The life and labors of Elias Hicks;
Wilbur, Henry Watson, 1851-1914
«i'>v'«l/»i(fc<n«t,<«'ftto-«SA'W'«fc<'^'^ - LIFE AND LlBdilS E.LIAS HICKS MBNKY V. WILBUR fkSW^VVit VS: Bx WU(ji „„ Cornell University Library BX 7795.H63W66 The life and labors of Ellas Hicks; 3 1924 011 578 998 ''<^'%^^'.^ .; 1 DAT! ■DUE ' ftumr^ P*^^7 mil") ; ,'-.ji m^ CAVLORO PRINTCOIf< U.S.A. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924011578998 ELIAS HICKS FROM BUST BY PARTRIDGE THE LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS BY Henry W. Wilbnr Introduction by ELIZABETH POWELL BOND PHILADELPHIA Published by Friends' General Conference Advancement Committee 1910 COPYRIGHTED IQIO BY HENRY W. WILBUR CONTENTS. List of Illustrations 5 Author's Preface 7 Introduction 11 Chapter I, Ancestry and Boyhood 17 Chapter II, His Young Manhood 22 Chapter III, First Appearance in the Ministry 28 Chapter IV, Early Labors in the Ministry 32 Chapter \', Later Ministerial Labors 38 Chapter \T, Religious Journeys in 1828 46 Chapter VII, Ideas About the Ministry 57 Chapter VIII, The Home at Jericho 66 Chapter IX, The Hicks Family 71 Chapter X, Letters to His Wife 76 Chapter XI, The Slavery Question 84 Chapter XII, Various Opinions. .' 95 Chapter XIII, Some Points of Doctrine 107 CiIapter XIV, Before the Division 121 Chapter XV, First Trouble in Philadelphia 126 Chapter XVI, The Time of Unsettlement 139 Chapter XVII, Three Sermons Reviewed 152 Chapter XVIII, The Braithwaite Controversy i6r 4 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS Chapter XIX, Ann Jones in Dutchess County 171 Chapter XX, The Experience with T. Shillitoe 181 Chapter XXI, Disownment and Doctrine 188 Chapter XXII, After the "Separation" 195 Chapter XXIII, Friendly and Unfriendly Critics 202 Chapter XXIV, Recollections, Reminiscences and Testi- monies 211 Chapter XXV, Putting off the Harness , . . . . 218 Appendix 226 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Elias Hicks (from bust, by Partridge ) Frontispiece Hicks House and Jericho Meetjni; Housil, facing. . 57 Children of Elias Hicks, facing 97 Elias Hicks (from painting, by Ketcham ) facing 121 Surveyor's Plotting, by Elias Hicks, facing 144 Facsimile of Letter, facing I 105 Burying Ground at Jericho, facing 216 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. Elias Hicks was a much misunderstood man iii his own time, and the lapse of eighty years since his death has done but little to make him known to the passing generations. His warm personal friends, and of them there were many, considered him little less than a saint; his enemies, some of whom were intensely bitter in their personal feeling, whatever may have been the basis of their judgment, believed him to be a man whose influence was malevolent and mischievous. It is no part of the purpose of this book to attempt to reconcile the conflicting estimates touching the life and character of this remarkable man. On the contrary, our hope is to present him as he was, in his own environment, and not at all as he might have been had he lived in our time, or as his admirers would have him, to make him conform to their own estimate. In this biograph- ical task, Elias Hicks becomes largely his own interpreter. As he measured himself in private correspondence and in public utterance, so this book will endeavor to measure him. We believe that it is not too much to say that he carried the fundamental idea of the Society of Friends, as delivered by George Fox, to its logical conclusion, as applied to thought and life, more clearly and forcibly than any of his predecessors or contemporaries. Not a few of those who violently opposed him, discounted the position of Fox and Barclay touching the Inner Light, and gave exaggerated importance to the claims of evangelical theology. What- ever others may have thought, Elias Hicks believed that he preached Christianity of the pure apostolic type, and 7 8 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELLAS HICKS Quakerism as it was delivei'ed by the founders. It should be remembered that the conformist and non-conformist disputants of the seventeenth century talked as savagely about Fox as the early nineteenth century critics did about Hicks. In fact, to accept the theory of Fox about the nature a.nd office of the indwelling spirit, necessarily develop? either indifference or opposition to the plans and theories nf what was in the time of Elias Hicks, if it is not now, the popularly accepted theology. No attempt has been made to write a comprehensive and 'detailed history of the so-called "separation." So far, however, as the trouble related to Elias Hicks, it has been considered, and as much lig-ht as possible has been thrown on the case. Necessarily this does not admit of very much reference to the setting up of separate meetings, which fol- lowed the open rupture of 1827-28, or the contests over property which occurred after the death of Elias Hicks. Even the causes of the trouble in the Societ}^ only appear as they seem necessary to make plain the feeling of Elias Hicks in the case, and the attitude of his opponents toward him. In dealing with the doctrines of Elias Hicks, or his views about various subjects, we have endeavored to avoid the one-sided policy, and to discriminate between the mat- ters which