It is easy to forget that back in the day one of the most prominent faiths on the Eastern Shore during the 17th Century was the Society of Friends or Quakers. It is true that the Church of England, later known as the Episcopal Church, would later become the official religion of Maryland at the end of that century; the Society of Friends had already well established themselves in Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot Counties.
A case in point was the Chester River Meeting House, which formed in approximately 1668 and began to thrive after the famed English Quaker, George Fox, traveled to the Eastern Shore in early 1671 to promote this novel new faith. And over time, Chestertown and Easton became active Meeting Houses (churches) with large memberships with a significant influence on government and society.
So when the Spy learned recently that the Chester River Meeting had decided to leave its beloved building just off Philosophers Terrace in Chestertown, there was concern that this once great faith was facing a possible extinction after serving the region for almost four centuries.
Luckily, as we learned with our Spy interview with Nina Fleegle, the Chester River Friends Meeting clerk, that Quakers of Kent County remain alive and living well. While it is true that the Friends needed to find a more affordable location for their weekly gathering and were welcomed with open arms by the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown for that purpose, the Quaker tradition remains as strong as ever on the Eastern Shore.
In our chat, Nina gives us an interesting overview of the Friends history in the region and explains how the Quaker approach to faith and spirituality is again gaining traction as individuals seek out the ability to experience the light within or see “that of God in everyone.”
This video is approximately ten minutes in length. For more information about Chester River Meeting House please go here. For information about the Tred Avon Meeting House please go here.
Hugh Silcox says
I attended Chester River Meeting (actually before there was even such a named entity) in the mid- to late 70s. We met at the Alumni House (at least once I was drafted to climb in a window when the key was unavailable…). My wife and I were married in the Meeting in 1977 (in what I was told was the first Friends marriage in Kent County since the turn of the century). I’m not at all sure that any of the Founders remain. But I have many loving memories of Joe Whitehill, Al and Anne Briggs, Melda Shannon, and many others. I eventually joined the Society of Friends … but later left the Society, after I moved out of Chestertown and found sustaining my membership too difficult. Today, I am “unchurched,” but have always felt that, if/when I ever felt the need to associate with a religious community, it would be with Friends.
I’m happy to hear the Meeting continues to thrive. It does sadden me that the Meeting is leaving its Meetinghouse, though.
Judith Hughes says
Excellent news! The Quaker approach to faith and spirituality, “To see God in everyone” is a most valuable theology/philosophy. Thanks to the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown for offering a safe home for the Quaker theology and tradition.
M.Q. Fallaw says
Everything I know about the history of Society of Friends in Kent Co. (from the late 17th century to the mid-20th century) I gleaned from a gold mine of a book while I was doing research in the early 1980s for the Kent Co. Historic Sites Survey: Quakerism on the Eastern Shore, by Kenneth Carroll, published in 1970 by the Maryland Historical Society. I passed on pertinent info to several members of the modern-day Chester River Meeting, which serendipitously had already chosen in the 1970s the name of a very early Kent Co. meeting in Quaker Neck. Until then, the book and its local info seemed unknown to members. Washington College’s library has a copy, and at least some other Maryland college/university libraries may also. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be available online.
The Talbot Co. Public Library undoubtedly has a copy as Carroll was a native of Talbot and returned to live (and continue his historical and genealogical research) there after retiring in 1986 as a professor at SMU. I don’t know whether he (or anyone else) has unearthed additional info since then about Quakerism in Kent Co. and the surrounding area.
Courtesy of Google, I was quite surprised to learn that Carroll died in Easton in early 2021, at 96 years of age. You might find his obituary interesting, as I did. He seems to have been a remarkable person.
https://www.fhnfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Kenneth-Carroll-6/#!/Obituary