The WarYears Jericho Meeting And Its Community Randolph County, Indiana Surnames are: Blackledge, Coats, Cox, Davis, Wright, Peacock, Tomilson, Diggs, Keys, Finny, White, Marshall, Pickett, Peacock, Hill, Gray, Harris, Simonds, Pike, Mendenhall, Smith, Jessup, Lister,                                                          The War Years                     The Civil War had a tremendous effect on the folks of the Jericho Community. This, in spite of the fact that the Friends Society repudiated war as a means of settling disputes and did not permit members to engage in war. Issues were a bit confused in the minds of the folks of the Meeting. In the early forties, many members of the Society at         Jericho  as well as other places had separated and formed a new Society, under the name Anti-Slavery Friends, in protest against the soft attitude taken by the central organization against slavery as an institution. Later, when the Indiana Yearly Meeting had modified its         attitude, more in line with the desires of the Anti-Slavey Friends, this organization had disbanded and returned to the fold.  After the beginning of the war, it was difficult for many of the younger members of the Society, and particularly those who were members in little more than name, to distinguish between the good purpose of doing away with slavery and the bad one of using war as a means of accomplishing that good purpose. As a result many Jericho boys enlisted for service. Below is a partial list of young men          whose names were either on the Jericho membership list or who, through parentage or otherwise,came under strong influence of the Friends.                                         Jericho Men - Soldiers in the Civil War              Blackledge, Hiram      son of Charles B1ackledge                                         (not married till later)     Coats, Elihu                 son of Gabriel and Matilda Davis     Coats, Gabriel              son of John and Charity Wright     Cox, William M.            son of William B. and Margaret PeacockCox,     Cox, Gilbert L.               son of George and Zeuriah Tomilson     Cox. Olinthus                son of George and Zeuriah Tomilson     Gray, Elias                    son of Absalom and Margery Cox     Hill. Benoni                   son of Mathew and Fanny Diggs     Hill, Henry                    not certain     Marshall, William         probably in-law of Benjamin P. Keys     Peacock, Henry J.         not certain     Peacock, William H.     not certain     Peacock, Benjamin       son of John Joy and Ruth Cox     Peacock. Thomas          not certain     Peacock, Ashael            son of Jonah and Sarah Finny     Pickett, Alfred               son of William and Sarah White                                                                                     Of these men, two certainly died in  the war. These were Alfred Pickett and Ashael Peacock.William Marshall died of disease before the end of the war and was buried from an army hospital in Indianapolis.            There is a record of at least twoof these soldiers having acknowledged their fault before the Meeting after returning from war. These were William M. Cox and Benoni Hill. William M. Cox made this statement before the Monthly Meeting:                      I have given way so far as to disregard the well known testimony of the Society and  borne arms, for which I am sorry, and have also accomplished my marriage contrary to the usage of the Society, all of which I ask the Meeting to pass by and continue me           under their care as my future conduct may deserve.                     On the whole, however, the minutes of the White River Monthly Meeting are singularly free from condemnation of the boys who had borne arms in defiance of the long established principles of the Society. Anxiety for their welfare was too recent and joy at their safe return too real to leave much room for acrimony.            On the other hand, the Winchester Journal of October 10, 1862, lists the following men in White River and Wayne Townships as being conscientiously opposed to bearing arms.                                       Men ConscientiouslyOpposed to Bearing Arms                          (White River and Wayne Townships)                   Gray. Simon*          Pickett, John ~•*          Harris, Job          Simonds, William A. J.          Pike, William*          Mendenhall, Thomas*          Smith, Alexander          Jessup, James          Lister, John*          Pike, Benjamin*          Smith, Nathan          Peacock, Elijah*          Peacock, William*          Cox, Elisha*                 t