Members of the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers, moved from West River Meeting in Anne Arundel County to settle in the Bush River area of present day Harford County. Here they established a Meeting perhaps as early as 1706. As time went on, many Bush River Friends moved north to settle on the excellent farming land in and around Darlington along Deer Creek, and some Pennsylvania Friends moved south into the area as well. These Quakers probably worshiped in each other’s houses when they could not make the journey to Bush River or to Nottingham Friends Meeting in Oxford, Pennsylvania. By 1737, however, Deer Creek Friends were worshiping in a meetinghouse on three and one-half acres of land purchased from Nathan Rigbie, the most prominent landowner in the Darlington area, for the sum of 28 pounds. It is believed that this first meetinghouse was probably a modified home or outbuilding bought with the land.
Deer Creek was granted the status of a Monthly Meeting by its parent group, Nottingham Monthly Meeting, in 1760 "on account of their distance and frequent danger of the [Susquehanna] River." The first session was held " Second Day, Twelfth Month, 1760," and William Cox, a Friend originally from Pardshaw Hall Monthly Meeting in Cumberland County in "Old England," was named the first Clerk. Joseph Hopkins, John Talbot, and William Cox were named the Monthly Meeting’s first Overseers shortly thereafter.
The first meetinghouse was abandoned after approximately thirty years because it appeared "considerably decay’" and "not Sufficient to contain its Members." Joseph Hopkins, a joiner by trade, was appointed to engineer the construction of the new meetinghouse, which was begun in 1765 and completed sometime later. Unfortunately, in 1784, it is believed that arsonists burned this meetinghouse to the ground probably because of the Quaker stand against slavery. A third meetinghouse was constructed across the road with the financial aid of almost all of the meetings of the Western Quarterly Meeting of which Deer Creek was a part. This meetinghouse is still used today, although in 1888 Hugh Jewett, a wealthy member of the congregation, paid for the general refurbishment of the building. In 2000, a beautiful addition was begun to provide better quarters for our growing Sunday School and a better dining area for reasons of hospitality. The poplar benches in the Meeting room are more than two hundred years old, and Friends like to believe that they were rescued from the fire of 1784.
In 1769, Baltimore Yearly Meeting approved a minute forbidding the sale of slaves and later another minute requiring the freeing of all slaves held by Friends. As would be expected, this stand presented a problem for Deer Creek, as many of its most prominent members were large landholders who owned several slaves. Nonetheless, despite almost constant prodding by Quarterly Meeting and Yearly Meeting, Deer Creek slowly but successfully dealt with the slavery issue without the wholesale disownment of its offending members. By 1800, Deer Creek members had totally freed their slaves. In addition, several Deer Creek Friends participated in the Underground Railroad and risked life, liberty, and property to aid runaways in their quest for freedom. The Meeting also conducted many Meetings for Worship for Negroes, which were well attended. In 1779, the Meeting formed a Committee for the Oversight of Manumitted Slaves in order to protect freed blacks from being kidnapped and resold into slavery; in this instance, freed men and women were legally placed under the care of the Meeting. In 1796, Silas Warner submitted a report to the Meeting on behalf of the Trustees of the School for Black Children. Establishing this school took courage, as educating blacks of any age was not a popular practice in any of the slaveholding states, including Maryland. Therefore, while Deer Creek’s record on slavery is not without reproach, its members for the most part were leagues ahead of most of their neighbors on this important social and moral issue.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Deer Creek Meeting expended much of its energy on what would be regarded today as relatively trivial matters. Maintaining the Discipline became a primary focus of the Meeting. Members were eldered and even disowned for such misdemeanors as dancing, playing cards, cursing, and marrying out of Meeting. A few examples follow:
Ironically, for a religion known for its emphasis on peace and the amicable settling of differences, religious dissension among the membership of the Religious Society of Friends in the United States grew to such a point that it culminated in the Split of 1827-1828 when American Quakerism divided into two distinct branches. The Hicksites were the largest in number and tended to be made up of rural Friends. They followed the ideas of the liberal Quaker, Elias Hicks, in that they had a more universal approach toward the Deity, allowed for more individualism in belief, and stressed the doctrine of the Inner Light. The Orthodox were composed largely of city Friends and were significantly influenced by a procession of traveling English Quaker evangelical ministers. They stressed the authority of the elders, emphasized the Bible, were definitely Christ centered, and were much like other Protestant denominations in matters of dogma. Even though Deer Creek was definitely a rural meeting, the Quaker congregation divided. The Hicksites, who greatly outnumbered the Orthodox, kept the meetinghouse that we use today. The Orthodox met in each other’s homes until they erected a stone meetinghouse on Old Quaker Road in Darlington. Unfortunately, the Split divided Quaker families, and both sides took pleasure in disowning those who disagreed with them. Finally, in the twentieth century, cooler heads prevailed, and the two Deer Creek congregations began meeting together informally in the 1920’s. By 1949, both meetings saw their way clear to formally unite, anticipating the unification of both Baltimore Yearly Meetings in 1968. The Separation was over.
Deer Creek Friends Meeting now consists of only one meeting, but this was not always so. In 1760, Deer Creek Monthly Meeting consisted of the preparative meetings of Bush River and Deer Creek. Later, in the 1700’s a meeting called Fawn (later Fawn Grove) in Pennsylvania was added, and finally in the early 1800’s a meeting called Broad Creek in the Scarboro area was also made a part of the Monthly Meeting. However, the entire settlement of Bush River has now disappeared, and the meetinghouse at Fawn Grove was sold. Broad Creek was laid down in the 1950’s and the meetinghouse dismantled.
Deer Creek Friends Meeting in the year 2001 consists of 60 members, and we are fortunate to have several attenders worship with us as well. Friends of all ages meet at 10:30 AM for a hymn and a period of silence. Then both children and adults participate in Sunday School lessons, which are taught by members of the congregation. Meeting for Worship begins at approximately 11:15 AM where modern Friends, like those who preceded them, "wait upon the Lord." Visitors are most welcome to join us.