Call Number:

000.016

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.01 linear ft. (1 folder )

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Samuel Parsons letters (HCS.000.016) Quaker and Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1830

Creator:

Parsons, Samuel, 1774-1841

Form:

letters (correspondence)

Abstract:

Collection features three letters written between July 3 and July 22, 1830 addressed to Daniel B. Smith and sent by Samuel Parsons.

Samuel Parsons (1774-1841) was a Quaker minister and outspoken abolitionist who assisted in the formation of Haverford College in 1833. In 1806, Parsons married Mary Bowne and the couple had three children: Samuel Bowne Parsons Sr., Robert Bowne Parsons, and William Bowne Parsons. Parsons sat on the Haverford College Board of Managers from 1830 until his death in 1841 and sent his son, Samuel B. Parsons, and grandson, Samuel B. Parsons Jr., to the college. Near the end of his life, Parsons founded the Parsons and Co. Commercial Garden and Nursery, which was controlled by his sons upon his death. Throughout his life, Parsons was adamently opposed to slavery as he thought it went against Quaker values. His children, likely influenced by his views, would become conductors on the Underground Railroad of the mid-19th century. Source: The Bowne House Historical Society

Collection features three letters written between July 3 and July 22, 1830, addressed to Daniel B. Smith and sent from Samuel Parsons. All three letters are handwritten and discuss the logistics of the creation of Haverford College (referenced in the letters as the "Central School"). Subjects discussed include the role of the Board of Managers as well as the language and general layout of the school's constitution. Smaller details, such as the age of entrance and means of admission, are also discussed.

Letters are arranged chronologically beginning with the one dated July 3, 1830 followed by the letter dated July 20, 1830 and ending with the letter dated July 22, 1830.