Elizabeth Drinker
1735 - 1807
Courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
The affluent Drinker family lived in Old City just a block away from Elfreth’s Alley, and Elizabeth would eventually join the worship community here at ASMH after the meetinghouse’s construction in 1804.
Her diary, which spans 49 years of her life, is one of the only (and best!) accounts of life in Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
As Quakers, she and her husband, Henry, were pacifists and anti-war. Henry was among the 19 Quakers exiled to Virginia in 1777 by the Patriots for not taking an oath of loyalty to the new government.
On June 26th, 2025, Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust (ASMHPT) welcomed descendants of the Drinker family for a special presentation.
Sean Connolly, ASMHPT’s Executive Director, explored the Drinker’s connection to Arch Street Meeting House and their impact on the Quaker City.
Using Drinker and Quaker records as examples, Christopher Damiani, Access Services Librarian at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, shared how to use the genealogical collections at HSP to help find your ancestors.