In this peaceful Kennett, Pennsylvania, setting my ancestors learned to live in community with others who were seeking to follow Jesus as best they could. As “dissenters” against the official religion in 17th century England, they were beaten, imprisoned, and robbed of their possessions. Finally, driven from their homes in the British Isles, they began to immigrate to America in the mid to late 1600’s. They didn’t blame Jesus for those who did these things while calling themselves “Christian.” Instead, they determined to show by how they lived what Christianity should really look like.
This copy of an original drawing was a gift from the artist, Thomas Taylor, a Quaker man associated with the local Monthly Meeting. He gave us a special tour of this Meeting House that my ancestors — and his — helped to build in 1710. Sadly, this very kind man passed away in 2008.