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Start Over Subject Quakers -- Social life and customs Year 1800 to 1849

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John Family Papers, 1775-1951 (inclusive)

Extent:
4 linear ft. (8 boxes)
Abstract:
The John family was a Quaker family of Uwchlan and Shamokin Valley in Pennsylvania. The collection contains family correspondence, diaries, business and legal documents, memorabilia, pictures, and miscellaneous papers of the Reuben John family. Correspondents include Joanna Griffith, Phebe John, Ann Haines, Sarah H. Janney, Reuben John, Abia and Patty John, Pamela Brenholts, and their descendents. Also contains genealogical files of Don D. John which includes original family correspondence, transcriptions, legal documents, as well as extensive genealogical correspondence. Of particular note is the 1863 Civil War diary of Kimber L. John (Co. M, 8th Regiment, Ill. Cavalry) and a transcript of the Eliza John diary from 1839 to 1863.

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

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Biddle family Papers, 1793-1951 (inclusive)

Extent:
4 linear ft. (8 boxes)
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of Philadelphia Quaker Owen Biddle (1737-1799), his son, Clement Biddle (1778-1856), and numerous descendants. Owen Biddle, a scientist and merchant, was a member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and helped in the establishment of Westtown School (1799). Owen Biddle's papers, 1772-1793, (Series 1) include correspondence, and journals, some of which relate to his Revolutionary War activities. Three of his letterbooks, 1778-1779, have been microfilmed. The collection contains correspondence, journals, letterbooks, and account books, together with other manuscript material reflecting the social and cultural life and religious activities of a prominent Quaker family of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Papers of Lucy Biddle Lewis (1861-1941) are important for association with the women's suffrage movement and for early activities of the American Friends Service Committee. Other names represented in the collection are Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch, Clement...(see more)

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

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Asa M. Janney family papers, 1831-1950 (inclusive)

Extent:
.5 linear ft. (1 legal sized box)
Abstract:
The collection consists of correspondence and other papers of the Virginia Quaker family of Asa M. Janney. The letters contain family news and note Quaker concerns and activities. Of special interest are letters from Asa's older brother, Samuel M. Janney, noted Quaker minister, author and abolitionist. Also included are an account book of Janney's Forest Mills flour mill, 1860-1862; a Swarthmore College student notebook kept by his grandson, Thomas Janney Brown; and a notebook of genealogy and memoirs written by his daughter Lydia Neal Brown which includes a copy of a letter written by her sister Thamsin describing events on the Janney and Brown farms during the Civil War together with other family stories.

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

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Painter Family Papers, 1687-1948 (inclusive)

Extent:
24 linear ft. (47 boxes)
Abstract:
The Painter family was an early Pennsylvania Quaker family that married into the Minshall family of Delaware County. In 1681, William Penn granted Thomas Minshall a land tract which now includes the Tyler Arboretum. The property was home to eight generations of the same family. The collection includes family correspondence, business and legal papers, property records, papers on interests and concerns of the Painter brothers, genealogical papers, and miscellaneous deeds and other papers collected by Minshall Painter. It is a rich source of information not only on the Painter family of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and the origins of the Tyler Arboretum, but also on agriculture, social life and customs, and nineteenth century Quaker concerns through day books, account books, financial records, correspondence, and other documents.

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

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Hallowell-Stabler Family Papers, 1811-1946 (inclusive)

Extent:
3.5 linear ft. (7 boxes)
Abstract:
The Hallowell and Stabler families were Quakers mainly of Sandy Spring, Maryland. James S. Hallowell was a noted educator, and Edward Stabler was the postmaster of Sandy Spring. The collection illustrates the life of a 19th century Quaker family in Alexandria, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Sandy Spring, Maryland, and Philadelphia, where several relatives resided. While emphasizing family affairs and domestic life, these papers contain material of interest on education, farm life, observations of the Civil War and the Federal bureaucracy, travel and hunting.

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

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Collection of Bringhurst Family Correspondence, 1780-1811 (bulk) 1780-1941 (inclusive)

Extent:
6 linear ft.
Abstract:
Contains the collected correspondence of the Bringhurst family, largely compiled by C. Marshall Taylor. It includes correspondence, 1780-1806, of Philadelphia Quaker businessman James Bringhurst and his letters received from John Murray of New York City. Bringhurst corresponded with family and prominent friends including John Dickinson, Job Scott, Nathan Hunt, James Pemberton, Jesse Kersey, Lindley Murray and Moses Brown. Of particular interest are descriptions of life in Philadelphia and the conditions of free blacks, as well as Quaker religious and social concerns and visits from traveling ministers. A second group of letters contains primarily letters from Joseph Bringhurst, the brother of James, to his niece, Elizabeth Foulke while she was traveling in the ministry.

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

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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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Charles Smith Ogden family Papers, 1732-1938 (inclusive)

Extent:
2 linear ft. (4 boxes)
Abstract:
Charles Smith Ogden (1822-1904) was a Quaker businessman, genealogist, and civic leader. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, educated in Friends' schools, and married Emma Corbit in 1848. He worked as a wholesale druggist before the Civil War, was active on the committee to elect Abraham Lincoln, and served as Consul to Quebec, Canada, 1860-1864. In 1886, he began a tour around the world, which is recounted in his travel letters, 1886-1891. This collection contains genealogical material, family correspondence, scrapbooks and memorabilia. Of particular interest are letters collected by Charles S. Smith from prominent Quaker correspondents including Elias and Edward Hicks, Lucretia Mott, Benjamin Ferris, and John Comly.

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

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Collins Family Papers, 1797-1937 (inclusive)

Extent:
4 linear ft. (8 boxes)
Abstract:
The Collins family was a Quaker family of New England and New York City. Abel Collins (1770-1834) was a birthright Quaker and a minister recorded by Hopkinton Monthly Meeting. He married Mary A. Wilbur (d. 1858) of Hopkinton in 1790, and they had eight children. One of their sons, Abel Francis Collins, was clerk of South Kingston Monthly Meeting. He had three sons who attended Friends Boarding School in Providence, Rhode Island, and continued their studies at Brown University. The collection contains extensive family correspondence (1812-1903) which covers a variety of topics, including schools and education, Quaker concerns, topical events of the day, and family life; journals of Francis W. Collins, including descriptions of his student days at Friends Boarding School in Providence; family business and financial papers; miscellaneous papers, photographs, and genealogical material on the Collins and Burdick families.

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

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Robbins Family Papers, 1849-1934 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.5 linear ft. (1 box)
Abstract:
This small collection concerning the Robbins family, Quakers who owned the historic Seven Stars Tavern property in Salem County, New Jersey, was compiled by John H. Bourne. The Robbins family purchased the tavern about 1805, and the property remained in the family until it was purchased by John H. Bourne in 1927. The Robbins family belonged to Pilesgrove Monthly Meeting (Hicksite), which in 1928 became Woodstown Monthly Meeting. John Bourne also was a member of Woodstown Monthly Meeting. The collection contains some genealogical information on the Robbins family and correspondence and articles concerning the Seven Stars property, as well as poetry, prose, and a diary (1875) of Annie Lawrie Robbins (1828-1916), the unmarried Robbins daughter who kept house in the Seven Stars homestead, and other family material. In addition to the history of the property, the collection, particularly the diary, offers insight into the life of rural South Jersey Quakers in the late nineteenth century.

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

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