Gloria Dei - Old Swede's Church

GLORIA DEt - OLD SWEDE'S CHURCH courtesy of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania A Chronological List of Philadelphia Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 HELEN HUTCHISON WOODROOFE OLONIAL PHILADELPHIA reflected the Quaker spirit of tolerance in welcoming many divergent religious groups to the settlement. The history of religion here is unique in the number of intradenominational heresies and schisms leading to the founding of new creeds and churches. This can be confusing to the researcher trying to find religious records for this period. Of great assistance is Charles R. Barker's "A Register of Burying Grounds of Philadelphia", a record of churches as well as cemeteries. Since this is only available in manuscript form at the library of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania and is assembled according to denominations, it was felt that a chronological list would be of value to researchers. C 1642 GLORIA DEI OLD SWEDE'S CHURCH Or WICACO CHURCH was organized in 1642 as a mission of the State Church of Sweden (Swedish Lutheran). The first church was built in 1646 on Tinicum Island (Essington); the second, a log structure built about 1667 at Crane Hook between Christina and New Castle; the third church, OLD BLOCK CHURCH, was built in 1677 in Southwark near Swanson and Christian Streets. The existing church at 916 South Swanson Street was begun in 1698 and was dedicated 2 July 1700. This is The Oldest Church in Pennsylvania. A change in consequences of agreement of the King of Sweden on 25 June 1789 to the authority given the church by the Pennsylvania Assembly to employ members of either the Lutheran or the Protestant Episcopal Church, was the forerunner of the change in 1845 when Gloria Dei became part of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. At Tinicum Island there was a graveyard adjacent to the church. The first burial of any European in Pennsylvania was that of Andrew Hanson's daughter Catherine on 28 October 1646. There was also a graveyard at Crane Hook. 150 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 151 THE GLORIA DEI GRAVEYARD near Front and Christian Streets surrounds the church, the oldest gravestone bears the date 1708. A new graveyard was laid out in 1836 between Front and Second Streets and Christian and Carpenter Street. There were no burials here after 1841. 1681 SHACKAMAXON FRIENDS MEETING (Kensington) was founded in 1681 from the Burlington (New Jersey) Monthly Meeting. The meetings were held at the house of Thomas Fairman near the site of The Treaty Elm. 1682 THE FRIENDS PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING removed from Shackamaxon in 1682. (see Bank Meeting House, 1684) 1683 BYBERRY FRIENDS MEETING was founded in 1683 when it moved from the Shackamaxon Friends Meeting. It was settled as a Preparative Meeting in 1701 and established as a Monthly Meeting in 1810. BYBERRY FRIENDS BURIAL PLACE, Meetinghouse Lane, was established in 1692. The old graveyard in front of the meeting house held more than 4,000 graves, the last burial was in 1841. In 1832 an acre of land was added south of the meeting house and by 1867 there were 2,000 graves. FRANKFORT FRIENDS MEETING removed from Shackamaxon in 1683. FRANKFORT FRIENDS BURIAL GROUNDS, Wahl Street between Unity and Tackawanna Streets (Bridesburg) was established in 1773. OXFORD FRIENDS MEETING was established in 1683. POQUESSING FRIENDS MEETING and TACONY FRIENDS MEETING were removed from Shackamaxon in 1683. GERMANTOWN FRIENDS MEETING was organized in the house of Thones Kunders (now 5109 Germantown Avenue) in 1683. A frame meetinghouse was built within the bounds of the present graveyard in 1693, this was replaced by a stone building in 1705. In 1812 a third meetinghouse was built further to the west of the first site. The present meetinghouse at 47 West Coulter Street was built in 1871. GERMANTOWN FRIENDS BURIAL GROUND, Germantown Avenue northwest of Coulter Street fronting on Greene Street. Burials of record since 1741, none after 1773. 152 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 GERMANTOWN MENNONITE MEETING The First Mennonite Congregation in America. Early meetings were held in conjunction with the Quakers in 1683. By 1690 they had separated and the Mennonites were meeting in the house of Isaac Jacob Van Bebber. A log church was built sometime between 1703 and 1708. The present stone church at 6119 Germantown Avenue, northeast corner of Herman Street, built in 1770 is The Oldest Mennonite Church in America. THE MENNONITE BURYING GROUND is on the south side of the church. 1684 THE OLD BANK MEETING HOUSE was the first building constructed by the Friends as a meetinghouse for worship. It was on the west side of Front Street north of Arch, built in 1684. By 1698 the wooden structure was removed due to its decayed condition. It had been the most important meetinghouse in the city for thirteen years. (see Centre Square Meeting House 1687) 1687 CENTRE SQUARE FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE (now City Hall Square) was built in 1687. Plans had been drawn for it in 1684 and money was contributed by several of the Philadelphia meetings. By 1687 the brick building, forty by sixty feet, was nearly completed but by that time the major settlement was too far away to make this meeting practical. It was eventually abandoned and in 1700 sold or given to William Penn. The following year it was returned to the Friends who dismantled it and used the materials to build a new meetinghouse. (see Second Bank Meeting House 1702) CENTRE FRIENDS BURIAL PLACE, north of Race Street and west of the Schuylkill. Set aside by the Friends as a graveyard in 1685, it may have belonged to the Centre Square Meeting and was abandoned as a burial place when ground was obtained at Fourth and Arch Streets. In 1813 it was given to the Overseer of the Poor for Philadelphia County. 1688 THE PENNYPACK BAPTIST CHURCH, later called LOWER DUBLIN BAPTIST CHURCH was organized in January 1688. It is known as The Mother of All Baptist Churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland, although a Baptist congregation existed at Cold Spring near Bristol in 1684. A church was built in 1707 and rebuilt in 1774. The present church is at 9550 Bustleton Avenue. The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 153 PENNYPACK BAPTIST BURIAL GROUND surrounding the church has graves dating back to 1688. Ground was purchased in 1751 on Meetinghouse Road north of Pennypack Creek for additional burial space, some of it was sold in 1904. THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. The early services were believed to have been held about 1688 under the sponsorship of the minister of the Pennypack Baptist Church in Lower Dublin Township. A small frame building at the northwest corner of Second and Chestnut Streets called the Barbadoes Store was used for their services. In 1698 they invited a group of Presbyterians to worship there on alternate Sundays. (see The Presbyterian Church 1698) Soon after this