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Home , Thomas Mifflin, Warner Mifflin

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he was growing up. For those under the impression that the American movement to abolish slavery began in When Mifflin was about fourteen, he was in the the 1830s, it may come as a surprise to learn that field when one of the young men enslaved and there was an earlier anti-slavery movement dur- "raised in the family" asked him, as Mifflin related, ing the eighteenth century. What may be equally "Whether I thought it could be right, that they surprising to Delawareans is that one of the most should be toiling to raise me, and I sent to school, vigorous opponents of slavery and the oppression and by and by their children must do so for mine of African Americans during the founding era was also?" Mifflin described his initial reaction to this a Quaker, Warner Mifflin. Mifflin, a sec- questioning as "some little irritation." But it was ond cousin to the American General and an irritation which would yield a pearl, for he governor Thomas Mifflin, labored found that the reasoning of the young African for the liberty of African Americans by peaceful American so impressed him "as never to be means. As an elder of the Society of Friends erased." Before he arrived at manhood, Mifflin (), he lobbied the legislatures of determined that he would never be a slave holder. Delaware, , , and Despite this early plan, after moving to Kent Pennsylvania, and also the US Congress on more County, Delaware around the time of his marriage than one occasion. The successes and failures of in 1767, Mifflin became a slave holder more by Mifflin's anti-slavery efforts provide a valuable circumstance than design. Because he had not insight into how Delaware and the country grap- actively purchased slaves, but had received them pled with the issue of slavery during the founding through marriage, inheritance, and the movement era. of enslaved individuals who preferred to work for During the Eighteenth Century several leading him in Delaware rather than stay in Virginia political, religious and other figures gave condi- working for his father, Mifflin found ways to self tional support for the abolition of slavery, almost justify his remaining a slave holder despite both always advocating gradual abolition. In many his personal conviction and the rising pressure cases, this support amounted to little more than from the Society of Friends, which rejected slave lip service. However, Mifflin gave most of his holding on a religious and moral basis. adult life in both time and other resources to the In 1774 as war with Great Britain appeared anti-slavery cause, and the assistance of both imminent, Mifflin's conflict of soul as a slave hold- enslaved and free African Americans, calling this er was intensified by a series of illnesses giving service no more than his duty. Though Mifflin him pause to seriously reflect on continuedhis spiritual on page con- 2 assured and others that he dition. "After some time debating, resolving and was promoting a gradual abolition of slavery, he re-resolving,"In this issue: he experienced a dramatic conver- insisted that the passage and implementation of sionw Warner like Saul Mifflin: on A theFounding road Father to Damascus. of Abolition n While such a plan should be done immediately. by Michael R. McDowell Ð Page 1 Mifflin was born on August 21, 1745, to Daniel w Jehu Hollingsworth: Prisoner of Conscience Amidst the and Mary Mifflin in Accomack County, on the by Kim Burdick, MA, MPA Ð Page 5 shore of Chincoteague Bay in Virginia. Since he was the oldest child, his first playmates were like- w Upcoming Events Ð Page 7 ly the several black children enslaved by his fami- ly. On most Virginia plantations white and black children played together. Mifflin likely developed the empathy with the enslaved African American he would express so regularly as an adult when

