Dover Friends Meeting

DOVER FRIENDS MEETINGHOUSE, 1768, IS THE LAST REMAINING EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MEETINGHOUSE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. THIS PROJECT WILL REPAIR AND PRESERVE THE MEETINGHOUSE THROUGH RE-ESTABLISHING THE INTEGRITY OF ITS POST AND BEAMSTRUCTURE AND SAFEGUARDING IT WITH FIRE PREVENTION AND DETECTION MEASURES. DOVER FRIENDS MEETINGHOUSE HAS SERVED AS AN IMPORTANT COMMUNITY GATHERING PLACE BEGINNING IN THE 1770S WHEN TOWNSPEOPLE CAME TOGETHER TO DISCERN HOW TO RESPOND TO OPPRESSIVE BRITISH POLICIES. IT IS THE CONTEMPORARY HOME OF A QUAKER MEETING BEGUN IN 1680. THIS ICONIC POST AND BEAM STRUCTURE IS THEIR THIRD MEETINGHOUSE, HAVING OUTGROWN THE FIRST TWO. IT RETAINS THEORIGINAL QUAKER ELEMENTS: A RAISED FACING BENCH, MASSIVE, PANELED DIVIDERS THAT WERE RAISED AND LOWERED TO CREATE A MENS AND WOMENS SIDE FOR BUSINESS MEETINGS, AND SEPARATE ENTRANCES FOR MEN AND WOMEN.THE POST AND BEAM STRUCTURE OF THE MEETINGHOUSE WAS ERECTED IN ONE DAY, JUNE 9, 1768. THE TIMBERS WERE PREPARED AT A SAWMILL ON THE COCHECO RIVER NEARBY. EACH MEMBER WAS CAREFULLY MEASURED, CUT, AND PREPARED FOR ASSEMBLY. MARRIAGE MARKS ON ADJACENT TIMBERS INDICATED WHICH TIMBERS CONNECTED AT A PARTICULAR JOINT. CHARACTERISTIC OF POST AND BEAM DESIGN, THE STRUCTURE IS AN INTEGRATED WHOLE. DURING ITS 255-YEAR HISTORY, AN INADEQUATE REPAIR OF A ROOF LEAK AND THE OVERLOADING OF SOME TRUSSES BY CONVERTING A BALCONY TO CLASSROOMS HAVE COMPROMISED THE STRUCTURE IN WAYS THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED NOW.WE WERE ALERTED TO THE PROBLEM WHEN A BROKEN QUEEN POST WAS DISCOVERED IN THE ATTIC IN SPRING 2023. PRESERVATION TIMBER FRAMING, INC. PERFORMED A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION. THEY FOUND THAT THE QUEEN POST WAS PULLED APART IN TENSION AS IT WAS WORKED BEYOND ITS CAPACITY. THEY ALSO NOTED A LOOSENING OF MANY OF THE JOINTS IN THE ROOF TRUSS SYSTEM AS THE MEMBERS TOOK UP MORE AND MORE OF THE LOAD AS OTHER MEMBERS BEGAN TO FAIL. PRESERVATION TIMBER FRAMING CRAFTED A REPORT AND PRESERVATION PLAN TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE AND REMEDIATE THE EXCESSIVE STRAIN PUT ON THE STRUCTURE. THE REPAIRS ARE SCHEDULED TO BEGIN IN FALL 2024.IN GENERAL, THE PROCESS WILL INCLUDE SHORING UP THE ROOF TRUSSES TO RELEASE TENSION, LIFT TIMBERS BACK INTOPROPER ALIGNMENT OR CONNECTION, AND THEN REINFORCE AND BOLSTER THE JOINTS. WHERE A REPLACEMENT TIMBER IS NEEDED,IN KIND WOOD WILL BE USED AND TRADITIONAL JOINERY EMPLOYED. CUSTOM-MADE SADDLE STRAPS WILL WRAP UNDER THE TIEBEAMS TO ANCHOR THE CONNECTING QUEEN POST TO MAKE THE JOINT MORE ROBUST. EXTERIOR STAGING WILL BE USED TO OPENTHE ROOF WALL TO ACCESS AND REPAIR THE ROTTED HEEL RAFTER AND ADJACENT MEMBERS. A BLADED SCARF JOINT TECHNIQUEWILL BE USED TO REPLACE THE ROTTED, AND NOW MISSING, SECTIONS OF THE HEEL RAFTER WITH IN KIND TIMBER.A SPRINKLER SYSTEM WILL HELP TO PRESERVE THE MEETINGHOUSE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.THIS MEETINGHOUSE AND THE LARGER STORY OF QUAKERS IN DOVER LINK US TO VITAL CHAPTERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. DOVERFRIENDS PLAYED A CRITICAL ROLE IN ESTABLISHING THE FOUNDATION FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND NON-VIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. DEEMED HERETICS BY THE PURITANS, IT WAS ILLEGAL TO EVEN OFFER LODGING TO A QUAKER. THOSE WHO DIDFACED ESCALATING SANCTIONS BEGINNING WITH LOSS OF AN EAR AND INCREASING TO HAVING A HOLE BORED IN ONES TONGUE BY A HOT IRON. IN 1662, THREE QUAKER WOMEN MISSIONARIES WERE SENTENCED TO BE WHIPPED OUT OF TOWN AND IN EACH OF THE TEN TOWNS TO THE EDGE OF THE JURISDICTION. THIS WAS, IN ESSENCE, A DEATH SENTENCE. IN AN ACT OF CONSCIENCE, THE CONSTABLE IN SALISBURY, MA HELPED THEM TO ESCAPE. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIERS POEM, HOW THE WOMEN WENT FROM DOVER COMMEMORATES BOTH THE SUFFERING OF THE WOMEN AND THE CONSCIENCE OF THE RESIDENTS OF SALISBURY, MA. DOVER FRIENDS MEETINGHOUSE IS AN ARCHITECTURAL GEM STANDING WITH SIMPLE ELEGANCE NEAR THE CENTER OF THE CITY OF DOVER, NH. WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN WITH US AS WE WORK TO SAVE ONE OF AMERICAS TREASURES.