by Robert J. Leach

17

T h e H i c k si te S e p a ra t io n o n N a n t u c k et

by Robert J. Leach

THE TRAGEDY OF the Great Schism of 1827-1828 had its small repercussion on the Island of Nantucket, almost alone of meetings in New England Yearly Meeting. Fortunately for us one of the main participants, Obed Macy, was not only a sensitive Quaker elder, but a historian. His "History of Nantucket" is generally welcomed as the best of pre-twentieth century accounts. During the Hicksite controversy, Friend Obed kept his own running commentary contemporaneously to the events beginning in the Autumn of 1827 and finishing in the Autumn of 1835. This account, labelled "A Compendium, or abstract history, or a narrative of the Monthly Meeting on Nantucket toward their members— commenced in the tenth month 1827", indicates by its inception that Obed Macy was aware that troubles were brewing for Quakerism on the far away island. Macy was no ordinary member. He had been monthly meeting clerk of the original Nantucket Monthly Meeting, thirty years back, when forty years old. He had served actively in every phase of monthly meeting appointment. His portrait reveals an open sensitive countenance framed in appropriate Quaker simplicity.

The great separation did not come unknown and unexpected upon the Island Quaker establishment. They had welcomed Hannah (Jenkins) Barnard, the woman minister from Hudson Monthly Meeting, New York (in itself almost a colony of Nantucket) shortly before she went on the fateful trip to the British Isles, which involved her in the so-called "White" Quaker separation in Ireland, and her subsequent disownment. This upsetting event came in 1798, just after Nantucket Monthly Meeting had set off its Northern portion as Nantucket Monthly Meeting for the Northern District—in 1794. A new Meetinghouse had been built on Broad Street in 1792 (56' x 38'), while later that year the old meetinghouse, which stood by the burial ground, was reconstructed at Main and Pleasant Streets. This was presumably a larger structure than the North Meeting House, as the membership of the two monthly meetings stood approximately at 500 and 800 in 1794. Parenthetically it is interesting to note that in the year 1800 the Methodists built their first meetinghouse on pair Street, having won many converts away from the Congregationalists (who were, before that, the only rivals to Friends on the Island). Then in 1809 the State Church divided in an orderly manner, as had Friends, to build the South Church as opposed to the original, now North Church. In 1823 the Methodists followed suit, building the present church on Main Street Square. In 1825 a Universalist church was built on

the site of the present Atheneum. There were tnen five churches and two Friends Meetings on the Island. Rivalry between and among these religious bodies was evident, even to traditional Quaker elders.

Meanwhile the growth of Unitarianism struck at the privileged position of the State Church of Massachusetts. In 1805 Harvard College had gone radical, followed by twenty of the original twenty-five Puritan churches near Boston. The State Church was dis-established in 1818, at exactly the moment that liberal ideas became manifest in the New Bedford and Lynn Quaker Meetings. It is not by accident that these two meetings were affected. The incidence of the American Revolution had deprived Newport Meeting (Rhode Island Monthly Meeting) of the preeminence that body had exercised in New England Quakerism for a century. It looked for a moment as though Nantucket Monthly Meeting might become the new centre of leadership. Resistance against this was strong in Providence Monthly Meeting (where Moses Brown was active). His only real rival, William Rotch, emigrated first to Dunkirk in France and then to New Bedford in 1795. New Bedford took on monthly meeting status in 1792, and soon came to constitute the successor to Newport as the outstanding New England Quaker Centre. It is true that the yearly meeting Boarding School was settled in Providence, but New Bedford founded its own Secondary Friends Academy. William Rotch Jr. became Yearly Meeting Clerk as New Bedford established itself as successor to Nantucket as the new centre of the whaling industry. Boston, Lynn and Salem constituted Salem Monthly Meeting, where old Friends Meetings began to be affected by the flowering of New England, coincident with the rise of Unitarianism — which was strong incidentally both in Providence and in New Bedford as well. Lynn was the centre of a growing mercantile industrialism, to which a number of Nantucketers had been drawn.

The so-called New Light Schism in New Bedford and Lynn from 1818 to 1828 pre-empted the effect of the Hicksites in those two places. A number of leading New Bedford and Lynn Quakers were disowned for responding to an Emerson-like transcendentalism — including some of the Rotch family. The effect of the new lights was to crystalise out, particularly in Philadelphia, a new evangelical orthodoxy, which was responsive to a similar tendency developing among certain well to do British Quaker circles. A new emphasis was put upon the infallibility of scripture and the central place of Christ's divine mission. All intellectual questioning regarding these two basic assumptions was equated with antiChristian activity.

