Friends Meetinghouse Original Site

Friends Church & Parsonage, circa 1900

Following a split between members of the West Branch Quaker community, conservative Friends built their own meetinghouse on 2nd Street. The remaining progressive members remodeled the original meetinghouse, which had been built in 1857, in 1885. They removed the partitions to better suit the progressives' needs. The progressives used the meetinghouse until 1915 when they built the new Friends Church.

Hulda Hoover, Recorded Minister

Hulda Hoover and her children did not withdraw with the conservatives. She continued to attend the progressive meeting and became a much-demanded recorded minister. In fact, her fatal illness resulted from a trip in bad winter weather to preach in a neighboring community.