Quaker Hill: A Sociological StudyWilson, Warren H. (Warren Hugh)
Religion
Quaker Hill: A Sociological Study
Wilson, Warren H. (Warren Hugh)
Quaker Hill (N.Y.)
The Hill is a community with a high level of chastity. This may be said
of all classes, though not uniformly of all. Yet it was not always so.
The first century of the life of the Quakers here is recorded in the
minutes of Oblong Meeting as one long struggle of Quaker discipline
against unchastity. There is an amazing frankness about these records,
and a persistence in the exercise of discipline, a frequency of
accusation, proof, conviction, expulsion from the Meeting, which is
astonishing to the twentieth century reader. The best families furnished
the culprits almost as often as they supplied the accusers and
prosecuting committees. So many are the cases and so frequent the
expulsions, often for matters which might better have been ignored, but
generally for substantial offences, that one wonders who was left in the
Meeting. But men often confessed and were received again, and the
Meeting held its ground. In general it may be said that often in the
eighteenth century there were more cases of unchastity dealt with in a
year by the Meeting, in a population no larger than the present, than
have come to public knowledge in the past ten years in this community.
The change shows also in a reserve of speech upon these matters.
The characteristic pleasures of the community, as a whole, are few.
There is a group of women of leisure, of course, devoted to
bridge-whist, who come in the summer and do not go far from the Hotel.
Young men go hunting, and a few grown men are fond of fishing. The
typical person provides himself with no pleasures outside of his family
and home. Men and women are too busy to play, and the Quakers educated
themselves out of a playful mind.
There are a few pleasures which are native and general. One of these is
public assembly, with an entertaining speaker as a central pleasure.
Quaker Hill audiences are alert and keen hearers, and indulgent critics
of a public speaker. There are only two other forms of public
entertainment more pleasing to them. The first is a dramatic
presentation. Many of the Quakers are excellent actors, and the Irish
are quite their equals, while the other newcomers are equally
appreciative. The Christmas play in Akin Hall is a great annual event,
assembling all the people on the Hill of all classes and groups, for it
embodies very many of the appeals to characteristic pleasure. Only one
other attraction is more generally responded to; I refer to a dinner.
Something good to eat, in common with one's neighbors, in a place
hallowed by historic associations, under religious auspices--here you
have the call that brings Quaker Hill all together. On such a day there
will be none left behind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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