Fire damages Exeter Friends Meetinghouse

The Exeter Friends Meeting was in the middle of its contemplative Sunday morning service when the worshippers heard a strange noise on the roof of the 252-year-old building in Exeter Township.

"It sounded like acorns dropping on the roof," recalled Paul Kerr, the meeting's clerk.

A worshipper went outside to check and found smoke rising from the roof of the Quaker meetinghouse where relatives of President Abraham Lincoln and frontiersman Daniel Boone had worshipped.

The 30 worshippers inside were able to get out before fire engulfed the wood-shingled roof of the historic stone building on Meetinghouse Road.

Deputy Chief Christopher Jordan of the Exeter Township Fire Department said the blaze destroyed most of the roof.

The fire was ruled accidental, Jordan said, but the cause remained under investigation.

A damage estimate had not been set.

Kerr said the fire apparently started about 11 a.m. in the chimney of the meetinghouse, which was heated by a pot-belly stove.

Worshippers were able to remove the pews, original to the building, and historic books and documents before the fire spread, Kerr said.

No one was injured.

"It was a tragedy for the history of the building, to which many of our worshippers have emotional ties," Kerr said. "But it is a building, and it can be replaced."

The stone walls and meeting room did not appear to be damaged by flames, Kerr said, but were inundated by water.

Though he could not speak officially, Kerr said restoring the landmark building would be the membership's goal.

Meanwhile, the meeting will worship at a Friends building in Pottstown, Kerr said.

Word of the fire spread rapidly through the rural region around the meetinghouse.

Rita Baker of Pine Forge, who had attended a service at the meetinghouse a few weeks ago, gazed in amazement at the gaping hole in the roof.

"The service was authentic and sincere, as all Friends meetings are," Baker said. "I'm so saddened, my heart is heavy."

Baker, a graphic artist, designed the sign in front of the meetinghouse.

Established in 1725 as the Oley Friends Meeting, the name was changed to Exeter in 1742. The meetinghouse, a one-room building, was built in 1759.

A historical marker on Meetinghouse Road says worship was discontinued in the building in 1899 but resumed in 1949.

Members of the Boone, Lincoln and other founding families are buried in the cemetery next to the meetinghouse, the marker says.

Firefighters from companies in Exeter Township, Amity Township, Boyertown and Oley responded. Water was trucked in by tankers.

Kerr praised the firefighters and the calm, organized way in which the worshippers reacted as their meetinghouse burned.

As a testament to its resilience, the meeting gathered to sing hymns Sunday night at a member's house in Exeter Township.

"I'm proud of the way our members pulled together," Kerr said.

Contact Ron Devlin: 610-371-5030 or rdevlin@readingeagle.com.