Table of Contents the Quakers of East Fairhope �� 3

Page 1 Table of Contents The Quakers of East Fairhope �� 3 The Age Of Comic Books & Business Training �� 6 Philip Barton Key and the Battle of the Village on the East- ern Shore in 1781 �� 9 Alabama Lighthouses and the Civil War �� 18 Index�� 25 The Quakers of East Fairhope Submitted by: Frank Laraway Up until about 1950, the majority of the Single Tax lands east of Greeno Road (Highway 98) and especially between Fairhope Avenue (now Highway 48) and Morphy Avenue on the south, was farmed by members of the Religious Society of Friends, better known by the public, as Quakers. Some, but few, of the members of this sect also held leaseholds on the north and south of this area as well as in Fairhope itself. A minority held land east of Highway 181 between Gayfer and Highway 48. These lands were relatively flat, had limited amounts of top soil but were suitable for some types of farming. The Quakers had arrived in this area sometime after 1900. They migrated here, coming mainly from the states of Indiana, Ohio and Iowa. Most of them willingly became Single Taxers. Some came for the colony’s offering of inexpensive land access. Some of them became ardent advocates of Single Tax economic philosophy. This was because it seemed to be in harmony with their own Christian religious ideals. (The Reuben Rockwell family became consistently strong supporters of Single Tax principles.) Almost all of them originally were farmers and continued to be farmers. However, several took up other business occupations and residence even in Fairhope itself. Children achieving better educations later would branch out into other fields. Their Meeting House, (or church as others would think of it), was established on the north side of Fairhope Avenue sometime after 1910. It is located about a mile east of the town, a little east of present day Highway 13. Since they desired that their children be brought up in a certain type of agreeable Christian environment, they established a small one teacher school for children next door to the meeting house. All of the construction work and sometimes the furniture in these two buildings would be produced by this group of Friends. Some families might instead send their children in town to the Organic School. Usually when their children came of high school age, and if they could afford it, they would send them away to Friends boarding schools in Iowa, Ohio, or Indiana. If they became candidates for college level education, they might send them to Quaker colleges in Iowa, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or North Carolina. However, most of the early Friends did not have college degrees. Later, children might or would. They were mostly simple, farming people. Among the family names associated with this community of Friends, were Mendenhall, James, Guindon, Rockwell, Battey, Free, et al. Many or most of these families no longer occupy these leaseholds of east Fairhope for some of the following reasons. Most Friends believed that Christian pacifism is a commandment of Jesus. Thus they attempted to live a life that was free of violence, nor would they utilize violence to accomplish a positive end. Following another commandment of Jesus, they refused to take oaths (“swear not. .”) This generally precluded them from taking government office positions or swearing (they would only “affirm”) to the truth in the courts. Like the Unitarians, they were universally opposed to slavery although in North Carolina, some friends came into ownership of slaves through marriage estates or their spouses. Quaker slave owners there were encouraged by Quaker prophets like John Wolman to release their slaves. Quakers living in the South, who did own slaves, were regularly encouraged by their Page 3 meetings to rid themselves of slave ownership. (If slaves were freed, they were likely to then be picked up by slavers and re-entered into slavery.) Thus Friends at that time advocated the return of slaves to Africa (as did Lincoln also) or their migration to the North and Canada. The so called “Underground Railroads” were established and run by Quakers in the South and northern states like Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Since the Quakers could not overtly support the Union in the Civil War because of their non-violent beliefs, many of their boys fled North to avoid the Confederate conscription. However, some did join the North’s Union Army to fight against slavery. Similar issues concerning their pacifism would later come to plague the east Fairhope colony of Quakers. After the period of slavery, Quakers were sympathetic to the plight of free blacks in the Fairhope colony. Due to their non-violent stance, they were generally passive about racial discrimination. They did not march in protest of the segregation laws that prevailed in Alabama. In their day to day life, however, they were respective of blacks as equals, although their cultures were very different. Special Sunday evening “discussion groups” held in the homes of Quakers encouraged blacks to join them but their cultural outlooks were quite different so social intercourse was limited. Occasionally, educated blacks would come with others from Mobile to join these Sunday evening discussion groups. The segregation laws were so strict, that no viable way could be contrived to eliminate them. In 1950, a large migration of the Fairhope Friends would occur. This was because Friends neither wished their taxes to go to support a war economy and/or that their young boys should go to prison for refusal to take any part in military conscription. A number young boys did go to prison for refusal to even recognize the military draft by refusing to register. Violations could go on until the age of 35, sentence after sentence, making conventional life difficult or impossible. The Federal Judge at that time, urged them to get out of the country. By 1950, Costa Rica had just had a revolution that left it with a government that would support no army. Therefore, Fairhope Friends began to explore the possibilities of moving there. Eventually, they selected an area of high land on the plateau of Monteverde east of the Pacific Ocean. The purchase of this land, the migration from Fairhope and other logistics were quite complicated. This endeavor was headed up by Hubert Mendenhall the holder of a farm leasehold on Morphy Avenue where Hoffren’s Garage is now. He had a very successful dairy farm there which extended east to what is now Bishop-Troyer Road. East of there were the leaseholds of other Quakers, the Guindons and James. Such a migration, however, was basically undesirable to them, for Fairhope was their home: they had many non-Quaker friends here; they would lose their land and improvements; they liked the Single Tax philosophy and its system. And for many other good reasons, they hated to leave and start over again. This was their home where they would wish to die and be put into the ground. They had, by this time, established a small, modest cemetery, located on what is now Highway 181, between Fairhope Avenue and Highway 104. Fairhope had become their native home. One of these families, the Reuben Rockwell family, would eventually build and run a hydro- electric plant to provide electricity for this new Yankee Costa Rican community. Others would establish a dairy and cheese factory; still others would build motels and of course, some still farmed. Yet, it was a hard life, especially for old people , pioneering and beginning all over again. They had arrived originally in Fairhope when public facilities were very limited. They had already pioneered in Fairhope. Eventually some of these families would return to Fairhope to live out their last days of life. They still had children, other relatives, friends here and a life that they never really wanted to give up. Page 4 Some had been closely affiliated with the Organic School. Now, at this time however, Fairhope has but a minority o f Friends in its population. Most of these are newly “convinced Quakers” having come from outside this religious group. All or most of the farms have been given up to others, to residential development. The meeting now consists entirely of new, mostly younger people, of different, non-farm professions and trades. Yet the Friends Meeting continues with their traditional Sunday morning silent-meeting-form of meditative worship. They are a small group but more militant (than previous Quakers) in their protests against violence, war, the military system and racial discrimination. They have Sunday morning readings, pot luck breakfasts and silent meditation. They read the Bible and attempt to live the life and ethics of Jesus. This change from a Quaker farming culture is toward a more highly educated and diversely skilled class of attendees. Thus, No longer are the men and women separated by a partition in the meeting house for silent worship. No longer do the male elders come to meeting in black suits, Quaker collars, thin bow ties and black pork-pie hats. No longer do the women wear long grey dresses, (sometimes with aprons) and grey bonnets. No longer do they refer to days and months by number (in order to avoid utilizing the names of heathen Roman Gods) but as most people do. No longer do Friends refer to others by “Thee” and “Thy”. No longer do stern, Calvinistic and prudish elders control the society. No longer are the old crude, handmade hard bottomed wooden pews without padding. The meeting house has new furniture, drop ceilings and air conditioning. Floors are refinished and walls have been painted in light colors.

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Table of Contents the Quakers of East Fairhope ������������������������������������������ 3

Table of Contents the Quakers of East Fairhope �� 3