the Baptists moved to the brewhouse of Anthony Morris near the drawbridge on the east side of Water Street. They met there until the Spring of 1707 when they were invited by the Keithian seceders from the Quakers (see Keithian Baptists 1692) to take possession of their small wooden building on Second Street below Arch Street. Some of the Keithians joined them at this time. In 1731 they tore down the wooden building and replaced it with a brick building of forty-two by thirty feet. By 1734 they were known as ANABAPTISTS. The church was constituted in 1746. (see The First Baptist Church 1762) 1690 THE FIRST COMMUNAL BURIAL GROUND at North Fourth and Arch Streets, on the grounds of the present Arch Street Friends Meeting, was established in 1690 and used for more than a century. The property had been granted to the Friends by William Penn in 1701 for a burying place but had been used for that purpose before that time. Thousands of persons were buried here especially during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. By 1794 there was little space left. 1692 THE SCHUYLKILL FRIENDS BURYING GROUND. In 1692 a patent for ninety-nine acres on Ferry Road between Arch and Filbert Streets in Powelton was granted as a burial ground. There was a general belief that this was public ground until 1806 when members of the Society of Friends took possession of the ground and refused its use by others. The controversy raged until 1819 when the Friends conveyed title to the Board of Health for use as a burial ground. About 1850 the ground was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad for a depot. THE LOWER BURIAL GROUND at Germantown Avenue and East Logan Street was conveyed to the "Commonalty of Germantown" in 1692 by Paul Wulff. The oldest tombstone is dated 1707. By 1750 it was crowded with graves although it was still in use in the early 1900s. 154 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 After 1850 it was called HOOD'S CEMETERY in honor of William Hood who provided funds for an imposing wall and gate. (Open Saturdays in late spring, summer and early autumn.) THE UPPER BURIAL GROUND at Germantown Avenue and Pomona Street was established in 1692 also by deed of Paul Wulff. There were over 1300 burials here. It was known as CONCORD BURIAL GROUND probably because it is adjacent to the Concord School built in 1775. At one time it was called Ax's BURYING GROUND for John Frederick Axe who was the keeper of accounts for the burial ground. THE KEITHIAN BAPTIST CHURCH was built in 1692 at the southeast corner of Market and Second Streets as the result of the Keithian Schism of that year. George Keith, a Scotsman, challenged certain leaders of the Bank Friends Meeting because of the holding of public office and for their heretical beliefs. The Keithians called themselves Christian Quakers. By 1698 their numbers had dwindled and in 1707 the church had been dissolved. Those members still remaining joined the Baptist Church. 1695 CHRIST (Anglican) CHURCH at North Second Street above Market Street was originated by the Bishop of London acting on the request of thirty-six laymen of Philadelphia in 1695. This was The First Protestant Episcopal Church in the Province of Pennsylvania. The small church erected in 1695 was replaced by the present building which was begun in 1727 and "happily finished" in 1744. In colonial times this was one of the largest churches in North America. It is one hundred and eighteen feet long, sixty-one feet wide. An account in the 1790s states that "the steeple is 199 feet high, has a ring of eight bells, with galleries and convenient pews for one thousand people." CHRIST CHURCHYARD surrounding the church contains the graves of many well known colonial and Revolutionary figures. In 1728 some graves were disturbed by the building of the new church, and in 1861 others were removed due to the widening of the adjacent Church Alley. (see Christ Church Burial Ground 1719) 1696 THE GREAT FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE was 011 the southwest corner of Market and Second Street, built in 1696 it was the largest meeting place for Friends for half a century. It was pulled down and replaced in 1755 by THE GREATER MEETING HOUSE described in an account in the 1790s as "seventy-five feet long, 55 feet wide and about 30 feet The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 155 high, with galleries on the east, north and west sides; has convenient seats with benches for twelve or fifteen hundred persons". This was the center of Quaker activity until 1804 when it was dismantled and the land sold. The proceeds and materials were used to build the Arch Street Meeting House. 1698 TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH OXFORD (Foxchase) was organized in 1698 with a church and congregation by 1700. In 1711 they took over the log meetinghouse of the Keithian Baptists. Wings were added to this building in 1833, a tower in 1839 and minor additions in 1932. 6900 Oxford Avenue. TRINITY EPISCOPAL BURIAL GROUND, Oxford, was established in 1711. The Presbyterians in Philadelphia were invited by the Baptists to join them in worshiping in the Barbadoes Store at Second and Chestnut Streets in 1698. Soon after this the Baptists withdrew from the building leaving the Presbyterians in sole possession. THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Their first minister was the Reverend Jedediah Andrews of Harvard who came to Philadelphia in 1698. It was under his leadership that they built THE MARKET STREET CHURCH a frame building at the southeast corner of Market and Bank Streets in 1704. This church was also called the OLD BUTTONWOOD CHURCH from the group of trees growing near the building. The First Presbytery in America was organized here in 1705-1706. The church building was enlarged in 1755 and again in 1761, it was rebuilt in 1793. Some twenty-five years later in 1821-1825, the congregation moved into a new building designed for them by John Haviland on Washington Square at Seventh and Locust Streets, THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. By the 1930s the building had fallen into disrepair and the congregation left it to merge with the Christ Calvary Church near Fifteenth and Locust Streets. The Washington Square Church was demolished in 1939. PRESBYTERIAN BURIAL GROUND, Fourth and Lombard Streets was established in 1698. THE MARKET STREET PRESBYTERIAN GRAVEYARD just back of the church fronting on Bank Alley. Burials of record begin in 1709. Many Revolutionary soldiers were buried here. In 1793 because of the crowded conditions it was decided that only current church members could be buried there. It was resolved in 1844 to convey the burial ground in trust to five members to maintain it forever but this did not come about, the ground was later 156 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 sold. In time many of the bodies were removed to the Pine Street Burial Ground. (see Third Presbyterian Church 1768) 1701 PENNYPACK SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST CONGREGATION, Lower Dublin Township was organized in 1701 in the house of Benjamin Tomlinson. There were nine baptized members in 1770. 