Quakers provided support for their members through the meeting, the poor were given funds for their upkeep by the overseers of the meeting. I don't think there was a standard policy for helping non-Quakers but individuals might provide funds or name them in their wills. I'm not familiar with New Jersey but in Pennsylvania they had elected township officials known as Overseers of the Poor, they collected taxes that were used to provide financial support to the poor. About the time of the revolution this function was taken over by the various counties and we began seeing poor houses (also known as work houses/alms houses), county insane asylum/hospital . This function was taking over by the state in the 1930s when the Pa. Department of Public Welfare was created. Erika Cowan wrote: > > Ruth, > I don't know about the "thee" and "thou," but your Quaker research into the > 1700's leads me to ask if you came across any mention of a system they had > to take care of the poor among them? "Poorhouses" were started later by > towns and counties but I have not been able to locate any mention of how > the Quakers dealt with the problem in colonial times. We have an indenture > of an 11 year old boy, "a poor child of Evesham Township" to Elizabeth > Woolman in 1785. > > You are correct - The farther back one goes the more difficult > nitty-gritty searching becomes. > > Erika Erika Cowan wrote: > > Ruth, > I don't know about the "thee" and "thou," but your Quaker research into the > 1700's leads me to ask if you came across any mention of a system they had > to take care of the poor among them? "Poorhouses" were started later by > towns and counties but I have not been able to locate any mention of how > the Quakers dealt with the problem in colonial times. We have an indenture > of an 11 year old boy, "a poor child of Evesham Township" to Elizabeth > Woolman in 1785. > > You are correct - The farther back one goes the more difficult > nitty-gritty searching becomes. > > Erika > > "Catherine R. Buck" wrote: > > > This probably is also a question for archeological historians, > professional or hobbyist. Can anyone shed light on the widespread use of > 'thee' and 'thou' in addressing others. When reading a post from > Habichnest on the Monmouth, NJ, list, subject: Slavery in Monmouth Co., the > accused in a 1691 trial was addressed as "thou'. Which triggered my > question about a family legend. > > > > My mother and her siblings always have been under the impression that > their mother had been a Quaker before her marriage to a Catholic, because > of some of her speech patterns. As a result, I have spent a lot of time > looking through Quaker records for tracks of my grandmother's family and > ancestors. > > > > If using 'thee' and 'thou' was common practice early on, would cultural > heritage be ingrained enough so that it took 150-200 years to die out of > common use in the middle Atlantc colonies and states? > > > > In some research on churches existing in Middlesex and Monmouth Counties > in 1750 +/-, one book referred to the Presbyterians practice of addressing > others as 'thee' and 'thou'. That was the first time I encountered a > description of this practice. > > > > Did the Baptists, and maybe the English speaking Dutch Reformed and > Pennsylvania Germans also follow this practice? In other words, everyone. > > > > The fact that some of my ancestors lived in Chester or Bucks Counties, > or certain NJ counties, may mean that they were not neccesarily Quakers - > that it was a common method of address among all English speakers at this > time. ?? > > > > All opinions are welcome. The further back one goes, the harder becomes > the nitty-gritty of searching, doesn't it? > > > > Ruth in GA