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Quaker Patriots: the Leadership of Owen Biddle and John Lacey, Jr

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Quaker Patriots: the Leadership of Owen Biddle and John Lacey, Jr Kenneth A. Radbill UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA QUAKER PATRIOTS: THE LEADERSHIP OF OWEN BIDDLE AND JOHN LACEY, JR. T wo CENTURIES ago, the trauma of revolution provided an 1unprecedented crucible for many Americans, testing their inclinations, beliefs, and backgrounds. No group of individuals was more sorely tried than that of the Society of Friends. The Friends, or Quakers as they are commonly called, had experienced serious religious schisms before the Revolution,' but few of their member- ship had questioned the central nonpacifist credo of their particu- lar persuasion until the outbreak of open conflict at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. This dramatic event precipitated a profound crisis within Quaker ranks. Between 1775 and 1783, twenty Monthly Meetings in southeastern Pennsylvania alone,' with a membership of over 8,000, expelled 420 belligerent Friends.3 Residing in the original counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks, the area of the 1. Rufus M. Jones, The Quakers in the American Colonies (New York: Russell and Russell, 1962), pp. 446-458; Gary B. Nash, Quakers and Politics, Pennsylvania, 1681- 1726 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), pp. 146-161, 179-180, 295- 296; Jon Butler, "Gospel Order Improved: The Keithian Schism and the Exercise of Quaker Ministerial Authority in Pennsylvania," William and Mary Quarterly, 21 (July 1974): 431-452. 2. Monthly Meetings formed the second lowest level of four organizational strata within the Society of Friends (Preparative, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly). Functions of the Monthly Meetings included appointing trustees to hold titles to meeting houses and other property, keeping graveyards, supervising marriages, providing aid for the indigent, communicating with other Monthly Meetings, and, most significantly for the nonpacifists, reproving improper conduct of mem- bers. Sidney V. James, A People Among Peoples, Quaker Benevolence in Eighteenth Century America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963), pp. 7-8. 3. In addition, 16 Friends were expelled for joining the British Army, while 15 of the original 420 changed sides in the conflict, were attainted for treason, and had their property confiscated. Monthly Meeting Minutes: (Philadelphia County) Abington (1774-1782, 1782-1797), Gwynedd (1767-1779, 1779-1786), Phila- delphia, Northern District (hereafter referred to as Philadelphia, N.D.) (1772- 47 48 KENNETH A. RADBILL Society of Friends greatest concentration, these recalcitrant indi- viduals violated the basic pacifist precept of their religion by tak- ing up arms in the cause of American independence.4 Two exceptional leaders among these 420 militants were Owen Biddle and John Lacey, Jr. Owen Biddle was a worthy representa- tive of a distinguished Pennsylvania family. His great-grand- father, William Biddle, brought the family to New Jersey in 1681, two years prior to Penn's arrival in Pennsylvania. Owen's grand- father, the second William Biddle (1660-1743), who had immigrated with his parents, became a large landowner and public official. John Biddle, Owen's father, together with his brother William, moved to Philadelphia about 1725, where John prospered as a merchant. 5 Both Owen and his younger brother Clement (1740-1814) held the rank of colonel during the struggle for independence. Clement was Owen's superior for three years as commissary general of for- age in the Continental Army (1777-1780).' Ann Biddle (d. 1807), 1781, 1782-1789), Philadelphia, Southern District (hereafter referred to as Phila- delphia, S.D.) (1772-1780, 1781-1792); (Bucks County) Middletown (1754- 1781), Richland (1767-1786) (microfilm), Friends Historical Library, Swarth- more College, Swarthmore, Pa.; Colonial Records of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg: State Printing Office, 1896), 10: 482-483; Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Resolution (Port Washington: Kennekat Press, 1966), 1: 292, 304, 487, 488, 494; 2: 548, 598, 600; Jack D. Marietta, "A Note on Quaker Membership," Quaker History, 59 (Spring 1970): 42. Unfortunately, these mem- bership figures are for 1760, not 1775-83. 4. A study has already been made to assess the possible motivations of these combatants, and the conclusions favored patriotism as a prime motive, while their economic and social backgrounds revealed little that would induce them to violate the salient pacifist belief of their faith. Kenneth A. Radbill, "Socioeconomic Background of Nonpacifist Quakers during the American Revolution" (Ph.D. diss., University of Arizona, 1971). This study does not include those Friends who were disowned for holding office in the revolutionary government in Penn- sylvania or for taking the mandatory oath of affirmation and allegiance to that government, nor does it include those who served in the revolutionary forces as noncombatants (driving supply wagons, repairing gun carriages, etc.). A complete description and statistical breakdown of these individuals is given in Arthur J. Mckeel, "Quakers in the American Revolution," (Ph.D. diss., Harvard Univer- sity, 1939). 