Westport Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends) Records
1766-2004
18 vols., 1 box (2.25 linear feet)
Call no.: MS 902 W4787
In 1699, Quaker meeting for worship began in Acoaxet, Mass., a coastal village within the boundaries of what would become the town of Westport. The worship group was set off from Dartmouth Monthly as a monthly meeting of its own in 1766, the Acoaxet Monthly Meeting, and became affiliated with Rhode Island Quarter. Between 1803 and 1812 the name Acoaxet was gradually replaced with Westport.
Westport Monthly Meeting of Friends is well documented, with nearly continuous minutes of business meetings stretching from 1766 to 1989, a collection of vital statistics from the establishment of the meeting through 1887, and over fifty years of newsletters (1961-2004).
Abbie Loring in Cape Cod Quaker attire, ca.1930. Photo by Alton H. Blackington
In 1699, Quaker meeting for worship began in Acoaxet, Mass., a coastal village within the boundaries of what would become the town of Westport. The worship group was set off from Dartmouth Monthly as a monthly meeting of its own in 1766, the Acoaxet Monthly Meeting, and became affiliated with Rhode Island Quarter. Between 1803 and 1812 the name Acoaxet was gradually replaced with Westport.
Over the years, Westport has cared for worship groups at Centre (1766-1789, 1853-1870, 1760-1880), Little Compton, R.I. (1777-ca.1882), and Tiverton, R.I. (1777-1780), as well as the Centre Preparative Meeting (1789-1853), which became the Westport Preparative.
Scope of collection
Westport Monthly Meeting of Friends is well documented, with nearly continuous minutes of business meetings stretching from 1766 to 1989, a collection of vital statistics from the establishment of the meeting through 1887, and over fifty years of newsletters (1961-2004).
Westport Monthly Meeting: State of the Society reports [lacking 1989]
1988-1994
Box 1: 7
Westport Monthly Meeting: Vital records
1766-1887
Westport Monthly: Vital records: Births, deaths, and marriages (formerly Acoaxet)
1766-1882
Bound vol.
09:E3
Westport Monthly: Vital records: Epistles and removals
1786-1887
Bound vol.
09:E3
Westport Monthly Meeting: Financial and property
1807-1903
Westport Monthly: Treasurer (Acoaxet Monthly)
1807-1903
Bound vol.
09:E3
Westport Monthly Meeting: Building costs for meetinghouse
1813
Box 1: 2
Westport Monthly Meeting: Valuation of property
1852
Box 1: 8
Westport Monthly Meeting: Other records
1827-1916
Westport Monthly Meeting: Epistle from New England Yearly Meeting
1827
Box 1: 3
Westport Monthly Meeting: Meeting history: "The two-hundredth anniversary of Friends Meeting, Westport, Massachusetts," by Khalil A. Totah and Edward L. Macomber
1916
Box 1: 4
Westport Monthly Meeting: Miscellaneous
1871-1886
Box 1: 5
Westport Monthly Meeting: Removals
1828-1886
Box 1: 6
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
1961-2004
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
1961-1978
Box 1: 9
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
1979-1981
Box 1: 10
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
1982-1986
Box 1: 11
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
1987-1990
Box 1: 12
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
1998-1999
Box 1: 13
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
2000-2001
Box 1: 14
Westport Monthly Meeting: Newsletters
2002-2004
Box 1: 15
Little Compton Worship Group
1784
Little Compton Worship Group: (John Ward and John Griffith deed to Monthly Meeting)
1784 Sept. 28
Framed
Administrative information
Access
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records, March 2016.
Cite as: Westport Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends) Records (MS 902 W4787). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Search terms
Subjects
Central Village (Mass.)--Religious life and customs
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
Quakers--Massachusetts
Society of Friends--Massachusetts
Contributors
Westport Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends) [main entry]
