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Joshua Evans Papers, ca. 1788- ca. 1804 (inclusive)

Extent:

1 linear ft. (2 boxes)

Abstract:

Joshua Evans, a Quaker minister and abolitionist, was born in 1731 in West Jersey. About the year 1754, he experienced a religious conversion and thereafter devoted his life to sharing his rigorous interpretation of the gospel through an ascetic and pious life style and simple ministry. Barely educated, he was nevertheless acknowledged as a minister by Haddonfield Monthly Meeting in 1759. Evans was a vegetarian and a fervent proponent of the peace testimony, Quaker plainness, and ending slavery. In 1798, he traveled through the southern states condemning slavery in the strongest terms. Returning to New Jersey, he died in July 1798. Evans is representative of the radical, "primitive" Quaker tradition and reflects the diversity of late eighteenth century Quakerism. This collection contains portions of the journals kept while traveling in the ministry among Friends in New York, New England, Canada, the South, and elsewhere, mostly in the period 1788-1798. The transcripts of the journal...(see more)

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]