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Sussex County's. Also, the census of 1790 revealed Delaware to have the greatest percentage of free traveling in the midst of a violent thunder storm, blacks of any state, 6.6% of its total population. where every flash seemed as though it might dis- patch him, he realized that he was not ready to In 1782 Mifflin and Quaker John meet his maker while still a slave holder. In Parrish travelled to Blackwater, Virginia, to attend October of 1774 and January of 1775, Mifflin wrote Virginia Yearly Meeting. Mifflin’sFollowing words the were meeting, read far and deeds of manumission for a combined total of as they decided "to move inwide the duringline of his divine lifetime appoint- and after, many as 27 individuals he held in slavery. ment" and join a committeeeven of reaching Virginia President Friends John who presented an anti- Adams. Mifflin himself wrote to Freeing the people he held in Adams scarecely a month before bondage brought Mifflin the his death, and at right is the first peace of mind he sought, but he page of Adams’ reply two years did not rest contented that he later to two abolitionists who had had done all that he regarded as sent him an anti-slavery pamphlet his duty to assist the oppressed by Mifflin, which the president African Americans. Having been says he read “with pleasure.” a justice of the peace prior to the Adams expressed sympathy with American Revolution, Mifflin their views and wished them brought legal knowledge and “success in your benevolent confidence to his subsequent Endeavors,” but firmly believed efforts for justice for enslaved abolition must be done gradually and free African Americans. His and “with much caution and early efforts to promote the anti- Circumspection,” which was at slavery testimony of the Society odds with the view of ardent abo- of Friends involved meeting with litionists. Friends who were still slave [ to George holders and serving as recorder Churchman and Jacob Lindley, for the Book of Deeds of January 24, 1801 — Collection of Manumission kept by his month- Gilder Lehrman Institute of A ly meeting, as well as holding erican History] meetings with recently freed African Americans to provide support and see how they were faring. By the 1780's, his mission expanded to efforts directed to changing state laws slavery petition to the Virginia assembly in and convincing those outside of the Society of Richmond and lobbied for a law permitting volun- Friends to liberate the enslaved. Among the various tary manumissions. The success of their 19-day legislative initiatives Mifflin pursued were the abo- lobbying effort initiated Mifflin into an anti-slavery lition of the slave trade, the abolition of slavery, lobbying role he would continue in for the remain- laws to facilitate manumissions, and laws against der of his life, in both committee and individual the kidnapping of free blacks. Also, during this efforts. The following year, he joined a committee decade his letters begin to mention visits to his of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) formed to home, about a mile and a half south of present day petition and lobby the to stop Camden, Delaware, by blacks seeking assistance. the resumption of the slave trade following the The frequency of these visits would increase for the War. To the Friends' great regret, rest of his life. Mifflin's background as a former this effort proved unsuccessful. Justice of the Peace undoubtedly made him an In December of 1785, the PYM Meeting for effective advocate for blacks in freedom suits in Sufferings communicated to Wilmington and Duck which he served as Ònext friendÓ or advisor. Creek, the two monthly meetings in Delaware at As a result of the efforts of Mifflin and other the time, a concern for the Africans and their Friends, as well as the Methodists and the small descendants in the government of that state, Quaker-like sect of Nicholites, 74% of Kent observing that: "nothing had ever been done by County's African American population was free by them in laying before the men in power the griev- 1800. This number exceeded the percentage of free ances of this long injured people." Committees blacks in New Castle county, and greatly exceeded were formed at each monthly meeting; however,

Quaker Hill Quill v Su mmer, 2013 Page 3

the Wilmington committee soon learned that Duck had been settled by the Constitutional Convention Creek had already sent a petition to the Meeting until at least 1808. The next day, a third petition for Sufferings in Philadelphia for approval. Mifflin, from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society was pre- who served on the Duck Creek committee, likely sented, signed by its President . took a leading role in composing the petition. One This petition went further, calling for the outright biographer claims that Mifflin was the author of abolition of slavery citing the Constitution's general the petition. The petition was presented by mem- welfare clause. The endorsement of Franklin likely bers of both Wilmington and Duck Creek monthly made certain the serious consideration of the peti- meetings on January 9, 1786, and was one of the tions. Eventually the three petitions were referred first anti-slavery petitions to be presented to the to a select committee of seven, all southern delega- Delaware General Assembly. Although a bill was tions except Virginia having refused to cooperate sent to the house in 1786, it was deferred for fur- with a proposed Ògrand committee.