would be accepted by the majority of those Friends to-day who are erroneously made to bear the name of Elias Hicks, and the theories which they now repudiate. On the other hand, his most conservative and peculiar ideas are given equal prominence with those which more nearly conform to present-day thought. In stating cases of antagonism, especially where it appeared in public meetings, we have endeavored rather to give samples, than to repeat and amplify occurrences where LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS g the same purpose and spirit were exhibited. The citations in the book should, therefore, be taken as types, and not as mere isolated or extraordinary occurrences. References to the descendants of Elias Hicks, and other matters relating to his life, which do not seem to naturally belong in the coherent and detailed story, will be found in the appendix. This is also true of the usual acknowledgment of assistance, and the reference to the pub- lished sources of information consulted by the author in writing the book. INTRODUCTION. Now and again a human life is lived in such obedience to the "heavenly vision" that it becomes an authoi'ity in other lives. The unswerving rectitude ; whence is its divine directness? the world has to ask. Its clear-sightedness; how comes it that the eye is single to the true course? Its strength to endure; from what fountain flows unfaihng strength? Its quickening sympathy; what is the sweet secret ? The thought of the world fixes itself into stereotyped and imprisoning forms from which only the white heat of the impassioned seer and prophet can slowly liberate it. At last- the world ceases to persecute or to crucify its liberator, and lo! an acknowledged revelation of Godl This came to pass in the seventeenth century, when it was given George Fox to see and to proclaim that "there was an anointing within man to teach him, and that the Lord would teach him, himself." The eighteenth century developed another teacher in the religious society of Friends, whose message has been a distinctly leavening influence in the thought of the world. It is not easy to account for Elias Hicks. He was not the "son of ,a prophet." Nor was he a gift from the schools of the time in which he lived. In the "Journal of His Life and Religious Labours," published in 1832 by Isaac T. Hopper, there is no reference to school days. There is one clue to this man that may explain much to us. Of his ancestry he says in the restrained language characteristic of his writings, "My parents were descended 12 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS from reputable families, and sustainfed a good character among their friends and those who knew them." Here, then, is the rock-foundation upon which he builded, the factor which could not be spared from the life which he lived — that in his veins was the blood of those who had "sustained a good character among those who knew them." Some of the leisure of his youth had been given to fishing and fowling, which he looked back to as wholesome recrea- tion, since he mostly preferred going alone. While he waited in stillness for the coming of the fowl, 'his mind was at times so taken up in divine meditations, that the oppor- tunities were seasons of instruction and comfort to him.' Out of these meditations grew the conviction in his tendered soul that it was wanton diversion for himself and his companions to destroy the small birds that could be of no use to them. Recalling his youth, he writes: "Some of my leisure hours were occupied in reading the Scriptures, in which I took considerable delight, and it tended to my real profit and religious improvement." It may be that this great classic in English, as well as library of ancient history, and book of spiritual revelation, was not only the food that stimulated his spiritual growth, but also took the place to him, in some measure, of the schools as a means of culture. It is plain to see that he had what is the first requisite for a student — a hungering mind. The alphabet opened to him the ways and means, which he used as far as he could, for the satisfying of this divine hunger. A new book pos- sessed for him such charm, it is said, that his friends who invited him for a social visit, knowing this, were careful to put the new books out' of sight, lest he should become absorbed in them, and they lose his ever-welcome and very entertaining conversation. He even had experience as a teacher ; and the testimony is given by an aged Friend, once LIFE AND LABORS OF ELLA.S HICKS 13 his pupil; "The manners of Elias Hicks were so mild, his deportment so dignified, and his conversation so instructive, that it left an impression for good on many of his pupils' minds that time never effaced." That he had not the teaching of the schools narrowed his. own resources, and, doubtless, restricted his field of vision. But such a life as his, that garnered wisdom more than knowledge of books, is a great encouragement to those who have not had the opportunities of the schools. We might not know without being told that he had missed from his equipment a college degree; but we do know that his endowment of sound mind was supplemented with incor- ruptible character; we do know that his life was founded upon belief in everlasting