50th Timeline: 1675 – Quakers Arrive in Southern New Jersey

In the 17th century, one of the newly formed religious groups to emerge out of the religious upheaval that began with the Protestant Reformation was the Religious Society of Friends, soon known colloquially as Quakers.  Founded by the English dissenter George Fox and expanded with the aid of his wife, Margaret Fell, the Quakers were widely perceived as heretics and as a danger to the established Church of England. Quakers were radical believers in equality and eschewed paid ministers, allowing anyone led by the spirit to speak in worship, even women.  They challenged established class privileges in England and refused to swear oaths to the monarchy and to take up arms at the request of the Crown. Not surprisingly given these beliefs, the early Quakers suffered persecution and were unable to worship freely in England. Many Quakers moved to the New World, but it was in present-day Salem, New Jersey, that John Fenwick and his followers created their first permanent settlement in 1675, six years before William Penn established Pennsylvania on the other side of the Delaware.  After establishing good relations with the local Native Americans, Quaker farmers spread throughout southern New Jersey. One area they chose to settle was near an old Native American ford over Raccoon Creek, and today that place is known as Mullica Hill.

This historical entry is part of a series chronicling the history of Friends School Mullica Hill on the occasion of the School’s 50th anniversary.   The entries begin with the first arrival of Quakers in the region and continue all the way to the present under the leadership of the School’s ninth Head, Matt Bradley.