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Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles family papers

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Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Sarah Cooper Tatum was born circa 1832, the daughter of Joseph Tatum (1806-1881) and Anne Cooper Tatum (1808-1834) of Woodbury, New Jersey. Sarah had one brother, John Cooper Tatum, who was a farmer and Director of the First National Bank in Woodbury, New Jersey. Sarah and John were educated at Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania from around 1846 to 1848, and John also attended Haverford College from 1850 to 1852. Anne Cooper Tatum died in 1834, when Sarah and John were small children. Joseph Tatum was remarried in 1845 to Hannah M. Whitall. Sarah Cooper Tatum married John Smith Hilles (1830-1876) on May 7, 1862. They had four children: Anne Tatum Hilles (1863-unidentified), William Samuel Hilles (1865-1928), Joseph Tatum Hilles (1867-1924) and Margaret Hill Hilles (1870-unidentified).

John Smith Hilles was born in 1830, the second son of Samuel Hilles (1788-1873) and Margaret Hill Smith Hilles (1786-1882), who were married in 1821. He attended Haverford College from 1844 to 1845 and afterwards operated brick kilns in Wilmington, Delaware. Later, he operated a coal-yard in Philadelphia and then went on to work for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, serving as General Freight Agent and Assistant Superintendent. Eventually, the Railroad gave him charge over their new steam vessel shipping service. Hilles' work with Philadelphia and Reading Railroad attracted the attention of William P. Clyde and Company, a Philadelphia shipping firm, which hired him as manager and eventually made him a partner. John Smith Hilles was also involved with the Friends Association of Philadelphia and its Vicinity for the Relief of Colored Freedmen, making at least one trip into the south to visit and report back on the conditions of the free Black communities on Roanoke Island in Virginia and other places in the early 1860s.

John and Sarah Hilles' son, William Samuel Hilles (1865-1928), graduated from Haverford College with honors in 1885, providing the valedictory address at the commencement ceremonies and receiving the Alumni prize for composition and oratory. He was also captain of the cricket team in 1884 and 1885.

William Samuel Hilles, John Smith Hilles' older brother, graduated from Haverford when it was a select boarding school and then worked as an instructor there from 1844 to 1845. He then moved to Wilmington, Delaware and worked for Richard P. Gibbons as a clerk in a rolling mill. He moved to Philadelphia and worked as the Secretary of McCullough and Company in 1859. In 1860, he moved back to Wilmington and worked as Director of the National Bank of Delaware until 1862 when he became involved in a machine-shop where engines, boilers and machine tools were manufactured. The William S. Hilles, a seven-hundred ton schooner was one of the wooden ships built. He died in Nice, France in 1876. William Samuel Hilles married Sarah Lancaster Allen, daughter of Dr. Thomas L. Allen on May 17, 1849. They had four children: Susan Watson Hilles, Thomas Allen Hilles (b. 1852), Samuel Eli Hilles (1854-1928) and Margaret Smith Hilles (1856-1912).

John Smith Hilles also had a sister, Gulielma Marie Hilles Howland.

Samuel Hilles, John Smith Hilles' father, was a notable educator, who taught at the Westtown School; opened his own school in Wilmington, Delaware; and served as Haverford College's first principal, among other positions. From 1841 to 1873, he served as director of the Bank of Delaware, and from 1851 to 1857 he served as director of an insurance company. He also dedicated time and efforts toward the abolition of slavery, participating in the Underground Railroad by hiding freedom seekers in his barn. He also served as the first president of the Friends Freedman's Association which was established on November 5, 1863 as an Association of Friends of Philadelphia and its Vicinity for the Relief of the Colored Freedmen. As a Quaker, Samuel Hilles served as Assistant clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Orthodox) and as an elder of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting.

Margaret Hill Smith Hilles, John Smith Hilles' mother, was born on November 7, 1786 and died March 27, 1882.

Bibliography:

Brown, Francis G. Downingtown Friends Meeting: An Early History of Quakers in the Great Valley. Glenmorore, PA: Glenmoore Corp., 1999.

Dictionary of Quaker Biography, Haverford College: Friends Review, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 48, July 4, 1885, pp. 761-762.

