Friends Meetinghouse is a historic

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

meeting house near OH 150 in the village of

Mount Pleasant, Ohio Mount Pleasant is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in southern Jefferson County, Ohio, Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. The population was 394 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville met ...

. It was built in 1814 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and was the first Quaker yearly meeting house west of the

Alleghenies The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. Mount Pleasant, named a National Historic Landmark District for its association with the antislavery movement in the years leading up to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, is home to five documented

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

"stations." The village celebrated its 200th anniversary with tours, special displays and programs on Saturday, Aug. 2 and Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014. On Saturday, Aug. 2, there was a special program in the 1814 Quaker Meeting House with The Hon.

John D. Ong John Doyle Ong (born September 29, 1933, Ohio) is an American business executive. He served as United States Ambassador to Norway from 2002 to 2005. He graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor's and master's degree before studying law ...

, former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and descendant of Jacob Ong (1760–1849), the Meeting House "carpenter" or in modern terms contractor. Jacob Ong was a minister and was remembered by an friend thus: 'He usually had a message for the people, his theme was always love. In the earnestness of his soul he would deliver the message, while tears would trickle down his furrowed cheeks. Trembling from head to foot, he would exhort young and old to love the Lord and one another.'" The building is now owned by the

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

and managed by the Mount Pleasant Historical Society as the Quaker Yearly Meeting House.

References

External links

Quaker Yearly Meeting House
– Ohio Historical Society {{National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Quaker meeting houses in Ohio Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Churches completed in 1814 Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Ohio Museums in Jefferson County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Ohio Ohio History Connection Religious museums in Ohio