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Acknowledgments Sixteen years ago, in what seems like a different life, I came across a marine insurance policy issued by the Alexandria Marine Insurance Company— no. 2157—archived in the Virginia Historical Society. The policy insured thirty slaves valued at nine thousand dollars transported from Alexandria to New Orleans on the vessel Dorchester. The policy was signed by the president of the insurance company, William Hartshorne. At the time, I found the policy an intriguing example of economic modernization within a slave society. But it was so much more. Hartshorne was a prominent Alexandria Quaker, a member of the Society of Friends, and the policy provided my first glimpse of the world and dilemmas of Quakers in northern Virginia and the South. Sometime in the late 1990s, I realized that I must write an article about William Hartshorne. But as I investigated the Quaker community of northern Virginia more fully, it dawned on me that I had material for a book-length study. The work that follows sprang from that single marine insurance policy discovered years ago. The intellectual and personal journey that I have taken to finish this study would not have been possible without the assistance, support, intellectual engagement, friendship, and love of many people. Financial support was provided by a variety of institutions and organizations: the Virginia Historical Society, Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College, Quaker and Special Collections at Haverford College, the University of Louisville, and—for summer fellowships and the purchase of microfilm—Marcia Segal at Indiana University Southeast. The support of these institutions was, and is, greatly appreciated. Above all, the staff at the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College proved invaluable at all stages of the research. The knowledge, assistance, and advice of the library’s inestimable director , Christopher Densmore, along with the aid of the library staff, Patricia O’Donnell, Charlotte Blandford, and Susanna Morikawa, made working at Swarthmore a pleasure. My thanks, too, to the Friends at Pendle Hill, who offered a welcoming and warm environment for an interloper into Quaker history and culture. I had equally enjoyable and productive visits to Magill Library at HaverfordCollege ,whereEmmaLapsanskygenerouslysharedherrichknowledge xiv · Acknowledgments of all things Quaker with me (and demonstrated great understanding when I discovered that the records of my Hicksite Friends were housed primarily at Swarthmore). At the Virginia Historical Society, Frances Pollard and Nelson Lankford (among others) have been extremely helpful and generous with their time through many visits, beginning in the early 1990s. At the Indiana Historical Society, Wilma Gibbs provided assistance as I worked in the Clarence H. and Robert B. Smith collections. At Earlham College, Thomas Hamm, Quaker historian extraordinaire, helped identify research collections, answered a variety of uninformed questions with good grace, and provided a generous manuscript review. The significance of his scholarship can be gleaned from my endnotes. Many staff members at the Library of Virginia have provided important assistance over the years, including Minor Weisiger, Gregg Kimball, Brent Tarter, and John Deal. I can’t forget the many local historians whose research has guided my own over the years. Bronwen and John Souders of Waterford, Virginia, have shared key documents and insights with me (though I have never had the pleasure of meeting John), as has Deborah Lee. Rebecca Ebert, a librarian at the Handley Regional Library in Winchester and a Quaker, gave me a tour of the Hopewell Meeting House and introduced me to the richness of silence during that visit. Taylor Chamberlin’s careful research has been extremely helpful to me, as has the work of Jay Worrall, whose history of Virginia Quakers guided me as I began this project in earnest. A variety of professional historians have provided friendship and insights over the years, beginning with my graduate school companions and longtime friends: Granddad (Andy Chancey), Dutch (Stan Deaton), Ignatius (Mark Greenberg), Snuggles (Dan Kilbride), and Gomez (Chris Olsen). Bertram Wyatt-Brown continues to inspire as a historian, and Darrett Rutman ’s rigor first taught me what good history could be. The rotating members of the Kentucky Early American History group, begun by Wayne Lee over a decade ago, have been a constant source of insight and (friendly) criticism, especially Bradford Wood, Wayne Lee, Kelly Ryan, Tom Baker, Daniel Krebs, and Darrell Meadows. Kelly Ryan’s close reading of chapter 6 was particularly helpful, as was Rhonda Lee’s reading of chapter 5. Likewise , Christopher Phillips’s review of chapter 8 saved me from many errors (while his good humor as coeditor of...

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