Call Number:

MC.950.207

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.005 linear ft. (1 folder)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Thomas Willis papers (HC.MC.950.207), Quaker and Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1792-1859 (inclusive)

Creator:

Willis, Thomas, 1770 or 1771-1864

Form:

letters (correspondence) and manuscripts (documents)

Abstract:

This collection contains a letter by Thomas Willis and a transcribed account of an earlier event.

Thomas Willis (1771-1864), a Quaker minister, was the son of Fry and Anne Willis of Westbury Monthly Meeting. In 1789, Jericho Monthly Meeting was set off from Westbury, and in 1795, Thomas married Phebe Searing (d. 1845) under the care of Jericho Monthly Meeting. Anne, Thomas, and Phebe Willis, all Elders in the Meeting, had serious concerns about the views of fellow member and minister, Elias Hicks. In 1827, Phebe Willis asked Elias Hicks to respond in writing to specific questions about his beliefs. His reply was published and touched off a bitter debate. After the Hicksite-Orthodox Separation in 1828, the Willises remained members of Westbury and Jericho Monthly Meeting (Orthodox). In 1829, Evan Lewis published a defense of Elias Hicks in a pamphlet in which he argued that Hicks was following the "ancient testimonies."

This collection contains a handwritten letter from Thomas Willis to his friend Samuel Rhoads and a transcribed description of an event from the summer of 1972, referenced in Willis's letter.

This collection is arranged in a single folder.