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Start Over Repository Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College Subject Quaker social reformers Year 1880 to 1884

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Ferris Family Papers, 1737-1940 (inclusive)

Extent:
15 linear ft. (36 boxes)
Abstract:
The collection contains correspondence, journals and other writings, business and legal papers, and miscellaneous items of the Ferris family of Wilmington, Delaware, a prominent Quaker family. Of particular note are the correspondence and writings of Benjamin Ferris concerning the Separation in the Society of Friends, as well as the journals and diaries of Anna M. Ferris, David Ferris, Matilda Ferris, Benjamin Ferris, and Henry Ferris. Correspondents include William Lloyd Garrison, William Gibbons, Isaac T. Hopper, Joseph Bringhurst, Mary Gibbons, William Poole, Mary Biddle, Joseph Rakestraw, Halliday Jackson, and John Jackson. This collection includes a great variety of family correspondence that reveals much about the life of a Quaker family in Wilmington and of the reform activities of members of the Society of Friends.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

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Moses Sheppard Papers, 1794-1927 (inclusive)

Extent:
5 linear ft. (10 boxes)
Abstract:
Moses Sheppard (1775-1857) was a Quaker humanitarian and businessman of Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Nathan and Sarah Shoemaker Sheppard, born outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After their property was confiscated during the Revolutionary War, the family settled in Maryland. Sheppard never married and devoted most of his life to a number of social reforms, including the treatment of the insane and the colonization movement. As a member of Baltimore Monthly Meeting, he was active in a number of committees, including that of Indian Affairs of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. He was also involved in the Maryland State and American Colonization Societies and believed strongly in colonization as a means of eliminating slavery in the U.S. At his death, his bequest established the Sheppard Asylum. The collection includes correspondence on the subjects of antislavery and colonization in Liberia, plans for a mental hospital, and on personal affairs. Also includes manuscripts relating...(see more)

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

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Turner Family Papers, 1776-1954 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.5 linear ft. (5 boxes)
Abstract:
This collection centers around the family and descendants of Joseph Turner, Jr., (1790-1850) and his wife Rebecca (Sinclair) Turner (1787-1877), members of Baltimore Monthly Meeting-Western District. They raised eight children and had fifty-four grandchildren. As a young man, Joseph left the family plantation near Still Pond, Kent County, Maryland, and became a lumber merchant in Baltimore. He served as Clerk of the Lombard Street Meeting. Rebecca was a recorded minister and traveled widely. She served on the Standing Committee on Indian Concern of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, the Friends Association in Aid of Freedmen and on the first Board of Managers of Swarthmore College, 1862-1868. The Turner Family Papers are significant for the source material they provide on Quaker family life in Baltimore and the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the 19th century. The manuscripts include extensive correspondence concerning the Indian Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting and records of goods sent...(see more)

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

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Lewis-Fussell Family Papers, 1698-1978 (inclusive)

Extent:
6 linear ft. (12 boxes)
Abstract:
Bartholomew Fussell was a Quaker minister who married Rebecca Bond at Abington Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania in 1781. He was a member of Uwchlan Monthly Meeting of Friends at his death in 1838. The couple had eight children, viz. Esther, William, Sarah, Joseph, Jacob, Bartholomew, Rebecca, and Solomon. Esther married John Lewis in 1818, and they had four children, among whom was Graceanna Lewis, Quaker scientist and humanitarian. Joseph Fussell married Elizabeth Moore in 1814, and their eldest son, Henry Bartholomew, married Maria Lewis. Rebecca Fussell married Joseph Trimble in 1837, and their only daughter, Esther Jane, married Isaac Lippincott. The collection contains correspondence, journals, other writings, account books, albums, photographs, and miscellaneous notes of members of the Lewis and Fussell families of Chester and Delaware Counties in Pennsylvania. Includes the papers and drawings of Graceanna Lewis, prominent Quaker natural scientist and social reformer. Educated...(see more)

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]