The Quakers of our Lives - Penelope Johnson's Forbidden Love
On January 11th, 1755, the Cedar Creek Religious Society of Friends, hereafter simply Quakers, held their monthly meeting. At first, everything seemed normal as marriage proposals were presented and reports from the other communities were read to the members. Then the meeting took a sudden turn, one that reverberated for many years to come.
Near the end of the notes, this sentence appears. “Penelope Johnson is married (it appears) contrary to the advice of friends and a paper of denial is ordered to be drawn up against her.” This short note begins a tale of scandal and downfall that would plague this community for several years. Now, you might ask yourself “Who is Penelope Johnson, and why does her marriage cause all of this kerfuffle?” To you, I say good questions.
Penelope Johnson was born in 1739 to Benjamin Johnson and his wife, Agnes Clark. The Johnsons and the Clarks were important members of the community, having helped found the Cedar Creek meeting. Benjamin Johnson worked in multiple vocations throughout his life. One of those included surveying land, a job he performed with many other people working in concert to accomplish the never-ending task. He employed men to do some of the surveying work, one of them potentially being Henry Guthrie (Note: this record indicates Henry and Penelope’s son carried on in the family business).
Born in 1726, Henry’s family, like the Johnsons and Clarks, traced roots back to Scotland. Henry met Penelope most likely through working with her father, and, at some point, the two fell in love and got married, possibly as far back as 1753. No mention concerning Penelope and a suitor appear prior to 1755’s first meeting.
The next month, the Quakers made note of those not behaving “as becomes Christianity.” They added that a couple Quaker women interrogated Penelope’s mother regarding her daughter’s behavior, stating that Agnes “cleared her conscience on that account.” As the monthly meeting minutes soon would reveal, this may not have been entirely true.
In May, the issue regarding Penelope “lay with some weight on their minds” as they learned Agnes had entertained her daughter on the day of Penelope’s wedding, with several members of the community attending the party. Those investigating reported that Agnes apologized if anything she had done was “contrary to the truth.” This appeared to mollify the members, but concerns remained high.
The next month, the Quakers revealed a proposal for many members to be cared for by the Women’s meeting, specifically those wanting a Christian to look after them, which would also allow the community to “know who is of us and who is not” so Christian decency could be maintained going forward. For the moment, they deferred the details to a larger Quaker meeting. With no other problems mentioned, one can reason this proposal is directed at caring for the young women in the community to prevent another Penelope incident.
It's worth mentioning that several more marriages outside the community are highlighted in the coming years, as well as some departures one could argue were even more scandalous. The meeting in September of 1756 would signal the beginning of the end for Agnes Clark Johnson and serve as a harbinger of future events.
According to rumors, Agnes had been hosting a suitor, one Salem Bowcock, at her house. As an elder, this was quite the accusation, and the investigation lasted for several months. In January, 1757, Agnes was “taken into unity with great joy” with no mention of what happened to her supposed suitor. No other mention of her follows until August, 1758, wherein the community agreed to her request to step down from her elder role.
The next month, the community reported that Agnes “married out very contrary to the advice of Friends.” She “went to an hirling [sic] Priest” for her new wedding, a practice so detestable to the community that they cut off ties and publicly denounced her. She, like her daughter, were never mentioned again.
While it’s unclear in the meeting minutes what became of Penelope’s father, genealogical evidence indicates he and Agnes most likely separated years before Penelope’s scandalous marriage. More evidence indicates Agnes may have remarried twice after separating from Benjamin Johnson. Little is known of what became of Salem Bowcock, including his final resting place.
Over the coming years, more women would follow Agnes and Penelope out of the community, including an elder just running off with a suitor without even stepping down first. The names included many women that led the community on that fateful day in January of 1755 when Penelope’s marriage first rocked the Quakers of that region.
So, what became of Penelope Johnson Guthrie? Evidence indicates she left the community, and, after her husband died in 1786, she remarried twice. One of those men was John D. Candler, a family name very familiar to those living in Lynchburg, Virginia. John passed away just over a year later, while Penelope lived another 13 years. She is buried near her husband in the Candler Cemetery just east of Liberty Mountain.
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