History Lessons
Celebrating Dutchess County’s Quaker Legacy

By ML Ball

Next year marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking the United States’s separation from Great Britain and the birth of our nation Numerous celebrations are planned around the country, but here in Dutchess County, commemorations are starting early. In fact, they’ve already begun.

To educate the public on the history and importance of the Quakers in this part of New York State, four 18th-century Quaker Meeting Houses (Oblong Meeting in Pawling, Nine Partners Meeting in Millbrook, Creek Meeting in Clinton, and Crum Elbow Meeting in Hyde Park) have been hosting free tours of their historic buildings on the first Sunday of every month this year, beginning in June and continuing through November.

The tours are part of the Rev 250 Dutchess County semiquincentennial projects funded by the Dutchess County Legislature and spearheaded by Will Tatum, the Dutchess County historian.

“Will has been the driving force behind Rev 250,” says Craig Marshall, vice president of the Clinton Historical Society and team leader of the Quaker Meeting House Tour team. “He put together the plan for the tours, and was the liaison between the Legislature, the six historical societies, and the Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project.” Other Rev 250 events include Colonial days, lectures, and a cemetery crawl.

Why highlight Quakers as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary? “Dutchess County was home to more Quakers than any other place outside of Philadelphia throughout the Revolutionary War period,” explains Alison Meyer, Millbrook Historical Society member. “The first gathering was the Oblong Meeting in Pawling in 1731. At the same time, the Nine Partners Patent along the Hudson River was being divided, causing some Quakers to migrate to the Millbrook area. The Creek Meeting was established in Clinton because they needed a meeting house across the creek during the winter when they couldn’t get down to Millbrook.”

Quakers proliferated in New York because they found solitude and safety here, Meyer adds. The newly formed patriots called them loyalists, because they were still dealing with English merchants. Once the Revolutionary War started, if you were a Quaker, the English thought you were a patriot because you didn’t honor their currency or their rules. The patriots thought you were a Tory, because you wouldn’t sign up for military service due to your religious beliefs. They were seen as spies by both sides, and some were arrested and put on prison ships.”

Quakers have always been known for their honesty and strong principles. They believed in equality between men and women. Education was important, hence every meeting house had a nearby school. They did not condone slavery; in 1768, it was decreed that all Quakers must free their slaves, almost 100 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. The Nine Partners Boarding School was a hub for the Underground Railroad, sheltering runaway slaves who came through Dutchess County.

Today, Quakers still meet in the area, ensuring these indelible principles live on. For more information, visit millbrookhistoricalsociety.org or meetinghousetour.com.