1702 LOWER DUBLIN KEITHIAN BAPTIST MEETING met first at the house of Abraham Pratt, they built a meetinghouse in Oxford in 1702. The meeting was dissolved after 1711, the meetinghouse was then used by the Episcopalians. (see Trinity Episcopal Church Oxford 1698) 1703 FAIRHILL FRIENDS BURIAL GROUND, Germantown Avenue and Cambria Street. The meeting was founded in 1703, one of the earliest in the area. Lucretia Mott is buried here. 1704 COMMON BURYING GROUND, Washington Square, Walnut Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets. "A burial place for strangers dying in the city" was dedicated to public use in 1682 but not appropriated as a common and public burying ground for strangers and all others not affiliated with a church until 1704. At the same time it was leased to Joshua Carpenter as a pasture for cattle. Early burials were of the wretchedly poor, slaves and free blacks. Before 1732 there were many burials of Catholics and it is believed that the Acadian refugee dead were buried in the southeast section of the ground. During the Revolution it was used for both American and British soldiers' graves, by 1777 over 2,000 had been buried. In the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 the countless burials had so filled the grounds that all interments ceased in 1794 when the Lombard Street Burying Ground became the public burial ground. By 1825 the Washington Square burial ground had been leveled for a memorial park. 1716 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS BURIAL GROUND on Fifth Street. between Market and Chestnut Streets. It was also known as SPARKS BURYING GROUND after Richard Sparks who willed the land to the church in 1716. It was used until 1802 and was obliterated in 1894. The monuments were removed to Shiloh Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery in Cumberland County, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 157 1719 CHRIST CHURCH BURIAL GROUND at the southeast corner of Fifth and Arch Streets. The ground was purchased in 1719 by the vestry of Christ Church for £72. When the original wooden fence fell apart in 1772 a brick wall was constructed, this was rebuilt in 1927. The grave of Benjamin Franklin is here as well as those of many prominent early Philadelphians. 1720 SAY'S BURIAL GROUND, Third Street below Arch Street was estab- lished before 1724 as the burial ground of the Say family. However it is known that others were buried here including the Moravians before they had their own graveyard in 1757. The ground was abandoned by 1871. FRANKFORT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. According to clerical records an Anglican missionary Robert Weyman served a congregation here as well as others at Whitemarsh (St. Thomas); Radnor (St. David's); Oxford, Chester County (Trinity and Bangor Church) in 1719-1728. 1723 FIRST CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN, Germantown Avenue and Montana Street. The Mother Church of the Dunkards in America. Meetings were held as early as 1719 when the Pietists from Crefeld settled in Germantown. They were organized in 1723 and worshiped in houses of the members until 1760 when a log church was built on a site in front of the present church. The stone church of today was built in 1770 and was added to in 1896 and 1915. The church building was held by the British soldiers during the Battle of Germantown in October 1777. FIRST CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN BURIAL GROUND is back of the church at 6611 Germantown Avenue. There are over 2,000 graves. 1727 OLD FIRST REFORMED CHURCH OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, Fourth and Race Streets. Founded in 1727 the first church was built in octagon form with a steeple in 1747. The octagon church was torn down in 1762 when a second and larger church was built, this in turn was pulled down in 1836 and the present church, the third on the site, was dedicated in 1837. The Church was at one time referred to as THE FIRST GERMAN CALVINISTIC. First Reformed Church in America. In 1882 the congregation moved to another location and the abandoned church became a paint factory. In 1959 the con- 158 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 gregation reclaimed the old church and restored it to its original state. Today regular church services are held here. FIRST GERMAN REFORMED BURIAL GROUND, Race and Orianna Streets. The ground was purchased in 1749, 1771, 1796 and 1809. All the property was sold in 1882. Another burial ground on the south side of Vine Street west of Sixth Street was established in 1741 but by 1836 many of the bodies had been moved. A third cemetery was purchased in 1801 on the west side of Seventeenth Street from Arch to Cherry Streets. In 1836 bodies were moved here from Franklin Street Burial Ground. The front of the lot at Arch Street was sold in 1836 and the remainder in 1864. Graves were removed to a lot in Old Oaks Cemetery but this cemetery was abandoned so they were moved again to Lot 1, South West Laurel Hill Cemetery in 1877. In 1870 some graves were moved to West Laurel Hill Cemetery. GERMANTOWN DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH in Market Square. Organized in 1727 under the Reformed Church of Holland. The German Reformed Church was established in 1728 by John Bechtel. The congregation met in his house twice daily until 1733 when the Market Square Church was built. Bechtel was licensed by the Heidelberg authorities and ordained by Bishop David Nitschman of the Moravian Church. It is believed by some sources that the 1733 church was dismantled in 1738 and a new church built in 1739 with additions in 1762. In 1853 amid the doctrinal controversy arising within the German Reformed Church the pastor Jacob Helffenstein and the congregation withdrew from the communion of the Reformed Church. For three years they worshiped as an independent church, in 1856 they applied to the Presbyterian Church and were received into its fellowship. The church was organized as THE MARKET SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in July 1856. The present church, the third on the original site, was dedicated in June 1888. (5515 Market Square) 1728 ST. MICHAEL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, Germantown Avenue and PhilEllena Streets was founded in 1728, the church built in 1730 and enlarged in 1746. The present church is the third on the site. ST. MICHAEL'S LUTHERAN GRAVEYARD surrounds the church at 6671 Germantown Avenue. 1730 PALMER STREET BURYING GROUND (Kensington) was laid out in 1730 by Anthony Palmer who had purchased one hundred and ninty-one The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 159 acres to found a town, Kensington. There are no burials of record before 1785. In 1804 it was enlarged as a "public Christian burial ground". In 1880 it was called the Kensington Cemetery, on Palmer Street near Belgrade Street. 