Providence Meeting Commemoration, 7th day Ninth Month, 28th, 1929

Held at Providence Meeting House, Upper Providence Township, Montgomery Co., PA

(1929)
Location: Just west of Location: 8207 Black Rock Road, Oaks, Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County 40.1490°N 75.4758°W ~• see also:
Summary in a GENi document file

CONCEPT

The Quaker Communities of Eastern Pennsylvania were closely knit, none more so than this Providence Meeting which was small. These families intermarried, so if someone sees a familiar ancestral surname, chances are you are not so distantly related to others on the list below. Some, but not all, marital links are noted.
This commemoration event was valuable as the booklet listed many Providence Meeting members through the years. This project compiles many of these names.

Surnames

~• Significant members are hyper-linked. These are the genealogical subsections that were chosen for the 200th anniversary booklet of the Meeting House, with the page number where each section begins:

More information about the Meeting may be found here: https://www.norristownfriends.org/Groups/339335/Upper_Providence_Me...

1. The RICHARDSON family (of Providence) p. 29 ~• note that the Richardson family once owned a full one thousand acres that surrounded this meeting house ~> It is no wonder therefore that RICHARDSON is first on the list of families.
2. The POTTS family (of Providence) p. 34
3. The JACOBS family (of Providence) p. 35 ~ in the BEAN line
4. The COATES family (of Providence and of Charlestown) p. 39
5. The HAMER family (of Providence Twp.) p. 41
6. The STARR family (of Charlestown Twp., Chester Co.) p. 45
7. The COX family (of Providence) p. 47 COX married TAYLOR
8. The ROGERS family (of Providence) p. 53 Rogers married Ambler
9. The WATSON family p. 56 ~• married in Rogers line, early on
10. The HOBSON family (of Limerick Township) p. 57 ~• married into JACOBS line
11. The THOMAS family (of Providence) p. 58
12. The ROBINSON family (of Providence) p. 60
13. The EVANS family (of Providence) p. 62
14. The ADAMSON family (of Providence) p.63
15. The TYSON family p.64 ~• The Tysons stem from early Germantown ~• see discussion, first entry; COX married TYSON at Providence MM
16. The HARPER family (of Providence) p. 68 Harper married Tyson
17. The JARRETT family (of Providence) p. 69 ~ a Jarrett's wife brother-in-law is a Rogers
18. The CORSON family (of Providence) p. 70
19. The AMBLER family (of Providence) p.71 Rogers married Ambler
20. The HOPKINS family p. 72
    

~• Note: dates of 1st family members are spread over many years

The volume also contains a History of the Meeting, and the names of many of its early members, together with genealogical records of some of their families. < from a Forward by Chas. Major

Committee in Charge of the Property in 1929

Alice H. Ambler • Albert C. Livezey • Charles W. Sheppard

     G. Herbert Jenkins •  Charles Major •             William Webster, Jr. 

A. Conrad Jones • B. Wallace Mammel • Jane T. Wright

From the History of the Meeting on page 9

The first Friends who settled near the neck of Perquiomen (sic) Schuylkill were Joseph Richardson, Robert Edwards, John Jacobs, James Hamer and some others...
~• and, as detailed elsewhere:
In the early years the meetings of Providence Preparatory Meeting were held in Joseph's home, the first being held in 1716.
See: SAMUEL RICHARDSON FAMILY AND WILL EXCERPTS By Eleanor Mayfarth

Take Special Note

Those men and women who served in an administrative/leadership capacity are listed. See photo.

A Condensed Chronology of the Providence Preparative Meeting

• 1716 ~ meetings for worship on First Days were held at the house of Joseph RIchardson
• 1717 ~ James Hamer, Jr. purchases 300 acres in the Manor of Gilberts from Penn's commissioners, wherein meeting house was later built
• 1720 ~ Monthly Meeting removed to the house of John Jacobs and James Hamer's
• 1732 ~ Meetings begin at the first New Providence Meeting House as authorized by Gwynedd M.M.
• 1743 (December 15) ~ This Meeting house land of 1 acre and nine perches deeded to members of meeting
• 1743 (December 16) ~ same land put in Trust to the Preparative Meeting
• 1828 ~ The date stone of the present building reads, "Rebuilt in 1828"
• 1829 ~ 59 members - 22 of whom were minors
• 1846 ~ 65 members (total)
• 1863 ~ recommendation that Providence Meeting be discontinued
• 1865 ~ consolidated with Norristown Meeting
• 1866 ~ indulged meetings held on an irregular basis

Membership in 1846

~• 65 members of the Providence Preparative Meeting
in a much smaller number of surnames: COX, BARNETT, AMBLER, HOPKINS, JACOBS, TYSON, HARPER, STREEPER, HAMMER (HAMER?), ROBERTS, ROGERS, SMEDLEY

Guest Book and Discussion

If you've read this far, perhaps you'd like to sign in to our Guest Book?
Feel free to address any questions and make comments or even start another specific discussion.

Sources

1. Mannor of Gilberts
2. 1848 map held by the Library of Congress
3. Upper Providence Burial Ground grave markers < and diagram