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