Marlborough Meeting Riot 1852

Local Quaker meetings were often divided on how to respond to slavery and Meetinghouses frequently became forums for anti-slavery and temperance speakers. This caused growing aggravation & criticism amongst the members. While Quakers believed slavery to be morally wrong many of them weren’t willing to break the law by aiding freedom seekers.

Things came to a head in 1852 with the Marlborough Meeting Riot.

Here’s what occurred: in June 1852, Pennsylvania’s First Woman's Rights Convention was held at Horticultural Hall in West Chester (today this is part of Chester County History Center). The early woman's rights movement and the anti-slavery movement were closely connected, so most of the participants at the convention were also anti-slavery activists. At the conclusion of the convention it was overheard that abolitionist Oliver Johnson intended to speak at Marlborough Friends Meeting on First Day, June 6th. Many Quaker Meeting members disapproved of religious meetings for worship being used as a platform for social issues so the local constable was asked to attend that Sunday. As anticipated Oliver rose to speak and was politely asked to sit down. When Oliver arose again and persisted to speak the constable was asked to remove him but that was met with protest from Eusebius Barnard and some others. So those who were upset that their meeting for worship had been interrupted left the meeting and those remaining listened to Oliver Johnson present his talk on anti-slavery. --

This incident was described as a Quaker Riot --.

However, the situation wasn’t over. The next day, Oliver Johnson and 4 others were arrested and charged with disrupting a meeting. Johnson needed to return to Philadelphia, so he paid his $5.00 fine with an additional 50 cents for court costs and left to write up the affair in the Pennsylvania Freeman paper. The others — Eusebius Barnard, his brother William, his nephew Vincent and Dr. Bartholomew Fussell, were tried the following Saturday and convicted of disturbing the peace of a religious gathering. They declared that they would not pay the fine and that they were unjustly persecuted. While Dr. Fussell was speaking, a constable entered the courtroom and announced that the fines and fees had been paid, perhaps by the prosecuting party.