Samuel Wetherill Correspondence

Samuel Wetherill (1736-1816), son of Christopher Wetherill of Burlington, NJ, removed to Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in 1759. Three years later, he married Sarah Yarnall, daughter of Mordecai Yarnall (with whom he had apprenticed). Samuel began his career as a carpenter, but later became a textile manufacturer and apothecary.

In 1779, Samuel Wetherill was disowned by Philadelphia Monthly Meeting for disunity, because he had "...deviated from our ancient Testimony and peaceable principles by manifesting himself a party in the public commotions prevailing." Wetherill became the clerk of a small group of Quakers in Philadelphia who were likewise disowned because they had supported the Revolutionary cause. They initially sought to continue to worship and meet as Friends in established Quaker meeting houses, but without success. In 1783, the Society of Free Quakers built a meeting house at Fifth and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. Other "Free Quaker" meetings were organized in New England and Maryland.

The "Davisites" in the Sandwich-New Bedford Massachusetts area corresponded regularly with Wetherill, apprising him of their meeting's condition. They were members of Longplain, New Bedford, Acushnet, and Rochester worship groups, disowned by Sandwich Monthly Meeting. Timothy Davis (1730-1798), a respected Friend and minister, published a pamphlet in 1776 "A letter from a Friend to some of his intimate Friends," on the subject of paying taxes to the new government. The meeting debated long and hard in how to deal with this matter. The committee assigned to meet with him recommended at the meeting of 6 month 1777 that the publication was unfortunate but not a disownable offense. However, others in the monthly meeting disagreed, and he was disowned from Sandwich Monthly Meeting in 1778. By 1780, he was joined by other members who disagreed with the decision-making process. These included Timothy's brother, Nicholas, and Benjamin Bumpus, Silas Swift, David Smith, and Bartholomew Taber. Timothy Davis acknowledged his wrongdoing in 1795 and was reinstated as a member of the Monthly Meeting, much to the dismay of Wetherill and the local friends. The other members continued to worship, depleted by old age and death until the meetings gradually were laid down by about 1815. The "Davisites" in Massachusetts were less extreme in their politics than the Free Quakers, and thus the schism did not run as deeply as in Philadelphia.