Descendents of David Hilles: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/l/William-C-Hilles/PDFGENE60.pdf (accessed November 6, 2009).

Hilles, Samuel E. Memorials of the Hilles Family: More Particularly of Samuel and Margaret Hill Hilles of Wilmington, Delaware. Cincinnati: S.E. Hilles, 1928.

This collection houses letters written to or by Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles, her husband John Smith Hilles, and other Tatum or Hilles family members. There is also a small sampling of assorted family papers and deeds to properties owned by the Hilles family in Wilmington, Delaware; New Jersey; Illinois and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

It is divided into three series: "Correspondence," "Family Papers" and "Deeds."

The "Correspondence" series is divided into three subseries: "To Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles," "To John Smith Hilles" and "To Others."

A majority of the correspondence in the collection is comprised of letters written to Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles from her husband, John Smith Hilles; her father, Joseph Tatum; her brother, John Cooper Tatum; her mother-in-law, Margaret Hill Smith Hilles; and dozens of other family and friends from 1840 to 1882. Of note are letters from John Smith Hilles around the time of their courtship and engagement in 1861 as well as letters sent throughout their marriage while he was on frequent trips away from home due to the Civil War and/or business obligations. With the exception of letters from John Smith Hilles, Joseph Tatum and John Cooper Tatum, a majority of the letters in the series are from women. Sarah received many letters from friends and family while attending Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania in the 1840s and just after her engagement to John Smith Hilles in 1861. Particularly dedicated correspondents include Sarah's cousins, Hannah Tatum, and Anne and Sarah Nicholson; her mother-in-law, Margaret Hill Smith Hilles; and her friends, Alice Fothergill and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Howell. Alice Fothergill's letters are particularly interesting as she writes from and about her experiences abroad. Generally, the letters in the series reflect on daily life and, to a lesser extent, on major events in the community and national history.

Letters written to John Smith Hilles from 1852 to 1875 are from: Margaret Hill Smith Hilles, Samuel Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles, William Samuel Hilles, Gulielma Marie Hilles Howland, John Cooper Tatum and others. Many letters reference business ventures and investments as well as family matters.

Correspondence written "To Others" includes letters between Sarah Hilles' parents, Joseph and Ann Tatum; letters to Mary Tatum Whitall (Joseph Tatum's sister) from Joseph Tatum; letters to Samuel and Margaret Hill Smith Hilles from John Smith Hilles; and others from 1821 to 1919.

The "Family Papers" series is a diverse sampling of receipts, school notebooks and report cards, and other writings of John Smith Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles, William Samuel Hilles, Anne Cooper Tatum and others. Of note is a memoir written by Joseph Tatum about his wife, Anne Cooper Tatum just after her death in 1834. The memoir is inscribed to his "infant children," John and Sarah.

Finally, is the series, "Deeds." There are deeds to properties in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois, which were purchased, sold and/or acquired by John Smith Hilles, William Samuel Hilles, Samuel Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith Hilles and Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles.

Gift of Joseph Johnson, 1978

The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' "Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives" Project.

This collection was minimally processed in 2009-2011, as part of an experimental project conducted under the auspices of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries to help eliminate processing backlog in Philadelphia repositories. A minimally processed collection is one processed at a less intensive rate than traditionally thought necessary to make a collection ready for use by researchers. When citing sources from this collection, researchers are advised to defer to folder titles provided in the finding aid rather than those provided on the physical folder.

Employing processing strategies outlined in Mark Greene's and Dennis Meissner's 2005 article, More Product, Less Process: Revamping Traditional Processing Approaches to Deal With Late 20th-Century Collections, the project team tested the limits of minimal processing on collections of all types and ages, in 23 Philadelphia area repositories. A primary goal of the project, the team processed at an average rate of 2-3 hours per linear foot of records, a fraction of the time ordinarily reserved for the arrangement and description of collections. Among other time saving strategies, the project team did not extensively review the content of the collections, replace acidic folders or complete any preservation work.

