Chester Monthly Meeting Records

Chester Monthly Meeting was established as a monthly meeting for Marcus Hook and Upland by the general meeting held at Burlington in 1681. Its first business sessions were held in Eleventh Month, 1681/1682. In Twelfth Month, 1683/1684, the meeting became part of Chester [Concord] Quarterly Meeting. At the time of the Hicksite Separation of 1827, two branches of this monthly meeting were formed.

Chester Monthly Meeting (Hicksite): In 1934, Chester Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) was discontinued, and its two preparative meetings, Chester and Providence, were established as monthly meetings. Chester Preparative Meeting (Hicksite) then became the new Chester Monthly Meeting (Hicksite). In 1948, Chester Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) merged with the Twenty-Fourth Street Monthly Meeting --formerly Chester Preparative Meeting (Orthodox)-- to form Chester United Monthly Meeting of Friends. This meeting was the forerunner of the current Chester Monthly Meeting of Friends, and continuing records are described here.

Chester Monthly Meeting (Orthodox): In 1948, Chester Monthly Meeting (Orthodox) released some of its members to form Springfield Monthly Meeting. The members of Chester Preparative Meeting (Orthodox) merged with Chester Monthly Meeting (Hicksite). The membership of Chester Monthly Meeting (Orthodox) was therefore identical with that of Media Preparative Meeting, its only remaining preparative meeting. The preparative meeting was accordingly discontinued. In 1952, the monthly meeting became a united meeting by affiliation with the two Concord Quarterly Meetings. In 1952, the Orthodox branch became a united meeting by affiliation with the two Concord Quarterly Meetings. In 1955, the meeting's name was changed to "Media Monthly Meeting". This is currently an active monthly meeting, and its records can be found in the "Media Monthly Meeting Records" collection.