Many friends felt instinctively that the new orthodoxy had more in common with evangelical protestantism than it did with the early Friends

insistence that personal group experience was the touchstone of reality. Often the advocates of the new orthodoxy seemed to be less aware of the social injustices which wealth brought. And they were often the richest city Quakers. More traditional Friends, such as Elias Hicks, followed in the economic understanding put forward by John Woolman regarding the fruits of oppression. At the same time, Hicks had read some interesting books on Church history, which allowed him to think critically about church doctrine, including scripture, its role, and Jesus Christ, His role. Thus those who responded to Elias Hicks struck at the foundation of both the financial and theological framework of the new orthodoxy.

When the orthodox leaders tried to stop Elias Hicks and those who felt as he did from speaking at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, the Hicksites withdrew to reorganize their own Yearly Meeting. In fact they proved the majority, except in the city meetings of Philadelphia itself. The famous formula H20 is well to bear in mind for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. In New York Yearly Meeting (of which Elias Hicks was a respected leader) the orthodox withdrew — but claimed to be the original body, and sued for all the property — and lost. In Baltimore Yearly Meeting the orthodox were so few they only withdrew — disowned no one, nor sued for property. In Ohio Yearly Meeting a near riot occurred — the orthodox winning the day, complete with their law case. In Indiana Yearly Meeting the Hicksite party withdrew peacefully. North Carolina, Virginia and New England Yearly Meetings, led by London and Ireland Yearly Meetings, stood firm with the orthodox party. In Philadelphia Yearly Meeting the orthodox sued for all the property in New Jersey and lost their suit. In Pennsylvania, the orthodox were content to hold only the four city properties and the Yearly Meeting Boarding School, which those meetings controlled. At least 40 percent of American Quakerism had been pushed out by the orthodox party in a paroxism of self-righteous zeal, which revealed how far they had evolved from the thinking and feeling of early Friends.

It happened that the largest migration of Nantucket Friends had been to New York State, where most of the membership remained a part of what came to be known as the Hicksite Yearly Meeting. About a fifth of the membership, urged on by the Philadelphia orthodox, set about disowning four fifths of the membership, as they did the one third of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. In New York the orthodox had to build new meetinghouses everywhere, if they could. There they clearly appeared to be the innovators — while the Hicksites continued to operate as the old body, before the division had come. Lucretia (Coffin) Mott, perhaps the ablest of Nantucketers, was in 1827 a member of the Western District Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia, from which she with-

HISTORIC NANTUCKET drew to join Greene Street Monthly Meeting. Her previous meeting thereupon disowned her. On Nantucket, a good many solid Friends, especially in the North Meeting, had cousins like Lucretia Mott, who were for the most part members of the New York Yearly Meeting. (Hicksite) but technically disowned by a minority in unity with New England Yearly Meeting.

On Nantucket, in 1824, the South Congregational Church declared itself to be Unitarian. Was there not a danger that the North Friends Meeting would so go over to the larger body of New York Yearly Meeting Quakers? This would seem to be the fear which beset Sandwich Quarterly Meeting in the summer of 1827, just after the separation started in Philadelphia and New York Yearly Meetings.

In any case, perhaps with the participation of New Bedford Friends, who had thrown out the New Lights only four years before, a quarterly meeting committee was named to advise Nantucket on its two monthly meetings and their future. Without giving any reasons, this committee recommended the merging of the two monthly meetings. They were careful not to recommend the laying down of the North Meeting nor to state that Nantucket Monthly Meeting for the Northern District should be laid down. A second committee which was named in the autumn of 1827 had the mandate from Quarterly Meeting to ask that the merger take place.

Obed Macy began to keep his contemporary secret record on the 27th of the eleventh month 1827 when the South Meeting (the original Nantucket M.M.) gathered to discuss the mandate handed to them just a month before. Macy reported only one Friend spoke in favour of the merger. He was Cromwell Barnard. Others hesitated. Obed finally suggested a joint committee with the North Meeting — and in any case to wait upon their decision. A month later the South Meeting went ahead with the merger plan — but the North Meeting sat for more than four hours without coming to unity. Some there openly opposed the Quarterly Meeting mandate — and with good reason — normally all monthly meeting changes originate in participant monthly meetings. In the South Meeting only one Friend objected, but he would not hold things up. A group of fifteen or twenty North District Friends then drew up a counter appeal addressed to Yearly Meeting. One reason for objecting was the fact that monthly meeting in the future was envisaged to be held only on first, fourth, seventh and tenth months at the North House. And incredibly, the two preparative meetings were to be merged as well, not to act separately as they had done from 1792 to 1794. In twelfth month it was clear two-thirds of the North Meeting opposed fusion.

