Plumstead Friends Find Historical Treasure
In a chance encounter at a local thrift shop, Plumstead Friends member Michael Hoblin spied a 1784 Quaker marriage certificate that was being offered at auction.
The certificate documents the marriage of Ezra Jones, son of the late Jesse and Mary Jones, and Rebecca Waln, daughter of the late Robert Waln and Rebecca Coffin Waln. The marriage took place on the 7th day of the 11th month at the Bank Friends Meeting House. Bank Meeting House, which was built in 1685, has the distinction of being the first building in Philadelphia constructed solely as a place for meetings for worship. It was located on the west side of Front Street, north of Arch Street in Philadelphia overlooking the Delaware River.
Quaker marriage certificate of Ezra Jones and Rebecca Waln
Michael, realizing the value of the document, notified his father, Bill Hoblin, also a member of Plumstead Meeting. Bill encouraged the meeting community to place a bid in the auction hoping to secure the certificate. Plumstead member Carol Ann Gray ultimately placed the winning bid!
Tragically, the marriage celebrated on the certificate was short lived. Rebecca died on July 29, 1785, at the age of 27, less than one year after their wedding. Given that this was about eight months after the marriage, it is a distinct possibility that she died in childbirth. Ezra died within a year of Rebecca, on March 9, 1786, at the age of 33. According to Philadelphia Monthly Meeting records they are both buried in Philadelphia; the exact location is unknown.
The Bank Meeting House is also no longer in existence, having been demolished in 1789. The doors, locks, floor joists, and benches were used in the building of the 12th Street Meeting House, which was located between Market and Chestnut Streets. That meeting house, having not been in formal use since 1956, was dismantled and moved to George School, a Quaker boarding school in Newtown, PA, where it was reconstructed between 1972 and 1974. It is currently used daily by the George School community for classes, events, and worship.
And while the marriage may have been short lived, the certificate will live on, as Plumstead Friends will be donating it to the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College.