truth and an unchanging integrity. The record of his unfolding spiritual life shows that "So nigh is grandeur to our dust, So near is God to man, When Duty whispers low, 'Thou must,' The youth replies, T can.' " There is evidence that Elias Hicks had not only a hungering mind, but that he had in marked degree the open mind, and that he accorded to others liberty of opinion. It is said that he was unwilling that his discourses be printed, lest they become a bondage to other minds. He wrote to his friend, William Poole : "Therefore every gen- eration must have more light than the preceding one ; other- wise, they must sit down in ease in the labour and works of their predecessors." And he left a word of caution to approaching age, when he. said in a meeting in New York: "The old folks think they have got far enough, they are settling on the lees, they are blocking up the way." It does not disturb my thought of him that my own mother remem- bered a mild rebuke from him for the modest flower-bed that brightened the door-yard of her country home. For I 14 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS discover in him rudiments of the love for beauty. A min- ister among Friends was once his guest during the harvest season on Long Island, and recalled long after, that, when the hour arrived for the mid-week meeting, he came in from the harvest field, and not only exchanged his working for his meeting garments, but added his gloves, although it was hot, midsummer weather. There was certainly the rudi- mentary love for beauty in this scrupulous regard for the proprieties; but it was kept in such severe check that he could not justify the spending of time upon a flower-border. The poet had not then expressed for us the sweet garden prayer that might have brought to his sensitive mind a new view of the purpose and value of the flower-border : "That we were earthlings and of earth must live. Thou knowest, Allah, and did'st give Ms bread ; Yea, and remembering of our souls, didst give Us food of flowers ; thy name be hallowed !" From the days in which he preferred his hours of solitude in fishing as opportunities for "divine meditations" we can trace his steady spiritual growth. While his busi- ness life was henceforth subordinated to his labors among men to promote the life of the spirit, he was never indif- ferent to the exact discharge of his own financial obliga- tions ; nor was lie indifferent to the needs of others. One incident surely marks him as belonging to the School of Christ : "Once when harvests were light and provisions scarce and high, his own wheat fields yielded abundantly. Foreseeing the scarcity and consequent rise in prices, specu- lators sought early to buy his wheat. He declined to sell. They ofifered him large prices, and renewed their visits repeatedly, increasing the price each time. Still he refused to sell, even for the unprecedented sum of three dollars a bushel. But by and by, when his poorer neighbors, whose cr(Sp3 were light, began to need, he invited them to come LIFE AND LABORS OF ELLA.S HICKS 15 and get as much wheat as they required for use, at the usual price of one dollar a bushel." He entered into the life of his community and of his times, anticipating by nearly a century the work of Friends' Philanthropic Committees of the present day. It is related that he was much opposed to an attempt to establish a liquor-selling tavern in the Jericho' neighborhood — that when he saw strangers approaching he would invite them to accept his own hospitality, thus making unnecessary the tavern-keeping business in the sparsely settled country town. We W9uld expect that, with his sense of justice and his appreciation of values, Elias Hicks would place men and women side by side, not only in the home, but also in the larger household of faith, and in the affairs of the world. It is remembered that his face was set in this direction — that, strict Society-disciplinarian as he was, he advocated a change in the Discipline to allow women a consulting voice in making and amending the Discipline. It must be borne in mind that he lived through the Revolutionary period of 1776, and through the Wai- of 1812. So true was he to his convictions against war that he would not allow himself to benefit by the advanced prices in foodstuffs; and we are told that the records of his monthly meeting show that he sacrificed much of his property by adherence to his peace principles. Neither can we forget the testing that came to him in the institution of slavery. For, according to the custom of the times, his own father was the owner of slaves. His open mind responded to the labors of a committee of the New York Yearly Meeting; and upon the freeing of his father's slaves, he ever after considered their welfare, making such restitution as he could for past injustice. i6 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIA'S HICKS To his daughter, Martha tiicks, he wrote: "My dear love to thee, to thy dear mother, who next to the Divine Blesser has been the joy of my youth, and who, I trust and hope, vyill be the comfort of my decHning years. O dear child, cherish and help he*, for she hath done abundance for thee." These fruits of -the religious faith of Elias Hicks are offered as the test given us by the Great Teacher himself, by which to know the life of a man. They mark a life rooted in the life of God. Imperishable as the root whence they grew, may they feed the souls of men from generation to generation, satisfying the hungry, strengthening the weak, and making all glad in the joy of each!. Thus it is permitted to be "still praising Him." Eliz.