Quaker Meeting House Pictures

This page contains pictures and descriptions of the Quaker Meeting Houses I've visited and photographed. These places of worship have a special interest for me, since many of my ancestors were Quakers. As I visit more Meeting Houses, I'll be adding to this collection.

Haddonfield Meeting House

Haddonfield, New Jersey

This is a picture of the Meeting House at Haddonfield. That is where my ancestor Ebenezer Hopkins came to live with his aunt Elizabeth Haddon Estaugh when he was five. This meeting house was built by the Orthodox Friends in 1851, after the separation from the Hicksite Friends. In 1952 the two reunited and continue to worship in this building. The Meeting House is seen from the burying ground.

Waynesville, Ohio

Waynesville Meeting House

This is the Meeting that Hezekiah Hopkins and his family attended after they moved to Warren County, Ohio in 1820. They lived in Waynesville for a time, but after Hezekiah's death in 1823 most of the family moved to Clear Creek township near Springboro. I searched the burying ground for Hezekiah's marker, but didn't find one. A number of them had been removed to the borders of the ground. He may not have had one anyway, since Quakers thought it vain to erect burial monuments.

Meeting House in Pioneer Village

This is the Caesars Creek Meeting House. It was brought to this "Village" as part of a re-creation of early-day Ohio life. It and the houses and stores in the village are original buildings, but were located in a variety of places before their relocation. Note the two doors for entry; these allowed entry to the building when it was divided by a temporary partition so that separate men's and women's business meetings could be held. The sign in front says that the Caesars Creek meeting was set off in 1805.

Richmond, Indiana

Meeting House in Richmond, Indiana

This Meeting House is located in Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana. One of the earliest Quaker Meetings in Indiana, Whitewater, was held in Richmond. It was to this meeting that the Hopkinses and other settlers in Camden, later Pennville, took their certificates of removal, and where their birth, marriage, and death records were recorded. The meeting in Camden was subordinate to Whitewater, and sent delegates to its Quarterly meetings.

Levi Coffin House

Although not a Meeting House, this building played an important role in Indiana Quaker history. It was the home of Levi Coffin, and is located in Fountain City, just north of Richmond. Coffin was one of the leaders of the Indiana Quaker movement to end slavery. His house was one of the stations on the Underground Railroad, which helped escaping slaves reach freedom.

Gwynedd, Pennsylvania

Gwynedd Meeting House

Gwynedd Meeting was founded by Welsh Quakers in 1699. A log house was built for holding meetings in 1700, and a stone house was built in 1712. This Meeting House was built in 1823. Among the surnames in the records of this meeting are Boone, Hanks, Lincoln, and Luken(s). I found grave markers for George, Esther, Jonathan, and Elizabeth Luken(s) in the burying ground.

Gwynedd Meeting House Interior

Easton, Maryland

Third Haven Meeting House Interior

This is the meeting that John Edmondson and his family attended. His house was nearby on Tred Avon creek. This was one of the earliest Meeting Houses on the Eastern Shore, being built in 1684 on land donated by Edmondson. In the burying ground are the remains of some of the early members, including some Hopkinses (I found Samuel and Ann M. Hopkins). That's my son William trying to climb the tree.

Third Haven Meeting House

The interior of the building is built to be divided by a temporary partition so that two separate meetings can be held. The wooden benches are plain and unpainted. While seated in this house a feeling of peace comes over you, unlike that felt in more elaborate churches. It was in this peaceful setting that the Inner Light was most likely to shine.

I took them to their Teacher and left them there. --George Fox

This file was last updated on 7/15/2004.