ÓWarner Mifflin was a member of ther consideration. Motherkill Meeting, which was part When the report of theof committee Duck Creek Monthly was presented Meeting in The Quaker petition of 1785 helped lay the the ensuing fierce debatesKent contained, County, Delaware. as historian Motherkill groundwork for another bill, or Murderkill was a name for the which passed in 1787 after area given by the early settlers in almost four weeks of lobbying the region. Kil or kiln is Dutch for by Mifflin. This is considered creek. The Motherkill Meeting was one of the most significant disbanded during the orthodox- pieces of anti-slavery legisla- Hicksite division, and its member- tion to pass in Delaware during ship was absorbed by Camden Mifflin's life time. The law pro- Monthly Meeting. Mifflin was origi- hibited the exportation of nally buried in the burial ground at slaves unless approved by Motherkill Meeting, but his remains and grave stone now reside at three justices, and barred the Camden Monthly Meeting Burial importation of slaves into the Ground. The Motherkill property state. It also did away with a was later sold. Though the burial 60£ security requirement for ground remains intact some graves manumissions of any healthy were moved to Camden Meeting. enslaved person between 18 [photo Camden Friends Meeting]g. and 35 years of age. The new http://friendsmedia.org/sqm/cam- law helped prevent the den/ breakup of families, and greatly facilitated the rising pace of voluntary manumissions in Delaware. In 1788 Mifflin cofounded one of the two original abolition societies organ- ized in Delaware that year on the model of the Joseph Ellis notes, Òvirtually every argument that recently reorganized Pennsylvania Abolition southern defenders of slavery would mount during Society. One of the societies was based in the next seventy years.Ó When the final committee Wilmington with officers who were predominantly as a whole report was passed it essentially closed Quaker men, and the other was based in Dover the door on the congressional debate of slavery as with a greater representation of non-Quakers in it existed in the South. Furthermore, the slave its leadership. Mifflin was also elected to the trade still could not be prohibited until 1808, only Pennsylvania Abolition Society on January 5, allowing for some regulation of the trade. 1789, and was listed as the President of the In 1792 Mifflin presented a memorial of his own Delaware Society (the Dover based society) at that to the President, Senate and House of time. Representatives of the United States. In it, after On February 11, 1790 Mifflin played a leading reminding them of the solemn covenant of the Declaration of Independence and the words of the role in presenting, with other Friends, a PYM peti- continued on page 4 tion against the slave trade to the first Federal prophet Ezekiel, he challenged them to imagine Congress. At the same time, a similar petition was their feelings if their wives, children, or near rela- presented from Yearly Meeting. tives were subjected to the separations, violence Representatives from the Deep South were and brutality of slavery and the slave trade. South incensed by the petitions, believing the question

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Carolina representative William Loughton Smith a backlash against abolitionism and republicanism. declared Òthe Paper in question is a mere rant and Slave holders in Maryland clamored against him, rhapsody of a meddling fanatic, interlarded with claiming he gave passes to slaves and enticed them texts of Scripture, and concluded with no specific to escape to work for him for cheap, though Mifflin prayer.