1733 OLD ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH on Willings Alley at Fourth and Walnut Streets was founded in 1733. One of the most important churches in the history ofAmerican Catholicism.*There is evidence that the Mass was read publicly as early as 1708 at the house of Lionel Brittin, northeast corner Trotter's Alley and Strawberry Street, near Second and Market Streets. There were only occasional Jesuit missionary priests and few professed Catholics at that time. It is believed that the first congregation had about thirty-seven members. The first church was of simple construction resembling a house, on the outskirts of the community in an open field. (Beek's Hollow) By 1757 the congregation had outgrown the old chapel, it was torn down and a new church forty-six by fifty feet was built. This remained unchanged until 1821 when it was added to by twenty-seven feet in length. It is interesting that the 1790 census does not list the church as it does those of other denominations, but does refer to "3 Roman priests" living in Willings Alley. Until 1763 this was the only Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia but when St. Mary's was built that year, it became a chapel of ease and lost much of its importance. The original congregation was mainly German and Irish until in 1755 the 450 Acadians who had been expelled from Nova Scotia arrived. Indians and blacks, as well as refugees from Santo Domingo became attached to the church as separate congregations. In 1740, 1755 and 1844 anti-Catholic rioters threatened the church with destruction. When the 1757 church had become too small for the number of church members, primarily due to the troubled ecclesiastic times at St. Mary's Church, St. Joseph's was enlarged again in 1821. Still too small to accommodate the worshipers the old church was demolished in 1838. The new church was consecrated in February 1839, it was designated as a national shrine in 1959. ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHYARD, Willings Alley, north side west of Third Street surrounding the church was established ca. 1732. Many if not all the bodies were removed *A plaque in the archway, leading to the church pays tribute to William Penn's toleration with the inscription: "When in 1733/ St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church/ was founded and/ Dedicated to the Guardian of the Holy Family/ it was the only place/ in the entire English speaking world/ where public celebration of the Holy sacrifice of the Mass was permitted by law". 160 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 to the new cemetery on the east side of Fifth Street north of Carpenter Street. In 1824 a new cemetery was established at Washington and Passyunk Avenues canted The Bishop's Burial Ground. There were no burials here after 1893. THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERY WaS established in 1733 by four ministers who seceded from the established Presbyterian Church over the question of the right of the people to select their ministers. They constituted an organization called the Associate Presbytery which grew to sizable proportions. This denomination was later divided over the matter of the taking of oaths. The group willing to subscribe to the oaths became the Associate or Burgher Synod. The second group was the General Associate or Anti-Burger Synod. Missionaries from the Anti-Burgher Synod established the Scots Presbyterian Church. (see Scots Presbyterian Church 1770) In 1872 the Associate Presbytery united with the Reformed Presbytery or Covenanters, to form The Associate Reformed Presbytery. 1740 THE ACADEMY or WHITEFIELD CHAPEL On Fourth Street below Arch Street was originally built by the Reverend George Whitefield "for public worship and a charity school", open to all denominations was supported by several sects to entice Whitefield to stay in Philadelphia. He preached here many times from 1740 to 1746, he was followed by Gilbert and William Tennent of the New Light Presbyterians. The congregation of the SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH used the premises while their church was being built in 1752. It appears that after this date the building functioned mainly as a school. Early in the 1800's the southern half of the building was sold to the Union Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1840 they tore down their part of the structure and built a new church on the site. THE ACADEMY BURIAL GROUND On Fourth Street. This was apparently established in 1750 for the use of the Second Presbyterians. 1742 THE FIRST MORAVIAN CHURCH at Race Street and Moravian Alley was built in 1742, before this the small group of Moravian followers had worshiped in a building they shared with the German Lutheran congregation in Arch Street below Fifth Street. The Moravians were under the spiritual, as well as the financial leadership of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. The early members were from Moravia and Bohemia, but were soon joined by a number of Moravians from England. This led to a crisis in 1747 which threatened the The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 161 dissolution of the Congregation. The problem was solved by having sermons preached alternately in German and English. By 1817 the German language was no longer used in the service. A new church was built on the original site in 1819, this was demolished in 1854. While the new church at Franklin and Wood Streets was being built on a part of their burial ground they held their services at The Academy. (see The Academy 1740) The third church was dedicated in January 1856 but is no longer in existence. The present-day Moravian churches are at 3561 Kensington Avenue and 2950 South Seventeenth Street. MORAVIAN BURIAL GROUND. The congregation did not have one of its own until 1757. They used the Church of England Burial Ground at Fifth and Arch Streets; the Friends Burying Ground on Arch Street; Say's Burial Ground at Third Street below Arch Street; and the Communal Burial Ground at Washington Square. In 1757 they purchased ground at Northern Liberties on Vine Street near Pegg's Run. This land was sold in 1890 and the bodies removed to Ivy Hill Cemetery. ST. MICHAEL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, Fifth and Appletree Street between Arch and Cherry Streets was organized by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg in 1742. The church was not finished when the first service was held in October 1743, it was completed in 1748. It was here that the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania was organized on 14 August 1748. In 1777 the British used the church as a garrison. By the 1860s St. Michael's was waning so the northern part of the property was sold to the Horstmanns who built a factory there. In 1871 the church and remaining ground was sold and a shoe factory was built on the site. Part of the congregation built a new St. Michael's at Trenton Avenue and Cumberland Street, the present St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kensington. ST. MICHAEL'S GRAVEYARD at the northeast corner of Fifth and Cherry Streets was purchased in 1748. More ground was purchased in 1762 and 1802. The land was sold in 1851 and the graves were moved to the southeast corner of Fifth and Cherry Streets, some others to rural churches. In 1875 the burial ground was sold and the remains were removed to the new Lutheran Burying Ground at Hart's Lane, Richmond. 