Meeting House 1816 Religious Society of Friends
NCC-76: Grew from New-Wark Meeting established 1682. Present House is third in this vicinity. Friends School begun here in 1748 has operated continuously. Among 3,000 buried in yard are founders of Wilmington, John Dickinson, “Penman of the Revolution,” and Thomas Garrett, Leader of Underground Railroad on Delmarva Peninsula. Installed in 1959. Marker Photo Gallery: Resources […]
Freedom Lost
By the late 1700s the institution of slavery was declining in Delaware and there was a dramatic growth in the state’s free black population. Demand for slave labor in the Deep South continued to grow and large numbers of free blacks were kidnapped and sent south via networks operated by criminal gangs. The Abolition Society […]
Wilmington Friends Meeting – Burial Place of Thomas Garrett
The first Meeting House on this site was built in 1738. It was replaced in 1748 when a larger building was constructed. The old Meeting House was then converted into a school. Known as Wilmington Friends School, it was relocated to a new facility in 1937, and is the oldest existing school in the state. […]
Thomas Garrett: Underground Railroad Stationmaster
Born August 21, 1789, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, Garrett came to Wilmington in 1822. A prominent merchant, his home and business were located nearby on Shipley Street. Garrett was committed to the anti-slavery efforts of his Quaker faith. He is credited with assisting more than 2,700 of “God’s Poor” to escape slavery through the secret […]