^beth Powell Bond. CHAPTER I. Ancestry and Boyhood. The Hicks family is English in its origin, authentic history tracing it clearly back to the fourteenth century. By a sort of genealogical paradox, a far-away ancestor of the apostle of peace in the eighteenth century was a man of war, for we are told that Sir Ellis Hicks was knighted on the battlefield of Poitiers in 1356, nearly four hundred years before the birth of his distinguished descendant on Long "Island, in America. From the best available data, it is believed that the progenitor of the Hicks family on Long Island arrived in America in 1638, and came over from the New England mainland about 1645, settling in the town of Hempstead. A relative, Robert by name, came over with the body of Pilgrims arriving in Massachusetts in 1621. John Hicks, the pioneer, was undoubtedly a man of afifairs, with that strong character which qualifies men for leadership. In the concerns of the new community he was often drafted for important public service. In Seventh month, 1647, it became necessary to reach a final settlement with the Indians for land purchased from them by the colonists the year before. The adjustment of this trans- action was committed to John Hicks by his neighbors. When, in 1663, the English towns on the island and the New York mainland created a council whose aim it was to secure aid from the General Court at Hartford against the Dutch, John Hicks was made a delegate from Long Island. In 1665 Governor Nicoll, of New York, called a convention 17 i8 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS to be composed of two delegates from each town in West- chester County and on Long Island, "to make additions and alterations to existing laws." John Hicks was chosen delegate from the town of Hempstead. Thomas, the great grandfather of Elias, was in 1691 appointed the first judge of Queens County, by Governor Andross, which office he held for a number of years, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. The town of Hempstead is on the north side of Long Island, and borders on the Sound. There Elias Hicks, the fifth in line of descent from the pioneer John, was born on the 19th of Third month, 1748. He was the fourth child of John and Martha Smith Hicks. Of the ancestry of the mother of Elias little is known. There is no evi- dence that the ancestors of Elias on either side were mem- bers of the Society of Friends, still they seem to have had much in common with Friends, and, at any rate, were will- ing to assist the peculiar people when the heavy hand of persecution fell upon them. In this connection we may quote the words of Elias himself. He says: "My father was a grandson of Thomas Hicks, of whom our worthy friend Samuel Bownas ^ makes honorable mention in his Journal, and by whom he was much comforted and ^ Samuel Bownas was a minister among Friends, and was born in Westmoreland, England, about 1667. He secured a minute to make a religious visit to America the latter part of 1701. Ninth month 30, 1702, he was bound over to the Queens Coun'y Grand Jury, the charge' against him being that in a sermon he had spoken disparagingly of the Church of England. The jury really failed to indict him, which greatly exasperated the presiding judge, who threatened to deport him to London chained lo the man-of-war's deck. It was at this point that Thomas Hicks, whom Bownas erroneously concluded was Chief Justice of the Prcrvince, appeared to comfort and assure him that he could not thus be deported to England. Bownas continued in jail for about a year, during which time he learned the shoemaker's trade. He was finally liberated by proclamation. LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS 19 Strengthened when imprisoned through the envy of George Keith,^ at Jamaica, on Long Island." * We are told in the Journal, "Neither of my parents were members in strict fellowship with any religious society, until some little time before my birth." ^ It is certain that the father of Elias was a member aimong Friends at the time of his birth, and his mother must also have enjoyed such membership. Elias must have been a biithright member, as he nowhere mentions having been received into the Society by convincement. It is evident that his older brothers and sisters were not connected with Friends. When Elias was eight years of age his father removed from Hempstead to the south shore of Long Island, the new home being near the seashore. Both before and after that time he bewails the fact that his associates were not Friends, and what he confessed was worse — they were persons with no religious inclinations or connections what- ever. The new home afforded added opportunities for pleasure. Game was plentiful in the wild fowl that mated in the marshes and meadows, while the bays and inlets abounded in fish. Hunting and fishing, therefore, became his principal diversion. While he severely condemned this form of amusement in later life, he