1743 THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was organized in 1743 as a result of Gilbert Tennent's New Light preaching. There were one hundred and forty members. In 1749 they purchased a lot on the northwest 162 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 corner of Third and Arch Streets, the church was completed in 1850. It was enlarged in 1809 and sold and torn down in 1837-1838. A new church was built on the east side of Seventh Street below Arch Street, it opened in July 1837. This building was sold in 1872 (used as a variety theatre) and for a time the congregation worshiped in a hall on Broad Street above Spruce Street. A new church was built on the southeast corner of Walnut and Twenty-first Street. This building is now THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in Philadelphia. Many distinguished citizens of Philadelphia worshiped at the old church at Third and Arch Streets, no other church contributed more leaders to the cause of Independence than did the Second Presbyterian. SECOND PRESBYTERIAN BURIAL GROUNDS. The first was at The Academy where the congregation worshiped from 1743 to 1750. (see The Academy 1740) The second at Third and Arch Streets, this was sold in 1835. The third Arch to Cherry Streets west of Fifth Street was purchased in 1750. This ground was sold in 1869 and the remains were removed in 1867 to Mount Vernon Cemetery. The fourth burial ground was purchased in 1804 at Noble Street west of Fifth Street. Part of this was sold in 1867 and the graves moved to Mount Vernon Cemetery. The plot in Mount Vernon contains over 2,000 graves, unfortunately there is no record of names. 1747 FIRST JEWISH HOUSES OF WORSHIP. There were few Jews in the community's earlier days, as far as one can tell the first congregation was organized in 1747 in a small house in Stirling Alley which ran from Cherry to Race Streets, just below Front Street. About 1761 services were held in the house of Joseph Cauff man in Cherry Alley between Third and Fourth Streets. The first synagogue was built on Cherry Street apparently near the site of Cauffman's house, it was dedicated 13 September 1782. Rabbi Gershon Mendes Israel Seixas was the first minister. The congregation of Spanish and Portuguese, or Sephardic Jews, acquired the name Karim. KADOSH MIKVEH ISRAEL, this was later shortened to MIKVEH ISREAL CONGREGATION. The first Hebrew Sunday School in America was opened on 4 March 1838. In 1860 the synagogue was moved to Seventh Street above Arch Street. MIKVEH ISREAL CEMETERY at the northwest corner of Spruce and Darien Streets surrounded by a brick wall is one of the smallest in the nation. Many notables are buried here including Haym Solomon and the Gratz family. Also interred here are some British soldiers who were shot for desertion. The cemetery pre-dates the synagogue, having been established in 1740, more ground The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 163 was added in 1752 and 1765. (Open by appointment only) A second cemetery was established in 1841 at 1114 Federal Street, Moyamensing. 1753 SOCIETY HILL FRIENDS MEETING at Second and Pine Streets was founded in 1753 on land bequeathed to the Friends by the younger Samuel Powel. It was used until the Orange Street Meeting House was built off Washington Square in 1832. 1755 GERMANTOWN POTTERS FIELD Or STRANGERS CEMETERY On Bowman's Lane was purchased as a burial place for strangers in 1755. In 1920 the graves were removed and it is now a playground. I ST. PETERS PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH was organized in 1760 as a chapel of ease for Christ Church. The land for the church was given by Thomas and Richard Penn, proprietors of Pennsylvania who were no longer Quakers. The building was commenced in 1758 and was completed in 1761. It was opened 4 September 1761. The church today at 313 Pine Street is virtually unchanged. ST. PETER'S GRAVEYARD surrounds the old church creating one of the larger open spaces in the old city. Many prominent colonial figures are buried here, among these are Chief Justice Benjamin Chew and Stephen Decatur of naval fame. Seven Indian chiefs who died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 rest here. In 1901 St. Paul's Episcopal Church conveyed to St. Peter's lots in Section 47 of Mount Moriah Cemetery. ST. PAUL'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH WaS founded in 1760 by a group of dissenters led by the Reverend William McClenachen who was originally a Presbyterian minister. The dissenters stormed out of Christ Church to found their own church. Land for the church on the east side of Third Street below Walnut came from various sources, the church was completed in 1761 but did not come into the possession of the corporation until 1796. Funds to erect the church were raised by lottery. The church was used as a hospital during the Revolution, casualties from the Battle of Germantown were buried in pits around the building. In 1901 services at St. Paul's ceased and its property was conveyed to St. Peter's Episcopal Church. In 1904 the land and church building were given to the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. Today the Episcopal Community Services occupy the building. Services are still held in the chapel. (Open daily Monday through Friday) 164 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 ST. PAUL'S GRAVEYARD surrounding the church remains virtually undisturbed although in 1855 some graves were removed to Section 47, Mount Moriah Cemetery. In 1808 and 1811 ground was purchased at the northwest corner of York Court and Laurel Street. A portion of this was sold to the Hibernia Fire Company in 1850 and the graves moved to Mount Moriah in 1859, the remaining ground was sold. ST. JAMES CHURCH OF KINGSESSING was established as a "Swedish church to be officiated and served in the English tongue by the Swedish ministers at Wicaco near the city of Philadelphia forever". The church at Sixty-Eighth and Woodland Avenue was completed in 1762, alterations were made in 1854 and 1875. It is now an Episcopal Church. 1762 THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH was founded by adherents of George Keith in 1762. They built a church on the west side of Second Street between Market and Arch Streets, the site of the 1731 church of the Anabaptists. (see The Baptist Church of Philadelphia 1688) This church was enlarged in 1808. The present church at Seventeenth and Sanson Streets was built in 1898. THE FIRST BAPTIST BURYING GROUND on LaGrange Place was west of the first church on Second Street. Burials of record from 1757 to 1889. In 1860 bodies were moved to Section 112 in Mount Moriah Cemetery. 