angelina Grimké in the 19th century, and Bayard Rustin in the 20th. The indirect impact of Quakerism is also immense, viz. the Doukhobors (called Russian Quakers); the anabaptists (called German Quakers); Leo Tolstoy, profoundly influenced by Quaker pacifism and social thought; Gandhi, who was a disciple of Tolstoy; Martin Luther King, a philosophical heir of both Tolstoy and Gandhi, and through them of the Quakers. And finally, the Jehovah's Witness sect of twentieth century American origin, dogmatically quite divergent from the historic Quaker ethos, but in many ways very consistent with the core spirit of Quaker social values and pacifism.

John 5 : 39

Table of Contents

The ancestry report uses 'Ahnentafel' numbering. This means that the numbers for a person's parents will be twice as large as that person's number. For example, if a woman's number is 15, her father will be number 30, and her mother will be 31. Her child will be number 7.

• Ray Maris - trying to connect our Maris roots
• Langston Hughes - our splendid blended heritage
• Black Quakers - noted African American Friends
• Black Quakers - research aids into this part of history
• Heritage Quest (black genealogy) - review by Afrigeneas
• Quakers in American history - and some famous friends
• Cyndi's List - cyberspace Quaker genealogical directory
• Bill Samuel's Suite 101 - Quaker Research Links Galore
• Jerry Richmond's Collection - significant early Quaker lines
• Joanne Todd Rabun's RootsWeb - Quaker Roots Extravaganza
• William Wade Hinshaw - How to use this resource

         

Every man is a descendant of every king and every slave that ever lived.
Kahlil Gibran once wrote:

"Every man is a descendant of every king and every slave that ever lived." Obviously from a genealogy standpoint, such a claim is a bit too sweeping. But as a genealogist with a poetic bent, I love Gibran's saying because of the beauty of its expression and because of the truth it embodies. All of us do indeed contain the genes of high and low, rich and poor, and we experience the full range of the inheritance we hold within us. Besides, I really don't think Gibran was all that far off the mark, anyway. fecitque ex uno omne genus hominum inhabitare super universam faciem terrae definiens statuta tempora et terminos habitationis eorum. We are ex uno omne genus. We are all one genus, one race -- the human race (Acts 17:26)

This Quaker Ancestors site contains Maris, Palmerton, Jenkins, Smith, Nichols, Newlin, Rogers (and other Quaker lines). [Previous] [Join] [Index] [Next] [Previous 5] [Random] [Next 5]

   Robert W. SHEPHERD    P. O. Box 1388    Cottonwood, CA 96022

This web site produced 12 Apr 2001 by Personal Ancestral File,
a product of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.