Hicksite Quakers
A few weeks ago we gave a talk at the McAllister House Museum about Hicksite Quakerism and its relationship to Colorado Springs focusing on some of the important abolitionists in our country’s history. It turns out that the McAllister family knew many of the early abolitionists like Elias Hicks and Lucretia Mott.
Recently, we have discovered that Major McAllister’s sister, Matilda, married into a long standing abolitionist family, the Garrigues family. Matilda married Thomas Garrigues and Thomas’s father Edward Garrigues was a member of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. This was an elite group of quakers and non-quakers that felt compelled at the time of the American Revolution to stand up for the rights of all humans. The image below is Robert Garrigues’ certificate of membership in the organization dated the 7th month 12th day 1794, in quaker fashion.
For more information on this topic Click Here to see a short film by Ken Burns about Benjamin Franklin’s time as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage.
I wonder if there was a Quaker Meeting in Colorado Springs at the time of Palmer and McAllister. I am a member of the meeting in town with Hicksite roots which was started in 1955. Do you know if they held meetings for worship?
Hi Molly,
We have no evidence that there was a Meeting established here in Colorado Springs by Palmer or McAllister. Our work over the last few years indicates that the McAllisters were highly committed to Hicksite Quaker values, but did not establish a meeting house. Major McAllister volunteered for the Civil War effort and after the war pivoted to the women’s right issues here in Colorado. Mrs. McAllister remained registered at Radnor meeting, Harry and Mary went back to school at Swarthmore and registered there. The Major’s sisters were active at Darby meeting and Philadelphia yearly meeting. His sister Matilda married into the Garrigues family who were very active in the anti-slavery movement. They are all buried at the Darby PA Friends cemetery.
I would be interested to hear about your Hicksite roots? Thanks for the inquiry. Eric