An American Family History

Herman Husband was born on October 3, 1724 in Cecil County, Maryland. His parents were William Husband and Mary Kinkey.

In 1739, Husband heard George Whitefield speak and become a Presbyterian. Later he became a Quaker and was associated with the East Nottingham Monthly Meeting in Cecil County.

About 1745 he married Phebe Cox.

Phebe and Herman's children included:

Thomas Husband
Mary Husband and
Herman Husband, Jr.

Phebe died between 1753 and 1762.

In 1762 they moved to North Carolina and joined Cane Creek Monthly Meeting.

On June 16, 1762, he married Mary Pugh. Mary was the daughter of Thomas Pugh and Elizabeth Richardson.

Mary and Herman's son was:

William Husband (1673, married Elizabeth Swift).

Mary died soon after her son's birth.

Herman was involved in a dispute at the Cane Creek meeting that led to him being expelled on January 7, 1764.

On May 10, 1765 he married Amy Allen. Amy was born on February 18, 1743/44 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of John Allen and Phebe Scarlett.

Amy and Herman's children included:

David Husband (1770),
Isaac Tuscape Husband (1771, married Nancy King),
Emmy Husband (1775),
Phoebe Husband (1776, married Peter Kimmel)

Amy was expelled from Cane Creek Meeting for marrying Herman.

On April 30, 1768, Harmon was arrested a a leades of a Regulator riot. On May 3, 1768 he was rescued.

On March 12, 1770, Herman was elected to the North Carolina Assembly from Orange County for a second term.

On December 20, 1770, the North Carolina House resolved to expel him for being a "promotor of the late Riots and seditions in the County of Orange and other parts."

Herman left North Carolina before the battle of Almance. He hid in the Allegheny Mountains with Isaac Cox, his wife's step-father.

In July, 1794, he was among the first leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion who were arrested and was tried for sedition. The jury found him not guilty.

He died of pneumonia on June 19, 1795.

from Cane Creek Mother of Meetings by Bobbie T. Teague

A controversy began at Cane Creek that has become known through the years as the "Rachel Wright Affair." In his book, Southern Quakers and Slavery, Stephen B. Weeks explains it thusly: Rachel Wright, a "weighty Friend," committed some disorder. She was duly "complained of," and, to settle the matter according to Friends discipline, she offered a paper condemning her behavior, which was accepted.

Then for some reason now unknown, she asked for a certificate to travel to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Some members of the monthly meeting did not want to give her the certificate, which would have functioned partly as a letter of introduction to other Friends and partly as an official endorsement by the meeting. A wrangle resulted and the meeting refused to grant the certificate.

The matter was appealed to Western Quarterly Meeting, which advised that the certificate be granted. Herman Husband, though, did not approve of the decision and in typical fashion was very vocal in his disapproval — so much so that, in January 1764, the meeting disowned him for "speaking against the actions and transactions of this meeting." As for Husband's reaction, there is an old story that when he heard about the disownment, he sat down, took off his shoes, shook the "dirt of Quakerism" off them, put them back on, and walked away.

However, the Wright affair was not over, and Husband's influence continued to be felt in the meeting. Some of his friends signed a paper expressing dissatisfaction with the meeting's decision to disown Husband. At this point the quarterly meeting offered the following advice (although it is unclear whether advice had been requested): "appoint a committee to deal with the malcontents' leaders." This group included Jos. Maddock, Isaac Vernon, Thomas Branson, John and William Marshall, Jonathan Cell, and "divers others."

In February 1764, the committee reported that "there might be dangerous consequences to allow them [the malcontents] to be active members until suitable satisfaction is made for their outgoings." Maddock, Cell, and the Marshalls appealed the matter to the yearly meeting, which responded that Western Quarterly Meeting had done wrong in granting a certificate to Rachel Wright in the first place. Furthermore, the quarterly meeting should restore to active membership those who had signed papers expressing dissatisfaction with the disownment of Herman Husband. The quarterly meeting, accordingly, acknowledged itself wrong in the matter of Rachel Wright and restored the persons under the ban to active membership.

Herman Husband's disownment, however, was not rescinded. (Griffin History 21). There is no record of what happened to Husband's first wife, Mary Pugh, but his choice of a second wife, Amy Allen, again caused controversy within the meeting. This second marriage made him a brother-in-law of Simon Dixon, which would cause still more controversy in the next few years. A monthly meeting minute dated Fifth month 1765 reads, "Amy Allen Husband disowned for marrying out of unity." Eleven months later the Minutes reveal that three women and sixteen men were complained of for attending the marriage, which "was not accomplished according to the good order of Friends."

Moreover, Amy's mother, Phoebe Allen Cox, was complained of for consenting to the marriage and accompanying her daughter. Once again the quarterly meeting and the yearly meeting were drawn into the local matter involving Husband. Fifteen months after the wedding, Ninth month 1766, the committee appointed to visit with those who were complained of reported that these persons were unwilling to condemn their conduct. The committee then asked that a "testification" be prepared against them. The papers were presented to those involved and the meeting disowned them. ..