Call Number:

MC.1253

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

1 linear ft.

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Jones-Walenta Family papers (HC.MC.1253), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1886-1922 (inclusive)

Creator:

Jones family

Form:

manuscripts (documents) and Photographs

Abstract:

This is a collection of letters, photos, and academic regalia of Richard Mott Jones and the Jones family. Materials include: reports on missionary activities in Syria, academic regalia of Richard M. Jones, letters to Eli Jones, letters to Richard C. Jones when he was at Haverford, and photos of the Walenta family.

Richard Costello Jones was born in 1875. He died in 1891 of typhoid fever and meningitis while a student at Haverford.

Source: ancestry.com, internal evidence.

Richard Mott Jones (1843-1917) was an educator. An 1867 alumnus of Haverford College, he spent three years studying the 'public schools' of England and modern European languages in Europe after his graduation. He returned to the United States in 1870, and became the headmaster of Oak Grove Seminary in Kennebec, Maine, near his family home of South China, Maine. In 1875, he became the headmaster of the William Penn Charter School, a position he held until his death. He received an LL.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1902. He married Anna Virginia Costello in 1873, and had three daughters living at the time of his death: Virginia, Genevieve Jones Jennings, and Madeline Jones Walenta.

Source: Richard Mott Jones obituary, August 2, 1917, Philadelphia Inquirer.

George John Walenta (ca. 1879-?) was the husband of Madeleine Jones Walenta and the son-in-law of Richard Mott Jones. He graduated from William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia (class of 1897), Haverford College (class of 1901), and the General Theological Seminary (an Episcopal institution) in New York City (class of 1905), where he received a Bachelor's of Divinity. He served as the rector of the Church of St. Simeon on Lehigh Avenue and Ninth Street in Philadelphia until at least 1922. He was a member of Philateles Lodge.

Source: Internal evidence, Wikipedia, Biographical Catalog of the Matriculates of Haverford College, 1833-1922, 1922.

Madeleine Jones Walenta (1882-1967) was the wife of George John Walenta and the daughter of Richard Mott Jones. She was a founder of the Maine Gladiolus Society and present at the 1937 Friends World Conference in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Source: Maine Gladiolus Society, Friends World Committee for Consultation, death-record.com, internal evidence.

Contents include letters written by Richard Costello Jones to his parents from a summer camp in South China, Maine, and to friends while at Haverford; a large photograph of costumed children posing; 1887 manuscript reports on missions; undated report of Francis Sharrion; remembrance of dead Friends; and letters from Madeline Jones Walenta to an unknown recipient, labeled with locations. Also includes 25 snapshots, and an album of unidentified photographs; two academic hoods, both black lined with red. One is trimmed with purple velvet and the other trimmed with white; information cards on the 1911 Christmas Day services at the Church of St. Simeon in Philadelphia, delivered by George Walenta, as well as the Lent 1922 issue of the Church of St. Simeon, as well as ephemera related to George Walenta's induction into Philateles Lodge in Philadelphia; 1897 Penn Charter School commencement program and Honors list; essays written by Walenta, as well as longer papers; line drawings of figures, plants, architecture details and other subjects; family snapshots and formal photographs of individuals; and journals written by Madeleine Jones Walenta, including lists of books read and birds seen.