Early Quakers in Richmond
Near this site a meetinghouse was built in 1797 to 1798 by members of the Religious Society of Friends. Called Quakers, the earliest had arrived in Virginia from England in 1655. The building was the second house of worship in Richmond after St. John’s Church. Richmond Quakers advocated religious freedom, worked to make the prison system more humane and, as pacifists, usually refused to bear arms. They also joined with the Virginia Society of Friends to pressure the General Assembly for passage of the Manumission Act of 1782. Because they opposed slavery, many Quakers migrated west early in the 19th century.
Marker is at the intersection of South 20th Street and East Main Street, on the right when traveling south on South 20th Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
