%eadnotat; ]> bristmm* RECORDS OF BRISTOL MONTHLY MEETING (BRISTOL, PA) A Finding Aid for its Meeting Records Deposited in Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College and Haverford College Library Quaker Collection Records Services Group of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends 2003 RECORDS OF BRISTOL MONTHLY MEETING (BRISTOL, PA)A Finding Aid for its Meeting Records Deposited in Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College and Haverford College Library Quaker CollectionRecords Services Group of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Summary Records 1862-[ongoing]. Bristol Monthly Meeting of Friends 6 linear ft. Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College & Haverford College Library Quaker Collection For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Libraries' online catalog: http://tripod.brynmawr.edu SHORT HISTORY OF MEETING

Bristol Monthly Meeting was established in 1873 by Bucks County Quarterly Meeting (Hicksite) out of Bristol Preparative Meeting of Middletown Monthly Meeting (Bucks County). Its first business sessions were held in 1874. This is currently an active monthly meeting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Records of Bristol Monthly Meeting include: Minutes, 1874-1957; vital records, 1873-1939; women's minutes, 1874-1880; minutes of the meeting of ministers and elders, 1882-1918; minutes of the meeting of ministry and counsel, 1919-1935; loose marriage papers, 1875; miscellaneous membership papers, 1862-1875 & 1930-1972; financial papers relating to burial lot funds, 1933-1938; deeds, 1909-1926 & n.d.; miscellaneous papers, 1873-1912.

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Accession information

Deposit

 Access

Collection is open for research. Access is through microfilm, if available.

 Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to the Repositories All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the individual Meeting or its successor. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Repositories as the holder(s) of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

 SEARCHING IN OUR ON-LINE CATALOGUE FOR RELATED MATERIALS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in TRIPOD, the joint on-line catalog of Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings. Please note that records created before 1827, the date of a schism in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, may have been added to by either the Hicksite or Orthodox branches of this meeting, but could include information about members of the other branch before the Separation:

Subjects: Bristol Monthly Meeting of Friends. Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- Bucks County. Bucks County (Pa.) -- Genealogy. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Monthly meeting records normally include minutes of men’s and women’s meetings for business and registers of births, deaths, marriages, removals (transfers), and disownments. In general, non-members are not mentioned in the minutes, even when they attended meeting for worship on a regular basis.

Note to Researchers: These records may only be consulted at either Haverford (HV) or Swarthmore (SW), and are not available through inter-Library loan. To request materials on-site, please make sure to use the correct call numbers for the Library in which you wish to use the records:

Vital Records

At the time of the Separation in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1827-28, pre-Separation vital records were generally retained by the branch with which the recorder was affiliated. Researchers are advised to consider vital records which span this period carefully: in many cases, the meeting without the original records may have reconstructed these records for its membership only, giving the impression that individuals in the other branch were never members.

 Marriage request and permission for John Comly and Rebecca T. Buckman 1875 1 folder (3 items)HSW RG2/Ph/B75

Includes letters of parental consent and a note to Bristol Monthly Meeting concerning the marriage of John Comly and Rebecca T. Buckman.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 Film 158 Miscellaneous membership records1862-1875 1 folder (9 items)HSW RG2/Ph/B75

Includes membership list probably of Bristol Preparative Meeting (11mo 17 1862), a list of members of Middletown Monthly Meeting who have removed without certificates (1865), and a statistical report of the membership of Bristol Monthly Meeting.

Probably assembled at the time that Bristol was set off from Middletown.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 Film 158 Miscellaneous membership records1930-1972 & n.d. 1 folder (61 items)H/USW RG2/Ph/B75

Applications for membership, certificates of removal, letters of transfer, membership statistics, and an annotated typed membership list of Bristol Monthly Meeting (ca. 1955).

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 Film 158 [Register]1873-1939 1 v. ; 35 cm. HSW Box 11

Membership book of Bristol Monthly Meeting. Includes the following: Births, 1876-1930; deaths, 1873-1939; marriage certificates, 1913 & 1933; membership lists, 1874-1927; removals issued, 1875-1919; removals received, 1874-1935.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph38 No Film Men's Meeting and Joint

Official records of proceedings kept for all Quaker business meetings. Only Quakers could participate. It has responsibility for care of members, authorizes removals and marriages, maintains discipline, considers the queries, manages meeting property, fosters social concerns, and reports regularly to the quarterly meeting. Beginning at the end of the 19th century, men and women ceased to hold separate business meetings, meeting instead in joint session.

 Minutes1874-1957 3 v. ; 37 cm. or smallerH/USW Box 11

Minute books as follows: 1874-1912, 1912-1931, 1931-1957.

Joint sessions in which men and women meet together for business begin in 1880. 1912-31 volume includes membership lists for the years 1911-1930.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 (1874-1912) MR-Ph38 (1912-31; 1931-57) No Film Women's Meeting Minutes 1874-1880 1 v. ; 25 cm. H SW Box 11

Minutes from 1874 1mo 2 to 1880 1mo 2.

Joint sessions in which men and women meet together for business begin in 1880.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph38 Film 156 Worship & Ministry and its predecessors

Committee which had care of the spiritual welfare of the meeting, particularly the meeting for worship. Ministry and Counsel committees were established in 1918 by Hicksite meetings, which no longer designated members as ministers or elders. The predecessor of Ministry and Counsel was the Preparative Meeting of Ministers and Elders.

 Minutes1882-1935 3 v. ; 26 cm. or smaller.HSW Box 11

Includes minutes of the Meeting of Ministers and Elders, 1882-94, 1894-1921, & 1922-35.

Meeting's name changed to Preparative Meeting of Ministry and Counsel on 2mo 16, 1919.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 Film 158 Property Records Burial lot funds1933-1938 1 folder (20 items)HSW RG2/Ph/B75

Correspondence, receipts, and other financial records concerning funds for the upkeep of cemetery lots in the Bristol Friends Cemetery.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 Film 156 Deeds1909-1926 & n.d. 1 folder (6 items)HSW RG2/Ph/B75

Includes deeds for land in Bristol (1909, 1916), an agreement of sale by Falls Monthly Meeting to the Italian Christian Church in Bristol (1922), and miscellaneous copies of deeds.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 Film 158 Miscellaneous Miscellaneous papers1873-1912 1 folder (3 items)HSW RG2/Ph/B75

Includes a proposition from Bristol Preparative Meeting to Middletown Monthly concerning the establishment of a monthly meeting at Bristol (1873), a printed address from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting concerning schools (1877), and a reply from the U.S. Department of State in reference to the negotiation of arbitration treaties (1912).

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph37 Film 158 Bristol Friends' School (Bristol, Pa.) Account book1875-1912 1 v. ; 35 cm.HSW Box 10

Contains entries from 1875 9mo 14 to 1912 11mo 8. Label on cover: Treasurer Friends' School for girls and boys. Bristol, Bucks County, Pa.

Available on microfilm in the following location(s):

MR-Ph38 No Film