West Marlborough resident Mark Myers gave a fascinating talk at Primitive Hall on Wednesday night about the Pennocks (Joseph Pennock built the Hall in 1738) and Quaker life in eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century Pennsylvania. Mark lives in a house built by one of the Pennocks, serves on the Hall's board of trustees and has done a great deal of research on the family.
He started his talk-- held in the candlelit grand center hall--on an amusing note by asking for a show of hands: How many audience members were Pennock descendents? Several people raised their hands.
"OK," he said. "That helps me decide what I'm NOT going to talk about."
Mark discussed the basics of Quakerism like temperance and pacifism and how they shaped the lives of the Pennocks and other colonists: one Pennock was "eldered" for getting drunk at Darby Meeting, and others relinquished their roles in government rather than vote for military action.
Mark talked about Quakers during the Battle of the Brandywine (basically, neither the Americans nor the British trusted them), the Hicksite/Orthodox schism, and the differing Quaker perspectives on slavery. He also showed slides of suburban Philadelphia buildings that Joseph Pennock would have known, including the Chester courthouse, and photos of a half-dozen more recent Pennock descendants, including baseball great Herb Pennock.
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