Call Number:

MC.1321

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

1.5 linear ft. (1 box, 13 volumes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Thomas Wistar Brown papers (HC.MC.1125) Quaker and Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA

Date:

1701-1917 (inclusive)

Creator:

Brown, Thomas Wistar, 1826-1916

Form:

letters (correspondence), Deeds, Diaries, letter books, Marriage certificates, manuscripts (documents), Geological maps, maps (documents), clippings (information artifacts), Annual reports, Reports, and Poems

Abstract:

Correspondence, letter books, diaries, scrapbooks, account books, deeds, marriage certificates, genealogical material, and miscellaneous manuscript and printed items of, or about, Thomas Wistar Brown (1826-1916), his father Moses Brown (1793-1878), his mother Mary (Wistar) Brown (b. 1807), his brother Moses Brown (b. 1829), his wife Mary (Farnum) Brown, his son John Farnum Brown (1873-1894) and others. Under correspondence, there are four letters from Eliza Paul (Kirkbride) Gurney to Elizabeth W. Wistar. Included under miscellaneous manuscripts are extracts from the Minutes of Dover [N.H.] Monthly Meeting, 1701/2-1785, the will of William Brown of Dover, N.H., 4mo. 19 1833, and a poem by Joseph John Gurney, 1838. The collection also contains the Wistar Family tree.

T. Wistar Brown was born in 1826 to Mary Walm Wistar Brown and Moses Brown. He was a businessman and philanthropist. He was deeply involved in several educational institutions, serving as an overseer of William Penn Charter School and on the Board of Managers of Haverford College from 1853 until his death. He was a great benefactor of Haverford, establishing funds in honor of his father, his wife, Mary Farnum Brown, and his son John Farnum Brown. These funds included support for the purchase of library materials. In 1906, Brown began to establish a fund which would result, some ten years later, in a graduate school program at Haverford that offered biblical literature, philosophy and other courses to both men and women. Brown was also a member of the Indian Rights Association from 1912 to 1916 and was a strong supporter of the Associated Executive Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs. Brown died in 1916.

Materials in this collection include letters, diaries, and other materials of T. Wistar Brown and his family.

Deeds in this collection are for land in Philadelphia in the 1850s, mostly being passed from T. Wistar Brown and Moses Brown Jr. to John F. Bird and William R. Stockton. Correspondence includes family letters, several letters from Eliza Paul Gurney, and telegrams of sympathy upon the drowning of John Farnum Brown.

Miscellaneous manuscript materials include Extracts from the Minutes of Dover [N.H.] Monthly Meeting, 1701/2-1785; Poems by Thomas Wistar; Will of William Brown, of Dover, NH; Album, by J. J. Gurney; Poems copied for T. Wistar Brown, by Moses Brown, 1874-1875; Picture of Anthony Benezet's house in Philadelphia; Three daily themes by John Farnum Brown, while at Harvard; Recollections by T. Wistar Brown, 1904; Recommendation of committee to Board of Managers of Haverford College concerning possible request for resignation of Prof. Henry Cadbury. [ca. 1916]; Remarks at funeral of T. Wistar Brown.

Printed materials include a map of Philadelphia, a picture of John Farnum;, The Youth's Monitor; or A Daily Text for the Month; Little Fret; Map of the Circuit of Ten Miles Around the City of Philadelphia, 1847; Newspaper clippings about Charley Ross kidnapping, fire in T. Wistar Brown's home, and tribute to him after his death; Tribute to T. Wistar Brown, taken from Haverford Alumni Bulletin; 165th Annual Report of Pennsylvania Hospital; Rules of the Philadelphia Dispensary...with the Annual Report...for 1916; Prospectus for the Thomas Wistar Brown Graduate School of Haverford College.

The letterbook of Mary W. Brown contains letters from Lydia H. Chase, written from Salem. Lydia's letters tell of the depth of her friendship and her daily life. The T. Wistar Brown lettebook includes colonial money, letters related to philanthropy and family news, from a variety of senders. The Moses Brown letterbook includes spiritual guidance and business letters.

The Extracts from the Diary of Elizabeth Young are very religious. T. Wistar Brown's diary documents mostly weather and plants, with a few family comments. The diary of T. Wistar Brown and Moses Brown Jr. was kept by their parents when they were children, recording their behavior. T. Wistar Brown's scrapbook features cut out woodcuts, and was probably made when he was a child. T. Wistar Brown account book records payments to people and companies, not for individual items

Mary Farnum's piece books contain copies of poems, mostly by Tennyson, Longfellow, and Whittier. Account of the sickness and death of the wife and daughter of Daniel Wheeler is written by Sarah, William, and Charles Wheeler, in the form of both letters and accounts. The death of their mother is followed by an account of their sister Jane's death from consumption (tuberculosis). John Farnum Brown's bird notes record bird sightings and behaviors.

Volumes are arranged by genre. Materials in folders are arranged chronologically.