William Penn came to America to find a place for the Quakers to worship in peace. He also opened the land to other people who had problems finding a place to worship as they chose. The Dunkards were a group of people who became friends with the Quakers and often settled near each other. They may not have had the same kind of a worship service, but they both believed in freedom of worship and the same God. The Squire Boone family of Devonshire, England, was a Quaker family who came to America in 1696. They settled on a farm in Oley Township, Berks County. This was the area where many of the early Dunkards had also settled. When true love happens it doesn't always matter what faith the couple is, but it is thought that Boone's daughter, Sarah, and later his son, Israel both married Dunkards. The Quakers were not happy about these marriages so Squire Boone was censored by the Quaker meeting. His explanation is on record at the Exeter Meeting house. Squire Boone decided to move his family to North Caroline before any more trouble happened. On the way he stopped to visit his sister, Sarah Boone, who had married Jacob Stover a large land owner in the Shenandoah Valley. According to records Squire Boone and his family may have lived there for over three years before going on to North Carolina. It is not known if they were Dunkards, but historians say that this area was settled by Dunkards and Quakers. The Indians in this valley got along well with the whites and lived very peacefully together. It is said that the Indians thought these Pennsylvanians were very peaceful and friendly and appreciated how they followed Penn's example of buying land from them.
Now the question is how does Daniel Boone fit into all this information. Squire Boone had several sons who accepted the faith of the Baptist. The three brothers, Daniel, George and Squire Jr., all attended a Baptist church called Old Providence. It is stated in the records that Samuel, Squire Jr., and Mary Boone were all baptized in this church and that Daniel was a regular attender. In 1755 Daniel joined the army of General Braddock as a non-combatant wagoner and blacksmith. When the army fell, Daniel was able to escape on the back of one of the wagon horses. The next year Daniel and Rebecca Bryan were married by Daniel's father. For several years they lived in a cabin owned by Daniel's father. After listening to many stories around the campfires at night, Daniel wanted to explore Kentucky. In 1769 he left his family in the Yadkin River area of North Carolina and with his brothers and other friends, went to find this Kentucky wilderness. Daniel tried to settle all Indian troubles without killing, he had learned the Dunkard way of being a pacifist. During all this time he worked to make peace with the Indians. This got him into trouble and a court martial. He was accused of not taking care to protect the workers at the Salt Lick incident. After a court heard the details, he was acquitted. Every time there was a conflict or battle with the Indians, he always seemed to be treated differently by the Indians. This sometime caused bad feelings among other whites, because they didn't understand the relation between Daniel and the Indians.
Records show that Daniel's brothers, Squire Jr. and George, were ministers in the Baptist church and were some of the first to perform weddings and preach in the wilderness. You will find many people with the last name of Boone in our Virginia Dunkard history. They were true heroes refusing to bear arms during wars and always working to promote peace. Now you know the rest of the story about Daniel Boone.
