The Migration of Westfield Quakers From Surry County, North Carolina 1786-1828

During the early decades of the nineteenth century Quakers from North Carolina began a mass exodus to the western territories of Ohio and Indiana. Previous historians of North Carolina Quaker history have overgeneralized that North Carolina Quakers from each region, migrated for the same reasons, especially, they argued, to become rid of the institution of slavery. Although slavery did impact migrations, other problems like the lack of suitable marriage partners and a limited availability of land also prompted some Quakers in the northwestern part of the state from Westfield Monthly Meeting in Surry County, North Carolina to migrate west between 1786-1828. Other Friends from the North Carolina Yearly Meeting including many from Deep Creek in present day Yadkin County, and Chestnut Creek in present day Grayson County, Virginia also migrated during the same decades as the Westfield Friends. The three meetings merged in the west with other migrant Quakers and established renewed Quaker communities based upon Friends tenets. Monthly meeting minutes, itinerant Quaker journals, and slave records among other sources, indicate what provoked Westfield Friends to migrate. The Westfield Quakers demonstrate that the migration of North Carolina Friends did not occur through a singular motive; migration was actually extremely multifaceted.