1763 FOURTH STREET FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE 011 Fourth Street between Walnut and Chestnut Streets was built in 1763 next to the Friends School, now William Penn Charter School. It was built to benefit the students and provide a meeting place for a Quarterly Meeting of the young people of the Society. It was removed in 1859. OLD ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was built on South Fourth Street near Spruce Street on land originally acquired by St. Joseph's Catholic Church for a burial ground. Among the active members, some two hundred and twenty-two, the majority were Irish with some Germans and French. The church was intended as an appendage to St. Joseph's. In 1782 the church was renovated and enlarged. The Continental Congress attended services at St. Mary's on four official occasions. It became the First Roman Catholic Cathedral in the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1810 and remained so until 1838. The building was enlarged in 1810.1811 and was renovated in 1963. The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 165 ST. MARY'S BURIAL GROUND surrounds the church on South Fourth Street between Locust and Spruce Streets. Along the north wall are the graves of the Bouvier family. Commodore John Barry is among the prominent patriots buried here. Some graves were moved from here in 1800 when the new burial ground on the west side of Thirteenth Street north of Pine Street was established, as well as those who were buried in a temporary ground at Sixth and Locust Streets. The Thirteenth Street burial ground was sold in 1809 and the graves moved to St. Mary's Cemetery at Tenth and Moore Streets in Moyamensing. Addition ground there was purchased in 1834 and 1870. 1765 ST. JOHN'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Land for the church at the southwest corner of Grove and Brown Streets in Northern Liberties was purchased in 1764. KENSINGTON PUBLIC BURIAL GROUND, at. indenture granted in Northern Liberties in 1765. 1766 ZION EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH was established In 1766 and the new church on the southeast corner of Fourth and Cherry Streets was consecrated in 1769. It was said to, be the largest church in America, "one hundred and seven feet long, seventy-one feet wide and forty-four feet to the eves." In 1777 the British used the church as a hospital. Christmas evening in 1794 the building was gutted by fire, within a year the church was rebuilt with the tower higher than before. Early in the 1800s a controversy arose over the question of preaching sermons in German or English. The difficulty continued until 1829 when the English faction left to start their own church, ST. MATTHEw's on New Street near Fourth Street. In 1870 the Germans built a new Zion Church near Franklin Square above Race Street, the old church was torn down. ZION LUTHERAN BURIAL GROUND. The ground on Franklin Street north of Race Street to Eighth Street was purchased in 1763. In 1870 part of this ground was used to build the new church, additional land was obtained in 1781. In the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 the congregation lost six hundred and twenty-five members. In 1866 the graves in this cemetery were moved to the Germantown Lutheran Cemetery at Thirty-Third and Lehigh Streets where there is still a cemetery. 166 Churches and Cemeteries 1612-1790 1767 THE SCOTS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was established by a group of Scotch Presbyterians known at Seceders. They had been worshiping in a farm house at Fourth and Shippen Streets with the Reverend David Telfair who had come to America in 1766. In 1770 they purchased a lot on the south side of Spruce Street between Third and Fourth Streets and completed building a church in 1771. For several years after this date they continued to hold services in the Shippen Street house as well as the new church. During the Revolution the Hessians used the church as a hospital and created damage in excess of £ 5500, a trying situation for the financially pressed congregation. More trouble arose in 1786 when the congregation adopted a by-law obliging all non-natives elected to the Corporation to have taken the Oath of Allegiance to the State. This was an 'Anti-Burgher' church (see The Associate Presbytery 1733) opposed to taking oaths. A further problem stemmed from the fact that the church was subordinate to the Synod of Edinburgh. When the leaders of the church tried to annul this connection there was wide disagreement. The case went against the minister William Marshall and his adherents, in 1787 they were "purged" from the church. (see Associate Presbyterian — New Presbytery 1790) In 1822 the Scots Church withdrew from the Associate Reformed Church and became THE EIGHTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. In 1843 the church building was enlarged. In 1883 they merged with The South Broad Street Presbyterian Church. The Spruce Street Church was demolished in 1884. SCOTS PRESBYTERIAN BURIAL GROUNDS. The farm at Fourth and Shippen Streets was surrounded by the early graveyard. By 1888 it was still in possession of the church but had fallen into neglect. The burial ground around the church on Spruce Street was used from 1771 until it was sold in 1885. Most of the graves were removed to other cemeteries. 1768 OLD PINE STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, THE THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Built as a chapel of ease for The First Presbyterian Church at Fourth and Pine Streets in 1768 with funds provided by First Church. For a period of time the two churches were as one sharing a minister and corporation. In 1771 the church called its own minister, the Reverend George Duffield a New Light pastor. The results of the call were tumultuous, the First Church was Old Light; the Second Church was New Light; and the Third Church which was financed by the Old Light First Church now called a New Light pastor! Duffield found the church doors locked against him. The problem was finally The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 167 resolved when the Third Church paid the First Church $4,250. At the time of the Revolution the British used the church as a stable for dragoons and used the pews and woodwork for firewood. In 1814 the extraordinary Ezra Stiles Ely became the minister, soon causing a division in the church. Four elders and a small group of the congregation withdrew and formed THE SIXTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH at Spruce above Fifth Street. Because of the dedication of later pastors Old Pine Street Church still stands on the original ground. The church was rebuilt in 1837, and again in 1857, with a part of the wall of the original church intact. In 1953 the church merged with the Holland Scots Church and with The Eastburn Mariners Bethel Church in 1958. Today it is known at THE THIRD SCOTS AND MARINERS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, at Fourth and Pine Streets. THE PINE STREET PRESBYTERIAN BURYING GROUND adjoining the old church. Here are the graves of one hundred Hessians buried along the east wall of the church at the time it served as a British hospital. In 1819 a second burial ground was purchased at Carpenter Street west of Fourth Street, also known as Ely's Ground. This was sold in 1869 the remains having been removed to the original ground at Fourth and Pine Streets. 