5. Paul A. Gay, Genealogy of the Biddle Family, (Philadelphia, Pa.: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1933); William W. Hinshaw, American Quaker Genealogies (Philadelphia and Falls Monthly Meetings), (Richmond, Ind.: Friends Book and Supply House, 1936), 2: 337, 464-465; John Biddle, Letters, 1744, 1751, Biddle MSS, Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa. 6. Gay, Genealogy of the Biddle Family; Hinshaw, American Quaker Genealogies, 2: 337, 464-465; Owen Biddle Letter Book, 1775-1780, Biddle Mss, Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.; Free Quaker Records, American QUAKER PATRIOTS 49 Owen's youngest sister, married the infamous General James Wil- kinson, Aaron Burr's machiavellian associate. Owen's younger cousin, Charles Biddle (1745-1821), served as a major in the Con- tinental Army. Another of Owen's cousins, Charles' younger brother, Nicholas (1750-1778), was captain of the ill-fated frigate Randolph, lost at sea in 1778 after a fierce engagement with the British frigate Yarmouth.7 Perhaps the best known member of the large Biddle clan was the second Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844), Charles Biddle's third son, who, as the President of the Second Bank of the United States (1823-1836), fought the long, disastrous "Bank War" against President Andrew Jackson.' Owen, the eldest of five children, was born in 1737. After eight years of formal education, he remained in Philadelphia and took up the trade of watchmaker. In 1760, he married Sarah Parke of nearby Downingtown, and within two decades, fathered ten chil- dren. Several years before the Revolution, Owen ventured into the shipping trade, but fared badly and was eventually compelled to declare bankruptcy.9 Fortunately, Biddle's political and military endeavors met with greater success. Owen was evidently attuned to the political events of his time, and did not hesitate to act when he felt that the situa- tion justified radical measures. His political activism was evident as early as 1765 when he became one of the original signers of the non-importation resolutions, drawn up in retaliation against the hated Stamp Act. In January 1775, he was a delegate to the Pro- vincial Conference, a radical convention convened in Pennsyl- vania to consider the necessity of independence from Great Britain. Biddle's extremist politics and persistent activity as a colonel in the militia ultimately resulted in his expulsion from the Phila- delphia Monthly Meeting on 26 October 1775, after confronting his Philosophical Society Records, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pa.; Mekeel, "Quakers in the American Revolution," p. 273; Charles Wetherill, History of the Free Quakers (Philadelphia: By the author, 1894), p. 19. 7. Gay, Genealogy of the Biddle Family; Monthly Meeting Minutes: Philadelphia, S.D. (1772-1780), pp. 231, 239, 242-243; Ann Biddle to John Biddle, September 1842, Biddle Mss, Friends Historical Library; Henry D. Biddle, "Owen Biddle," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 16 (January 1892): 299-309; James R. Jacobs, Tarnished Warrior, Major GeneralJames Wilkinson (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1938), pp. 53, 59-60. 8. Gay, Genealogy of the Biddle Family. 9. Ibid.; Ann Biddle to John Biddle, September 1842; Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia), 19: 242. 52 KENNETH A. RADBILL him."8 The sense of duty that Owen and Clement felt toward the tattered army and struggling nation during those disheartening years was briefly expressed in a letter from Clement, written at Morristown, New Jersey, on 5 May 1777. "My presence here is necessary," he declared. "I will never quit with Dishonour and am ready to render any Service which my Country may require of me. Ad14 Unfortunately, the tribulations of Owen Biddle's private life persisted concurrently with those of his public career. The British razed his fine country residence, Peel Hall, during their occupa- tion of Philadelphia in 1777-1778. When his creditors finally seized most of his worldly possessions to pay some of his numerous debts, Owen felt compelled to ask his eldest son John to give up his legal study in order to work behind the counter of a small drug- store to help support his many siblings. Biddle, in fact, was unable to fulfill all of his financial obligations until shortly before his death on 10 March 1799.15 It was during these severe personal trials that Owen decided to rejoin his orthodox Meeting. He submitted his acknowledge- ment-a written statement of error-on 29 May
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