Born into one of the wealthiest families in Philadelphia and raised and educated in that vital center of eighteenth-century American Quakerism, Anne Emlen Mifflin was a progressive force in early America. This detailed and engaging biography, which features Mifflin’s collected writings and selected correspondence, revives her legacy.
Anne grew up directly across the street from the Pennsylvania statehouse, where the Continental Congress was leading the War of Independence. A Quaker minister whose busy pen, agile mind, and untiring moral energy produced an extensive corpus of writings, Anne was an ardent abolitionist and social reformer decades before the establishment of women’s anti-slavery societies. And at a time when most Americans never ventured beyond their own village, hamlet, or farm, Anne journeyed thousands of miles. She traveled to settlements of Friends on the frontier and met with Native Americans in the rough country of northwestern Pennsylvania, New York, and Canada.
Our Beloved Friend provides a unique window onto the lives of Quakers during the pre-Revolutionary era, the establishment of the New Republic, and the War of 1812.
Gary B. Nash was Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of numerous books, including Warner Mifflin: Unflinching Quaker Abolitionist, a biography of Anne Emlen Mifflin’s husband.
Emily M. Teipe is Professor Emerita of History at Fullerton College. Among her many publications are A Feminist Primer: Readings for Women’s Studies and Different Voices: Women in United States History.
Foreword
Cordelia Frances Biddle
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Editorial Apparatus
Introduction
Part 1: A Quaker Life
1. The Early Years, 1755–1778
2. A Season of Trials, 1778–1788
3. Faith in Action, 1788–1798
4. A Widow’s Ministry in the New Nation, 1798–1804
5. Serving the Church Militant, 1805–1816
Epilogue
Part 2: Writings and Testimonies
6. My Religious Progress
7. Radical Pacifism
8. Antislavery
9. Our Native Brethren
Part 3: Correspondence
10. Letters Among Friends, 1776–1799
11. Letters to Family and Friends, 1800–1813
Image Gallery
Appendix
Bibliography
Biographical Note: Gary B. Nash, 1933–2021
Cynthia Shelton
Index
Download a PDF sample chapter here: Introduction
