The most comprehensive history of the Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) who settled in Madison County can be found in Herman Mueller's History of Madison County¹ published in 1915. Mueller's account is quite lengthy and this is a synopsis of his work.

There were two groups of Friends, one settling in the area that included what became the town of Earlham and the other in Ohio Township which became known as the Oak Run Meeting. With the Earlham area being very close to the north border of the county, the Friends locating there settled in both Madison and Dallas Counties and enough came there to eventually form three Meetings, the Union Meeting, the North Branch Meeting, and the Bear Creek Meeting.

Earlham Friends Meeting House

Photo Courtesy of Google Maps

The Society of Friends used the term "Meeting" to describe the hierarchy of the organization, the lowest level being the Meeting for Worship (MW), next came the Preparative Meeting (PM) followed by the Monthly Meeting (MM). Definitions of what these levels meant can be found at the Quaker Chronicle website.

Before going into the details of how the Earlham Meeting evolved and who the pioneers were who were a part of it, a summary of what happened is in order. The pioneers started arriving in the mid 1850s. The three afore mentioned Meetings were eventually formed and functioned until 1877 when a growing rift among the Friends ended in open revolt between religious conservatives and progressives. The conservatives broke off and all migrated to the Bear Creek Meeting. The progressives stayed with the Union (by then named Earlham) and North Branch Meetings, eventually merging them.

First Friends Settlers

On the 15th day of September, 1853, Richard Cook and wife, in company with his brother William H. Cook and family, and John Wilson and family, left Marion County, Indiana, to move to Iowa. In October they entered land in the northwest corner of Madison Township, and about the same time 2 sons of John Wilson, Abihu and Christopher, entered land in Madison and Penn townships. Richard Cook made his home on the land which he entered until the spring of 1857 when he sold to Wesley Cox, another Friend, also of Marion County, Indiana, and removed to Dallas County. He, with his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Bowles, afterward moved to Earlham, where they both passed away. Mrs. Cook in 1897 and Mr. Cook in 1901. Christopher Wilson was a successful farmer near Earlham during the remainder of his life. He was living in the town of Earlham at the time of his death, March 26, 1908.

The next Friends to enter land in Madison Township were Seth Wilson and his son, Milton Wilson, who came from Wayne County, Indiana, in the summer of 1854. Milton entered 500 acres of land in Sections 17 and 18. He moved to Iowa in 1856 with his wife, whose maiden name was S. Jane Murphy. They were married October 18, 1852, and made their home on the old homestead for eighteen years, where Mr. Wilson engaged in farming. They then moved to Earlham and later to Des Moines.

Seth Wilson came with his family to Iowa in 1860. He died in Earlham some years ago. One of his daughters married Cyrus Griffin, another married Josiah Stanley, a third married David Beasley and a fourth became the wife of Oliver Goldsmith Owen, a Friends minister, who later became rector of the Episcopalian Church.

William Barnett and family were the next Friends to locate in the Northwest part of the County, coming here from Marion County, Indiana, the date of their arrival in Iowa being July, 1855. William Barnett and Mary Ann, his wife, had a family of ten children.

Other families coming in that year were Wilson Barnett, a brother of William, from Hendricks County, Indiana, and John Allen and family. His wife, Margaret, was a daughter of Richard Mendenhall. Mr. and Mrs. Allen were members of the Friends church and the other members of their family united with the society after coming to Madison County. In 1856 David and Hannah Smith Stanton located on the Pilot Grove Farm, in Penn Township.

In the fall of 1857, Thomas and Ruth Wilson came here from Marion County, Indiana. Their family consisted of six sons and three daughters, one of whom, Margaret, became the wife of Wesley Cox, whose home was on a tract of land purchased of Richard Cook. Here the Wilson family stopped for a short time until a permanent location could be made they settled on the north half of Section 16, Penn Township. This continued to be the home of Mr. Wilson until his removal to Earlham in 1874.

In 1858 Cyrus Griffin and wife Eliza, daughter of Seth Wilson, located near where North Branch meeting house was afterwards built. He kept a general store in one room in this house for some time.

Meeting Houses

The first meetings in the new settlement were held at the home of William Barnett. Later the meeting place was transferred to a house standing in Martin Compton’s yard. This was the place of meeting until about the year 1862 or 1863, when Friends built a frame house on the southeast corner of Cyrus Griffin’s land. This building was also used for a schoolhouse. The second building was erected on a tract of 5 acres bought for meeting house and burial ground. The original deed states that said lot was conveyed by Martin Compton and his wife, Ann E. Compton, to the trustees of Bear Creek Monthly Meeting - five acres of land on the northeast corner of the northeast quarter of Section 9, dated September 5, 1862, consideration $50. On this lot North Branch meeting house was built in 1869, at a cost of about $2600, Seth Wilson, David L. Beasley and William Barnett being the building committee.

The house was a frame structure, 30 x 50 feet, with a sliding panel partition dividing it into two rooms, the one on the east being occupied by the men and the one on the west by the women. This partition was left open during meetings for worship, but was closed during meetings for business, the men and women holding separate sessions. In 1893 when the house was no longer used for meeting purposes, it was sold to William Ramsey, who moved it away and converted it into a dwelling and other buildings.

The first meeting house in Earlham was erected on the southwest corner of the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 1, Penn Township. The title to the lot was conveyed by Nathan Mendenhall and wife to the trustees of Bear Creek Monthly Meeting, December 15, 1868. The house built on this lot was later moved into the town of Earlham, where it served for meeting purposes until superseded by the one now occupied by Earlham Friends.

