The Quaker believers were extremely strict, for their social customs were dictated by their religious beliefs. Member of the congregation were disowned for marrying outside the meeting, for using liquor to excess and for bad language, for lying and cheating in business, and for uttering criticism against the meeting. The records of 1754 show that one member of the Cane Creek Meeting was disowned for accepting a military commission. (note: I found several that were disowned for "taking up arms") The Quakers dressed plainly and condemned excessive eating, drinking and smoking. They frequently passed laws against the "vain and vicious proseedings as Frollicking Fiddling and Dancing," and the wearing of lapel coats, bell crowned hats, ruffles and ribbons. during the earlier years, some of the Friends held many offices of trust and honor in the Carolina's, but the Meetings later opposed office-holding. Any Friend who assumed an office must take an oath and would frequently have to administer the oath to others, and both ractices were condemned by the Quaker teachings. Such customs have been greatly modified in later years. While some Quakers owned slaves, the Society of Friends stood against the practice and sought to educate and to eventually emancipate all of those slaves owned by its members. Because of the slavery issue and hostile milita laws which had been directed against them, scores of Quaker families left North Carolina about 1830 and migrated to the free states in the Middle West (note: Many, like my ancestors, went to Orange Co. IN). Gradually, the younger genearation rising in the Meetings changed many of the conservative customs, and the Friends began to take their rightful place in the civil life of the communities they had helped to found. Many of the founders of the Cane Creek Meeting, including the patriarch of Snow Camp, Simon DIXON, are buried in the old church cemetery. A round mill stone, said to have been brought by Mr. DIXON from his home in Pennsylvania, marks his grave. The original meeting house was destroyed by fire in 1879, and several houses of worship have stood on the site since that time. A modern brick church was built just a few feet from the original location after the fire again destroyed the building in 1942. Ref: Centennial History of Alamance County May all of your ancestors live in the middle of a county Cheers, Carol ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange GENDEX at http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ has over 1400 databases on line