brought to the whole matter a rational philosophy. He considered that at the ' George Keith, born near Aberdeen, 1639, became connected with the Society of Friends about 1662. He came to America in 1684, but finally separated from Friends, and endeavored to organize a new sect to be called Christian, or Baptist Quakers. This effort failed, and about 1700 he entered the Church of England. After this he violently criticised Friends, and repeatedly sought controversy with them. He had quite an experience of this sort with Samuel Bownas. and was considered the "real instig'ator of the complaint on which Bownas was lodged in jail. Keith 'looms up large in all that body of history and biography unfriendly to the Society of Friends. ' Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 7. 'Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 7. 20 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS time hunting and fishing were profitable to him, because in his exposed condition "they had a tendency to keep me more at and about home, and often prevented my joining with loose company, which I had frequent opportunities of doing without my father's knowledge." Three years after moving to the new home, when Elias was eleven years of age, his mother was removed by death. The father, thus left with six children, two younger than Elias, finally found it necessary to divide the family. Two years after the death of his mother he went to reside with one of his elder brothers who was married, and lived some distance from his father's. It is probable that this brother's house was his home most of the time until he was seventeen. Much regret is expressed by him that he was thus removed from parental restraint. The Journal makes possibly unnecessarily sad confession of what he considered waywardness during this period. He says that he wandered far from "the salutary path of true religion, learning to sing vain songs, and to tal<e delight in running horses." " Just what the songs were, and the exact character of the horse racing must be mainly a matter of conjecture. Manifestly "running horses" did not mean at all the type of racetrack gambling with which twentieth- century Long Island is familiar. In the midst of self-accusation, he declares that he did not "give way to anything "which was commonly accounted disreputable, having always a regard to strict honesty, and to such a line of conduct as comported with politeness and good breeding." ' One can scarcely think of Elias Hicks as a juvenile Chesterfield. From the most unfavorable things he says about himself, the conclusion is easily reached that he was really a serious-minded youth, and what has "Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 8. 'Journal, p. 8. LIFE AND LABORS OF ELL\S HICKS 21 always been considered a "good boy." It must be remem- bered, however, that he set for himself a high standard, which was often violated, as he became what he called "hardened in vanity." Speaking of his youthful sports, and possible waywardness, his maturer judgment confessed, that but "for the providential care of my Heavenly Father, my life would have fallen a sacrifice to my folly and indis- cretion." ' There is practically no reference to the matter of schools or schooling in the Journal. There is every reason for the belief that he was self-educated. He may have had a brief experience at schools of a rather primary character. At all events he must have had a considerable acquaintance with mathematics, and evidently he at an early age contracted the reading habit. Books were fevv, and of periodical literature there was none. Friendly literature itself was confined to Sewell's History, probably Ellwood's edition of George Fox's Journal, while he may have had access to some of the controversial pamphlets of the seven- teenth century period. The Journals of various "ancient" Friends were to be had, but how rich the mine of this litera- ture which he explored we shall never know. Evidently from his youth he was a careful and intelligent reader of the Bible, and regarding its passages, its ethics and its the- ology, he became his own interpreter. 'Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 9. CHAPTER 11. His Young Manhood. At the age of seventeen Elias became an apprentice, and set about learning the carpenter's trade. His mechan- ical experience during this period receives practically no attention in the Journal. We know, however, that in those days none of the trades were divided into sectional parts as now. In short, he learned a whole trade, and not part of one. It was the day of hand-made doors, and not a few carpenters took the timber standing in the forest, and super- intended or personally carried on all of the processes of transforming it into lumber and from it producing the finished product. The carpenter of a century and a half ago had to be able to wield the broad-ax, and literally know how to "hew to the fine." It is not known exactly how long this apprenticeship lasted, but probably about four years. As a matter of course, there was much moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, as the building necessities demanded the presence of the carpenters. The life was more or less irregular, and Elias says that he received neither serious advice nor