Lamar Foley walked across Meeting House Road from the parking lot to the Exeter Friends Meeting.
He nodded to the cemetery adjoining the meeting house prior to his presentation on genealogy during a recent Sunday morning fellowship hour before the worship meeting.
“There’s more of my DNA in that cemetery than anywhere else,” he said, noting he was a descendant of the Boones and the Lincolns.
“One thing leads to another and you get interested in genealogy, and all of a sudden you realize all kinds of things,” he said.
On Oct. 19, Foley, an Oley resident, will be one of the presenters as the Exeter Friends Meeting marks its 300th anniversary in conjunction with the Daniel Boone Homestead’s annual Heritage Day Fall Festival.
Visitors are invited to worship at the meeting at 10:30 a.m. and stay for lunch, the interpretations, displays and guided tours of the meeting house and the burial grounds from noon to 4 p.m.
Foley’s spiritual path hasn’t always included the Quakers. He talks about not being particularly religious until he was around 23 years old and was attracted to the peace churches, such as the Coventry Church of the Brethren.
A family legacy
He was drawn to the Exeter meeting after researching his family background.
“I guess my mother always wanted to know who was who and wanted to know all my relatives and, you know, when you’re a kid, you’re not really necessarily interested,” Foley said. “But now that I’m older, it’s fascinating to look down over the years and just see how you got where you are. None of us are born with that knowledge, and if you’re interested, you can find all kinds of unusual and surprising things.”
Genealogy also attracted Ron and Joanne Nolen, who have worshiped at the Exeter meeting for the past two years.
Originally from California, Ron moved to Berks County in 1981, and his grandmother had said to him, “Well, you know you’re going back to where your ancestors are from.”
He thought it was just a West Coast to East Coast remark until Joanne started to research their family histories around four years ago.
They discovered that on his mother’s side there were Quakers who had worshiped at the Reading meeting house.
“We came in here and just felt welcomed,” Nolen said. “It was very very open and inviting.”
The Oley residents became attracted to the style of worship and have been active at the Exeter meeting since.
“It’s a silent worship, and every once in a while someone will feel the spirit to stand up and say something,” he said. “But when you’re here and you just let your mind be open, it’s an amazing feeling, and you know that people of great importance started this.”
The Nolens have not only immersed themselves in genealogy but also the history of the Quakers in eastern Pennsylvania.
Packed with history
Ron relishes the small details of the meeting house, built in 1759. Much of the original building remains, including the benches, the floors, the windows, the walls. Several years ago, a fire damaged the roof, but the building was saved.
He notes the burial ground dating to 1736 is unique in that no headstones are allowed on the graves. He points out the two tiers in the cemetery, a result of the graveyard being filled in the 1800s and the necessity of adding a second layer for burials.
Burials are still held, he said, with a recent green burial, the only kind allowed.
Joanne has become interested in other aspects of Quaker history, such as support for the Underground Railroad.
She has combined that history with her love of quilting. During the celebration she will present squares that have symbols denoting stops on the Underground Railroad.
“Through looking at Quakerism, we realize that they were the first abolitionists, and that got me interested. And then, you know, things lead you, so I looked it up and found, ‘Oh, maybe I can make a couple squares.’ Next thing I know, I made 12. It’s usually the way it goes, right?” she said with a laugh.
Stan Dalton, the clerk of the meeting, has been a lifelong Quaker.
“I’ve been worshiping with Quakers in various meeting houses since I was a boy,” the Exeter Township resident said.
”I’ve been in meeting houses that have been a few decades old and those that have been around for over 260 years. So the space has changed, but the worship stays the same.”
He stresses the importance of being in communion with others.
“We try to impress upon people that the Religious Society of Friends is a living, breathing, growing organization,” he said. “We’re not a dead faith. We’re not the image of a Quaker on an oatmeal box.”
Still, the weight of history is palpable in the Exeter meeting.
“What’s amazing to me is that this, where we’re standing, was the frontier of the New World when at least my ancestors got here, the Boones,” Foley said before going inside the meeting house to worship.
“I just hope in 300 years that they have another anniversary meeting. That would be fascinating,” he said. “To now look over this peaceful valley, the way it is after 300 years, is pretty nice. Whether it can stay that way another 300 years, let’s hope so. Let’s hope humanity can stay, well, yes, human for another 300 years.”
“It is actually an amazing thing that it’s been here this long,” Ron Nolen said as he looked around at the meeting house and the cemetery. “If these grounds could talk.”
But in the 300-year worship tradition of the Exeter Friends Meeting, the grounds remain silent.
