We acknowledge the indigenous ancestors of this sacred land. The Attawandaron (Neutral) peoples once settled this region along side the Haudenosaunee and Algonquin peoples. The following is a history of the European pioneers who settled here and were the founders of what has become Yarmouth Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends’. The European pioneer of Yarmouth district was the Quaker, Jonathan Doan, who came to this area in 1813. He pitched his tent and lay down on the spot, which is now the Quaker cemetery and where he is buried.

The land in this area had been granted to the Baby family and Doan was acting as their land agent. After two years Doan was so satisfied with the prospects that he returned to Pennsylvania and brought back with him several new families including William Harvey, John Kipp, John Mills and Joseph Albertson. Doan built the first flourmill in South Yarmouth and operated the first tannery.

The first Meetinghouse was a little log building on the corner of Jonathan Doan’s farm. He donated the land for the use of the Meeting. In 1821 a small frame Meetinghouse replaced the log building and, in 1865, a new site was chosen in a beautiful maple grove north of Sparta and the present Meetinghouse was erected.