1769 ST. GEORGE'S METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH iS the oldest church in continuous service in Methodism and is called The Cradle of American Methodism. The present building erected in 1766 at the southeast corner of New and Fourth Streets was not the first meeting place of the congregation. They met first in the sail loft owned by Samuel Croft, the Society's first convert, and later in a tavern at No. 8 Loxley Court which is still standing. In 1769 they bought the large shell of a church begun by a group of Dutch Presbyterians in 1766, the Calvinists ran out of money and were unable to complete the building. St. George's began with one hundred members, eventually the membership numbered almost four thousand. It was here that Richard Allen was licensed as the first negro Methodist minister in 1784. (see Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church 1787) By 1925 the neighborhood had turned highly industrial and the membership had dropped to one hundred and eleven. The church building was endangered by the construction of the Delaware River Bridge although these plans were later changed and the bridge misses the church by a matter of fourteen feet. Restoration of the old church was started in 1944, today it houses The Methodist Historical Society, at 235 North Fourth Street. 168 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 ST. GEORGE'S METHODIST BURIAL GROUNDS. The first one was established in 1795 on Crown Street north of Race Street, called North West Ground. This was sold in 1824. The second was on Christian Street west of Third Street, this was sold in 1847. The third burial ground was at Sixteenth Street near Fairmount Avenue, bodies were removed from here in 1868 to Section 203 Mount Moriah Cemetery. THE SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH in Northern Liberties was founded in 1769. This church was dissolved after 1776, then reorganized in 1804 at New Market Street north of Poplar Street. In 1937 the Second Baptist Church was located on Second Street near Girard Avenue. SECOND BAPTIST BURYING GROUND was purchased in 1808 at New Market Street near the church, portions of this were sold in 1861 and 1871. During the period 1869-1871, 300 graves were moved to Section C, Ivy Hill Cemetery. 1770 THE UNIVERSALISTS IN PHILADELPHIA. In 1770 the Reverend John Murray who had recently arrived from England and was attached to the Methodist Church gathered together a group of people who included the Universal Baptists. They had come into being shortly before this when a pastor at the First Baptist Church had been excommunicated for upholding the doctrine of universal selection, and with his followers founded the Baptist group. These two groups formed the FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA. They built a church on Lombard Street west of Fourth Street in 1793. They were still there in 1880. 1772 ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH (of Dublin) was built in 1772. It was a part of Trinity Episcopal Church until 1834. (see Trinity Episcopal Church 1698) A new church was built in 1864. The church at 9601 Frankford Avenue, Torresdale celebrated its 205th anniversary in 1977. 1783 FREE QUAKER MEETING HOUSE, Fifth and Arch Streets. Although the Quakers had denounced the actions of the King in 1775, they did not feel justified in engaging in rebellion against him. The Quakers who joined the American cause actively were disowned. For awhile they met in one anothers houses but soon felt the need for a meetinghouse of their own. A public subscription was started and a good number of Philadelphians who felt it a proper compensation for the The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 169 loss suffered by the disowned brethren contributed to the new meetinghouse. The Free Quaker Meeting House was built in 1783. The Free or Fighting Quakers as they were sometimes called, were a splinter group from the main body of Quakers. They bore arms during the Revolutionary War. The meetinghouse was not used after 1800, it served as a school; later as a library; and eventually as a warehouse. In 1907 the Society of Free Quakers became extinct. After many years of commercial use the meetinghouse was moved to the west when Fifth Street was widened. It was carefully restored in 1961. A stone tablet in the north gable proclaims: By General Subscription/ for the/ FREE QUAKERS/ Erected in the YEAR/ of OUR LORD 1783/ of the EMPIRE 8. FREE QUAKERS BURIAL GROUND, Fifth Street between Locust and Spruce Streets was established in 1786. During the Civil War many soldiers were buried here. The graves were removed to Fatlands, Lower Provident Township, Montgomery County after the Meeting ceased to exist in 1907. 1785 FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, Lodge Street between Second and Exchange Streets was established in 1785. 1786 BYBERRY TOWNSHIP PurrElls FIELD. In 1786 an acre of land was set aside for the poor. In 1867 it was still a township burial ground near The Red Lion Hotel. 1787 LOMBARD STREET BURYING GROUND between Tenth and Twelfth Streets was established in 1787 for the interment of strangers. In 1794 it was fenced in, within six years it was so crowded that further burials were prohibited. Many victims of the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1799 were buried here. The ground was sold by the city in 1854. MOTHER BETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 419 South Sixth Street was founded in 1787 at this location by Richard Allen. He was a Negro slave who had bought his freedom in 1786 and had been given a license to preach by St. George's Methodist Church 1784, the first ordained black man in America. After several years of holding services for his flock in the early morning, he left St. George's to found The Bethel Church, the first Negro congregation in America, now known as "Mother Bethel." The first structure on the site of the present church was a blacksmith's shed purchased by Allen 170 Churches and Cemeteries 1642-1790 in 1787, this is the oldest piece of real estate owned by blacks in the United States. A new church was built on the site in 1794. Absalom Jones was ordained Deacon in 1795 by Bishop William White of the Episcopal Church in 1795 and was the officiating minister of Bethel Church in 1796. Richard Allen became the first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816, he is buried in a basement crypt in the church. Absalom Jones founded the FIRST AFRICAN PROTESTANT CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS in 1793. 