Deer Creek Friends Meeting

"Members of the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers, moved from West River Meeting in Anne Arundel County to settle in the Bush River area of present day Harford County. Here they established a Meeting perhaps as early as 1706. As time went on, many Bush River Friends moved north to settle on the excellent farming land in and around Darlington along Deer Creek, and some Pennsylvania Friends moved south into the area as well. These Quakers probably worshiped in each other’s houses when they could not make the journey to Bush River or to Nottingham Friends Meeting in Oxford, Pennsylvania. By 1737, however, Deer Creek Friends were worshiping in a meetinghouse on three and one-half acres of land purchased from Nathan Rigbie, the most prominent landowner in the Darlington area, for the sum of 28 pounds. It is believed that this first meetinghouse was probably a modified home or outbuilding bought with the land." Read on.

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