Call Number:

C0650

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 3 boxes
• 1.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Bache and Hodge Family Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1790-1890 (bulk) and 1783-1957 (inclusive)

Creator:

Bache family

Form:

Albums., College orations -- 19th century., Correspondence, Diaries -- 19th century, and Family records.

Abstract:

Consists primarily of correspondence representing five generations of the Bache and Hodge families as well as members of the Scott and Wistar families of Princeton and Philadelphia.

The Bache family is directly related to Benjamin Franklin. Sarah Franklin Bache, born on September 11, 1743, was the daughter of Benjamin. In 1767 she married Richard Bache against her father's will. However, after the birth of her first son, Benjamin Franklin reconciled himself to the match. That first son went on to be a political actor like his grandfather. Sarah's grandson through her first son was a physician, chemist, and author, who served as a military doctor from 1813 to 1816. Before her death in October of 1808, Sarah had eight children with Richard.

History of the Wistar Family

The Wistar family was another Philadelphia family. Richard Wistar, a glass manufacturer, had a son Caspar. Caspar became a doctor, and after spending time in Edinburgh and touring continental Europe, he returned to Philadelphia. There he was connected with the University of Pennsylvania Medical School for thirty years, and became a prominent and popular personality in the Philadelphia social circle. One of eight children, Caspar was part of a large network of Wistars.

The collection consists primarily of correspondence representing five generations of the Bache and Hodge families as well as members of the Scott and Wistar families of Princeton and Philadelphia. Some prominent family members represented are Sarah Franklin (1744-1808), daughter of Benjamin Franklin, and her husband, Richard Bache (1737-1811); their son, Dr. William Bache (1773-1814), and his wife, Catharine Wistar Bache (d. 1820); their daughters, Catharine Wistar Bache (1805-1886) and Sarah Bache (1798-1849); and Charles Hodge (1797-1878, Class of 1815), the husband of Sarah Bache, and several of their children, including Mary Elizabeth Hodge (b. 1825) and her husband, William Mckendry Scott (1817-1862), as well as their sons Hugh Lenox Scott (1853-1934) and William Berryman Scott (1858-1947, Class of 1877). During the early years of their marriage, the latter couple lived in Danville, Kentucky. Two (1878) of the Hugh Lenox Hodge letters were written from Ft. Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory, previously commanded by Colonel George Custer before departing on his trek to the Little Bighorn.

The collection also includes three diaries (1859-1861) of William McKendry Scott; the Princeton valedictory oration (1815) of Charles Hodge and an essay on Philip Massinger by William Berryman Scott written while he was a student at Princeton; and three photograph albums, including those belonging to Sarah Bache Hodge and Charles Hodge Scott (1849-1921, Class of 1868), containing photographs of family members, scenes of the Princeton University campus around 1868, and members of the Princeton Class of 1868. The albums include photographs of Charles Hodge; his brother, Hugh Lenox Hodge (1796-1873, Class of 1814); three of his sons, Archibald Alexander Hodge (1823-1886, Class of 1841), Francis (Frank) Blanchard Hodge (b. 1838), and Caspar Wistar Hodge (1830-1891, Class of 1848); his son-in-law, William McKendry Scott; and his grandson, Charles Hodge Scott. There are also many photographs of unidentified family members.

Series: A. Family Members (A-Z), B. Unidentified Material, C. Photograph Albums.