Ó The House agreed to return the petition; denied such charges. One Maryland critic wrote however a motion to have entry of the petition that Mifflin should be prohibited from coming into expunged from the Journal was rejected. Maryland under pain of being tarred and feathered and conducted to the border of his own state by In response to the harsh rejection of his 1792 the sheriff. memorial, Mifflin, wrote A Serious Expostulation with the Members of the House of Representatives In 1796 Mifflin gave a more extensive answer to of the United States, a pamphlet delivering a stir- his critics with his pamphlet The Defense of ring indictment of nation's involvement in the Warner Mifflin Against Aspersions cast on him on slave trade. In it he answered charges of fanati- Account of his endeavours to promote cism: Òif this is fanaticism, enthusiasm, & c. may Righteousness, Mercy and Peace, among Mankind. the Almighty grant a double portion to what I ever In his Defense, Mifflin provided a good deal of experiencedÉÓ autobiographical material to explain his actions, and to show skeptics that if he could liberate the Several state abolition societies gathered in people he held in bondage so could others. With Philadelphia in 1794 for the first convention of over twenty years of experience and thought on American abolition societies. Their objective was the subject, he provided answers to some of com- to collaborate in the preparation of memorials to mon objections he had heard against freeing the the U.S. Congress and the various state legislatures, enslaved. and to address to the citizens of the United States. Mifflin, who was serving as a delegate of the Warner Mifflin died October 16, 1798. It is said Delaware Society, was appointed to the committee he died after contracting yellow fever while minis- that prepared an address to the Citizens of the tering to the victims of the epidemic in United States, along with Benjamin Rush and Isaac Philadelphia when in the city to attend Yearly H. Starr. The memorial presented to Congress fol- Meeting. He was borne to his grave in the lowing this convention helped bring about the pas- Motherkiln (Murderkill) Meeting burial grounds by sage of An Act to Prohibit the Carrying on of the African Americans, prefiguring a similar act of Slave-Trade from the United States to Any Foreign regard and affection by the African American com- Place or Country. The Slave Trade Act of 1794 was munity following the death of the noted station the first significant Federal law to limit any aspect master of the Underground Railroad, Thomas of the slave trade. Garrett in Wilmington seventy three years later. Mifflin's efforts were noted outside the US. In The poet and abolitionist John GreenleafWhittier Europe, especially in France, Mifflin became the would call Warner Mifflin "one of the truest and personification of the idealized ÒGood Quaker.Ó noblest men of any age or country." However, of Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's French edition of the many tributes and eulogies given to the memo- Letters of an American Farmer presented a roman- ry of Mifflin and his service to the cause of humani- ticized, fictionalized version of Mifflin's life. ty perhaps the most moving and meaningful is that Jacques-Pierre Brissot met Mifflin in 1788, and in of Richard Allen of Philadelphia, the founder of the his book New Travels in the United States he African Methodist Episcopal Church who had for- exclaimed of Mifflin ÒWhat humanity! What chari- merly been enslaved in Kent County, Delaware. In ty! It seems his only pleasure, his very existence, is the year following Mifflin's death Allen wrote, "We to love and serve mankind.Ó Brissot helped found cannot but regret the loss of that great and good France's first abolition society, and was a leader in man Warner Mifflin, ... whose labours and anxiety the beginnings of the French Revolution. In were great for the freedom of our race; who for England abolitionist Thomas Clarkson wrote of many years devoted his time to that service, and Mifflin's leadership in manumissions, and in who has been instrumental in the hands of God, in Germany under the name Walter Mifflin he became liberatingMichael R. hundreds, McDowell isif anot local thousands hisorian, andof the is African the hero of a play by August von Kotzebue called race...Wecurrently working hope that on a every book aboutslave Warnerhe has Mifflin.been instru- The Quaker. mental in freeing, is a star in his garment, and that he will shine unto the perfect day." Mifflin had detractors, too. Fears generated by the revolution of the enslaved in what is now Haiti, and the violence of the French Revolution created

v Quaker Hill Quill Summer, 2013 Page 5 Jehu Hollingsworth: Prisoner of Conscience Amidst the American Revolution by Kim Burdick, MA, MPA