restraint at the hands of his "master." He was brought in contact with frivolously minded young people, and was unduly carried away with the love of amusement. During this period he learned to dance, and enjoyed the experience. But he considered dancing a most mis- chievous pastime, and evil to a marked degree. For this indulgence he repeatedly upbraided himself in the Journal. In his opinion, dancing was "an unnatural and unchristian LIFE AND LABORS OF ELL\S HICKS 23 practice," never receiving the approval "of the divine light in the secret of the heart." He passed through various experiences in the endeavor to break away from the dancing habit, with many back- slidings, overthrowing what he considered his good resolu- tions. But finally he separated from all those companions of his youth who beset him with temptation. He says : "I was deeply tried, but the Lord was graciously near; and as my cry was secretly to him for strength, he enabled me to covenant with him, that if he would be pleased in mercy to empower me, I would forever cease from this vain and sinful amusement." ^ His first intimation touching the eternally lost condi- tion of the wicked is in connection with his experience at this time. We cannot do better than to quote his own words : "In looking back to this season of deep probation, my soul has been deeply humbled; for I had cause to believe that if I had withstood at this time the merciful inter- position of divine love, and had rebelled against this clear manifestation of the Lord's will, he would have withdrawn his light from me, and my portion would have been among the wicked, cast out forever from the favorable presence of my judge. I should also forever have been obliged to acknowledge his mercy and justice, and acquit the Lord, my redeemer, who had done so much for me ; for with long- suffering and much abused mercy he had waited patiently for my return, and would have gathered me before that time, as I well knew, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but I would not." ^ His second diversion, and probably practiced after he had given up dancing, was hunting. While not considered in itself reprehensible, when the sport led to wantonness. 'Journal of Elias Hicks, p- 10. ''Journal, p. II. 24 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS and the taking of life of bird or beast simply for amuse- ment, it was vigorously condemned. He says that he was finally "led to consider conduct like this to be a great breach of trust, and an infringement of the divine prerogative." "It therefore became a settled principle with me not to take the life of any creature, unless it was really useful and necessary when dead, or very noxious and hurtful when living." = When the settled conviction came to him touching the dance and the sportsman's practice, he was probably not out of his teens. This conviction resulted in victory over the propensity, probably before he reached his majority. The whole experience was an early illustration of the strength of will and purpose which was characteristic of this remark- able man throughout his entire life. Marriage is always a turning-point in a man's life. In the case of Elias Hicks, it was so in a marked degree. Having become adept in his trade, at the age of twenty- twOj he was married to Jemima Seaman. This important event canjiot be better stated than in the simple, quaint lan- guage of the bridegroom himself. He says : "My affection being drawn toward her in that relation, I communicated my views to her, and received from her a corresponding expression ; and having the full unity and concurrence of our parents and friends, we, after some time, accomplished our marriage at a solemn meeting of Friends, at Westbury, on the 2d of First month, 1771. On this important occasion we felt the clear and consoling evidence of divine truth, and it remained with us as a seal upon our spirits, strengthening us mutually to bear, with becoming fortitude, the vicissitudes and trials which fell to our lot, and of which we had a large share while passing through this probationary state." * ' Journal, p. 13. 'Journal, p, 13. LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS 25 The records of Westbury Monthly Meeting contain the official evidence of this marriage, which was evidently con- ducted strictly in accordance with discipline. From the minutes of that meeting we extract the following: "At a monthly meting held in the meeting house, ye 29th day of ye Eleventh month, 1770. "Elias Hicks son of John Hicks, of Rockaway, . and Jemima Seaman, daughter of Jonathan Seaman, of Jericho, presented themselves and declared their intentions of mar- riage with each, and this meeting appoints John Mott and Micajah Mott to make enquiry into Elias Hicks, his clear- ness in relation of marriage with other women, and to make report at the next monthly meeting. "At a monthly meeting in the meeting house at West- bury ye 26th day of ye Twelfth month, 1770, Elias Hicks and Jemima Seaman appeared the second time, and Elias Hicks signified they continued their intentions of marriage and desired an answer to their former proposals of mar- riage, and the Friends who were appointed to make enquiry into Elias' clearness reported that they had made enquiry, and find nothing but that he is