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Sandwich Quarterly Meeting of Friends (Wilburite : 1845-1935)

Sandwich Quarterly Meeting of Friends (Wilburite) Records

1831-1935
7 vols., 2 fols.
Call no.: MS 902 W553 S2638

Sandwich Quarterly Meeting was one of four original Quarterly Meetings comprising the New England Yearly Meeting (Wilburite), along with Rhode Island, Dover, and Salem. Formed in the split of 1845, Sandwich oversaw Monthly Meetings in Dartmouth, Nantucket, New Bedford, and Westport. It suffered its own split when the Nantucket Monthly Meeting separated to form an “Otisite” meeting between 1863 and 1911. Sandwich absorbed the Wilburite Salem and Dover Quarterly meetings in 1881, and was eventually merged itself into the combined Rhode Island and Sandwich Quarterly Meeting in 1935. After the reunification of New England Friends in 1944-1945, it became the Narragansett Quarterly Meeting.

The records of the Sandwich Quarterly Meeting (Wilburite) include minutes of the Men’s and Women’s meetings from the start of the meeting in 1845 to its merger into the Rhode Island and Sandwich Quarterly Meeting in 1934, along with two volumes of records of Ministers and Elders. One volume containing minutes of the Men’s Meeting (1845-1863) paired with the records of Ministers and elders (1845-1857) is part of the collections of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Background on Sandwich Quarterly Meeting of Friends (Wilburite)

Sandwich Quarterly Meeting was one of four original Quarterly Meetings comprising the New England Yearly Meeting (Wilburite), along with Rhode Island, Dover, and Salem. Formed in the split of 1845, Sandwich oversaw Monthly Meetings in Dartmouth, Nantucket, New Bedford, and Westport.

Sandwich was the site of a separation of its own in 1863, when the Nantucket Monthly Meeting (with associates in Newport and elsewhere in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island) split to form the Annual Meeting of Friends for New England, generally known as the Otisite or Primitive meeting. Gathering in Newport, this meeting functioned as an annual meeting until 1885, after which the responsibilities of the annual devolved to the New England Quarterly Meeting. The separation lasted until 1911, when the Otisites rejoined the Wilburites as the Nantucket Monthly Meeting, despite meeting in Warwick, R.I.

After absorbing the Wilburite Salem and Dover Quarterly meeting in 1881, Sandwich was eventually merged into the combined Rhode Island and Sandwich Quarterly Meeting in 1935, and after the reunification of New England Friends in 1944-1945, it became the Narragansett Quarterly Meeting.

Scope of collection

The records of the Sandwich Quarterly Meeting (Wilburite) include minutes of the Men’s and Women’s meetings from the start of the meeting in 1845 to its merger into the Rhode Island and Sandwich Quarterly Meeting in 1934, along with two volumes of records of Ministers and Elders. One volume containing minutes of the Men’s Meeting (1845-1863) paired with the records of Ministers and elders (1845-1857) is part of the collections of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Constituent meetings

Inventory

Minutes
1845-1934
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Minutes (Men and joint)
1863-1934
Bound vol.
09:D2
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Minutes (Women)
1845-1865
Bound vol.
09:D2
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Minutes (Women)
1874-1894
Bound vol.
09:D2
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Minutes (Women)
1894-1908
Bound vol.
09:D2
Ministry and worship
1863-1935
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Ministers and Elders
1863-1871
Bound vol.
09:D2
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Ministers and Elders
1923-1935
Bound vol.
09:D2
Finance and property
1847-1901
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Treasurer
1847-1901
Bound vol.
09:D2
Miscellaneous
1831-1893
Sandwich Quarterly (Wilburite): Miscellaneous “scattered reports” and answers to queries
1831/1893
0.5 lin. feet
11:E4
Contents:

Housed in box with miscellaneous Salem Monthly Meeting records.

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Gift of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records, March 2016.

Related Material

This collection is part of the New England Yearly Meeting Records.

A volume containing minutes of the Sandwich Quarterly Men’s Meeting, 1845-1863, and Ministers and elders, 1845-1857, is part of the collections at the Nantucket Historical Association.

Processing Information

Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, October 2018.

Language:

English

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: Sandwich Quarterly Meeting of Friends (Wilburite) Records (MS 902 s2638). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

Search terms

Subjects

  • Quakers–Massachusetts
  • Sandwich (Mass.)–History
  • Society of Friends–Massachusetts

Names

  • New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Link to similar SCUA collections

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Massachusetts--Religious life and customsNew England Yearly Meeting of FriendsQuakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--MassachusettsWilburites

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)