Call Number:

1935

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

2.6 linear feet (; 4 boxes, 6 volumes, 3 flat files)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Markoe family papers (Collection 1935), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

(1773-1940, undated) (inclusive)

Creator:

Markoe, Abraham, Jr., 1775-1824.

Abstract:

Abraham Markoe of St. Croix was a wealthy planter and merchant who moved to Philadelphia circa 1770. He became an active revolutionary, and founded the Philadelphia Light Horse militia, later renamed the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. The Markoe family papers are a highly miscellaneous assortment of correspondence, estate papers, deeds, photographs, and other papers from a variety of family members, including Abraham's children, Abraham Markoe, Jr., Mary Markoe Holsman, Sarah Markoe, and Peter Markoe. Also of special note in the collection are General John Markoe's Civil War correspondence and documents on his service in Virginia, his imprisonment at Richmond, 1861-1862, and his role at the battle of Fredericksburg.

The Markoe family was originally from St. Croix. Abraham Markoe (1727-1806) was born there to a wealthy sugar planation owner and provincial governer of the island, then part of the Dutch West Indies. He married Elizabeth Rogers and had two sons in St. Croix, Peter and Abraham Jr.

After his wife died in 1770, Markoe moved to Philadelphia, where he traded with his plantation in St. Croix and established a wealthy merchant company. He re-married in 1773 to a woman named Elizabeth Baynton, and had seven more children.

Markoe was a staunch patriot and established the first volunteer militia in what would become the United States: the Philadelphia Light Horse militia, later known as the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry. The Dutch crown ordered him in 1776 to cease and desist all revolutionary activities or see his holdings in St. Croix confiscated, so he retired from active service. But he continued to support the cause until his death in 1806. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Little is known about much of the rest of the Markoe family. Markoe's eldest son Peter moved to America with his father and became a lawyer in New York City. His son Abraham Markoe, Jr. (circa 1755-circa 1824) remained in St. Croix and managed the family's sugar plantations. He reportedly died in a duel with Baron Lucas de Bretton.

Elizabeth Markoe, Markoe's daughter by his second wife, married a man named Samuel Hazlehurst, and their son apparently ran the St. Croix plantations following Abraham Jr.'s death in 1824. Another daughter, Mary, married Daniel Holsman.

General John Markoe (1840-1893), perhaps a grandson of Markoe's, was a brigadier general in the 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers. Gen. Markoe enlisted in 1861 and quickly advanced through the ranks of the military until, at 23, he was one of the youngest generals in the Union Army. He was injured in 1863 after he successfully led his troops in the Battle of Fredericksburg. After his retirement, he became a successful banker until his death in 1893.

The Markoe family papers are a highly miscellaneous assortment of correspondence, estate papers, deeds, photographs, and other papers from a variety of family members.

Notable materials include Abraham Markoe, Jr.'s letters to his father and occasionally to his brothers, John and Peter, on the operation of the plantations in St. Croix (Box 1, folders 6-7; Box 2, folders 1-3).

Estate papers from various Markoe family members detail their land holdings in both St. Croix and Philadelphia. The family members represented include Daniel Holsman, who married Mary Markoe; James Brown Markoe; John Markoe; Matilda Markoe; and Sarah Markoe.

General John Markoe's papers include his Civil War correspondence, including outgoing family correspondence and incoming official correspondence; and documents on his service in Virginia, his imprisonment at Richmond, 1861-1862, and his role at the battle of Fredericksburg. Flat File 3 contains oversized military papers, including an 1862 appointment signed by Abraham Lincoln.

There are also six volumes in this collection. A letterbook of Daniel Holsman (Volume 1) discusses primarily business and makes particular note of the French confiscation of a ship and its cargo and on efforts to recover the vessel. There is also a report by Gerald Holsman, civil engineer and vice-president of the Investment Company of Philadelphia, on the building of the Guayaquil and Quito Railway in Ecuador. Three volumes contain photographs of Markoe and Holsman family members, as well as European royal family members. This collection also includes James Markoe's diary (Volume 6), detailing his travels in Italy.

This collection was processed using the More Product, Less Process model, and is not arranged into series. Materials are arranged alphabetically by title.