clear of marriage engage- ments to other women, and they having consent of parents and nothing appearing to obestruct their proceedings in marriage, this meeting leaves them to solemnize their mar- riage according to the good order used amongst Friends, and appoints Robert Seaman and John Mott to attend their said marriage, and to make report to the next monthly meeting it was consumated. "On ye 30th day of ye First month, 1771, Robert Sea- man reported that they had attended the marriage of Elias Hicks and Jemima Seaman, and was with them both at Jericho and at Rockaway, and John Mott also reported that he accompanied them at Rockaway and that the marriage was consummated orderly." In more ways than one the marriage of Elias was .the important event of his life. Jemima Seaman was an only child, and naturally her parents desired that she should !)e near them. A few months after their marriage Elias and Jemima were urged to take up their residence at the Sea- 4 26 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS man homestead, Elias to manage the farm of his father-in- law. The result was that the farm in Jericho -became the home of Elias Hicks the remainder of his life. Here he lived and labored for nearly sixty years. The Seamans were concerned Friends, and the farm was near the Friends' meeting house in Jericho. From this dates his constant attendance at the meetings for worship and discipline of the Society. Besides the family influence, some of his neighbors, strong men and women, and deeply attached to the principles and testimonies of Friends, made for the young people an ideal and inspiring environment. The Friends at Jericho could not have been unmindful of the native ability and taking qualities of this young man, whose fortunes were to be Hnked with their own, and whose future labors were to be so singularly devoted to their religious Society. Jemima, the wife of Elias Hicks, was the daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth Seaman. The father of Jemima was the fifth generation from Captain John Seaman, who came to Long Island from the Connecticut mainland abotit 1660. For his time, he seems to have been a man of affairs,' and is recorded as one of the patentees of the town of Hempstead, on the Sound side of the island. There was a John Seaman who came to Massachusetts in the Winthrop fleet of ten vessels and 900 immigrants in 1630. That form of biography which shades into tradition is not agreed as to whether Captain John, of Hempstead, was the Puritan John or his son. Running the family history back to England, we find Lazarus Seaman, known as a Puritan divine, a native of Leicester. He died in 1667. He is described as a learned theologian, versed in the art of controversy, and stout in defense of his position in religious matters. The history of heraldry, and the story of the efforts LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS 27 to capture the holy sepulcher, tell us that John de Seaman was one of the first crusaders. To this line the Seaman lineage in America is believed to be attached. At some time, whether in his early manhood is not known, Elias Hicks took up sui'veying. How steadily or extensively he followed that business it is impossible to say. It is not hard, however, to find samples of his surveying and plotting among the papers of Long Island convey- ancers.^ His compass, and the home-made pine case in which he kept the instrument and the tripod, are in exist- ence." The compass is a simple affair, without a telescope, of course. It folds into a flat shape, the box not being more than two inches thick, over all. 'See cut facing page 145. ° They are in possession of the great-grandson of Elias Hicks, William Seaman, of Glen Cove, L. I. CHAPTER III. First Appearance in the Ministry, There are many evidences in the Journal that EHaS Hicks appreciated the moral and spiritual advantages of his environment after he took up his residence at Jericho. He confesses, however, that as he had entered quite extensively into business, he was much diverted from spiritual things for a number of years after his marriage. During this period he says : "I was again brought, by the operative influence of divine grace, under deep concern of mind ; and was led, through adorable mercy, to see that although I had ceased from many sins and vanities of my youth, yet there were many remaining that I was still guilty of, which were not yet atoned for, and for which I now felt the judgments of God to rest upon me. This caused me to cry earnestly to the Most High for pardon and redemption, and he graciously condescended to hear my cry, and to open a way before me, wherein I must walk, in order to experience reconciliation with him ; and as I abode in watchfulness and deep humiliation before him, light broke forth out of obscurity, and my darkness became as the noonday. I had many deep openings in the visions of light, greatly strengthening and establishing to my exercised mind. My spirit was brought under a close and weighty labour in meetings for discipline, and my understanding much en- larged therein; and I felt a concern to speak to some of the subjects engaging the meeting's attention, which often brought unspeakable comfort to my mind. About this time I began to have openings leading