North Carolina Yearly Meeting of 1845

NORTH CAROLINA YEARLY MEETING OF 1845 115 NORTH CAROLINA YEARLY MEETING OF 1845· By Joseph Crosfield. The following letter was written by Joseph Crosfield, of England, a young man of twenty-four, who was visiting this country in company with James Hack Tuke, afterwards active in relief work during the Irish famine of 1847-8, and for many years a prominent English Friend. Joseph Crosfield visited this country again immediately after the Civil War, and spent some time in North Carolina. He was for a number of years Clerk of London Yearly Meeting. The letter has been kindly contributed by his son, Albert J. Crosfield, of Cambridge, England , and is printed as written with the exception of a few corrections in the spelling of proper names. As giving the frank impressions of an intelligent young English Friend, which of course were never intended for publication, it is of much interest and value. A view of the Yearly Meeting house referred to was given in The Bulletin for Second Month, 1909, and a portrait of Nathan Hunt, wearing the hat described, in The Bulletin for Eleventh month, 1907.—Ed. New Garden, North Carolina. lìmo. 6. 1845 My dear father We arrived here on third day afternoon, the 4th inst. after a very fatiguing journey of eight days and five nights from Louisville in Kentucky. This place is a lovely country meeting house among the woods with not a house in sight of it, the meeting house being a rough barn-like structure of boards unpainted and beside it is the burying ground enclosed within a zigzag rail fence. The graves are overgrown by a sort of small periwinkle & have headstones with the initials of the tenant. In one part of the graveyard a number of soldiers have been buried, the battle of Guilford having been fought in the year 1781 in this immediate neighbourhood & Friends' meeting house was Il6 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY the British hospital & there are stains of blood upon the oak boards forming the ceiling many feet square these being the floor of the old meeting house. I have not been able to ascertain when the present meeting house was built only Dougan Clark thinks about the year 1791, but Nathan Hunt can tell and one of his grandsons has promised to ascertain about it and write to me. There are graves of the American Soldiers all among the neighbouring woods, Lord Cornwallis having driven General Greene before him all day at this battle. N. H. remembers the soldiers passing his house and they helped themselves to his cattle & provisions . On passing the meeting house we turned up through a narrow track among the trees and after making our way for about a quarter of a mile we arrived at the Schoolhouse a handsome brick building with a small portico. We went into the hall and were very coldly received at first & could not find anyone in authority but inquiring for Eli & Sybil Jones, friends from Maine whom we had met at Cincinnati we were by them introduced to the other friends here. The Superintendent here is Joshua Stanley & the matron a daughter of Nathan Hunt's. We were introduced to N. H. who was very kind and seemed extremely glad to see James Tuke; he is 87 years of age, the 2nd Inst, being his birthday. He had sat in meeting five hours that day and was naturally a good deal fatigued. He inquired particularly after Thomas Thompson to whom he desired his love as also to any friends who remembered him and also talked about my Uncle Wilson who was with him in Ireland. His son Thomas Hunt seems a worthy friend. We are lodged at the school which accomodates about ninety friends, and are very comfortable there being only six friends in our bedroom & they are good company Mahlon Day from New York, Richard [H.] Thomas a minister from Baltimore with his companion Bond Valentine from Pennsylvania & James C. Fuller. There are in the house Dr. Tobey a minister from Providence, R. L, William & Hannah Rhoads from Philadelphia, the latter a minister and a sister of Thomas Evans & a great many other friends from this Yearly meeting. Anna Procter from Baltimore...