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22 HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Notwithstanding, Sandwich Quarterly Meeting in the spring ordered the union to take place in fifth month, which it almost did, but only a dozen or fifteen men Friends from the North Meeting went to the first proposed joint session. It may be presumed that thirty or so regular attenders of the men's meeting stayed at home. There may have been 250 members of the North Meeting at that time. Between emigration and disownment, probably the membership of each meeting had halved in thirty-five years. If this was so, the reunited Nantucket Monthly Meeting then stood at 650 members. Meetings for worship would continue at both meeting houses for another four and a half years. On the face of it there was no really pressing reason to lay down the Northern District Preparative and Monthly Meetings — except as reasoning from presumed doctrinal circumstances might dictate — not a Quaker way to go about things in any case.

The Northern District Monthly Meeting not only met on its own in fifth month but also in sixth month, with Barnabas Bunker, a Minister from New York Yearly Meeting, Hicksite — one-time Nantucketer — present. This was too much for some members of that meeting who indicated that someone was present who by advice of New England Yearly Meeting had no right to be there. Bunker stood up and said he was the person alluded to, but proposed to stay unless the majority asked him to go or that it could be proved he was in "breach of good order". The result was confusion, some urging him to go, others to stay. The meeting got very excited and was adjourned to the afternoon, when Barnabas Bunker absented himself. Possibly his friends did too. In any case, the monthly meeting then agreed to the merger, only if the Preparative Meeting would gather in the North House on Fifth Days — which meant that once a month the South Meeting would miss out its mid-week meeting. Apparently this was agreed to, and the Northern District Monthly Meeting continued to meet into 1829, when its affairs had time to be wound down.

A month after Barnabas Bunker had appeared on Nantucket, the Orthodox arranged for Thomas Shillitoe, George Jones and Ann Jones and Elizabeth Pittsfield to descend upon the Island. The first three had come from Great Britain to strengthen the hands of the Orthodox party, particularly in Philadelphia. The fourth was one of the Philadelphia establishment. With them came a good many New England Yearly Meeting worthies. Obed Macy noted that they held an especially large appointed meeting for sailors — who were annoyed that they had nothing special to say to them. Obviously the four worthies had, should we say, "other fish to fry".

The lid tightly clamped on — to change the metaphor — Nantucket Quakerism remained quiet for two more years. Then in sixth

month 1830 the Island was host to three Baltimore Yearly Meeting Friends: Hannah Wilson, Minister, Clerk to the women's Yearly Meeting; Ann Brown and Ruth Scott. Now all were active Hicksites, but unlike all others in America — not formally disowned. Was their visit planned with this fact in mind? Who invited them? On these points Friend Obed is quiet.

The visitors put up with Mark and Judith Coffin. A deputation from the elders of Nantucket Monthly Meeting appeared to tell the visitors not to sit on the high seats nor to speak. Hannah Wilson replied she was glad to sit anywhere. And they sat in the body of the South Meeting that day. But after half an hour of silence, Hannah stood up and spoke for twenty minutes. No one said anything to them or about this. In the afternoon they were quiet at the North House. This was obviously a First Day — the date being the 16th of Sixth Month. The visitors were refused either meeting house for an appointed meeting, so they managed to procure the Methodist Church on Main Street. It was a large meeting which gathered, some hundreds went, including from 50 to 100 Friends. This was on Second Day evening.

On Fifth Day two visitors from Nine Partners Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) put in, both Ministers, both disowned by the local orthodox. All five visitors attended Monthly Meeting on Sixth Day, at which time Hannah Wilson gave a brief sermon. Still there was no objection forthcoming. The women had an appointed meeting at the Insane Asylum at Quaise that afternoon, and on the morrow they left on the steamer. So far so good.

