Call Number:

3595

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

0.48 linear feet (; 6 volumes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], George Subers Broadbent diaries (Collection 3595), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1861-1898 (inclusive)

Creator:

Broadbent, George Subers, Rev., 1839-1899

Form:

Diaries.

Abstract:

George Subers Broadbent (b. 1839) was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church in several Pennsylvania towns and cities. The diaries detail his work as a preacher and Sunday school teacher, family life, and finances. The first volume is a recording of the events in his and his siblings’ early lives in Montgomery, Berks and other Pennsylvania counties. While this volume begins with a discussion of the events that occurred in 1852, it is actually dated in 1861 which most likely indicates that the volume is a retelling (or reflection) of those experiences.

George Subers Broadbent was born in Rock Hill, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1839 to Joseph Broadbent (who immigrated from Yorkshire, England) and Adelaide Broadbent. Inspired by Reverend Andrew Longacre, he converted from Episcopalianism and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. Under the tutelage of Mr. Clayton Smith he became a recognized local minister and presided over many weddings, funerals, and religious meetings. He gave his first sermon to a congregation at the age of 18 in Spring City and was subsequently licensed to preach by the Evansburg Quarterly Conference.

Broadbent served a short stint in the army from June to August 1863 during the Civil War. He graduated valedictorian from Dickinson College in 1867. In 1870 he married Carrie Creager (June 17, 1847-November 10, 1870), who was a graduate of the Wesleyan Female Seminary in Baltimore.

The couple had one son, Charles, but Carrie died soon after from consumption. George later married Jane Elizabeth Hoar and together they had five children: Joseph (1885), Earl (1886), Clara (1888), George (1890), and Frank (1893). Broadbent was appointed pastor of Pottstown’s Methodist Church at the 1880 annual conference. A local historian later commented, “The selection of George S. Broadbent by the bishop and his cabinet was one of the very best that could have been made to further the spiritual and temporal welfare of the church. He was a master in all the departments of church work—spiritual, administrative and financial. He kept his hand—a hand of love and tenderness—on the levers that operated the working of the church, and utilized the machinery of Methodism to the utmost of his endeavor so as to promote the cause of God and the church that lay so close to this great big heart” (Binder 1902, p. 135-136).

Broadbent fell upon ill health when he left Pottstown for Cheltenham in 1899. Soon after he died on September 25th and was buried there on September 27th. According to Binder (1902), “George S. Broadbent’s life was one grand endeavor to please God” (p. 147).

This is a collection of volumes recorded by George Subers Boardbent between the years 1861-1898. The recordings trace his daily activities, his work as a preacher and Sunday school teacher, family life, and finances. The first volume contains autobiographical and family biographical entries about their lives in 1852. The remaining five volumes (Volume II-VI) are Broadbent’s daily religious, family, social and travel diary entries from 1875-1898.