Neck Meetinghouse and Yard

Known as Neck Meetinghouse and Yard, also known as the Quaker Meetinghouse & Graveyard, is a historic Quaker meetinghouse located at West Denton, Caroline County, Maryland. It is a one-story rectangular frame building with a pitched gable roof measuring 30 feet, 8​1⁄2 inches long and 20 feet, 5 inches deep. In the graveyard are six marked burials with stones dating from the 1850s to 1890, with some more recent interments. It is the only extant Friends meeting house in Caroline County, and one of only a few still standing on the Eastern Shore. The meeting house was utilized from September 26, 1802, when the first meeting was held in the building, until it was abandoned in 1890 for lack of funds and participants.[2]

Neck Meetinghouse and Yard
LocationMD 404, West Denton, Maryland
Coordinates38°53′26″N 75°50′29″W
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built1802 (1802)
NRHP reference No.76000982[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 22, 1976

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]

Description

The Neck Quaker Meeting House is located on the north side of Maryland Route 404 approximately ~ mile west of the town of Denton, on the northwest corner of the intersection with Maryland Route 328. The Meeting House is located in a grove of mature oaks and smaller mixed hardwoods and pine trees. There are six marked burials visible with stones dated from the 1850s to 1890. Two plain granite stones with no markings identifies another burial, presumably dating to the same period; more recently, interrinents were made in 1969 and 1979. It is assumed that other burial sites are present but are no longer marked. A cast iron pump is located about 10 yards to the southeast of the meeting house. The meeting house is a one-story rectangular framebuilding with a pitched gable roof oriented on an east–west axis approxi-mately parallel to Route 404. The building measures 30 feet 8~ inches long and 20 feet five inches deep; it rests on a continuous brick foundation and is covered with plain weatherboard siding and a wood shingle roof. The principal facade faces south to Route 404. There is only one door in this facade: a low, wide door measuring five feet one inch high and three feet five inches wide. This door is offset to left of center and is flanked by single 6/6 win-dows on either side. The batten door is not original but appears to be a later 19th century replacement. It is constructed of plain vertical boards secured to three beveled battens with machine-made nails and is hung on hand-wrought H-L hinges mounted with screws. A small hickory string-latch appears to date to the installa-tion of the second door, but the hinges and a wrought iron bracket for a drop bar appear to be original. The flanking windows are fitted with board shutters that also appear to be a later 19th century addition or replacement. They are constructed of vertical beaded boards secured to two beveled battens with wood screws; they are hung on butt hinges. The continuous brick foundation is relatively crudely laid in a random bond. The random width, plain weatherboar d siding is circular sawn and secured with machine-made nails, with an average exposure of 4-5~ inches. The eaves are boxed in with plain, unbended boards; the roof is covered with wood shingles.

