More Quaker Clues

Using lessons learned from a different family

In January I talked about finding some of my wife’s ancestors in the records of the Society of Friends (also called “Quakers”) in Indiana.

Records Don't Tell the Stories

As it happens, the skills I picked up as I learned about the Dyer family may help me learn more about my Scottish immigrant ancestor, Thomas Henderson Murray. He would have been the grandfather of Rosa (Murray) Huff (second wife of Albert Huff, from “The Huffs Move West. Twice.”)

I still have very little information about Thomas, but here’s the connective evidence between him and his in-laws (Rosa’s father is (10) Aaron):

Whyte, Donald. A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the U. S. A. United States, Genealogical.com, 2009. - page 240

Searching for clues, I came across a few newspaper items written by William D. Murray, publisher of the Lawrenceburg (Indiana) Press and a great-grandson of Isaiah Henderson Murray. He sent these questions to The Indianapolis Star in the 1960s, looking for help with his research:

The Indianapolis Star, Sun, 4 Aug 1963¹

"Q-51 Want to trace Mrs. James LIVINGSTON, widow, moved from Springboro, 0. , to. Richmond in 1831. Her son-in-law, Thomas HENDERSON MURRAY, may have preceded her to Indiana. They were Hick-sites or Quakers William D. Murray, P.O. Box 231, Lawrenceburg."

The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, 12 Dec 1965²

"Q-2839 About 1830, James LIVINGSTON (LEVINSON), a Hicksite, d. Springboro, O., and was buried in the church cemetery (without marker in keeping with custom). His widow is believed to have joined their m. children in a Quaker meeting at Richmond or nearby, including Thomas Henderson MURRAY and wife who may have been Brethren communicants. Begats of the undersigned in succeeding generations were Isaiah, Thomas and William Edwards MURRAY. Are there relatives of Thomas Henderson MURRAY or records available? William D. Murray, 703 Ridge Avenue, Lawrenceberg, 470-J5."

Look again at the citation from Donald Whyte’s book: “D.C., 21 May, 1966”—checking the bibliography tells me that “D.C.” refers to the “Dictionary Correspondence. Letters to the editor regarding Scottish immigrants. Scottish Genealogical Society Library.” Since William Murray was actively researching and corresponding in the mid-1960s, I suspect one of his letters to the Scottish Genealogical Society might be the source of the information recorded in Whyte’s book.

And THAT tells me that William Murray probably had access to records that told him about the Livingstone family but left him with the same questions I have about Thomas Henderson Murray.

A Brief History of the Miami Monthly Meeting

I wanted to see what I could find based on William Murray’s information. We start with a few clues:

• About 1830, James belonged to the Hicksite church in Springboro, Warren County, Ohio.

• His wife was Elizabeth, and their daughter (Thomas’s wife) was Mary Magdalene.

• Thomas and Mary Magdalene married in 1803, probably in Pennsylvania.

A fuzzy Ancestry search for James Livingston living in Warren County, Ohio, in 1830 gave me many results. Focusing just on those from Warren County, I saw several results from volumes of the Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. These records included a lot of cryptic abbreviations, which are explained in the front matter of the book—along with some explanations of the functions and history of the Monthly Meetings.

“The genealogical records of all members of Meetings of all types are kept by Monthly (Business) Meetings, which are attended by delegates sent by their sub-ordinate meetings:-Meetings for Worship and their Preparative Meetings. The Monthly Meeting is the executive body of the Quaker Organization. …

The Monthly Meeting, as stated, keeps all records, such as births, deaths, burials, marriages, disownments, certificates of removal, members received and released, etc., for all Meeetings for Worship which it controls.”

William Wade Hinshaw, writing in the Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol· V, 1946.

In the Introduction to that same volume, Thomas Worth Marshall writes,

“When the Quakers began settlements in Ohio and Indiana, their meetings were established by and attacked to Redstone, (Pa.) Quarterly Meeting in Baltimore Yearly Meeting. This condition continued until 1813, when Ohio Yearly Meeting was established by Baltimore Yearly Meeting and took jurisdiction over all meetings in Ohio, western Pennsylvania and Indiana. Indiana Yearly Meeting was established in 1821 and took jurisdiction over western Ohio and all of Indiana. With the Hicksite separation, separate Yearly Meetings were established to serve the Hicksite Monthly Meetings in the territory of Ohio Yearly Meeting and those in the territory of Indiana Yearly Meeting.”

Miami Monthly Meeting (MM) was the first established in southwestern Ohio and opened on 13 October 1803 by permission of Redstone QM. The Friends met in private houses until a log structure was built in 1805. A brick meeting house was built in 1811, and in 1828, the followers of Elias Hicks (Hicksites) separated from the Orthodox group (the minority) with the Hicksites taking the larger brick meeting house and the Orthodox group withdrawing to the old log meeting house.

The White Brick Meeting House is still in use and is the oldest regularly attended religious building west of the Allegheny Mountains.

169 South Fourth - White Brick Meeting House

The Search for James Livingston

With all of that background knowledge, I can piece together some facts from the records:

• 1797 - James Livingston requested admission to the Muncy MM (Lycoming County, PA) on 16 February for himself and six children: Madgaline, Ann, Elizabeth, Aaron, Isaiah, and James (all minors). (recorded at the Byberry MM)

• 1801 - 17 June, Elizabeth Livingston produced a certificate from Salisbury MM dated 28 Jan. 1800 and was accepted into the Muncy MM.

• 1811 - 18 Dec, James Levingston and wife Elizabeth and five children (Aaron, Isaiah, James, Thomas, and Tamer) recommended by Muncy MM to Centre MM

• 1812 - 13 Feb, James Livingston and his wife Elizabeth and their minor children (Aaron, Josiah (sic), Thomas, James, and Thamer) were admitted to Centre MM from Muncy MM (certificate dated 18 Dec 1811)

• 1820 - 26 July, James received on certificate (rocf) from Center MM (PA) to Miami MM (Warren County, OH)

• 1822 - James rocf from the Miami MM to the New Garden MM (IN)

• 1823 - Tamar rocf Center MM to Miami MM (dated 18 Dec 1819)

• 1824 - Tamar gct New Garden MM (IN)

• 1825 - Aaron rocf from Centre MM (PA) to New Garden MM

Best of all, the Hinshaw Index to Selected Quaker Records, 1680-1940 lists the children, giving birthdates for all but Tamar, and identifying “Magdalen b 6.28.1783… m. 1804 ____ Morry”—almost certainly identifying Mary Magdalene (Livingston) Murray.

There is a lot more work to do, looking for records for each of these siblings and tracking the Livingstons through their moves from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and on to Indiana. I need to figure out which records go with James Sr. and which with James Jr., and see if I can find sources cited in some of the Index records.

But now I have some solid footing for basing the next round of searches!

1. Newspapers.com, The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana, Sun, 4 Aug 1963, Page 74 Q-51.

2. Newspapers.com, The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana, Sun, 12 Dec 1965, Page 99, Q-2839.