Call Number:

000.015

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.02 linear ft. (1 folder )

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Isaac Collins letters (HCS.000.015) Quaker and Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1831-1836 (inclusive)

Creator:

Collins, Isaac, 1787-1863

Form:

letters (correspondence)

Abstract:

Collection features seven letters written by Isaac Collins to Samuel Parsons along with two portraits of Collins.

Isaac Collins Jr. (1787-1863) was a Quaker and founding member of Haverford College. Collins served on the Haverford Board of Managers from 1830 to 1842 and married twice, fathering three children with his second wife, Rebecca Collins. Together, the couple raised Anna (1835), Stephan Grellet (1836) and Mary Forster (1842).

Collection features seven letters written by Isaac Collins to Samuel Parsons along with two portraits of Collins. Accompanying the original letters are (later) typed versions with dates unknown. The letters mainly deal in the establishment of the Haverford School (now Haverford College) and the costs associated with such an institution. While earlier letters mainly focus on administrative difficulties, such as the ardous task of finding a superintendent; later ones prioritize financial matters, exhibited through Collins's search for "wealthy and liberal Friends." Many of the letters begin with Collins describing personal matters or recounting recent events occuring on campus. All of the letters addressed to Samuel Parsons in Flushing, New York and were sent from Philadelphia.

The letters are arranged chronologically in order to showcase the exchange in correspondence between the two parties. At the front of the collection is the small envalope containing the portraits of Isaac Collins (giving the viewer a visual aid before they embark on their research).