BACKGROUND TO COLDSTREAM MONTHLY MEETING

Early 1800s: Quaker families started arriving in the Coldstream area.

Between 1834 and 1843: the Quaker families of John and Margaret Harris, Benjamin and Sarah Cutler, John and Sarah Marsh, and Daniel and Susan Zavitz arrived. The Kester family and the Muma family came in 1854 and 1863 respectively.

1834: Genesee Yearly Meeting (Hicksite) was founded. Genesee Yearly Meeting was established as an independent body after separating from the Hicksite branch of the New York Yearly Meeting. The Meetings organized at Coldstream belonged to Genesee Yearly Meeting.

1849: the first formal meeting of the Religious Society of Friends called an Indulged Meeting was held at the home of David and Susan Zavitz. Later meetings were held at Benjamin Cutler’s home.

Benjamin Cutler built a combination grist and saw-mill. John Marsh built another grist and saw-mill.

1850: the first Coldstream meetinghouse was built. It was a frame meetinghouse erected on half an acre given by Jacob Marsh and 1 acre given by Benjamin Cutler. In 1887, after David Cutler’s death, Caroline Cutler donated another half an acre, making a total of 2 acres. A burying ground was established at the back of the property.

1857: Coldstream Preparative Meeting was established. The relevant minute reads that Lobo Indulged Meeting requested the establishment of a Preparative Meeting. A Men’s Meeting minute then quotes a minute from Norwich Monthly Meeting approving the request.

1859: the frame meetinghouse proved inadequate and so a brick meetinghouse was constructed at a cost of $700.

1865: the Sparta Preparative meetinghouse was built on similar lines to the Coldstream meetinghouse. (Sparta (Yarmouth) and Coldstream Preparatives belonged to Lobo Monthly Meeting.)

1875: the Olio was founded in Coldstream. It was a local gathering place and was specially prized as a scene for winter entertainment at a time when farm work was slow. It lasted 25 years. Attendance reached as much as 200 on occasion. Participants were treated to music, readings, essays, speeches and so forth.

1880: Coldstream’s First Day School was started. It was a member of the Lobo and East Williams Sunday School Association. On April 7 1880, the First Day School Committee was appointed. A superintendent and 8 teachers were selected, with 2 more teachers being added later. There were 87 children’s names on roll and average attendance was 47.

1886-1899: the Young Friends Review was published in Coldstream. It cost 50 cents a year or 5 cents a copy and was distributed to several provinces and states and as far afield as England and Jamaica

1887: the Olio was instrumental in starting Coldstream Public Library in the Marsh Store. It ran on private subscriptions and membership fees.

Post World War 1: 1918: Coldstream Friends were active in reconstruction work in France, specifically, George Bycraft, Pearson C. Brown and Edwin C. Zavitz.

1919: Genesee (Hicksite) Yearly Meeting started meeting at Coldstream after about 1900. In 1919 the meeting was so large that a big tent was rented and 3 ladies hired to provide the meals. In the 1920s, it was decided that Coldstream did not have adequate facilities for Yearly Meeting, which met instead at Pickering College.

Jacob Marsh 1836-1927: he was the first person to have a car in Lobo Township and the first to have a motor accident.

Post World War 2: The Friends Sewing Circle was started some time after the Second World War by Coldstream Meeting ladies with the purpose of making quilts for families or individuals in need. The quilts were sent to children in Anglican residential schools and also to the Cape Croker and Muncey reserves. Sheets were torn into bandages for faraway countries.

1989: Lobo Monthly Meeting was discontinued. The constituent parts (Yarmouth Preparative Meeting in Sparta and Coldstream Preparative Meeting near Lobo) became Yarmouth Monthly Meeting and Coldstream Monthly Meeting respectively.

April 23, 2026/sh