Quarterly Meeting at Spring Hill

Quarterly Meeting was held each October at the Friends' Meeting House Spring Hill, East Sandwich. It was the event of the year for the staid Quaker people of the region. At the Old Fort House, during the lives of Joshua and Beulah, great preparations were made for the occasion. Everything about the extensive farm was put in first-class order; fences and stone-walls were neatly repaired, care was taken that no bit of rubbish was left about, and the grass around the house was cut and raked. raked. Even special wood had to be kept to cook the Quarterly Meeting dinners, for within the house was there as much of a bustle of anticipation as without. Huge was the piece of beef that was roasted, and numerous the pumpkin pies. The large east room was used for the dining room, and here long tables were set and loaded with the good things prepared for the occasion; for entertain

ment at the old home was limited only by its capacity for the housing of guests.

The Friends began to arrive on Tuesday, late in the afternoon, and continued through Wednesday morning, coming in carriages of the fashion of the day from Yarmouth, Falmouth, Nantucket, Acushnet, New Bedford and Dartmouth. The dress of the times may be seen in the portraits of Joseph Wing, of Sandwich, and his wife, Mercy K. Wing. Not only the Old Fort House but every home in the vicinity overflowed with hospitality. The barns were filled to the limit, and when there was no longer room the horses were unharnessed and turned into some near-by-pasture-and who can say that these ocacsions were not as much enjoyed by the horses as by their masters?

Joseph Wing, brother of Stephen who lived near Shawme Lake, came from his home in Acushnet with his wife, Mary Ann, in a fine two-seated carriage drawn by a pair of handsome horses. From New Bedford came Matthew and

The Meeting House at Spring Hill was not far from the Old Fort House, down a short stretch of country road and up a hill through a grove of pinesa way which has been traversed by many Wings since 1902, and to whom the picture herein shown will be familiar. It is, as would be expected, a plain structure, but it is kept in such good repair that it does not suggest its age. The sesions began Wednesday afternoon with the minister's meeting, which, probably, was what is called in the Discipline; "Quarterly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight," a meeting of the Ministers, Elders and Overseers. It is not difficult to imagine that the women took this opportunity for "visiting" with their hostesses, and the children,

MERCY K. WING, of Sandwich

who came with their parents and were expected to attend the other meetings, employed the time in the formation of youthful friendships.

Thursday, or Fifth Day, was Quarterly Meeting, the first part being devoted to worship, and later the transaction of the necessary business.

A description in "Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker," by S. Weir Mitchell, may serve to give the atmosphere of such a meeting, though, doubtless this was of an earlier period.

"There were many drab-coated men, and there were elderly women, in gowns of drab or gray, with white silk shawls and black silk-covered bonnets. Here and there a man or woman was in gayer colors or wore buckles, and some had silver buttons; but these were rare. The Meeting-room was, so to speak, a large oblong box with whitewashed walls, a broad passage ran from the door to the farther end; on the right of it sat the men; on the left the women; against the remoter wall, facing the rude benches, were three rows of seats, one above the other. On these sat at the back the elders, and in front of them the overseers. The clerk of the Meeting had a little desk provided for him. Over their

heads was a large sounding board.

. .

"When the doors were closed. . . . for some ten minutes increasing stillness came upon one and all of the three or four hundred people here met together. For full twenty minutes a yet deeper quiet fell on the figures seated on each side of the aisle. . . . . . For a ime none of the men uncovered, but soon a few took off, their broad hats, having remained with them on their heads long enough to satisfy custom by this protest against the ways of other men. The larger number kept their hats on their heads.

"While all waited, two Friends lit the candles set in sconces against the pillars of the gallery." A few men spoke, one knelt in prayer while all arose and stood, the men with uncovered heads; they were seated again; one elder offered his hand to another, and this being taken, it was a signal that the meeting was closed.

and

At the business session of the Spring Hill Meeting the shutters in the center of the building were lowered by a windlass and the business of the men and of the women was transacted separately. When, however, the concurrence of one or the other was necessary a messenger was sent to the opposite side for conference. Quarterly Meeting heard reports from the Monthly Meeting acted upon matters of business passed up from the Monthly Meeting before being carried on to the Yearly Meeting. Thursday evening was devoted to the interests of the Sabbath School, and on Friday morning was held the Monthly Meeting, when more local matters were considered. This was the closing session, and in the afternoon there was a general departure for home, although it often occurred that some prolonged their visits in the hospitable homes until the following week. We can almost feel the quiet that must have descended upon the Old Fort House, and, indeed, upon the countryside when the last last full full "carryall" passed out of sight.

"There are those who take note that our numbers are small,—

New Gibbons who write our decline and our fall,

But the Lord of the seed-field takes care

of his own,

And the world shall yet reap what our sowers have sown."

"Nothing fails of its end. Out of sight sinks the stone,

In the deep sea of time, but the circles sweep on,

Till the low-rippled murmurs along the shores run.

And the dark and dead waters leap glad in the sun." -Whittier.

Kith and Kin

A June issue of the Missouri Trades

Unionist, published in Jefferson City, announces that "Mrs. Alice Curtice MeyerWing, of Greenville, Wayne County, has been appointed for four years more as state Industrial Inspector. Mrs. Wing for the last four years, and she has made has been at the head of the department an excellent record in the management of the office. Among the signal successes of Mrs. Wing's management are the decrease of industrial accidents, the decrease in nine-hour law violations, the decrease of child labor, and the enforcement of occupational disease law."