to the ministry, which brought me under close exercise and deep travail of spirit; for although I had for some time spoken on subjects of business in monthly and preparative meetings, yet the prospect of opening my mouth in public meetings was a close trial; but I endeavored to keep my mind quiet and 28 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELL\S HICKS 29 resigned to the heavenly call, if it should be made clear to ine to be my duty. Nevertheless, as I was, soon after, sitting in a meeting, in much weightiness of spirit, a secret, though clear, intimation accompanied me to speak a few words, which were then given to me to utter, yet fear so prevailed that I did not yield to the intimation. Just how long Elias Hicks spoke in the meetings for worship, before his "acknowledgment," is not known. The records of Westbury Monthly Meeting, however, give de- ^ Journal, p. 15. 30 LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS tailed information as to this event. From them we make the following extract : "At a monthly meeting held at Westbury ye 29th of Fourth month, 1778, William Seaman and William Valen- tine report that they have made inquiry concerning Elias Hicks, and find nothing to hinder his being recommended to the meeting of Ministers and Elders, whom this meeting recommends to that meeting as a minister, and directs the clerk to forward a copy of this minute to said meeting." The acknowledgment of the ministry of Elias Hicks" took place a little over seven years after his marriage. From various references in the Journal the inference is warranted that he did not begin to speak in the meeting for worship until a considerable time after this event. It is, therefore, probable that his service in this line had not been going on, at the most, more than three or four years when his acknowledgment took place. He had only been a recorded minister something over a year when his first con- siderable visit was undertaken. Unfortunately, the preserved personal correspondence of Elias Hicks does not cover this period in his life, so that we are confined to what he chose to put in his Journal, as the only self-interpretation of this interesting period. It appears that the New York Yearly Meeting was held at the regularly appointed times all through the period of the Revolutionary War. Previous to 1777 the meeting met annually at Flushing, but in that year the sessions were removed to Westbury. In 1793 it was concluded to hold future meetings in New York.' During the war the British controlled Long Island, and for some time the meeting house in Flushing was occu- pied as a barracks by the king's troops, which probably accounts for moving the yearly meeting further out on the island to Westbury. In attending the yearly meeting, and in performing LIFE AND LABORS OF ELL\S HICKS 31 religioits visits to the particular meetings, passing the lines of both armies was a frequent necessity. This privilege was freely gi-anted Friends. Touching this matter, Elias makes this i-eference : "This was a favor which the parties would not grant to their best friends, who were of a warlike disposition ; which shows what great advantages would redound to mankind were they all of this pacific spirit. I passed myself through the lines of both armies six times during the war without molestation, both parties generally receiv- ing me with openness and civility; and although I had to pass over a tract of country, between the two armies, some- times more than thirty miles in extent, and which was much frequented by robbers, a set, in general, of cruel, unprin- cipled banditti, issuing out from both parties, yet, excepting once, I met with no interruption even from -them. But although Friends in general experienced many favors and deliverances, yet those scenes of war and confusion occa- sioned many trials and provings in various ways to the faithful." ^ ° Journal, p. 15. CHAPTER IV. Early Labors in the Ministry. Probably the first official public service to which Elias Hicks was ever assigned by the Society related to a matter gpowing out of the Revolutionary War. Under the new meeting-house in New York was a large room, usually rented for commercial purposes. During the British occu- pation this room was appropriated as a storehouse for mili- tary goods. The rent was finally tendered by the military commissioner to some representative Friends, and by them accepted. This caused great concern to many members of the meeting, who felt that the Society of Friends could not consistently be the recipient of money from such a source. The matter came before the Yearly Meeting in 1779. The peace party felt that the rent money was blood money, and should be returned, but a vigorous minority svistained the recipients of this warlike revenue. It was finally decided to refer the matter to the Yearly Meeting of Pennsylvania for determination. A committee to carry the matter to Philadel- phia was appointed, of .which Elias Hicks, then a young man of thirty-one, was a member. He made this service the occasion for some religious visits, which he. in company with his friend, John Willis, proceeded to make en route. The two Friends left home Ninth month 9, 1779, but took a roundabout route in order to visit the meetings involved in the concern of Elias. 