Edmundson-Fox Memorial, Hertford
The Edmundson-Fox Memorial is an unadorned bronze tablet attached to a lectern shaped block of pink granite standing several feet high including the base.
EDMUNDSON-FOX / MEMORIAL / NEAR THIS SPOT WILLIAM EDMUNDSON, / AN ENGLISH FRIEND HELD IN MAY 1672 / THE FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICE ON RECORD / IN NORTH CAROLINA. / SIX MONTHS LATER, GEORGE FOX, FOUNDER / OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS ALSO / VISITED THIS SECTION AND HELD MEETINGS / AMONG THE COLONISTS. HERE WERE THE / BEGINNINGS OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF A / GREAT STATE. / ERECTED JUNE 11, 1929, BY NORTH CAROLINA YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS
June 11, 1929
36.193010 , -76.465800 View in Geobrowse
Barefoot, Daniel W. Touring the Backroads of North Carolina’s Upper Coast (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, Publisher, 1995), 75, (accessed June 19, 2017) Link
“Edmundson-Fox Memorial,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed June 19, 2017) Link
“The Northeast Corner,” Statesville Record and Landmark, (Statesville, NC), June 24, 1929, 4
Yes
Bronze, granite
North Carolina Friends (Quakers)
Quakers moving into northeastern North Carolina from Virginia in the late 1600’s became responsible for much of the organized religion in the colony. The claim that Edmundson and Fox held the first organized religious service in North Carolina ignores the baptism of Manteo and Virginia Dare in 1587.
The marker is located in Hertford at the corner of N. Church St. and Newby St. on the right hand side as one travels north.
The marker stands on the grass by a sidewalk, in a residential area, one block from the Perquimans River.