Publisher
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Courtney Smerz
Sponsor
The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' "Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives" Project. This collection was minimally processed to the folder level.
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Standard Federal Copyright Law applies (U.S. Title 17)

Collection Inventory

Canby, Anna, 1860-1862.
Box 1
Fothergill, Alice H., 1856-1859, undated, [all before 1862].
Box 1
Fothergill, Alice H., undated, [all after 1862].
Box 1
Hilles, John Smith, 1:2, 1861-1862.
Box 1
Hilles, John Smith, 2:2, 1861-1862.
Box 1
Hilles, John Smith, 1:2, 1861-1862, undated.
Box 1
Hilles, John Smith, 2:2, 1861-1862, undated.
Box 1
Hilles, John Smith, 1863, 1864, undated.
Box 1
Hilles, John Smith, 1866-1875, undated.
Box 1
Hilles, Joseph Tatum (b. 1867), 1880.
Box 2
Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith, 1861-1873, undated.
Box 2
Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith, 1865-1875, undated.
Box 2
Hilles, Margaret Hill (b. 1870) and Anne Tatum Hilles (b. 1863), circa 1875.
Box 2
Hilles, Sarah Lancaster Allen, 1863-1877, undated.
Box 2
Hilles, William Samuel, 1867.
Box 2
Hilles, William Samuel (b. 1865), 1881-1882, undated.
Box 2
Hilles, Susan Watson; Thomas Allen; Samuel Eli; and/or Margaret Smith (William Samuel Hilles' and Sarah Lancaster Allen Hilles' children), 1866, 1867, 1877.
Box 2
[Howell], Elizabeth (Lizzie), 1861-1868, undated.
Box 2
Howland, Gulielma Marie Hilles, 1861-1865, undated.
Box 2
Nicholson, Anne H., 1848-1868, undated.
Box 2
Nicholson, Anne H., 1851-1856, undated.
Box 2
Nicholson, Anne H., 1852-1856, undated.
Box 2
Nicholson, Sarah Whitall, 1:2, 1852-1877, undated.
Box 2
Nicholson, Sarah Whitall, 2:2, 1852-1877, undated.
Box 2
Rhoads, Anne, 1857, 1862.
Box 3
Reeve, [M.S.], 1865-1867, undated.
Box 3
Reeve, [S.S.], 1857-1866, undated.
Box 3
[Smith, Hannah Whitall], [1839], 1860, undated.
Box 3
Stokes, Anna, 1854-1857, undated.
Box 3
Swarthmore Mission First Day School, 1868.
Box 3
Tatum, Ann Biddle and/or John, 1845, 1847, 1862, undated.
Box 3
Tatum, Hannah, 1845, 1859, undated, [all before 1862].
Box 3
Tatum, Hannah, 1860-1862.
Box 3
Tatum, Hannah. Includes letter to Joseph Tatum from his [brother J.W. Tatum], 1855-1866, undated, [mostly after 1862].
Box 3
Tatum, John Cooper, 1851-1878, undated.
Box 4
Tatum, John Cooper (to Sarah Cooper Tatum and Joseph Tatum), 1851.
Box 4
Tatum, Joseph (To Sarah Cooper Tatum and Joseph Cooper Tatum while at school at Westtown), 1846, undated.
Box 4
Tatum, Joseph (To Sarah Cooper Tatum and John Cooper Tatum while at school at Westtown), 1847-1848, undated.
Box 4
Tatum, Joseph, 1852-1859.
Box 4
Tatum, Joseph, 1:2, 1863-1881.
Box 4
Tatum, Joseph, 2:2, 1863-1881.
Box 4
Whitall, Sarah (see also: Nicholson, Sarah Whitall), 1840-1854.
Box 5
[Unidentified], Susy, 1859-1865, undated.
Box 5
[Unidentified], Susy, 1864-1865, undated.
Box 5
[Unidentified], Eli, 1864.
Box 5
Multiple correspondents (letters from girlfriends and/or cousins Martha, Patty and others), 1843-1855, undated, [all before 1862].
Box 5
Multiple correspondents (to Sarah Cooper Tatum and John Cooper Tatum at school at Westtown), 1840, 1845-1848.
Box 5
Multiple correspondents (mostly letters from girlfriends and/or cousins Sarah [Whitall], Ida, Florie and Jane, to Sarah at school at Westtown), 1845-1848, undated.
Box 5
Multiple correspondents (contains many congratulatory letters regarding Sarah Cooper Tatum's engagement to John Smith Hilles, 1848-1861.
Box 5
Multiple correspondents, 1851-1867, [mostly before 1862].
Box 5
Multiple correspondents, 1853-1882, undated.
Box 5
Multiple senders, circa 1862.
Box 5
Unidentified, undated.
Box 5
Gowen, Franklin, 1870.
Box 6
Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith (To John Smith Hilles and/or Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles), circa 1862-1867, undated.
Box 6
Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith (To John Smith Hilles and/or Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles), 1862, 1863, 1873, undated.
Box 6
Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith (To John Smith Hilles and/or Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles), 1863-1867, undated.
Box 6
Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith (To John Smith Hilles and/or Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles), 1873-1875, undated.
Box 6
Hilles, Margaret Hill Smith (To John Smith Hilles and/or Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles), undated, [before 1875].
Box 6
Hilles, Samuel, 1863-1869, undated.
Box 6
Hilles, Samuel, 1864-1868, undated.
Box 6
Hilles, Samuel Eli, 1862, 1863.
Box 6
Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum, 1863-1874, undated, [all after 1862].
Box 6
Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum, 1865-1871, undated, [all after 1862].
Box 6
Hilles, William Samuel (Includes letter from William and Sarah Lancaster Allen Hilles to John Smith Hilles and Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles), 1853-1867.
Box 6
Howland, Gulielma Marie Hilles, Undated.
Box 6
Howland, Gulielma Marie Hilles (To John Smith Hilles and Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles), 1862, 1863, undated.
Box 6
Tatum, John Cooper, 1864-1866, undated.
Box 6
Multiple correspondents, circa 1860-1865, undated.
Box 7
Multiple correspondents (mostly regarding John Smith Hilles' work with freed black men in the south), 1863-1865.
Box 7
Multiple correspondents, 1852-1872, undated.
Box 7
Multiple correspondents (Includes letters from nieces and nephews, especially Thomas "Allie" Hilles while at Haverford in 1867), 1863-1867, undated.
Box 7
To Crosman, Edward, from J. Heron Crosman, 1919.
Box 7
To Hilles, Anne Tatum; William Samuel (b. 1865); Joseph Tatum and/or Margaret Hill, From Margaret Hill Smith Hilles, 1878, undated.
Box 7
To Hilles, Joseph Tatum (b. 1867); From Joseph Tatum, 1875.
Box 7
To Hilles, Samuel and/or Margaret Hill Smith Hilles; From William Samuel Hilles, 1865.
Box 7
To Hilles, Samuel and/or Margaret Hill Smith Hilles; From John Smith Hilles, 1867, undated.
Box 7
To Hilles, Susan Watson (b. [1850]); From John Smith Hilles, 1859-1864, 1876.
Box 7
To Hilles, Susan Watson (b. [1850]); From Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles, undated.
Box 7
To Hilles, William Samuel; From multiple correspondents, especially John Smith Hilles, undated.
Box 7
To Hilles, William Samuel (b. 1865); From Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles and Margaret Hill Smith Hilles, undated.
Box 7
To Hilles, William Samuel (b. 1865); From Hilles, Anne Tatum (b. 1863), 1874.
Box 7
To Howland, Gulielma Marie Hilles; From multiple correspondents, 1834, circa 1858.
Box 7
To Morris, Rachel; From Ann Cooper Tatum, 1830, 1832.
Box 7
To Murphy, Martha; From Ann Cooper Tatum, 1833, undated.
Box 7
To Stevenson, Rachel Smith and/or George; From Margaret Hill Smith Hilles, 1829-1839, 1840.
Box 7
To Smith, E.P. and other family members; From Margaret Hill Smith Hilles, circa 1866-1882, undated.
Box 7
To Tatum, Ann Cooper; From Joseph Tatum, 1831, 1832.
Box 7
To Tatum, John Cooper; From multiple correspondents, 1881, undated.
Box 7
To Tatum, John; From Joseph Tatum, 1826.
Box 8
To Tatum, Joseph; From Ann Cooper Tatum, 1830-1832.
Box 8
To Tatum, Joseph; From John Cooper Tatum, 1862.
Box 8
To Tatum, Joseph; From John Cooper Tatum, 1865.
Box 8
To Tatum, Joseph; From William Tatum, 1825, undated.
Box 8
To Tatum, Joseph; From multiple correspondents, 1830s.
Box 8
To Whitall, John M.; From Joseph Tatum, 1834-1853, undated.
Box 8
To Whitall, Mary Tatum; From [Ann Cooper Tatum], undated.
Box 8
To Whitall, Mary Tatum; From Joseph Tatum, 1835-1844, undated.
Box 8
To Whitall, Mary Tatum; From Joseph Tatum, 1830-1846, undated.
Box 8
To Whitall, Mary Tatum; From [Joseph Tatum], 1841, undated.
Box 8
[To Whitall, Mary Tatum; From Joseph Tatum], 1825.
Box 8
To Whitall, Mary Tatum; From unidentified, 1821, undated.
Box 8
To [unidentified], Patty; From Joseph Tatum, [1856].
Box 8
To multiple correspondents; From Ann Cooper Tatum, 1828-1832, [1834], undated.
Box 8
To multiple correspondents; From multiple correspondents, 1835, 1860-1895, undated.
Box 8
Unidentified correspondence, 1:2, undated.
Box 8
Unidentified correspondence, 2:2, undated.
Box 8
Stray envelopes (empty).
Box 8

