EOF04A The Eye of Faith, A History of Ohio Yearly Meeting Conservative. Chapter 4 Part, The Second Schism

The painful second great schism of Ohio Yearly Meeting Conservative unfolds through a historical account of dividing tensions between Gurneyite and Wilburite Quakers from 1845-1874. This detailed historical narrative chronicles how theological differences surrounding Joseph John Gurney’s theological interpretations of Quakerism fractured a once-united religious community.

• Conflict began in 1845 when Ohio received competing epistles from two separate New England yearly meetings
• Benjamin Hoyle, Ohio’s clerk, openly favored the smaller Wilburite body, creating tensions
• Representatives repeatedly failed to agree on new clerks, effectively freezing leadership
• Traveling ministers increasingly identified as either Gurneyite or Wilburite, intensifying divisions
• Local problems like rejected certificates, withheld ministry minutes, and unrecognized ministers worsened tensions
• In 1853, the yearly meeting couldn’t conduct business for four days due to objections over visiting Wilburites
• The formal separation occurred in 1854, though groups didn’t officially disown each other until 1864
• Final division came in 1874 when courts granted the Gurneyite branch possession of the Mount Pleasant Boarding School