Evening journal., 1914-08-29
KENNETT meeting
House centennial
Peace Doctrine to be AdvO-
Gated by Friends at
Celebration
RICH ASSOCIATIONS
OF THE OLD EDIFICE

Born at a time when the Quaker
sect was passing from a turbulent to
a transcendent period, Kennett Square
Friends Meeting is to have its Cen
tennial on September 13. While the
Quaker was early surrounded by
viscitudinous happenings I'm the way
Of antagonists who prosecuted him
with fines and stood him in the stocks
all because of the garb he wore or
the gospel he carried to mankind
nevertheless his freedom of thought
remained steadfast, The same unity
of thought and liberty of action filled
the minds of the little band Of Quak-
ers who founded Kennett Meeting.
While the Old World is resoundng
with the cry of war and while the
mailed fist is being pointed I'm the
! face OF all Europe, the Society of
| Friends will at Kennel promulgate
the peace doctrine. The Quaker has
always been opposed to war. The
| follower of Fox sprang into being at
a time of great tumult, but he re-
mained until the tempest had passed.
He opposed slavery from the very
start and held that traffic in human
souls must cease. In solving the
great moral problems of the nation
the Quaker has always been for
midable power. His opinions are as
fixed as the stars and his mind un-
changeable.
Every foot of ground about Kennett
Square, including the spot where the
meeting house stands, is full Of reminis-
censes. "Letitia Manor was the name
given to it i'm the days of the Col0nists
II was portion of the ground which
! William Penn donated TO his daughter
IN the fall of l7Ol. The young woman
after short pilgrimage i'm this country
had returned TO England. In London
she had captivatcd a leading merchant.
Penn, it seems, so favored the match
that he decided to his daughter a goodly
slice of territory of which Kennett was
a part.
Harking back to the days when Ken
nett Meeting House was a modest little
structure with four plain walls. it is re-
called how he old building stood from
the forest of magnificent oaks and syca-
more trees that reached away up above
its head. II was built of stone with n
gable at each end and whitewashed.
The entrances were from the south.
with the exception of the one from the
east, which opened into the womcn's
section. Galleries faced the south. The
partitions were the same as i'm the old
time meeting houses. separating the
women from the men. Broad stone
steps led TO the southern entrance. An
immense stone horse block. the top of
which was reached by several steps
stood at the eastern end Of the building.
The primitive maidens Of the neigh
borhood ascended the steps OF this
horse block each Sabbath morning
Just as regular as the MONDAY sun
and just as regular the neighborine
swain Wed with one another In
their eagerness to sidcstep every
thing in order to be first i'm bringing
the fair ones mounts to the "horse
block" AS the Quaker maid rode
away from the meeting a gallant
horseman rode at her side. AT the
close of the handshaking and eX-
change of salutations the older men,
bers of the meeting followed in old
fashioned gigs and chasises.
Many of the characters of Bayard
Taylor's Story of Kennett had their
habitations not far from the slope on
which the old meeting house was
/ first erected and which in 1879 gave
way to a more modern and commOdi-
Gus structure The house in which
lived Martha Dean" stood just south
, of where State street intersects Union
while the "Fairthorn" home lay in
the opposite direction and more to-
ward the north. The "Old Unicorn
Inn" has long since passed into his
tory, but the Unicorn Block is the
name which has been given to the new
{ modern structures II was no un'
! usual thing for hunters to follow The
+ hounds i'm those days, and frequently
( reynard would scamper out from the
{ hostelry yard where he had been held
in captivity. Soon the hounds would
J, be released and go yelping after hin
, and then the horsemen would spul
- their mounts into a gallOp II wa'
e during one Of these memorable hunts
e that Fitzpatrick, the robber. to whom
Bayard Taylor gave the name o
SANDY Flash" rode boldly up to thu
Unicorn, dismounted, quaffed from thu
Gun which the bartender offered. theI
reInounted and rode away withou
molestation, Notwithstanding the fac
!, that men had sworn TO kill him oI
sight. but whose courage did not re
turn until Fitzpatrick was well int
: the forest.
Another bit Of Colonial happeninl
that has to do with Kennett and tn
ground about which a concourse vii
assemble on September 18th in com
memoratiOn Of the establishment o
the meeting, occurred in September
: 1777. and has been related about Ken
: nett firesides. The British Army en-
: tered Chester county from the Della
ware border. in two divisions unde
General Knphausen and Lord Corn
wallis. They bivouaced for the nigh
= and during the night raided all tn
= hen-coops, pigpens and cattle barn
!, they could lay hands on. Even feath
. er beds were ripped open and oil
/, drawers and chests ransacked il
search of valuable or hidden parch
ments. The next day they pushed o
: toward the battlefield and ultimatel
> to their defeat.
Kennett Square Meeting was orig
nally composed of Centre Kennel
New Garden and London Grove an