Camden Friends Meeting (Burial Place of John Hunn)

This house of worship, built in 1805, was first a Preparative Meeting under the care of Motherkiln (Murderkill) Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). In 1830, Camden Monthly Meeting was formed by uniting with Motherkiln and Duck Creek Monthly Meetings. It has since absorbed all other Quaker Meetings in Kent and Sussex Counties. Many members were active in the anti-slavery movement. Local Quakers such as the Hunn, Jenkins, and Cowgill families, were well known for their efforts in support of abolition. Some served as conductors on the Underground Railroad, providing “safe houses” and passing fugitive slaves northward. Of particular note was John Hunn, the Chief Engineer of the Underground Railroad in Delaware. A resident of the Middletown area during much of his life, Hunn was responsible for the operation of the network that transported thousands of escapees through Delaware to Wilmington, and thence to freedom. A man of great modesty, he declined to take credit for his heroic efforts. He was laid to rest in the adjoining burial ground following his death in 1894. The Camden Friends Meeting House and grounds were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.