Sandwich Quarterly Meeting of Friends (Wilburite) Records
1831-1935
7 vols., 2 fols. (1 linear foot)
Call no.: MS 902 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)
Abbie Loring in Cape Cod Quaker attire, ca.1930. Photo by Alton H. Blackington
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.
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.
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
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
Quakers--Massachusetts
Sandwich (Mass.)--Religious life and customs
Society of Friends--Massachusetts
Wilburites
Contributors
Sandwich Quarterly Meeting of Friends (Wilburite: 1845-1935) [main entry]
