In a new exhibit that opened on June 27 titled “Friends Gather Here,” Woodlawn is showcasing a bold experiment begun in 1846 by two Quaker abolitionists, Chalkley Gillingham and Jacob Troth. 

Gillingham and Troth moved from Pennsylvania and New Jersey and bought 2,000 acres at Woodlawn and sought to demonstrate that farming could succeed without slavery. They settled among a free African American community already there, many formerly enslaved by George and Martha Washington, and created an anti-slavery model community grounded in equality, respect and cooperation, “a peaceable way.”

On June 20, local historian Martha Claire Catlin, a lifelong Quaker, described the “unique alliance” of the people in this community, “ten years of harmony tested by war.” She has probed many historic records, doing what she termed “pick and shovel research,” to tell this story, a threat to the social order at a time when Virginia relied on a plantation economy.

The Exhibit

Through documents, objects and explanatory panels, the exhibit introduces visitors to several people of that community.

Displayed is the deed of sale when Gillingham and Troth bought the land from the Lewis family. George Washington gave the land to his step-granddaughter, Nelly Custis, and nephew, Lawrence Lewis in 1799 as a wedding gift. Initially, the Quaker settlers used the mansion for their meeting house and a school before the still-standing meeting house was built and finished in 1853.

William Holland, freed in 1799, bought 20 acres in 1851 and spearheaded the establishment of Woodlawn Methodist Church, a cemetery and a school. Lewis Quander bought 163 acres in 1855 which he farmed. Holland and Quander are familiar names today to many, with streets in Mount Vernon named for these families.

One founder, Jonathan Roberts, a pacifist, wrote in his 1891 memoir that they were “having a very great trial.” During the Civil War, the Friends’ anti-slavery views provoked hostility from some neighbors. 

Confederate soldiers raided Roberts’s home and he joined the Union Army but said he would not carry a weapon. He founded the Accotink Home Guard, 200 men to protect against the raiders.

Visitors can study the certificate of merit Gillingham received for growing the greatest variety of pears. In exquisite cursive handwriting are records like a wedding book and a membership book. Keziah Warrington’s workbook shows how he practiced his penmanship, math and vocabulary. A scythe displayed was used to harvest grain.

A stunning hand-embroidered “signature” quilt reflects Quaker values of community and equality. There are several quilted art pieces by local artist Sheryl Sims who has traced her ancestry to Quakers.

As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, the exhibit reminds people of modern-day Quakers' six core testimonies: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship (SPICES). Woodlawn’s Quakers “wove these values into their family bonds and the very soil of this community,” visitors learn.

The exhibit will close on Dec. 30, 2026.

The Meetinghouse, and More

Not part of the exhibit but worth studying is the Woodlawn Quaker Meetinghouse, a wood-frame, one-floor, rectangular building begun in 1851 and expanded several times. During the Civil War, Union soldiers occupied the meetinghouse.  

The Virginia Landmarks Register notes, “Built as a single cell in 1851-53 and doubled in 1869, the modest Woodlawn Quaker Meetinghouse retains its historic character, featuring original windows, siding, trim, floor plan, interior partitions and traditionally crafted benches. An associated burial ground containing the graves of the settlement’s founders is found to the east.” The building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, it is surrounded on three sides by Fort Belvoir.

Information: http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org/  and https://woodlawnfriends.org/home/history/