Hilles, John Smith. Assorted notes, lists, promissory notes, receipts and records of investments, 1858-1874, undated.
Box 9
Hilles, John Smith. Bonds for loans from Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road Company, 1861, 1875.
Box 9
Hilles, John Smith. Passes and other papers related to Hilles' work with the "Friends Association of Philadelphia and Its Vicinity, for the Relief of Colored Freedmen", 1864.
Box 9
Hilles, John Smith. Papers related to Hilles' death and estate, 1878, 1882, undated.
Box 9
Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum. Exercise book, 1844.
Box 9
Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum. Assorted [poems], [statements] and/or other writings, 1846, 1876, undated.
Box 9
Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum. Statement of sale of land, 1882, undated.
Box 9
Hilles, Sarah Cooper Tatum. Receipts for lightening rod and telegraph/telephone service, 1882, 1901.
Box 9
Hilles, William Samuel. Expense book, 1849, 1866.
Box 9
Hilles, William Samuel. Receipts or record of investments, 1870-1872, undated.
Box 9
Hilles, William Samuel (b. 1865). School report cards from Haverford College, 1882-1884.
Box 9
Tatum, Anne Cooper. Exercise book, 1825.
Box 9
Tatum, Joseph. "Memoir of Ann Cooper Tatum," for his children Sarah and John, circa 1834.
Box 9
Tatum, Joseph. Last will and testament, 1880, 1881.
Box 9
Unidentified. [Excerpt from diary regarding journey to South Carolina and Georgia], circa 1860-1870.
Box 9
Unidentified. Receipts, 1848-1851.
Box 9
Unidentified. Poem and typed passage, circa 1870, undated.
Box 9
Unidentified. Manuscript fragment, undated.
Box 9
Unidentified. Photograph of woman and children, circa 1930.
Box 9
Unidentified. Stray envelopes, undated.
Box 9

Delaware. Brandywine Village, 1856.
Box 10
Delaware. Kent County, 1862.
Box 10
Delaware. Wilmington, 1791-1811.
Box 10
Delaware. Wilmington, 1814-1833.
Box 10
Delaware. Wilmington.
Box 10
Delaware. Wilmington, 1834-1846.
Box 10
Delaware. Wilmington (Includes a transfer/sale of land between Sarah Cooper Tatum Hilles and Lydia B. Dawson, 1858, 1870, 1871, 1886.
Box 10
Delaware. Wilmington, acquired by Samuel Hilles, 1820-1829.
Box 10
Delaware. Wilmington, land acquired by Samuel Hilles, 1833-1836.
Box 10
Illinois, 1838, 1839, 1843.
Box 11
New Jersey, 1793, 1829.
Box 11
Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1826-1838.
Box 11

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