Elizabeth (Lukens) Webster (1799 - 1862)

Born 21 Jul 1799 in London Grove Township, Chester, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Jesse Webster — married 18 May 1824 in Fallowfield Township, Washington, Pennsylvania, United States

Died 17 Sep 1862 at age 63 in Sadsbury Township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Elizabeth was born on July 21,1799 to Daniel Lukens and Mary Shoemaker in London Grove Township, Pennsylvania. She married Jesse Webster on May 18, 1824. They would have 10 children: Mary, Sarah, Edith, Chalkley, Daniel, Lukens, George, William, Elizabeth and Jesse Jr. They were Quakers.

Along with her husband, Jesse Webster, she signed a "Testimony Against Slavery." Here is that testimony.

Testimony Against Slavery In the fall of 1847 the members of Sadsbury Friends Meeting, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania appointed a committe of twelve, six men and six women, to draw up a letter stating their position on the issue of slavery. This letter was to be sent to other meetings with the hope that it would encourage them to take a similar stand. This is the text of the letter:

In the freedom, and we trust, in the love of the truth, we feel constrained to invite you to join with us in the inquiry, how far the testimony of our Society against Slavery has been of that vital, progressive character that always produces an influence in the community at large, seeing that the evil has been steadily increasing.

In view of the distressing state of things as they exist in this country, we would take counsel with you in relation to our duties in this important matter; remembering that in olden time, "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and that a book of remembrance was written." We have been jealous for us as a society, lest we have been content to live upon the labors of others, forgetting that it is in the "sweat of our face" that we are to eat bread.

It was not that we might rest at ease in our "sealed houses" that our predecessors toiled and suffered. It apears to us that we are solemnly called upon, not to rest with having cleared our own skirts of that great evil, but to be faithful in progressing with the work; thus each generationn fulfilling the mission whereunto they are called; seeing "the harvest still remains to be great, and the faithful laborers few."

We believe that the spirit of our righteous testimonies, faithfully carried out, would lead to the enquiry, how far we are partakers in other men's sins, by the free use of the produce of the unrequited toil of the slave; and whether we are not "striking hands with the oppressor," when we lend our support to a government that sanctions and perpetuates his wrongs.

Our purity is always endangered admidst moral corruption; dwelling, as we have been under the blighting influence of this great injustice, our moral vision has been measurably obscured, our sensibilities blunted, and our prejudices increased; so that we do not see the depth of the enormity of this wickedness, but to some extent, with the Priest and Levite, pass by our fellow beings who have fallen amongst thieves, and whose blood, and sweat, and tears are calling to us from the ground, to arise in the might of the great principle of truth, and labor for the immediate and unconditional overthrow of this system.

The efforts now making, as we believe, for its extension in the horrors and atrocities of the Mexican War, call renewedly upon us to examine the ground on which we stand. We claim to be an Anti-slavery Society; - are we not resting satisfied with a name to live? "Let us strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die;" believing the more reputedly good men are, the more dangerous to human progress do they become, when by their silence, or otherwise, they sanction that which is evil.

We believe a responsibility therefore rests on us to enter into an individual examination, how far "we are guilty concerning our brother in that we see the anquish of his soul and will not hear him;" and how far our conduct towards him has been governed by that test of action, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."

(signed) James Jackson, Lindley Coates, Deborah Coates, Hannah Dingee, Thomas Whitson, Martha Whitson, ELIZABETH WEBSTER, Moses Whitson, Lydia P. Brinton, Wm. L. Rakestraw, Sarah Pownall, JESSE WEBSTER

She passed away September 17, 1862.

Sources

• Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
• Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records.
• Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/61377524/elizabeth-webster : accessed 02 June 2021), memorial page for Elizabeth Lukens Webster (21 Jul 1799–17 Sep 1862), Find a Grave Memorial ID 61377524, citing Bart Friends Meeting House Cemetery, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Eliz Davis Hanebury (contributor 46625775).