1788 HOLY TRINITY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Sixth and Spruce Streets was organized in 1788 by German Catholics who felt a need for a church of their own. The church was built in 1789; it was damaged by fire in 1860 and remodeled, although it stands today relatively unchanged from its original appearance. The first Catholic orphan asylum in America was established here in 1797. HOLY TRINITY GRAVEYARD surrounds the church, it was begun in 1789. In one area the Acadian refugees of 1755 are buried, this is the graveyard Longfellow wrote of in Evangeline: "Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are sleeping. Under the humble walls of the little Catholic churchyard In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed." 1789 ROXBOROUGH BAPTIST CHURCH, LEVERINGTON BAPTIST CHURCH. Organized in 1789, out of The First Baptist Church of Philadelphia (see 1762) as ROXBOROUGH RIDGE BAPTIST CHURCH. 6035 Ridge Avenue, Roxborough. LEVERINGTON CEMETERY adjoins The Roxborough Baptist Church on Ridge Avenue. There was an earlier burial ground on Meeting House Lane which was established in 1819. 1790 THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Or THE NEW PRESBYTERY, Walnut Street west of Fourth Street was founded in 1790 when the Reverend William Marshall and his followers broke away from the Scots Presbyterian Church. (see Scots Presbyterian 1770) The church was torn down in 1854 when they moved to a new church called THE FIRST UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH On the southwest corner of Broad and Lombard Streets. ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN BUBIAL GROUND in front of the church on Walnut Street from 1791 to 1854. A new graveyard at Thirteenth and Cypress Streets was sold in 1864 and 1869. The remains were removed to Section 124, Mount Moriah Cemetery. The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 171 Alotta, Robert I. Street Names of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Temple University Press, 1975. Barker, Charles F. "A Register of Burying Grounds of Philadelphia." Manuscript. Microfilm. Philadelphia: Library of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1942-43. Cursor, Julie P. A Guide's Guide to Philadelphia, Philadelphia: Cursor House Inc. 1973. Dorman, Charles G. "Bishop William White: Chaplain to the Revolution." Bicentennial Journal, edited by David R. Boldt, Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 January 1976. Eichel, Larry, "Philadelphia's First Catholics Kept Out of Sight." Bicentennial Journal, edited by David R. Boldt, Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 January 1976. Faris, John T. Old Churches and Meeting Houses In and Around Philadelphia. Philadelphia: J• B• Lippincott Company, 1936. Hogan, Edmund. The Prospect of Philadelphia, Philadelphia: 1795. Hogarth, Paul. Walking Tours of Old Philadelphia, Barre, Massachusetts: Barre Publishing Company, 1976. Jenkins, Charles F. The Guide Book To Historic Germantown, Germantown, Pennsylvania 1904. Keyser, Naaman H; Kain, C. Henry; Garber, John Palmer; and McCann, Horace F., History of Old Germantown, Philadelphia: Horace F. McCann, Publisher, 1907. Lippincott, Horace Mather. Early Philadelphia, Philadelphia: Macrae-Smith Publishers, 1926. Lippstone, Laura. "Patriot Jews Found Mikveh Isreal." Bicentennial Journal, edited by David R. Boldt, Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 January 1976. Marion, John Francis. Bicentennial City, Walking Tours of Historic Philadelphia, Princeton, New Jersey: The Pyne Press, 1974. Famous and Curious Cemeteries, New York: Crown Publishers, 1977. Martindale, Joseph C. A History of The Townships of Byberry and Moreland, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia T. E. Zell, 1867. McCall, Elizabeth. Old Philadelphia Houses on Society Hill, 1750-1840, New York: Architectural Book Publishing Company, 1966. Morais, Henry Samuel. The Jews of Philadelphia, Philadelphia: Levytype Company, 1894. Roach, Hannah Benner, and Smith, Cary Thurman. "Reference Guide For a Course in Genealogical Methods." Philadelphia: The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 1956. Scharf, J. Thomas, and Westcott, Thompson. History of Philadelphia 1609-1884, Philaadelphia : L. H. Everts Publishers, 1884. Scott, William H., and White, William P., D. D., compilers and editors, The Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott Publishers, 1895. Teitelman, Edward, and Longstreth, Richard W. Architecture In Philadelphia: A Guide. Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1974. Vieira, M. Laffitte. West Philadelphia Illustrated. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1976. Walther, Rudolph J. Happenings in ye olde Philadelphia 1630-1900. Philadelphia: Walther Printing House, 1925. Ware, Gilbert. "Ex-Slave Leads Blacks To God." Bicentennial Journal, edited by David R. Boldt, Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 January 1976. Watson, John F. Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Company, 1870. 172 Churches and Cemeteries 1692-1790 Webster, Richard. Philadelphia Preserved. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1976. Weis, Frederick Lewis. The Colonial Clergy of the Middle Colonies. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society, 1957. Wolf, Edwin, Jr., and Whiteman, Maxwell. The History of the Jews in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: 1957. First Census of the United States 1790, Pennsylvania. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1970. Historic Philadelphia, Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1953. Philadelphia, American Guide Series. Philadelphia William Penn Associates, 1937. Philadelphia City Directory, 1796. Philadelphia: 1796. "Philadelphia Newspaper Cuttings." Library of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, A Guide To The Keystone State. New York: Oxford University Press, 1940. Pennsylvania Magasine of History and Biography. Philadelphia: 1877-1978. Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: 1895-1978. The Independence Square Neighborhood. Philadelphia: The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, 1926. Lewis D. Cook informs us that in William Wade Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume II, the following important item, in regard to William Penn, was overlooked in making the Digests of the Minutes of Falls Monthly Meeting, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. "At A Monthly Meeting at the Falls Meeting House, ye 1st day of ye 8th mo. (October) 1701. The Governor being present, and a member of this meeting, acquainted us of his Intentions to depart for England in a short Time. It was therefore agreed by this Meeting that Phineas Pemberton, Joseph Kirkbride and Richard Hough and Samuel Dark draw up a Certificate concerning him, to be in readyness against this day week . Agreed that this meeting be adjourned to this meeting house this day week." "At A Monthly Meeting at the meeting House held by adjournment ye 8th day of ye 8th month 1701. A Certificate on ye Governor's behalf, and his wife's, was Read in ye meeting and approved and ordered to be signed by those here. And the meeting being but small, it was agreed that those absent friends that were desirous to sign it should have their Liberty."