Arney’s
Mount Friends’ Meeting House –
Burlington County, NJ
Written by NJ Historian
It is
not often that you come across a location that takes you this far back in
history. By luck, travelling the back roads of Burlington County, I found
myself at this strange stone building surrounded by a stone wall cemetery. As I
got out of the car, I came to discover that it was named Arney’s Mount Friends’
Meeting House and was inscribed with the date of 1775. This unique, vernacular
stone building I discovered has a fantastic history and signifies the important
stronghold that the Quakers once had in southern New Jersey.
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Quakers
first established a Meeting for Worship in 1743, under the care of the
Burlington Monthly Meeting. According to the minutes for October 3, 1743,
"sundry Friends belonging to the upper part of Mount Holly Meeting made
application in writing to Burlington Monthly Meeting for liberty to hold a
meeting for worship on the first day of each week, during the winter season, at
the meeting house standing near Caleb Shreve's Mount." Prior to its
ownership by Arney Lippincott, it was known as "Shreve's Mount, or merely "Mount."
Historians
are not sure whether or not the current structure was the first at the site. Conflicting
information exists as to whether the earlier structure was erected as a meeting
house or was actually a log schoolhouse being used for meetings. There is very
little information existing to confirm either stance, or to describe that
structure that formerly stood at Arney's Mount. The Burlington Quarterly
Meeting records give compelling evidence to support the theory that the log
building was constructed as a meeting house. First, in May 1741, they recorded
that a meeting house was "about to be built" near Arneytown. Then
later, in 1776, when the minutes record the completion of Mount and three other
meeting houses in the quarter, it is stated that these meeting houses are
"all near the respective places where the former houses stood." Adding
to the confusion, however, is the fact that a 1860 diagram of Burlington
Quarter indicates the simultaneous existence of both a "Mount" and
"Arney town" meeting. Other references to an earlier meeting house
include a 1771 notation within the journal of Ephraim Tomlinson in which he
mentions attending a marriage at the log meeting house near
"Julytown."
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| The name S. Smith etched into the stone. |
Regardless,
the meeting house was built between 1775 and 1776 of local bog iron stone. There
is no known architect for Arney's Mount Meeting House. The design most likely
was derived from the members themselves, perhaps in consultation with a local
builder. According to oral tradition, Samuel Smith was the builder. Inscribed
in a stone of the meeting house is "S. Smith." It was not uncommon within
mainstream culture for the builder to carve his initials upon the structure.
Such practices were generally frowned upon by Quakers. It was viewed as vain,
and ran contrary to the communal nature of the design and building process.
More common among Friends was the practice of carving initials merely as a form
of graffiti on the interior benches, and sometimes on the facades of meeting
houses, although rarely are they so prominently placed. Members of the Smith
family attended Arney’s Mount meeting and acted as trustees for the meeting,
and therefore could have played an important role in the construction of the
meeting house. On the opposite side of the meeting house is the name "I.
Coate." This suggests that Smith was not solely responsible for the
construction of the meeting house. Perhaps one's role was largely financial
while the other served as builder. Arney’s
Mount suffered two fires in the early 1800s. The first was 1800 and the second
was 1809. The second fire nearly destroyed the building except for its stone
walls.
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| 1775 etched into the stone. |
Due to
declining membership the final meeting was held in 1871, and its remaining members
attached to the Mt. Holly Meeting. After this time, the meeting house was used occasionally
for worship until finally discontinued in 1898, although occasional meetings
were held. With renewed interest, the meeting was revived in June of 1941,
under the care of Mount Holly Meeting. In March of 1942, with thirteen members
in attendance, it was proposed that Arney's Mount become a "regularly
established meeting.” Among the members of the newly-revived meetings was Elizabeth
White, eminent botanist and proprietor of Whitesbog, the cranberry bog owned by
her family since the mid-nineteenth century. In more recent years, young
families have joined the meeting, and Arney's Mount is enjoying continued
rejuvenation.
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What
really makes this site unique is its near pristine interior. Although dating to
the reconstruction that followed the second fire, the facing benches, gallery,
and other wood elements and finishes are intact, dating to approximately 1811.
The building is still without electricity or plumbing, and a wood stove serves
as the only heat source.
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| Interior of Arney's Mount Friends' Meeting House, provided by HABS. |
Coupled with the still rural nature of the surrounding
landscape, the Arney's Mount Meeting House of today is almost indistinguishable
from that portrayed in historic photographs. Since the building is usually shuttered,
the Historical American Building Survey (HABS), provides a wonderful view
inside of this building. In 1999, HABS performed a detailed analysis of the
history and architecture of the site. The most fascinating aspect of the entire
site is that it survives without electricity or running water! The 1930s era privy
in the burial yard is a treat to visit if you have never see a true outhouse.
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After leaving the meeting house, about a mile from the property on Birmingham-Arneys Mount Road, another bog iron stone structure appeared, with a timber second floor. Its footprint was very small and it appeared there was once a small addition on the right side and possibly a lean-to in the rear. A stone showed the date of 1823 and the initials AL – could that be Arney Lippincott, the owner of the meeting house property? I could not find any reference to this building or its history in my research.
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| The initials A L and the date 1823. Could this be Arney Lippincott? |
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| Whose home is this? Arney Lippincott? If you know anything about it, please let me know! |
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