The North Branch Friends were members of Bear Creek Monthly Meeting, which has been organized in 1856, in Union Township, Dallas County; also of South River Quarterly Meeting, Warren County, which had been organized in 1860.

A committee was appointed at the Bear Creek Monthly Meeting to take into consideration the size, plan and estimated cost of a new meeting house, namely: John Hockett, Joseph Beasley and Seth Wilson. The committee made a satisfactory report March 8 and the subject was dismissed for the present. On April 27 the committee reported in favor of granting the request and a committee was appointed to attend the opening. The approximate date of the opening was May 22, 1867. The place of opening was the home of Joshua Newlin, where the meetings were held until the house was built on a lot bought of Nathan Mendenhall as previously stated.

The first request for membership seems to have been May 24, 1866. The request is as follows: “the overseers inform that Cyrus Griffin and his wife Liza Griffin, with their minor children, James, Henry, Milton W., Ella, Jane, Homer, Virgil, Benjamin K.S., Sarah Elizabeth, Owen P., Edgar and Anna, wish to be joined in membership with the Religious Society of Friends. The request is directed forwarded to the monthly meeting”.

In North Branch minutes of April 25, 1869, Joel Hockett, Joseph Beasley and John Wilson were appointed a committee to confirm with Friends of Union Preparative Meeting to consider the propriety of requesting for a monthly meeting. Following is a record from the minutes of the meeting of women Friends: “North Branch Monthly Meeting of friends opened and held at North Branch, Madison County, Iowa, September 30, 1869”.

The next item of interest is October 4, 1869 when Union Preparative Meeting requested that the name be changed to Earlham.

The Conservatives and Progressives Part Ways

A revolution now entered Bear Creek Quarterly Meeting. This first started in the yearly meetings farther east and entered the meetings of Bear Creek Quarter in the year 1873. This revolution began by holding revival meetings, called “general meetings”, under the care of a committee appointed by the quarterly meeting, in conjunction with a like committee appointed by the yearly meeting. The first general meeting was held at North Branch, February 9, 1873, and continued during six sessions the committee reported that they believe the meeting was “held to the honor of truth”.

The next meeting was held at Bear Creek, following the quarterly meeting in February, 1874. It began on the second day and closed on the fourth night. The report of the committee on this meeting was that the fore part was held to pretty good satisfaction but the latter part was not so satisfactory. The “not satisfactory” feature of the meetings came out during the discussion of the report and proved to be the closing meeting of the fourth day night. At this meeting a “mourners’ bench” and “testimony meeting” were introduced, after the well-known custom of the Methodists. This created much dissatisfaction among the more conservative members.

Following the quarterly meeting in February, for the next two years, general meetings were held at Bear Creek and it was evident that the two factions were getting farther apart as the work progressed. The climax was reached at the next general meeting in 1877. This, like the others, followed the quarterly meeting in February. On the third day of the meeting, that leader arose, and after a few remarks, called on all those who were tired of sin and desire to live a different life to come to the front seats. About twenty came in a body; others followed later. Great confusion followed. Prayers, cries and groans, interspersed with an occasional stanza of hymn, were heard from all parts of large room. For the conservative, whose customary worship was that of “silent waiting before the Lord”, until the “rising of life” should appear before speaking, this was too much. They saw in this the death knell of Quakerism, and to save the “beloved society” something must be done, even if the required something desperate. Apparently by common consent, the conservative friends began to depart for their homes and the die of separation was cast.

The conference was soon called of all friends who were dissatisfied with these revival meetings culminated in a general conference for the whole quarterly meeting, which met at Bear Creek, April 29, 1877. At this conference it was decided that the society had so far departed from its agent testimonies as to forfeit its right to existence, and then in order to have such society was necessary to reorganize. Steps for reorganization were accordingly taken. This was to take place at each of the monthly meetings belonging to the quarter, namely, Bear Creek, North Branch and Summit Grove (now Stuart). North Branch monthly meeting being the first in order following the conference, was to be the place of beginning. The date of this meeting was June 16, 1877.

The meeting for worship which always precedes the business session, passed without anything out of the ordinary. When the time for business came, Joseph Beasley, who was “timer” of the meeting, arose and made the customary suggestion that “Friends might now proceed to take up the business of the monthly meeting, and we have no clerk. Someone should be appointed for the day”. Jesse Beasley was named, and after taking his place, read a short statement explaining the present action and then read the opening minutes. Stephen Hockett now arose and objected to the appointment of a “clerk”, saying that they had one “clerk” and that was enough; that Alan Barnett was already the “clerk”. He then followed with the remarks: “I understand Friends that this action today means a separation of the church. I have seen separation in the church before and I want to warn you that the people who separated never did any good afterwards”. This was followed by other speeches on the same subject. A time or two during the discussion Joseph Beasley was heard to say “We don’t want any contention, Friends, we simply want to hold North Branch Monthly Meetings”. But the confusion was so great that it was out of the question. So they withdrew to the yard held a council to decide upon further action. After they withdrew, Alan Barnett opened the meeting as usual, and the business meeting was held as though nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.

Those who withdrew met at the meeting house on the fourth day following and completed the reorganization. Separations in the other monthly meetings followed soon and in August a conservative quarterly meeting was organized at Bear Creek, and a yearly meeting a few weeks later at Oskaloosa. It was discovered at North Branch that those who withdrew composed almost all the members of the preparative meeting. Those who remained sold their interest in the church property to the conservatives and withdrew to Earlham. This gave the conservatives undisputed possession. Later these people all moved away, mostly to Earlham, where they built a new meeting house, modeled after the old, which they sold to William Ramsey, as before stated. The last business meeting held in the old house was the Conservative Friends monthly meeting, on 26th of February 1891.

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