The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1886-10-30
THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
Yearly Meeting in Baltimore-Some In
teresting "reminiscences.

The Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends was
week. The American furnishes some interesting
facts in connection With this Society, from which
we extract the following:
"The first assembly of this religious body by
appointed representatives took place at West
River, Md, in the year 1872, and during two
hundred and fourteen years, though held on the
Eastern Shore and in Baltimore, its annual meet
ings have been maintained, and good degree of
harmony, fraternity AMI love has prevailed in the
seven yearly meetings. as shown By their epistolary
correspondence which has never been broken or
strained
"When William Penn's FIRST i'm migrants landed
on the shores of the Delaware, Lord Baltimores
mixed immigrants of Episcopalans, Catholics
snd Friends had been peacefully settling up
and down the shores of the beautiful Chesapeak Ike
for nearly half a century. Here in Marylan d,
was established the best code of civil and religious
liberty that, up to that day, had been known
mere, though he had been converted to
Catholicism, was personal friend OF the Protes
tant King. The charter which the Proprietor
brought over was the first law of Maryland. The
charter-the fundamental law-planted down
tiecp in the virgin soil of Maryland was the tap
root of religious liberty, and that law pro-
vided By a Protestant King and Parliament sick
of intolerance.
"When slavery became profitable in Maryland
and Virginia. to continue their residences in these
states became very unpleasant to Friends, as they
would not own or hire them, while many could
not conscentiousy the products of slave labor.
They sought out new homes in the wilds of Penn
syvania and Ohio. Thus, many of the meetings
in this section have gone down, among which
George Fox, William Penn and others, advocates
of the Light Within had travelled and preached.
"The first friends Meeting House at 'Balti-
IN l,,.I& pknk 50. . a
Friends burying ground, on the Hartford turn
pike The old Aisquith Street Meeting House,
corner of Aisquith and Fayette, was built in 1871,
and appears to stand as firm on its foundations
and as durable in its walls as when this genera
ton was born, and there is not in all Baltimore
place better adapted to an hours silent medita-
ton than on the ancient benches of this house in
view of the green enclosures that abound. Though
they rejoice in the Spoken Word, they yet believe
that the Fathers best be reached in silence
So, the founders and their children and their chill
dren's children have maintained this old meeting
through more than a century OF time, during
which the meetings have never failed to be held
twice week. The Lombard Street Meeting
House was erected in 1905, and, like the elder, is
still very good but Friends contemplate building
in more eligible locality soon as proper
measures shall be accomplished to that end.
"The yearly meeting was first held in Baltimore
in 1889, in the Old Town House, which had then
been recently erected, the womens branch occu
plying another building on the same lot, now oc
cupied as dwelling. Yet the meeting grew the
accommodations became too limited, which led to
the erection of the Lombard street house.
"About hundred years ago Friends had
hard struggle to maintain their testimonies against
prize goods, lotteries, war, slavery, rum and
paid ministry. In maintaining these high testi
monies many members were lost and finally,
fifty years ago, a considerable division took place,
by which the loss in this yearly meeting was one
fifth of its membership"