Watson Library

For questions about the Quaker Rare Collections and scheduling research appointments please use the "Ask Us" link on the left or call 937-481-2345.

Researchers who wish to consult the Quaker Rare Collection, including the archives of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting and Wilmington Yearly Meeting, are required to contact the Library staff in advance for best access to these materials.

Watson Library holds the following Quaker records on deposit from Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting:

• Quarterly Meeting records for Ohio include Miami and Westfield Quarterly Meetings.
• Monthly or Preparative Meeting records for Ohio include Alum Creek, Campus, Center, Cincinnati, Clear Creek Executive, Clear Creek, Clifton, Community, Dayton, East Cincinnati, Eastern Hills, Elk, Fall Creek, Goshen, Green Plain, Green Plain Congregational, Miami, Oxford, Springboro, Westfield, and Yellow Springs Meetings.
• Quarterly Meeting records for Indiana include Whitewater Quarterly Meeting.
• Monthly or Preparative Meeting records for Indiana include Camden, Clear Creek, Columbus, Duck Creek, Elk, Fall Creek, Lafayette, Lanthorn, Maple Grove, Marion, Milford, North Meadow Circle of Friends, Rush Creek, and Whitewater Meetings.
• Monthly or Preparative Meeting records for Kentucky include Lexington and Louisville Meetings.

Watson Library holds the following Quaker records on deposit from Wilmington Yearly Meeting:

• Quarterly Meeting records for Ohio include Center, Eastern, Fairfield, Miami, and Miami-Center Quarterly Meetings.
• Monthly or Preparative Meeting records for Ohio include Beech Grove, Caesar’s Creek, Campus, Center, Chester, Cincinnati, Clear Creek, Community, Cuba, Dover, Eastern Hills, Fairfield, Fairview, Fall Creek, Grassy Run, Green Plain, Hardin’s Creek, Harveysburg, Highland, Hopewell, Jamestown, Lees Creek, Leesburg, Londonderry, Martinsville, Massie’s Creek, Miami, New Burlington, New Martinsburg, New Vienna, Newberry, Oak Grove, Ogden, Sabina, Samantha, Springboro, Springfield, Spring Valley, Sycamore, Turtle Creek, Westboro, Wilmington, and Xenia Meetings.
• Quarterly Meeting records for Tennessee include Friendsville and Lost Creek Quarterly Meetings.
• Monthly or Preparative Meeting records for Tennessee include Farr’s Chapel, Friendsville, Hickory Valley, Knoxville, Lost Creek, Maryville, Oak Grove, Rafter’s Chapel, and Three Points Meetings.

Need more details?  You may wish to review the site QuakerMeetings.com for specifics about which meeting records are represented in Watson Library’s archives.  QuakerMeetings.com includes basic historical information and records-storage locations for every monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends that has ever existed in North America, with over 2100 monthly meetings identified thus far.  This site is searchable by meeting name or keyword. QuakerMeetings.com does not index names of individuals or family names; these are indexed in Hinshaw’s Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy.  You may also contact Watson Library staff, above, for additional information. 

The Quaker Circulating and Rare Collections contain approximately 7,000 volumes, most dating from 1800-present.  In addition to the archives of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting and Wilmington Yearly Meeting, these collections include bound periodicals, several hundred  pamphlets, tracts, and rare books, and a small collection of books for children and young adults. About 4,000 volumes comprise the circulating collection, covering all aspects of Quaker history, philosophy, thought, and practice. Most titles may circulate for three weeks. The Quaker Collections also subscribe to about 40 Quaker periodicals and newsletters and retain the published minutes of various Yearly Meetings throughout the United States. Generally, these items do not circulate.  Selected resources are linked as follows:

Documents Selected by Thomas C. Hill

Documents Selected from the Watson Library Quaker Collection. 

Use Policies
Books from the general Quaker Collection may circulate to registered borrowers (or through inter-library loan from your local public library) for three weeks under Watson Library's policies. Generally, reference or rare materials, periodicals, and most pre-1900 items do not circulate. Quaker meeting records, Wilmington College files, and other original documents and materials can be used at the discretion of the Archives staff. Some files and materials may be closed.

 Genealogy Policy

All genealogy inquiries should be directed to:
Clinton County History Center
ATTN: Genealogy Department 
149 East Locust Street
P.O. Box 529 
Wilmington, OH 45177

Under the terms of a joint operating agreement, the Wilmington College Archives & Quaker Collection and the Clinton County History Center share the responsibility for genealogy inquiries.  The Clinton County Genealogical Society manages the family history library in the CCHC and handles inquiries.  The Society acts as a clearinghouse to assess each question and provides a response or referral. Wilmington College accepts questions on referral, and supports the work of the Society's volunteer genealogy researchers.

Clinton County Genealogical Society

The joint operating agreement was established

a) to provide better service by cooperating and pooling resources and
b) to allow each institution to better fulfill its own mission and goals.

While the Clinton County History Center focuses on regional and family history, the Wilmington College Archives & Quaker Collection will continue to collect and preserve college records, books and periodicals on Quakerism, original Quaker meeting records of the Wilmington Yearly Meeting and the Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting, and manuscripts and photos of Quakers. For broader Quaker genealogical inquiries, see The Quaker Corner and similar sites on the Internet. Before making any inquiries, genealogists are urged to consult the following sources:

• Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy by William Wade Hinshaw. Print, also Ancestry.com
• Abstracts of the Records of the Society of Friends in Indiana by Willard Heiss.  Print.
• QuakerMeetings.com.  Online database by Thomas C.Hill of Monthly Meetings in North America.
• Featured Online Resources:  Area Quaker History Resources provided by Thomas C. Hill
• Wilmington College Watson Library Website Online Collection of Additional Digitized Resources

In addition, many Quaker records have been microfilmed and are available through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) Family History Center. Consult  Find a Family History Center for the one nearest you.  Ancestry.com also has become a repository of numerous Quaker publications and early records. 

Hours for the Watson Library Quaker Collections

Available only by appointment.  Please contact us via the "Ask Us" link on the left.  You may also call 937-481-2345 to begin the process of arranging an appointment. 

Schedule Changes:
The department may be closed for brief periods of time throughout the year. Before visiting, please call or email to confirm your appointment.

Policies, Mission, and Goals
The Watson Library Special Collections (College Archives and Quaker Collection) has a threefold purpose:

• to house the archives of Wilmington College.
• to develop and maintain a research collection of printed materials on Quaker history, philosophy, thought, and practice.
• to serve as the depository for the official records of the Wilmington Yearly Meeting and the Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting.

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Quaker Digital Material Guidelines:

Meeting files originating as a digital format (MP3, MP4, etc.) will be archived per the following:

• One file copy will be placed on Microsoft OneDrive (cloud storage) or another institutional standard platform. This copy will not be publicly accessible.
• Two copies will be archived to separate optical storage (DVD or Blu-ray) for offline storage in our archival vault.  These copies will not be publicly accessible.
• If approved by the donating party, a public copy will be cataloged in our Omeka Quaker Resources online collection. A viewable/streaming copy can then be placed on Microsoft Streams (or another institutional standard platform) and/or Vimeo. 

At this time, the Watson Library does not advocate Quaker Meeting material being uploaded to YouTube.