A Quaker worship group was formed in Bolton, Mass., in
1763 and grew into a separate monthly meeting in 1799. Always a small outpost,
regular worship continued there until 1954, when the meetinghouse was sold to the
museum at Old Sturbridge Village. The meeting was formally laid down to Worcester
Monthly Meeting in 1972.
The surviving records of Bolton Monthly Meeting include
relatively complete minutes from 1799 to 1972, plus records of marriages, births,
and deaths into the latter years of the nineteenth century.
Abbie Loring in Cape Cod Quaker attire, ca.1930. Photo by Alton H.
Blackington
A Quaker worship group was established in Bolton, Mass., in northeastern Worcester
County, in 1763. After transferal from the care of Salem Monthly Meeting to Uxbridge
Monthly in 1785, Bolton was set off as a separate Monthly Meeting in 1799.
Following a slow decline in numbers, Bolton Friends agreed to sell their meeting
house to Old
Sturbridge Village, where it remains as part of a museum display of
nineteenth century New England life. For several years thereafter, Friends in Bolton
joined in federated worship with the Universalist and Baptist churches until their
meeting was formally laid down to Worcester Monthly Meeting in 1972.
Scope of collection
The surviving records of Bolton Monthly Meeting include relatively complete minutes
from 1799 to 1972, plus records of marriages, births, and deaths into the latter
years of the nineteenth century.
Cite as: Bolton Monthly Meeting of Friends Records (MS
902 b658). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts
Amherst Libraries.
