I fear I have got us dreadfully off topic, but since Maddy asked, I'll
answer. One very small group of Friends in Ohio made water baptism (by
immersion) optional in the late 19th C, under the influence of Wesleyan
holiness movements. It is still optional (as is the supper) in this group,
but it made all the other Quakers Very Cranky, and is a point of some
contention between them and everybody else.
Never in the UK.
If Friends used the well, it may have been for agricultural purposes, I
suppose.
I am incontact with a group of Quaker history experts, and if youd like to
give me some more detail, I'll pass your question on to them.
Patrick.
>Patrick - did the Society of Friends ever practice water baptism - and
>particularly adult baptism by total immersion? I've been reading something
>on well cults in north Wales which identifies one well with a particularly
>big tank as having been used by 'early Quakers' (ie late C17). It didn't
>sound right to me but I know the Friends have changed a lot since those
>early days.
>
>Maddy
>
>
>Dr Madeleine Gray
>Department of Humanities and Science
>UWCN
>
>'Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought'
__________________________________
Patrick J. Nugent
Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana 47374 USA
(765) 983-1413
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