Mrs. Wing was appointed to the head of this department in March, 1921, the first woman in the state to head a disdinct State Department as its executive, and as a member of the Governor's cabinet. With the above record of "signal successes" to the credit of our distinguished kinswoman it is not strange that the paper goes on to state that her reappointment is commended on all sides by those who know of her efficient and state-wide work.

**

The annual Allen-Steinmetz reunion was held at the Allen homestead, Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 4th, 1925. Miss Alice Allen will be well remembered at several Wing reunions. The family of her sister, Mrs. Steinmetz, consists of her husband, two children, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. A number of relatives and friends increased the attendance. A picnic supper was served and fireworks in the evening added to the entertainment.

****

Mr. William E. Wing, of Portland, Me., principal of Deering High school

and president of the National Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, was selected by Dr. A. O. Thomas, presiIdent of the World Federation of Education Associations, to preside over the sessions of the high school unit at the second biennial conference of the Federation at Edinburgh, July 20-28. Mr. Wing was to sail with Dr. Thomas' Dr. Thomas' party on July 8, from New York.

*

The friends of Mrs. Melissa Ditcher, of East Otto, N. Y., who was present at the Sandwich, 1908 reunion, will be glad to learn that she has so far recovered from her long illness as to be able to sit upon her porch and walk about a little, though she still has the attendance of a nurse. Mrs. Ditcher is a constant reader of The Owl, and enjoys keeping in touch with the Wing kin whom she came to know at that early reunion.

* ** *

The eleventh reunion of the Nye Family was held in Sandwich, Aug. 12, 13, and 14, with a large attendance; nearly every state being represented and two coming from California. Recently a Nye who lives in the West has donated to the Commonwealth the old Jonathan Nye homestead in East Sandwich, which is near the state hatchery. The Nye Association has been informed that it is the purpose of the state to keep the homestead as it is and to place it back into its original condition, which, it is estimated, will cost $1.000. As the state has no funds available for such an object it is suggested that the Nye association raise this amount. At the business meeting it was decided to go ahead with the project, and a committee was appointed to raise the necessary funds. Among the "Wings" who were present we notice the names of George T.Parker, Mrs. Caroline E. Wing Parker,

Sally

Edith Walbridge Carr, wife of Librarian Henry James Carr, is one of Scranton's most energetic women. She left this week to attend the commencement of her alma mater, Hillsdale college, at Hillsdale, Mich., and to attend the meeting of the board of women commissioners of the college, of which she has been a member since 1904. Mrs. Carr was the founder and first president of the Scranton colony, National Society of New England women, and of the Westmoreland chapter, United States Daughters of 1812. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America, the Piscataqua Pioneers, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the New England Historic-Genealogical Society. Many of the members of patriotic organizations in Scranton and elsewhere owe their membership to the careful, diligent work of Mrs. Carr in correctly tracing their ancestry in order that they might prove their eligibility to the society which they wished to join. In the early days of the College Club in this city Mrs. Carr was an active worker and served as treasurer for a number of years. She was one of the first treasurers of the State Y. W. C. A. in Pennsylvania.

Acushnet; Mrs. Annie Nye Luce, Marion and Miss Sylveen Nye, Buffalo, N. Y.

Mrs. Helen L. Steele and daughter, Miss Edith Steele, of Van Buren, Ark., were scheduled to spend the month of August on Mt. Sequoyah, Fayetteville, Ark.

Miss Alice Furry, Van Buren, Ark., a nurse in the missionary service in Choon Chun, Korea, will return to the United States next year, when she will have completed five years of service. (Perry Wing Furry, Lucy E. Wing, Gardner, Thomas, Thomas, Sylvanus, Bachelor, Daniel, Rev. John, Matthew.) Warren G. Furry, Jr., Van Buren Ark., is attending "Georgia Tech", at Atlanta, Ga. (Warren Gardner Furry, Lucy E. Wing, Gardner, Thomas, Thomas, Sylvanus, Bachelor, Daniel, Rev. John, Matthew).

These are a niece and a nephew of

Mrs. Helen L. Steele.

*** * *

Miss Harriet A. Fowler, formerly of Chicago, has sold her home at 4559 Lake Park Ave., and is at present with her sister, Mrs. Chas. T. Fowler, NorthFowler, Northbridge, Mass.

One of the traditions that has come down regarding the Old Fort House is the one of its transfer. This occurred in 1828. At that time-or up to that time-the occupants seem to have been, first Stephen; next, Ebenezer; then Joshua; and his son, Joseph. Joseph, having no children, divided his property among his nephews and nieces. Presbury, his brother, had early removed to there his North Falmouth, and Joshua lived. The son, Silvanus seems to have remained at the Old Fort House. But this is the story that has been handed down.

son

One morning in the summer of 1828, the family of Silvanus was early astir. There was much to be done. The stock was to be fed and the cattle turned out to pasture; the ox-team to be made ready, with a horse on ahead. Within the house there was bustle and confuran hither and thither in the excitement of the journey before them. There was breakfast to be prepared for the family, Father Silvanus and the five children; the oldest,

sion as the children

thirteen-year-old Joseph, and the youngest, two-year-old Susan. Then the house was to be put in order, for we can imagine that thirty-three-year-old Hannah criticism by her incoming sister-in-law. would not leave any opportunity for

Everything being in readiness, the oxteam was backed up to the front door, hay and straw in the bottom, and a few household goods were packed in-chairs for the elders, some choice quilts and homespun blankets, and a pair of the best feather pillows. Packed in a basket was a pewter porringer and several pieces of much-prized crockery, and in the capacious pocket of Mother Hannah the most precious heirloom, the one sil