On the east gable end of the building, there is a single door centered in the first story and a small shuttered window opening offset to left of center in the upper gable. This door is more of a standard size, measuring two feet six inches wide and six feet two inches high. It is constructed of random-width beaded boards secured to three beveled battens with hand-wrought nails. The door is hung on plain butt hinges that do not appear to be original. Scattered nail holes do not seem to be related to earlier H- L hinges; the original hinge arrangement is not evident. The gable opening is fitted with a battened shutter but no sash. The shutter is constructed of plain vertical boards nailed to beveled battens with machine-made nails; it is hung on butt hinges. The foundation and siding match the front facade; the gable eaves are trimmed with unbeaded, tapered rakeboards. A pair of 6/6 windows are the only openings on the rear facade. These windows are placed approximately one foot higher than on the other three facades to allow for the facing bench that is placed against this wall inside. The plain batten shutters are hung with large barn hinges; notches for earlier butt hinges are evident. An opening near the west end of the foundation wall allows limited access to the crawl space under the building. The siding, cornice and roof match the front facade. A single 6/6 window centered on the first story is the only opening in the west gable wall. This window is fitted with early shutters constructed of single beaded boards reinforced with beveled battens secured with wrought nails. They are hung with wrought strap hinges mounted with wood screws and nails that are heavily covered with whitewash. The foundation, siding and rakeboards match the east gable wall. The interior consists of a single large room with an enclosed stair in the northeast corner. There is no evidence of any partition that might have divided the meeting room. A "facing" or elders bench on a raised platform extends the full length of the north facade wall. The platform is raised ten inches above the rest of the floor; a simple balustrade extends along the frontedge of this platform. The balustrade consists of a simple rail with molded top edges supported by widely spaced newel posts with beaded edges facing the elders' bench and plain edges facing the room. A simple bench is built into the room face of the balustrade, similar to the "secondary" facing bench at Third Haven Meeting House in neighboring Talbot County. The latter bench is constructed with very fine machine-made nails, but the nailing battens that receive the bevel supports to the floor appear to be nailed with wrought nails. It would appear that these benches have been rebuilt but a detailed examination is needed. The elders' bench is built against the north wall of the room and is similar to Third Haven in that there are wide, beaded boards nailed to the wall framing to form the bevel back. These boards are nailed with wrought T-head nails, while the horizontal sheathing above the bench is nailed with the very finely made machine nails presumed to date to the later renovation. Beaded horizontal boards received with T-head nails survive on all four walls of the room; the rest of the interior sheathing is evidently later and may be evidence that this meeting room was once lined with benches on all four walls, with plaster above the bench backs, as at Third Haven. A detailed examination will require lights and a thorough sweeping to search for nail holes and ghosts of bench supports. Eight moveable benches are arranged in two rows on either side of a central aisle leading to the south door. These are similar to the 18th century benches at Third Haven but are constructed with machine made nails. The ceiling joists are beaded and are left exposed. They measure 2 3/4" x 7~" and appear to be of poplar. They are too small in section for the twenty foot span and have been reinforced in this century with a heavy beam and two posts bisicting the meeting room longitudinally. The stair in the northeast corner of the room is enclosed with early beaded boards nailed with wrought T-head nails; the stair soffit was sheathed at a later date. The loft is floored but otherwise unfinished. The unglazed window in the east gable is the only opening. The roof is of common rafter construction; the rafter pairs are joined at the ridge with pegged mortise-and-tenon joints. Collar beams are half-lapped and nailed with wrought nails; the rafters rest on flat false plates.[2]

Significance

Quaker Meeting House in Caroline County and one of only a few still standing on the Eastern Shore. Up until the time of the Revolution, the Quaker and Episcopal Churches were by far the most active and numerous of denominations on the Eastern Shore, and the Quakers were in the forefront of the abolition movement in the state up until the Civil War. The few meeting houses which remain are important reminders of the Quaker heritage. The Neck Meeting House and three other meeting houses are listed on the National Register.* There are two brick meeting houses located in Cecil County: The West Nottingham Meeting House (CE-227) built in 1811, and the substantially older East Nottingham Meeting House (CE-82) which dates to 1724 and has been altered and expanded after several fires. Two other meeting houses are located in Talbot County: the historic Third Haven Meeting House built i n 1684 which retains virtually all of its original appearance, and the Peach Blossom Meeting House (T-121), a small octagonal frame building constructed in the late nineteenth century. The majority of the meeting houses which once stood on the Eastern Shore have vanished although a few are still possibly standing in converted form. Among these is the former Greensboro Meeting House, a frame building constructed shortly after the Quakers acquired the property in 1795. This has now been move d to Ridgely and converted to a private residence. Other Quaker meet-ing houses still possibly exist in Preston and about three miles west of Federalsburg in Dorchester County. The latter was known as the Piney Grove Meeting Hous e and was converted to a residence in the mid-twentieth century.

The Neck Meeting House is therefore a rare and unaltered example of religious architecture of this sect. It was built in 1802 and retains much of its interior pit-sawn chestnut and pine woodwork. For many years it was also used a s school by the local Quakers. The meeting house was sold by the Quakers in 1905 and acquired by the present owners in 1949.[2]

