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.
Inventory
Minutes
1799-1972
Bolton Monthly: Men's minutes
1826-1881
Bolton Monthly: Men's minutes (includes records of marriages)
1799 May 29-1826 Apr. 26
Bound vol.
09:A1
Bolton Monthly: Men's minutes
1826 May 24-1881 Jan. 26
Bound vol.
09:A1
Bolton Monthly: Women's minutes
1881-1884
Bolton Monthly: Women's minutes
1799 May 29-1846 Mar. 25
Bound vol.
09:A1
Bolton Monthly: Women's minutes
1846 Apr. 29-1884 May 28
Bound vol.
09:A1
Bolton Monthly: Joint minutes
1881-1972
Bolton Monthly: Minutes
1881-1972
Bound vol.
09:A1
Vital records
1799-1879
Bolton Monthly: Vital records: Births, deaths, and marriages
1803-1879
Bound vol.
09:A1
Administrative information
Access
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records, March 2016.
Cite as: Bolton Monthly Meeting of Friends Records (MS 902 b658). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