But on First Day, the 23rd, the storm broke. There was a large company at the South Meeting House. Benjamin Mitchell and William Clark sat toward the back of the men's side downstairs. A visiting Orthodox Friend Mary Allen spoke at length. Toward the end of the hour, William Clark got up and started to speak. Samuel Macy, up front, asked him to sit down. Mary Allen whispered something to the elder opposite. They shook hands and the people generally got up and started out — William Clark was still standing, but saying nothing. When all but about twenty people had left, Clark resumed his message. Meanwhile Benjamin Mitchell (who was no doubt the same man who had years before been prominent in the North Meeting) also spoke up, saying "the Service of the Meeting was not quite over". But he did not advise the people to stay — most in fact left. Benjamin preached after William, and then they shook hands. In the afternoon the two Nine Partners men both preached at the North Meeting at length, where no effort Was made to stop them whatsoever. On the morrow or the day after the two visitors also withdrew.

The summer quarterly meeting was held on Nantucket without any problems and as usual. But at Monthly Meeting held in the North House at the end of Seventh Month, Gilbert Coffin, one of the elders, was complained against for staying to the end of Benjamin Mitchell's Meeting, as the rump session at the South House was now called. Gilbert, obviously annoyed, "made some observations on the subject" and then withdrew. Peleg Macy, Prince Gardner and Charles Stubbs the Clerk, were asked to visit Gilbert Coffin — and if not satisfied, to recommend his losing the status of elder.

Friends' Meeting-house, Nantucket.

Interior of the Last Quaker Meeting House on Nantucket. Preserved by the Nantucket Historical Association.

A week later, Silvanus Macy, a one time very active overseer and exclerk of the South Meeting, was visited by two overseers for the same reason. Four days later on the 10th of Eighth Month, it was the turn of Obed Macy. Now normally two, or at most four overseers were asked to meet with presumed "culprits". In this case Macy found eight overseers, that is "sixteen eyes" as he described them, waiting for him. Obviously Friend Obed was well known for his quick wits. Cromwell Barnard, Charles Stubbs, Monthly Meeting clerk, and Prince Gardner were among them. In some ways Prince Gardner Jr. was the protagonist. He was then aged 48, twenty years younger than was Obed Macy. Prince was

THE HICKSITE SEPARATION 25

grandson of Robert Gardner, whose role had been as great as that of Obed's grandfather, Richard Macy, the great wharf builder. But Prince would come forth in the Ministry, while Obed remained faithfully quiet. And Obed had served on Prince's marriage committee in 1803. The overseers tried to get it across that it was "breach of good order" to stay behind when meeting was broken, especially to listen to a disowned person; that Obed should recognise the "wrong" he and others had done to himself and the Society of Friends in staying behind. The Society of Friends from 1760 onwards had become more and more sensitive lest any reproach should be brought upon it by any member violating any of its rules. At first hesitantly, and then with well oiled and expeditious machinery, the Monthly Meetings systematically "disowned" independently minded Friends.

To marry out was the really red flag to wave at the bull-headed elders. But to travel on armed ships, to join the Free Masons, or to neglect meetings for worship, all brought forth the misplaced zeal of the "visitors". Obed Macy knew very well that one mis-step brought into train an inevitable shove down the exit chute. Of course, one could appeal in theory to Quarterly and Yearly Meeting, but perhaps only half a dozen times had any appeal changed a verdict in the experience of New England Monthly Meeting.

The only way to beat the rap was to prove the evidence to be flimsy — and this led inevitably to legalistic juggling — which was supposedly to be avoided in Monthly Meeting arbitration. So Obed quickly asked why there had been no objection made to Hannah Wilson's preaching. And why particularly, he asked, had several of the overseers sat through Benjamin Mitchell's preaching on First Day afternoon, if it was he they objected to. Obed felt, in the light of these foregoing facts that Friends were at liberty to go or to stay on that First Day morning. Further he suggested "that there was great danger in over-acting". There was indeed. In fact over a hundred Friends were disowned on this one issue, almost one-sixth of the Meeting already weakened by over-zealous cutting off.

[ T o b e c o n c l u d e d . ]

Robert J. Leach has been engaged in research on the Society of Friends history and activities on Nantucket during the 18th and 19th centuries. He has written several articles for the Proceedings and Historic Nantucket, and more recently has prepared a series of tapes concerned with his study of the Nantucket Quakers. Some of these are already on file in the Library of the Peter Foulger Museum. Mr. Leach has been a teacher at the International School in Geneva, Switzerland, for more than a quarter century. He is planning to spend another summer research trip on Nantucket this year.