c.1740. Richard is my 7-gr-grandfather. I found the below two paragraphs on-line in Nov 2015.
The third settlement of Friends was
in Robeson township, on the west side of
the Schuylkill River about the year 1740.
Moses Embree, Owen Humphray, John
Scarlet, Sr., John Scarlet, Jr., Thomas
Thomas, Robert Long, Peter Marsh,
Richard Moor, Evan Thomas, David
Cadwallader, David Jenkins, John Wells,
David Morris and Ephraim Jackson were
the earliest Friends in this territory.
In the fifth month, 1740, they petitioned
the Monthly Meeting at Exeter for a separate Meeting which was granted them. A preparative Meeting was then instituted at Robeson and first held sixth month, 1741. In that year a committee was appointed to choose a place upon which to build a meeting- house, and in the Fall a log house was erected in the central part of Robeson township which was the most convenient meeting-place for worship for Friends residing in the Hay Creek and Allegheny Creek valleys. The Meeting at Robeson was long known as "the Forest Meeting," being situated in the great tract of almost unbroken woodland called "the Forest", which extended from Flying Hill, south, beyond the Hopewell Hills.
http://www.readingfriendsmeeting.org/docs/eshelman_history.pdf
the Monthly Meeting at Exeter for a separate Meeting which was granted them. A preparative Meeting was then instituted at Robeson and first held sixth month, 1741. In that year a committee was appointed to choose a place upon which to build a meeting- house, and in the Fall a log house was erected in the central part of Robeson township which was the most convenient meeting-place for worship for Friends residing in the Hay Creek and Allegheny Creek valleys. The Meeting at Robeson was long known as "the Forest Meeting," being situated in the great tract of almost unbroken woodland called "the Forest", which extended from Flying Hill, south, beyond the Hopewell Hills.
First some pictures and maps. I remember having seen this map before....so I have worked on this before. This map is taken from Wikipedia on the Schuylkill River entry. I am not clear yet from where the group were moving. But I believe that the place to which they moved would have been on the below map just down river from Reading in the area where Schuylkill is printed. I think that Reading is smack dab in the middle of Berks County. And that Exeter township and Robeson Town ship adjoin each other with the Schuylkill River being their shared boundary. There is another map just after this one illustrating that idea.
Here is the map showing Robeson:
You can see the river between Exeter and Robeson townships and the grey area just to the left is Reading. It is hard to read the word Reading because the white line goes right through it. It is easier to read on the site where I found the map:
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/BPR_PDF_FILES/MAPS/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Berks_1915.pdf
Where is Forest Meeting likely to have been?
The Creek Valleys mentioned are as shown on the two maps below:
So I have to assume that the men settled on the River between what is now Birdsboro and the area on the River near what is now Gibraltar and Seyfert.
Note while visiting the Berks County Historical Society library in March 2018: The librarian pulled a map of early landowners of Berks County. These are Warrantee Maps. So these people who are shown on the map that I am looking for bought their land from William Penn. I see Moses Embree and John Scarlet, David Cadwallader, David Jenkins, Owen Humprhey, Thomas Thomas. However, Richard Moore is not in the index. A few of the others are not as well. Did they buy land from someone who had already bought a warrant? If so the deed should be in Philadelphia County at that early date. Or was it Lancaster County. The below link is for the Warrant map that is on the Pennsylvania Archives website:
Where were the men living before this move in 1740?
[possible answers.....Moses Embree is said to have moved to Oley /Exeter MM area from Haverford MM]
Richard Moor's parents, John and Jane Cureton Moore, were living at Cobbs Creek in Blockley Township near Philly by the time that Richard was 5. Probably he grew up in that area and was a part of the Merion MM. Our group has not totally proven assumption that Richard's wife was Sarah Jenkins which is at least somewhat supported by the fact that David Jenkins is part of the group. Is David father/brother to Sarah? Can we find all of these men in the Cobbs Creek area?
I found information indicating that it could be possible that Richard and wife were still in Cobbs Creek area and a part of Merion MM and still have come from Haverford. The following site:
http://www.haverfordhistoricalsociety.org/history-and-resources/firsts-notables-in-haverford-township-history/88-colonial-1682-1776/97-old-haverford-friends-meeting
explains: The term “Haverford Meeting” is a bit confusing, because for a time the Schuylkill, Merion and Haverford Meetings held “Haverford Monthly Meetings” in a round-robin fashion in those areas. Plymouth and Radnor later replaced Schuylkill.
Richard and Sarah live in this area in Berks County until 1755 when they take a certificate from Exeter to Orange County, NC. How many of these men move south with them? I recognize the Jackson surname from Eno Preparatory Meeting in Orange County.
http://marshamoses.blogspot.com/search?q=Eno
I also find that Moses Embree is among the men who move to Orange County, NC as the Embree family is also found on the monument for the Eno preparatory Meeting cemetery. I found a thread on the Quaker mail list that supports this fact:
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/QUAKER-ROOTS/1999-09/0936297933
The author of this e-mail from 1999, Jerry Richmond, says that Moses Embree
and wife Mary & son Samuel were received at Exeter MM on
31 5M 1740 on cert from Haverford MM.
Certainly this is a clue as to possible place from which all of the men came. Jerry Richmond also explains in the e-mail that this Embree family moved from Cane Creek to Bush River, Westfield MM in NC, and Grayson.....wow....all of my favorite places for research!
Owen Humphray did not move south with the group. I found at:
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/berks/cemeteries/zions002.txt
Information that he and his wife were both buried in the cemetery connected with the MM.
The following site:
http://brennerfamilytree.org/tng/getperson.php?personID=I5198&tree=brennerweaver
Has potential information about David Jenkins descendants. The author of the site does not seem to know for sure that his David Jenkins had father/grandfather David Jenkins....but the family certainly falls into the mold: moving to Cane Creek and then Bush River. He was married to Elizabeth Cox.
The Jackson family are found on the Eno cemetery Marker.
Can I find more information on Forest Preparatory Meeting? I notice that there is a historical society that covers the area that I might want to visit:
http://www.amityheritagesociety.org
A good historical map that shows Exeter and Robeson townships in Berks County:
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/images/b/b9/Berks_county_pennsylvania_townships.png
