A Life Pilgrimage on the Quaker Highway
Dr. Henry Edwin McGrew
Manuscript written in 1943
Henry Edwin McGrew was a child of David Davis McGrew and Alpha Pearson and a grandchild of John Abbott and Sarah
"Sally" Jones. A "birthright" Quaker, he was twice president of William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa. An excellent
administrator, he was called back for a second term to save the college from bankruptcy, a task that he accomplished
admirably. He later served as pastor of First Friends Church of Pasadena (Pasadena Monthly Meeting) and retired to
Altadena. In this unpublished manuscript, supplied to me by his granddaughter
Jamie (Atherton) Niecamp, Edwin (as he preferred to be called) recounts his personal experiences along the
"Quaker highway," and in the process provides some fascinating glimpses of the lives and times of his Quaker family and
friends, and others.
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1
Growing up in LeGrand, Iowa: Edwin's father, David Davis McGrew, and the development of
his farm. The Civil War and Lincoln's assassination.
- Chapter 2
To care for Alpha's aging grandparents, the McGrew family moves in with John
and Mary (Hanks) Abbott. Includes an engaging sketch of Mary Abbott in
her final years.
- Chapter 3
The old Quaker Meeting House in LeGrand and its members and visitors is
the focus of this chapter, along with the Friends Academy at LeGrand which
the writer attended.
- Chapter 4
The young Pilgrim "gets" religion. Also includes a delightful digression
on the "family horse," and a early business venture for the Pilgrim.
- Chapter 5
Having graduated from the Academy, the Pilgrim enters the working world,
and sees a bit of the world in the process.
- Chapter 6
Description pending . . .
- Chapter 7
Description pending . . .
- Chapter 8
Description pending . . .
- Chapter 9
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- Chapter 10
Description pending . . .
- Chapter 11
Description pending . . .