Hopewell Friends History, 1734-1934, Frederick County, Virginia

Book excerpt: This extraordinary compilation, first published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Hopewell [Friends] Monthly Meeting in 1934, is divided into two parts. The historical section is a broad survey of Hopewell Meeting from its origins nine years before the creation of Frederick County. Of far greater importance to genealogists, the documentary section encompasses 200 years of Quaker records: births, marriages, deaths, removals, disownments, and reinstatements, a good many of which cannot be found in public record offices. (For example, Virginia counties were not required to report to the state until 1825.) The vital records themselves have been supplemented by rare documents, letters, diaries, and other private records. Many thousands of individuals are identified in these records, the index to which runs 225 pages and contains thousands of entries.