South Carolina Quaker Meeting Membership List, 1772-1820

source: O'Neall Quaker's website

From "Enclyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy" by WW Hinshaw 1969, p 1015

"Bush River Meeting, Newberry County, South Carolina

During the last half of the eighteenth century four principal centers of Quakerism arose in South Carolina and one in Georgia.

These were in Kershaw, Marlborough, Newberry and Union Counties, South Carolina, and in Columbia (now McDuffie)County Georgia. The earliest of these settlements appears to have been in Kershaw County, SC about 1750. Fredericksburg Monthly Meeting, also called Wateree, was set up in this county about 1755 or earlier. The monthly meeting was laid down about 1782, and the meetings for worship disappeared not long afterward. No records of Fredericksburg Monthly Meeting are known to be in existence.

Bush River Monthly Meeting, in Newberry County. SC was established in 1770; Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting, in Georgia, 1773; Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, in Union County, SC, 1799; Piney Grove Monthly Meeting, in Marlborough County, SC 1802."

"Bush River Meeting was located in Newberry County, in the west-central part of SC. Dr Stephen B. Weeks in 'Southern Quakers and Slavery,' page 115 says: "The group of meetings clustering around Bush River was the most important in SC. The origin of this meeting and the time it began cannot be discovered. William Coate was living near Bush River before 1762 and Samuel Kelly a native of King's County, Ireland, removed to Newberry County from Camden in 1762. Other early Quaker settlers were John Furnas, David Jenkins (both direct ancestors), Benjamin and William Pearson. Robert Evans came from Camden, probably between 1762-1769." Descendants of the last three married into the Jenkins and Furnas families.

In 1770 a committee appointed by Western Quarterly Meeting to visit Friends at Bush River Meeting in South Carolina recommended that a monthly meeting be settled there. This recommendation was approved by the Quarterly Meeting in 11th month, 1770, but the records seem to indicate that the new monthly meeting was not actually held until 4th month, 1772.

Meetings for worship which are mentioned as reporting to Bush River Monthly Meeting include Bush River, Raburn's Creek, Tiger River, Padget's Creek, Mud Lick, Allwoods', White Lick, Edisto, Charleston and Rocky Springs.

About 1802, moved by a desire to live in a country where no slaves were held, Friends of Bush River began migration to Ohio. Between 1802 and 1807 more than one hundred certificates of removal were issued, most of them being for families. This so depleted the membership that the monthly meeting seems to have been all but abandoned in 1808, though not formally laid down until 1822.

A minute of Bush River Monthly Meeting, 1806, 6,28 states that the Yearly Meeting "advises the Trustees, James Brooks, Samuel Brown, Isaac Kirk (second husband of Rebecca Herbert, whose first husband was Isaac Jenkins) and John O'Neal, to sell or lease Bush River meeting house and lot, Rocky Spring meeting house and lot and a meeting house lot at Camden.

In 1809 the few remaining members of Bush River and Cane Creek Monthly Meetings were joined to New Garden Monthly Meeting by order of New Garden Quarterly Meeting. The same procedure appears to have been followed as to Wrightsborough. The minutes of New Garden Monthly Meeting relating to the former members of Bush River, Cane Creek and Wrightsborough Monthly Meetings are quoted below because it has not been possible, in all case, to separate them and assign each item to the proper meeting.

1809, 6,24. 'Extracts from new Garden Quarterly Meeting, 1808,12,10 and 1809, 3,10. Friends appointed to visit friends in SC report about 130 members, among them: Cane Creek, Union District: Richard Cox (possibly a son of ancestor Thomas Cox)and wife Ann and children,Rebeckah, David, Peter, John, Isaac, Richard and William

Bush River, Newberry District: Isaac Kirk and wife Rebekah, and children Ann Jenkins, Lydia Jenkins, Rebekah Jenkins, Isaac Jenkins (by her first husband Isaac Jenkins) and Phebe Kirk, Rachel Coats Hannah Pearson and children, Powel, Robert (who both married a Jenkins) and Susanna.

A few additional minutes, mostly disownments, relating to Bush River Friends between 1809 and 1818 will be found in the New Garden records. Fragmentary minutes in the Bush River book, covering the years 1819 and 1820, indicate and attempt to revive Bush River Monthly Meeting at that time. The attempt met with little success and the meeting was finally laid down about 1822 and the remaining members were attached to Springfield Monthly Meeting.

The Springfield minutes recording this transfer are as follows: 1822,5,8. (Men's minutes). The monthly meeting at Bush River being laid down, this meeting is informed that it is the request of the members of that preparative meeting to become members at pringfield M.M. which request this meeting grants and receives them accordingly; Isaac Jenkins is mentioned among others

1822,6,5. (Women's minutes). Bush River Monthly Meeting being laid down, the members request to be joined to Springfield, viz (among others): Rebekah Kirk, Phebe Kirk, Rebecca Jenkins, Rachel Wright