weeks scores of families formed a baggage train Jehu Hollingsworth was born on 27 Oct 1731. stretching along the Reading Road for miles. Jehu He was the son of Enoch Hollingsworth and Joanna Hollingsworth was among them, in spite of Quaker Crowley, and was descended from the prominent admonitions for Friends to stay put. early Brandywine Hundred Quaker, Valentine Hollingsworth. Enoch Hollingsworth's 1752 will states: ÒTo son Jehu my plantation in Kennett, he paying to my daughter Abigail, wife of William Harlan, Jr. £25. ÒExecutor: Brother in law John Chads.Wit: Elianor Pyle, Hannah Thatcher, and Thomas Harlan.Ó On May 20 of that same year Jehu married Ann Pyle by whom he had two children, Samuel Pyle Hollingsworth B: Abt 1753 and Jehu Pyle Hollingsworth b: abt 1754. After Ann Pyles's death in 1779, Jehu married Deborah Phillips, who died 9 (ABOVE) In July of 1777, more than 200 Apr 1793. British warships appeared off Cape Hollingsworth's name appears Henlopen on their way to the colonial capitol of Philadelphia, filling area residents with in Kennett records in 1752, then apprehension and foreboding. The sight again in the early 1760s as a would have appeared something like the landowner along the above painting by Dominic Serres (1719- Brandywine Creek in 1793), which depicts a similar British Naval Wilmington, Delaware on Òa lot invasion of Penobscot Bay in 1779. National of land situate on S side of Maritime Museum, London Brandywine Creek in SD (LEFT) Commanding the fearsome armada was British General Sir William Howe. His Borough.Ó decision to land from the Chesapeake and Except in land records, there avoid the well-defended Delaware River cost him nearly a month due to foul weather, but is little mention of Jehu his strategy confused Washington and the Hollingsworth during the next British triumphed at Chadds Ford. Gen. decade. Howe commanded the British troops that occupied Wilmington in Sept.-Oct., 1777. In July, 1777 things changed. Word filtered upstream that Henry Fisher, a Delaware River pilot and David Hall, Commander of the Delaware Continental Regiment, had spot- ted 228 British war ships off Cape Henlopen. Tired, hungry and discouraged, people gathered Philadelphia, the rebel capital, was their goal. at The White Swan, the Grape, and other taverns Unpredictably, the British fleet changed its course for food and lodging. In a short time every vacant and on the morning of July 2 headed for the room in the borough was taken and people went Chesapeake Bay. to outlying farms. Those who couldcontinued not find on beds page 6 Uncertainty caused tension. Delaware merchants camped on the Commons. Lancaster natives faced began sending their goods to Chester County for with the potential dangers an ever-growing num- safekeeping. Many local residents fled northwest- ber of refugees might represent were over- ward, seeking refuge in the Lancaster area. For

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no opportunity of sending it to him, have now pro- duced it here and it was read and approved. They are desired to sign it and forward it by the first whelmed and frightened. convenient opportunity, a copy thereof here fol- On September 3 as the sounds of the Battle of lowsÉ [Swarthmore] Cooch's Bridge echoed across the fields that after- The Continental Congress fled Philadelphia for noon, Delawareans received a frightening message Lancaster on September 25 and tension mounted. from Philadelphia. ÒThe Gentlemen of the Board of Less than a month later, the British occupying WarÓ had put out a warrant for the arrest of thirty- forces headed to Philadelphia, leaving a trauma- six men. Twenty well-respected Philadelphia tized New Castle County behind them. Friends suspected of Loyalist leanings had been imprisoned without a hearing. ÒThe City of 11/17/1777. Ten Friends met. A letter being Brotherly LoveÓ was no received by the friends who wrote to him and a longer a safe haven for copy of the mittimus Quakers. These enclosed therein. After Philadelphia men were sub- consideration of Jehu sequently exiled to Hollingsworth's ease, Winchester, Virginia. where William Marshall, Daniel they remained until April Byrnes and David Ferris 1778. are appointed to attend the next monthly meeting On September 12, the of Sadsbury and consult British having been victori- about doing something ous at Chadds Ford, entered for his help and release- Wilmington, occupying the ment, and proceed