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Construction of the Creek Meeting House
Friends were living in what is now Clinton Corners as early as 1761. In 1771 the Nine Partners Meeting in Millbrook gave them permission to form their own local meeting. From that point until their meeting house was completed in 1780, they met in the home and barn of Jonathan Hoag. Nine Partners Quakers called them the “friends on the other side of the [Wappinger] Creek,” thus the name. On April 19, 1776, one year to the day after the battles of Lexington and Concord and the start of the American Revolution, Creek Friends presented Nine Partners with a deed for two acres of land that had been purchased from Abel Peters, a local merchant, for £10-0-0. A committee was formed to oversee construction and another to raise money through “subscriptions” to pay for the new building.
As in most cases of Friends' meeting houses, the building was constructed by local craftsmen—perhaps even members of the congregation. Tradition holds that construction was delayed by the Revolution, when “the builders on several occasions ran away to avoid being pressed into the ranks of the army.”
It may be that construction had not begun when the Nine Partners Meeting House burned on December 28, 1778, leading to the decision to build Creek Meeting House in a combination of fieldstone and grey and red shale likely quarried nearby. The building was sufficiently complete by May 1780 that the Nine Partners Friends began meeting there until their new brick meeting house was complete. In 1782 the Creek Meeting Monthly Meeting was authorized as a monthly meeting separate from the Nine Partners.
As in most cases of Friends' meeting houses, the building was constructed by local craftsmen—perhaps even members of the congregation. Tradition holds that construction was delayed by the Revolution, when “the builders on several occasions ran away to avoid being pressed into the ranks of the army.”
It may be that construction had not begun when the Nine Partners Meeting House burned on December 28, 1778, leading to the decision to build Creek Meeting House in a combination of fieldstone and grey and red shale likely quarried nearby. The building was sufficiently complete by May 1780 that the Nine Partners Friends began meeting there until their new brick meeting house was complete. In 1782 the Creek Meeting Monthly Meeting was authorized as a monthly meeting separate from the Nine Partners.
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Architect's cut-away rendering of
the Creek Meeting House showing the original interior based on research for the Historic Structure Report. |
Dutchess Quakers During the American Revolution
The Creek Meeting House was under construction during the height of the momentous clashes between the Continental and British armies in New York and the Hudson Valley. The British held New York City and environs, while Washington's forces and New York's Revolutionary government prevailed in Dutchess and the rest of upstate. Dutchess Quakers were distrusted by both sides for their refusal to take part directly or indirectly in the hostilities. They would not pay most taxes, serve in the militia, or pay for substitutes—forcing Revolutionary authorities to seize their property. Nor would they declare allegiance to the new government, which led them to be viewed by many rebels as Loyalist sympathizers. They would not use Continental currency or sell provisions to the warring armies, be reimbursed for requisitions of goods by either army, or accept payments for the use of their premises for quartering troops.
In 1776 two Creek members were imprisoned for refusing to accept Continental currency. In 1777 three Creek members—part of a group of twenty local Quakers returning from a religious meeting in Flushing, Queens—were imprisoned on suspicion of carrying messages for the British. Another Creek member was jailed in 1779. Mindful of their precarious situation, Dutchess Friends were careful to monitor their members' neutrality. They investigated rumors that some members were carrying messages to the British while traveling to meetings. They chastised another for “talking too much of the Times . . . favoring the King” and disciplined others for “Going to Training” for the Patriots or paying fines in lieu of militia service. Reflecting the complexity and competing tensions of the Revolutionary War era, Dutchess Quakers (like many Americans) were torn by conflicting sympathies.
In 1776 two Creek members were imprisoned for refusing to accept Continental currency. In 1777 three Creek members—part of a group of twenty local Quakers returning from a religious meeting in Flushing, Queens—were imprisoned on suspicion of carrying messages for the British. Another Creek member was jailed in 1779. Mindful of their precarious situation, Dutchess Friends were careful to monitor their members' neutrality. They investigated rumors that some members were carrying messages to the British while traveling to meetings. They chastised another for “talking too much of the Times . . . favoring the King” and disciplined others for “Going to Training” for the Patriots or paying fines in lieu of militia service. Reflecting the complexity and competing tensions of the Revolutionary War era, Dutchess Quakers (like many Americans) were torn by conflicting sympathies.
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HMS JERSEY British Prison Ship.
Six local Quakers including Creek members Paul Upton, Jonathan Dean, and Joshua Haight were imprisoned for four months in the Fleet Prison at Esopus Creek near Kingston. A contemporary British prison ship, the HMS Jersey shown here, was anchored in a similar fleet of British prison ships off the coast of Brooklyn. |
Quaker Architecture and Women's Equality
In the 1760s–1770s Quakers developed the architectural form that would become standard for the next century. Called the doubled plan, it has two front doors and an interior fitted with moveable partitions that can be lowered to form two equally sized “apartments” for men's and women's business meetings. The partitions would be raised for worship meetings where men and women met together.
Despite the equality of the sexes in spiritual matters—women served as ministers, organizers, and decision makers—there was a difference in the matters considered in the men's and women's business meetings. Women's meetings dealt with social issues, such as marriage and aid to the needy, while the men's meetings were concerned with financial issues. Before the emergence of the doubled plan, the women often met in smaller rooms separated from the main meeting hall.
The doubled plan emerged at a time when the women's meetings gained new importance. American Friends experienced a period of spiritual reform and separated themselves from the non-Quaker world. A new “discipline” emerged that strictly enforced rules against marrying out of the faith. The women's meetings gained new stature, and the doubled form of Quaker meeting houses reflected their new status.
The Creek Meeting House is significant as the earliest extant example in New York of the doubled-plan meeting house. Built in 1777, it followed the Queen Street Meeting House built in New York City in 1774, which is no longer standing. The Quakers' practice of gender equality—including the deliberations of women's business meetings—afforded women leadership experience that was unparalleled in early America. The Creek Meeting House's architecture is a physical reminder of this practice. Girls raised as Quakers became leaders in the anti-slavery and women's rights movements.
Despite the equality of the sexes in spiritual matters—women served as ministers, organizers, and decision makers—there was a difference in the matters considered in the men's and women's business meetings. Women's meetings dealt with social issues, such as marriage and aid to the needy, while the men's meetings were concerned with financial issues. Before the emergence of the doubled plan, the women often met in smaller rooms separated from the main meeting hall.
The doubled plan emerged at a time when the women's meetings gained new importance. American Friends experienced a period of spiritual reform and separated themselves from the non-Quaker world. A new “discipline” emerged that strictly enforced rules against marrying out of the faith. The women's meetings gained new stature, and the doubled form of Quaker meeting houses reflected their new status.
The Creek Meeting House is significant as the earliest extant example in New York of the doubled-plan meeting house. Built in 1777, it followed the Queen Street Meeting House built in New York City in 1774, which is no longer standing. The Quakers' practice of gender equality—including the deliberations of women's business meetings—afforded women leadership experience that was unparalleled in early America. The Creek Meeting House's architecture is a physical reminder of this practice. Girls raised as Quakers became leaders in the anti-slavery and women's rights movements.
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Friends Meeting House,
Buckingham, Pennsylvania, 1768. The first of the doubled-plan meeting houses. |
