Isaac T. Hopper published the first issue of The Friends Intelligencer in 4 mo 1838 in New York City. His stated goal was to provide a means of intercommunication among Hicksite Friends in the United Stated. The publication ceased in 8 mo 1839 due to lack of financial support beyond the first 24 numbers.

However, it was resumed in Philadelphia less than five years later, beginning again with Vol. 1, Number 1, as Friends Weekly Intelligencer. An "Association of Friends" edited the journal; members of the original group of editors included Dr. John D. Griscom, Dr. Isaac and Dillwyn Parrish, William M. Dorsey, William P. Sharpless, and Morris L Hallowell. Abel North served as the first acting editor for the first two or three years until John J. White, Jr., took over the position. In the early 1850s, Samuel M. Janney persuaded a group of female Friends to take over as editors. According to Katharine A. Smyth who wrote a short historical essay on the Friends Intelligencer in 1943, this group of women probably included Hannah J. Moore, Jane Johnson, Ann A. Townsend, Susanna M. Parrish, and Deborah Fisher Wharton. Although several members of this group were traveling ministers, they gathered for a full day each week to produce the paper and read aloud the work submitted, communicating with their contributors by publishing notes in the body of the publication.

Howard M. Jenkins became editor in 1885 when Friends' Journal was incorporated into the Intelligencer as Friends Intelligencer and Journal. The five women then serving became associate editors, and the editors' names were published for the first time.

In 1920, Friends Intelligencer Association Ltd. was discontinued, and a group of subscribing associates took over publication. A trust agreement was drawn up between the Associates, represented by Walter C. Longstreth, and the Intelligencer Association, represented by Charles F. Jenkins. The bylaws named the new group "The Intelligencer Associates" and invited subscribers to join the group by sending in at least $5 per annum for five years. The Association was run by managers and an executive committee, seven of whom were nominated by their Yearly Meeting.

In 1921 the Yearly Meeting appointed William C. Biddle as its representative to serve on the Executive Committee of the Friends' Intelligencer Associates.

In 1955 the Friends Intelligencer merged with The Friend, the Orthodox Quaker publication, to form Friends Journal, which continues to date. William Hubben, editor and manager of Friends Intelligencer, took the same position in the new publication. Intelligencer Associates became Journal Associates.