The Lawrence Monthly Meeting of Friends evolved from
Boston Monthly in the late 1880s and 1890s, achieving status as a monthly meeting in
1899. Although they became inactive in 1985, they were revived in 1994, and joined
with a preparative meeting in Andover to form the present Lawrence-Andover Monthly
Meeting.
The records of Lawrence-Andover Monthly Meeting include a relatively
complete set of minutes, extending back to the earliest days as a preparative
meeting to about the time of its becoming inactive in the mid-1980s. The collection
also includes minutes and accounts for its Elizabeth Fry Missionary Circle, its
Leprosy Mission, Missionary Society, and Sabbath School, along with records of
births, deaths, and marriages in the meeting, 1892-1975.
Abbie Loring in Cape Cod Quaker attire, ca.1930. Photo by Alton H.
Blackington
The Quaker meeting in Lawrence, Mass., evolved from Boston Monthly Meeting in the
last decades of the nineteenth century. Beginning with Hezekiah Binns, his wife, and
a small group of friends, Lawrence Quakers began to gather for worship in members'
homes as early as 1884, and asked to hold regular meetings at the Lawrence YMCA by
1886. The group grew steadily, held together by temperance principles and religious
bonds, acquiring a meetinghouse on Avon Street in 1895 and setting off as a monthly
meeting in 1899.
In 1979, a worship group was established in Andover by Anne Avery and Jane Griswold,
which was placed under care of Cambridge Monthly Meeting in 1986. Although Lawrence
became inactive in 1985, it was never formally laid down, and after in began meeting
again in 1994 it combined with Andover Preparative Meeting to form the present
Lawrence-Andover Monthly Meeting, gathering at the Forest Street Union Church in
Methuen.
Part of Salem Quarterly meeting since their founding, Lawrence Monthly has overseen
preparative meeting in Lawrence (1901-1930) and Manchester, N.H. (1901-1930).
Scope of collection
The records of Lawrence-Andover Monthly Meeting include a relatively complete set of
minutes, extending back to the earliest days as a preparative meeting to about the
time of its becoming inactive in the mid-1980s. The collection also includes minutes
and accounts for its Elizabeth Fry Missionary Circle, its Leprosy Mission,
Missionary Society, and Sabbath School; records of births, deaths, and marriages,
1892-1975; and some rather prosaic, but extensive sets of financial records.
Cite as: Lawrence-Andover Friends Meeting Records (MS
902 L397). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts
Amherst Libraries.