as City until the middle of truth may point out; October. either in visiting Jehu or The Wilmington Friends otherwise. [Swarthmore] discovered that Jehu From December until Hollingsworth had been May, 1778 although imprisoned in the Lancaster Wilmington was occupied jail on September 18 for Loyalists who favored the King over revolution were subject to allby Maryland and refusing to comply with the manner of mistreatment, from tarring and feathering to confisca- Delaware troops of the Test Act, which required tion of property, imprisonment and even death, and great numbers went into permanent exile in Canada. But Quakers like Jehu under swearing an oath to the Hollingsworth, who refused to swear an oath of loyalty for purely General Smallwood the patriot cause. religious reasons, and even offering to solemny affirm their loyalty Quakers and other resi- in place of swearing an oath, were treated the same as loyalists, dents of Wilming on Allegiance was not the and endured similar treatment regardless of their sympathies. issue, oaths were the issue. tried to calmly go Oath taking involves swear- about their business. ing to the truthfulness of Throughout that long one's words and intentions, winter, Daniel Byrnes which implies that one and his committee might not be truthful unless traveled on behalf of taking an oath. When they refused to sign the the Friends, back and forth from White Clay to required oaths of allegiance to the United States, Wilmington to Lancaster and beyond, crossing and pacifists were fined, imprisoned, and condemned recrossing lines, mindful that they could be blamed as Loyalists and traitors.* for being spies. Like other Quakers, his faith and the Scriptures 01/01/ 1778, Daniel Byrnes reported to had taught Jehu Hollingsworth to Òswear not at Committee for Sufferings that the Committee had all.Ó Instead he insisted that his word-an affirma- attended Sadsbury Monthly Meeting and had dis- tion-was sufficient. covered from them that although Jehu Hollingsworth appeared to be OK that there was * Today,9/27/1777. many jurisdictions, Wilmington including Pennsylvania Friends and Delaware, Meeting. do accept affirma- continued on page 8 tion as an equal alternative to swearing an oath for all legal purposes. no probability of his being released from Lancaster Eleven friends met being all the committee except Jail. Informed that the Western Quarterly Meeting Daniel Byrnes. The Friends appointed to write to in cases of Suffering was to meet next Second Day,. Jehu Hollingsworth having wrote a letter but had Byrnes, William Marshall and Robert Johnson were

Qu ak er Hill Quill v Summe r, 2013 Page 7 Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundationn Upcoming Quaker Hill Events Three Underground Railroad Workshops for Children Honorary Board Edward Asner Lloyd S. Casson, M. Div Reuben Greenberg, M.A. Nathan Hill Carter L. Hudgins, Ph.D. The Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation offers three, Thomas F. Schutte, Ph.D. free Underground Railroad workshops for children at 10:00 a.m. Louis Stokes, J.D., M.C. on certain Saturdays in January and February, 2014 at the Wilmington Friends Meeting at 401 N. West Street, Wilm., DE. Advisory Board The first workshop, presented by Patricia Lewis and Mia David Ames, Ph.D. Muratori on January 5, 2014, features a story about Thomas Barbara Benson, Ph.D. Garrett, stationmaster on the Underground Rairoad; art about the Daniel E. Bockover Underground Railroad; and refreshments. Paula Si. Chadis, M.A. The second workshop, presented by Darleen Amobi on James C. Curtis, Ph.D. February 2, 2014, will feature the story of Henry Box Brown, James McC. Geddes, Ph.D. both read aloud and on video; a re-enactment by Willis Phelps of Carol Hoffecker, Ph.D. the life and times of a Civil WarUp Fromveteran; Slavery a visit to the grave of Patricia P. Lewis TheThomas programs Garrett; are and free refreshments. and open to the public. For more informa- Sonia Marin, M.A. tion, call Mary Starkweather-White at (302) 299-5600. Timothy J. Mullin The third workshop, presented by Darlene Bonney on Feb. 23, Barry Schnoll 2014,Recent will featureEvent: a QHNA/QHHFP story about Harriet Picnic Beecher June Stowe, 5, 2013 author of Uncle TomÕs Cabin; the film ; and refreshments. Earl M. White, M.A., M.S.W. Francis X. Tannian, Ph.D. Directors President Bayard Marin, J.D., Ph.D. A wonderful picnic with about 40 participants was held by the Quaker Hill Neighborhood Association in conjunction