The Journal of John Churchman: A Wartime Publication

Abstract

HISTORICAL NOTES THE JOURNAL OF JOHN CHURCHMAN: A WARTIME PUBLICATION A. Day Bradley* Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and its Meeting for Sufferings had no dearth of problems in the years 1776-1779. They were confronted with the sharp conflict between Quaker testimonies and the requirement of an oath of abjuration and allegiance, the rejection or acceptance of the continental currency, fines for failure to join the military establishment, the exile of prominent Friends from Philadelphia to Virginia and the execution of John Roberts of Merion and Abraham Carlisle of Philadelphia in 1779.1 It was in these troublous times that George Churchman of Nottingham Monthly Meeting submitted the manuscript Journal of his father, John Churchman, to the Meeting for Sufferings on the 1 1th of 4th mo. 1776. The meeting appointed Israel Pemberton, James Pemberton, John Hunt, John Reynell and James Thorton "to peruse and report." On the 19th of 9th mo. 1776 the Committee reported that the Journal "contains many matters instructive and useful and worthy of preservation."2 On the 5th of 1 1th mo. 1777 it was reported that "several of the Friends appointed to revise the Journal of John Churchman were *A. Day Bradley is professor emeritus of history, Lehman College, City University of New York. 1.See Arthur J. Mekeel, The Relation of the Quakers to the American Revolution (Washington, D.C., 1979), chapters 9-11. 2.Manuscript minutes of the meeting for sufferings, Quaker Collection, Haverford College, 4th mo. llth, 9th mo. 19th, 1776. Several generations of the Churchman family were prominent in the settlement known as the Nottingham Lots, which included an area now in northern Cecil County, Maryland, but settled by grant from Penn in 1701-02. The Nottingham settlement was part of Chester County, Pennsylvania, until the Mason and Dixon Line placed practically all the original grants by Penn in Maryland. For historical accounts of the Nottingham settlement see: J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia, 1881), 196-198; Kirk Brown, Bi-Centennial ofBrick Meeting House, (Lancaster, 1903), 30-32; Levi K. Brown, An Account ofthe Meetings ofBaltimore Yearly Meeting, (Philadelphia, 1875), 32-39, 55-62. For the genealogy of the early settlers in Nottingham see "Early Settlers of the Nottingham Lots" National Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 70 (1982), 282-294. 62 Historical Notes63 in exile and Lhe following Friends are desired to unite with the remaining part of the Committee in perfecting this service, to wit, James Emlen Jr., Samuel Smith, Joseph Bringhurst and William Wilson." The members of the Committee who were in exile were James and Israel Pemberton and John Hunt.3 Publication was suspended in 9th mo. 1778 due to "scarcity of paper, cost of binding ," and the "extraordinary expense of printing." In 6th mo. 1779, however, an agreement was concluded with the printer Joseph Crukshank as follows: The printer Joseph Crukshank agrees to print at least 4000 copies on Type and Paper agreeable to a Specimen herewith at 2s. a Book. And to deliver to such Friends as may be appointed by each Quarterly or Monthly Meeting the number of books subscribed. The price for binding should not exceed 18d. or 2s. for each Book in Sheep, Calfskin not being able to be procured. The paper is of his own and Pardners making and he proposes to proceed without delay. James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, Joseph Bringhurst and Nicholas Wain were appointed to supervise the work and correct proof sheets.4 Previous to the agreement with Crukshank 2523 subscriptions had been received:5 Gunpowder Monthly Meeting209 Warrington and Fairfax Quarterly Meeting337 Shrewsbury Monthly Meeting144 Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting895 Moses Brown50 Chester Quarterly Meeting446 Bucks Quarterly Meeting262 Western Quarterly Meeting586 Burlington Quarterly Meeting494 New England Meetings for Sufferings300 Gloucester and Salem Quarterly Meeting443 Third Haven Monthly Meeting20 Cecil Monthly Meeting100 3.Mekeel, 186, note 31. 4.See meeting for sufferings minutes for the dates indicated. 5.Meeting for sufferings minutes, 2nd mo. 18th to llth mo. llth, 1779, passim. 64Quaker History Joseph Smith lists eight editions of the Journal as follows:6 Philadelphia, 1779 Reprint, London, 1780 Reprint, London, 1781 Reprint, Dublin, 1781 Reprint, Philadelphia, 1818 London, 1829 Friends Library, Lindfield (England), 1835 [vol. 11...