Rebecca Jones (July 8, 1739 - April 15, 1818) was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

minister and educator. She is known for having helped maintain the tradition of female preaching and leadership among American Quakers, and helping create it in Britain.Lindman, J. Jones, Rebecca (1739-1818), Quaker minister. ''American National Biography.''

Early life

Jones was born July 8, 1739, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to William Jones, a seaman, and Mary Porter, a school mistress. Shortly after her birth, William died on a voyage. Mary Jones supported Rebecca and her older brother, Daniel, by running a school for young girls at No. 8 Drinker's Alley. As a child, she was referred to as "Romping Becky." Although Jones was raised in the Anglican tradition, she showed an interest in the Quaker faith from twelve years old. At sixteen years of age, Jones began the conversion process after hearing minister Catherine Peyton preach. Despite ridicule and objection from family and friends, Jones became increasingly involved in the Quaker religion, becoming a regular speaker by 1758. Two years later, she became a minister.

Professional Life and Ministry

Jones took over the school in 1761, when Mary Jones became ill. After Mary's death, another Quaker minister, Hannah Cathrall, joined the school as a teacher. They taught girls and boys. By 1764, their Quaker students' tuitions were subsidized by the

William Penn Charter School William Penn Charter School (commonly known as Penn Charter or simply PC) is an elite private school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1689 at the urging of William Penn as the "Public Grammar School" and chartered in 1689 to b ...

. Jones taught while travelling to preach through the 1760s and 1770s. In 1783, Jones closed the school and applied for a certificate as a traveling minister. At the London Yearly Meeting, Jones and her colleagues successfully advocated for English Quaker women to gain the right to hold a women's yearly meeting. Between 1784 and 1788, Jones continued to travel England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, with English Quaker Christina Hustler. She visited many English schools, including

Ackworth School Ackworth School is a private day and boarding school located in the village of High Ackworth, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school (or more accurately its Head) is a member of t ...

. In 1788, Jones returned to Philadelphia, where she opened a small shop where she sold material, thread, and other sundries. Jones continued to preach in the Delaware Valley and New England, and regularly visited District families. In 1799, she helped establish the Westtown Friends' Boarding School.

Personal life

Jones never married, but had particularly close relationships with Quaker women on both sides of the Atlantic. Notably, Bernice Chattin became Jones's adopted daughter. Chattin lived with Jones beginning in the 1790s, and cared for her household while Jones traveled.

Illness and Death

Jones fell ill

Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 During the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 5,000 or more people were listed in the register of deaths between August 1st and November 9th. The vast majority of them died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 50,000 peop ...

. In 1813, she contracted

Typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

, which she never fully recovered from. While this ended her traveling career, she was consulted for her expertise. She remained an invalid until her death in 1818.

Legacy

Jones's life has been memorialized multiple times since her death. These include ''Memorials of Rebecca Jones'', published by H. Longstreth around 1849, and ''The Life and Letters of Rebecca Jones'', published by Friends Library Friends Library Publishing and updated in 2022.

References

{{Authority control 1739 births 1818 deaths Clergy from Philadelphia American Protestant ministers and clergy Quaker ministers