The West side of my family were involved with the Quaker Society of Friends. Luckily for me, there are tons of preserved and transcribed meeting notes from all those meetings, with notes and records of my ancestors participation.
Unfortunately for me, the shorthand, jargon, and abbreviations used in the Quaker meeting notes are like reading some kind of code.
WEST
1840, 12, 12 Levi appt to comm
1843, 1, 9 Nathaniel compl against na, dp, mcd
1845, 4, 9 Benjamin rocf Norwhich MM, Canada
1847, 11, 3 Ira compl against for na, upl
What does this mean?
I found some resources to help translate this abbreviated shorthand and it translates to:
WEST
December 12, 1840 Levi was appointed to committee.
September 1, 1843 A complaint was made against Nathaniel for not attending meetings, dropped plain dress and/or speech, and marrying contrary to discipline.
September 4, 1845 Benjamin received on certificate from Norwich Monthly Meeting, Canada
March 11, 1847 A complaint was made against Ira for not attending meetings and using profane language
Now it makes more sense. Well, not really. I now know what the terms means, but there is still more to learn about the Quaker’s practices.
The following resourced helped me to translate the Quaker notes. Not one single resource gave me all the answers. I had to go through several to find the definitions for most of the words. Even then, not all of the words I’m trying to identify are listed.
- Mid-Atlantic Archives – Quaker Abbreviations Part 2
- Mid-Atlantic Archives – Quaker Abbreviations Part 1
- Glossaire Quaker Glossary (French and English)
- Oneal Website – Quaker Abbreviations
- Combs-Coombs Families – Abbreviations found in Quaker Minutes
- Quaker Info – Acronyms and Abbreviations
- Rootsweb – Quaker Roots Reference Material and Definitions
- Pa-Roots – Quaker Abbreviations
- Guilford College – Guides to Researching Topics on American Quaker Genealogy Abbreviations
- Roots Web, Roots-L Genealogy Mailing List – Standard Abbreviations Found in Hinshaw and Other Quaker Records
- Genealogy Trails – Richland Quakers – Quaker Terminology
- Quaker Jargon Buster
- Ancestry Magazine – Quaker Records
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