with the Vice President Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation on the grounds of Carol Clapham Wilmington Friends Meeting on June 5, 2013! Two distinguished Secretary Quaker Hill residents past and present, Former Mayor Jim Baker and Sean Reilly, were presented with the Thomas Garrett Award Evelyn Brownlee Humanitarian Award for service to Quaker Hill. While we In Memoriam: Carolyn Mendenhall (Lynch) Board Members enjoyed the festivities, Professional Singer Sean Reilly graced James Bierbaum the eventQHHPF by singing is sorry Frank to announce Sinatra songs! the death The whole of Carolyn wonderful E. Evelyn Brownlee eventMendenhall was televised! (Lynch) on April 30, 2013. Carolyn was a George Callahan staff guide at Winterthur Museum for over 50 years and Carol Clapham a descendent of Rachel Mendenhall Garrett, beloved wife Curtis Clapham of Underground Railroad Stationmaster Thomas Garrett. Carolyn will be sorely missed by all who knew her. John Kurth Thomas McGivney Terence Maguire Support Quaker Hill Cassandra Marshall Priscilla Rakestraw Support QHHPF Lisa Samson Consider Becoming A MemberÑAs a Member you will Robert Seeley receive many benefits, including invitations to lectures, Norma Zumsteg workshops, and social events, and the satisfaction of know- Executive Director ing you are helping QHHPF be a strong voice for preserva- Mary Starkweather-White tion as a means to enhance the economic and cultural Quaker Hill Quill published quarterly health of the city . For more information, go to www.quak- ©2013 Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation erhillhistoric.org & click on Òbecome a memberÓ 521 N. West St., Wilmington, DE 19801 Make a DonationÑSend a check made out QHHPF to: Mary Starkweather-White, Executive Editor Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation Jim Bierbaum, Editor 521 N. West Street Wilmington, DE 19801

v Page 8 Quaker Hill Quill Summe r, 2013 Jehu Hollingsworth continued from page 6

in Pennsylvania, this must have been sickening news. appointed to travel there in the expectation they Economic conditions worsened before they might hear more about Jehu Hollingsworth. improved. Hard times in the lower Delaware [Swarthmore] Valley lasted through 1779. Farmers, millers and 02/26/1778. The Wilmington Monthly Meeting merchants faced limited international trade, har- decided unanimously that the Friends ought to be vest failure, labor shortages, depreciated currency careful not to contribute any means to the support and inflated prices. of the present commotion and confusions either by One way to increase revenue was to put more paying taxes or otherwise. [Swarthmore] pressure on the passive resisters. The Book of Henry Drinker Collection at Haverford shows Sufferings shows increased activity. In March, that on Ò4 mo. 3, 1778 to 4 mo. 22, 1778 Elizabeth 1780 Jehu Hollingsworth's name once more Drinker, wife of one of the Philadelphia Quakers appears: Ò From Jehu Hollingsworth demanded imprisoned in Winchester, Virginia went with 100 pounds for war and other taxes: leather worth Susanna Jones, Mary Pleasants, and Phebe 2.8.0, and by Robert Stewart collector in York Pemberton to Lancaster. She reported they talked County demand 117 pounds for war tax, two to the President and Council of Pa. and that their cows.Ó [Swarthmore] husbands were to be brought to Lancaster area ByKimberly 1784, Burdick,the War MA,was MPA,over isand Curator most of the Hale-sol- and released. Those men arrived in Lancaster on diersByrnes were House home. in Newark, Jehu Hollingsworth Del. If anyone hasfaded addition- from April 24. It appears that Jehu Hollingsworth was theal information scene. He diedKim wouldin 1819 be and glad is to buried hear from in Friends not yet released from the Lancaster jail. Burialyou. Please Ground e-mail at Old her Kennett.at On July 1, 1778 a test oath of all white males in [email protected]. Delaware went into effect with property being seized Quakerfrom those Hill who Historic did not favor Preservation independence. Foundation For Jehu521 Hollingsworth, N. West St. finally released from Lancaster jail for refusing to swear this same oath Wilmington, DE 19801 (302)655-2500 www.quakerhillhistoric.org [email protected]

In this issue: w Warner Mifflin: A Founding Father of Abolition n by Michael R. McDowell Ð Page 1 w Jehu Hollingsworth: Prisoner of Conscience Amidst the American Revolution by Kim Burdick, MA, MPA Ð Page 5 w Upcoming Events Ð Page 7