History

Quaker Meetings in Caroline County

The history of the Society of Friends (Quakers) on the Eastern Shore of Maryland goes back to 1659 when the Quakers in Talbot County established the Third Haven Meetinghouse. The first Quaker meetinghouse in what would become Caroline County was established at Marshy Creek near Preston in 1727. This was a very prosperous Meeting (Quaker congregation) and remained in operation until 1946. Although it was known by three different names - Marshy Creek, Snow Hill, and Preston - and was housed in three different structures over time, the membership grew and flourished. The last meetinghouse, a large red brick building, was constructed in 1904 and “laid down” (closed) in 1946. In the more northern area of what was to become Caroline County, a meetinghouse was constructed at “Nine Bridges” (the Bridgetown area) in 1733. The Quakers in this area felt it was too far and too difficult to travel to the Chester Meetinghouse in Queen Anne's County. From the start, “Nine Bridges” suffered from low attendance and infrequency of meetings. All of the meetings held in Caroline County were under the direction of The Third Haven Monthly Meeting, In 1791, it was decided the few remaining members of “Nine Bridges” would join the Greensboro (Greensborough) or “Choptank Bridge” group who at the time met in members homes. A meetinghouse was not constructed in Greensboro until 1795 and was discontinued in 1807, also because of poor attendance. The members were directed this time to attend meetings in Denton at the Tuckahoe Neck Meetinghouse, which had opened in 1802.

The Nicholites and the Quakers

Two other Quaker Meetings near Concord and at Federalsburg had a different beginning. Originally, these buildings served as a meeting place for a sect known as the Nicholites or New Quakers. This sect was led by Joseph Nichols of Kent County, Delaware, and it eventually spread into Maryland, especially Caroline County. Nichols was born about 1730 in Kent County, Delaware and began his ministry about 1760 as a result of a traumatic incident in his life. He was a very charismatic leader and was able to draw others into “obedience to the Inward Director and a life of austerity”. The Nicholite tenets were similar to those of the Quakers; anti-slavery, opposition to war, and a life of self denial, but in many ways were more strict. The movement continued to grow but, unfortunately, Joseph Nichols died in December 1770. Many of his followers were convinced of his zeal and continued to embrace his views. It is reported that as many as 1,000 people attended some of the open meetings. Many of the members moved from Delaware into Caroline County, and in 1784 a Nicholite Meetinghouse, Centre, was established at Concord and the next year a second one, Northwest Fork, was opened in Federalsburg. Because of their similar views the Quakers and the Nicholites began to meet together. As time passed, the Nicholite sect began to fade due to their very strict tenets. Starting in 1797, there was a flood of requests to transfer to the Quaker sect. Eventually, the Centre building was closed and moved to Burrsville where it was converted into a dwelling. Likewise, Northwest Fork was moved about three miles outside of Federalsburg and renamed Pine Grove. It was moved a second time and placed farther west along Route 318 just slightly over the line into Dorchester County. Today, the building is privately owned and unrecognizable as a meetinghouse, having been converted into a dwelling.

Later History of Tuckahoe Neck Meetinghouse

The last Quaker Meetinghouse built in Caroline County, Tuckahoe Neck, was completed in 1802 and remained active until 1897 when it was “laid down” (closed). It is often referred to as the “Neck Meetinghouse to differentate it from the Tuckahoe Meetinghouse at Matthewstown in Talbot County. The building served in several other capacities over time. The Quakers and non-members conducted a school from 1856 to 1858 and again from 1877 to 1879. During the Civil War, it was used as a barracks for Union soldiers, and it was reported the soldiers would leave the building allowing the Quakers to hold their meeting. The “Dunkards” ( Church of the Brethren) established a church for Black citizens and, finally, the building served as a public school from 1899 to 1900.

Saving the Meetinghouse

With Quakers moving away or joining other meetings, Tuckahoe Neck quickly fell into disrepair. In 1930, a few of the former members made an attempt at limited repairs, but once again it was left to deteriorate. By 2002, the building was in a terrible condition with extensive termite damage. Major restoration work took place over the next two years. This included new footing and brick piers, replacement of termite damaged sills, and floor joists with new beams and joists being installed, and a new shingle roof added.

As had occurred in the past, there was no regular maintenance, and by 2017 more repairs were needed. The east end of the building required the most attention, and was repaired by the summer of 2019. However, there was no plan to address the need for repair of the other three sides or to establish a plan for regular maintenance. As a result, a few individuals came forward with a fundraising plan to restore the building, but also to establish a trust to provide perpetual care. The Committee for the Preservation of the Tuckahoe Neck Quaker Meetinghouse is appealing to all citizens of the county to assist in this effort. We have developed a multi-facet plan of fundraising, consisting of writing grant proposals, electronic fundraising, and signature fundraising events.[3]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Eleanor F. Horsey (April 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Neck Meetinghouse and Yard" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  3. "Neckhouse".
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