There are many possible explanations. Tuckniss may have been a Quaker, but was no longer a member when he wrote that letter. It's true that "church" is not a word that Quakers used when referring to the building in which they worshipped, the congregation as a body or the religious services held in the meetinghouse on First Day (Sunday) or Fifth Day (Thursday). In all cases, the word "meeting" sufficed. But that might have varied when a Quaker was addressing a non-Quaker. I am a member of a Friends meeting myself and have had the experience of people saying "Huh?" when I made a reference to "meeting." I often use the word "church" because I know that will be understood. Early Quakers would not have varied their language that way, feeling it was important to be consistent no matter whom they were dealing with. But practice has relaxed a lot (a LOT!) over the centuries. Anyone else have another possible explanation? Mark ----- Original Message ----- From: "Byron Hoffman" <bhoffman@nc.rr.com> To: <QUAKER-ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 9:09 AM Subject: [Q-R] re: the word "church" > Dear Subscribers: > > > > I am new to genealogy and after reading the postings on his site for awhile > now, I see how knowledgeable folks are who subscribe here. Therefore, I > have a question for you. I have old letters from an ancestor-Abraham > Tuckniss , written in 1785, April 24, in Philadelphia. In the letter he > says : ". the reason for my embargo is because I did not go to Church this > Morng. & indeed my clothes are too bad to go-This excuse I pleaded to my > worthy Old Don but he is so overstock with Religion that it had no weight." > Now, when I went to the Burlington Historical Society to try to research my > NJ/Phil. Ancestors the kind librarian, Mrs. Hoffman, ( no relation to me) > told me that he could not have been referring to a Quaker service since they > did not use the word "Church." Now, I did find one reference to Abraham > Tuckniss in the Quaker records of Philadelphia and that was to his being > disassociated in 1787 because he wanted to "practice the art of war." So, I > know he was with the Quakers until then. Did Quakers attend other churches > while still Quaker members? The other letter passed down through the years > from him was written in 1790 from Demerera ( British West Indies). Was > there a big Quaker settlement there? I guess he went to fight for the > British but I have no idea. There is no mention of him again that I can > find. > > > > My 3g grandma was Ann Tuckniss. I assume Abraham was her much older > brother, but I do not know. His letters are addressed to a sister Mary, not > Ann, so that is curious. > > > > Anyway, I have enjoyed learning through this site and maybe someone can clue > me in as to why he used the word "Church"! > > > > > > E V Hoffman > > > > ==== QUAKER-ROOTS Mailing List ==== > Quaker-Roots Archives - Search List Messages From 1996 On > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl >