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Friends South-Western Burial Ground Records
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Held at: Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Western District Monthly Meeting was set off in 1814. The first meeting house in that part of the City had been erected in 1685 -- the Centre meeting-house - probably near the southwest corner of Market and Broad Streets. This structure was abandoned at an early date, and the Twelfth Street Meeting house was not erected until 1812.
The first burial ground for Friends in Philadelphia was on a plot of land (the east side of 4th, south of Arch street) that was granted to Quakers by William Penn in 1701 "for a burying place;" it had, in fact, already been used for that purpose for several years prior to that date. So many people were buried there, Friends and non-Friends alike, that by 1794 there was very little room left. The Eastern Burial Ground was about 70 feet south of Arch Street above 3rd. The Western Burial Ground -- also called Sassafras -- comprised the entire block from 16th to 17th Street and Race Street to Cherry Street. Burials were recorded there from 1823 until 1884 when the site was taken over by Friends Select School. Friends also claimed title to the burial ground at Blockley (transferred to the Board of Health in 1819) and to a burial ground at Fair Hill which was retained by the Hicksites after the Separation. Members of Western District Monthly Meeting were also interred at Haverford.
In 1860, a joint committee made up of members of the four Orthodox Philadelphia monthly meetings could not agree on the purchase of a new burial ground. At that time, Western District Monthly Meeting went ahead and purchased a tract of land from Charles H. Wilbank and wife in Delaware County, Pennsylvania for its own use. This purchase, at 236 Powell Lane, Upper Derby, was bounded by Marshall Road, Sellers Avenue, and Spruce Street, close to the border of the City of Philadelphia.
Western District's tract was called Friends South-Western Burial Ground. It was laid out with both single graves in rows and family plots. In 1880, the other two Philadelphia Monthly Meetings jointly purchased part of the Friends South-Western property and established the Marshall Road Burial Ground on the same site. In 1915, the burials at Arch Street were disinterred and reburied at Friends South-Western. The remains at Western were also re-interred at South-Western.
Records of Friends South-Western Burial Ground, 1827-2004. Includes a photocopy of the record of interments from 1895 which is still in use at the Meeting. Also included are interment permits, orders, and applications, as well as rule books and correspondence.
Records of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (Orthodox), relative to its burials in Marshall Road and Friends South-Western Burial Grounds have been microfilmed and are available at Friends Historical Library: MR-Ph379 (1862-1898); MR-Ph380 (1899-1928)
Deposit, Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, 2004-2005.
Gift, Gerry & Pauline Kelsey, 2005.
Deposit, Central Philadlephia Monthly Meeting, 2006.
Organization
- Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends
- Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia for the Western District (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Friends Southwestern Burial Ground (Upper Darby, Pa. : Township)
Subject
- Publisher
- Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Date
- 2011
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research. Access may be provided via digital or microfilm copy, per repository policy.
- Use Restrictions
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the Repository. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the individual Meeting or its successor. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Repositories as the holder(s) of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.
Collection Inventory
Bound photocopy of the original volume which is still in use.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox/United
Book # 1719. First record of Marshall-Road Burial Ground. A new system for numbering rows was adopted c. 1887, and all these entries were incorporated into new books. Includes deed of a family plot to Amy Y. Tatum, 1875, conveyed to Charles Hartshorne, 1878, and to his heirs, 1924.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Book # 1720. Includes records from first book, and re-interments from Arch St. and Western Burial Grounds.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Book #1420. Duplicates some information in Register of Interments, 1863, and Register of Interments, 1895. Has some additional information on those listed: last known address, names of family members. With tipped-in map.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox/United
Book #1418. Annotated by George Vaux. Duplicates some names in Register of Interments, 1863, but has more info on death dates.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Book #1419.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Interment permits issued by the Health Department include name and age of decedent, date and cause of death, occupation, place of birth, residence, and place of interment. Most of the documents are to Friends South-Western Burial Ground.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
List by lot number and deed number, #1-217, dated 1862-1884, with tipped-in map and ms. form of transfer. Also includes memorandum re: Jane Preston's bequest (1863), and alphabetical index to the early deeds, and cancelled/transferred deeds. Volume marked RS 633A, 1416.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Deeds #1-218, dated 1862-1884. Volume marked RS 63A, 1417.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Indexed; tipped-in map of burial ground, Sections B, C, D, & I. Note signed by George Vaux in 1885 indicates that he reconstructed burial locations from 1862-1885, and then entered the information concurrently with the event. Volume includes diagrams of placement of burials within each family lot. Marked Book 1601.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox/United
Continuation of previous volume, Plans of Family Lots. Includes Section I (Lots 119, 202-210), only pages 363-368 completed, . Indexed; tipped-in map. Marked Book 1602.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox/United
Certificates #1-300 (indexed). Books A-C used concurrently by Charles Roberts, George Vaux, and Samuel Rudolph respectively. This volume marked RS325.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Certificates #301-498 (499-594 blank). Books A-C used concurrently by Charles Roberts, George Vaux, and Samuel Rudolph respectively. Filed in book were also the following: Correspondence and extracts re: Agnes Deaves Fund, 1885-1911, (2) annotated maps of the burial ground, (1) list of rules, and correspondence about sales, 1910-1935. This volume marked 325A.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Bound stubs (C) of certificates #601-889 (643-46 & 890-900 blank); photocopies in Box and at Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Completed stubs list name of decedent, dates of birth and death, names or parents and/or spouse, place of membership, residence, and lot number. Books A-C used concurrently by Charles Roberts, George Vaux, and Samuel Rudolph respectively.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume + 1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Separated permits #601-889 (643-46 & 890-900 blank) of above volume. Completed applications and permits list name of decedent, dates of birth and death, names or parents and/or spouse, place of membership, residence, and lot number, with location of grave within family plot noted on back of permit. Applications occasionally contain additional information on decedent.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Loose orders and related correspondence, 1900-1909, chronologically arranged; mixed permit numbers. Box marked RS327, 1704.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Originally filed in a letter file box with the same title, RS 640, 134. Filed alphabetically: A-B, C-E, F-H, I-L, M-P, & R-Y. Box also included a small folder of correspondence related to the removal of remains from Eastern (Arch Street) and Western Burial Grounds to South-Western, 1914-1916.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
7 folders
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Stubbs of Orders for Interment, #1501-1800. Marked Book B (book F).
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Separated permits 1923-1925: (#468-484 - 478 missing); 1918-1925 (#1260, 1299-1332 - 1310 missing); 1920-1925 ( #1600, 1615-1635 - 1625 missing). Completed applications list name of decedent, dates of birth and death, names or parents and/or spouse, place of membership, and residence; lot number, with location of grave within family plot noted on back of permit. Photocopies at Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and in second folder.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
2 folders
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Volume containing completed stubbs and also blank forms for receipt of payment for the right of interment, #601-853 (854-900 blank), with some loose agreements.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox/United
Loose permits and related correspondence, removed from box marked "Interment Records, 1945-1956." Arranged by permit number: #1298-1399, 1400-1499, 1500-1528, and 1820-1823 (Benjamin Cadbury's records).
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
4 folders
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Bound stubs of certificates #1201-1549 (1550-1560 blank). Completed stubs list name of decedent, dates of birth and death, names or parents and/or spouse, place of membership, residence, and lot number. Photocopies in folder.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 volume
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox/United
Duplicate volumes.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
2 volumes
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Includes an 1860 mss. copy of Rules & Regulations. Photocopies in a separate folder.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
2 folders
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
List of deeds and photocopy.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Agreement with Hibberd Yarnall and Joseph B. Cooper (Yarnall & Cooper).
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Assignments of interest.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Removed from a box which was labelled: "Western District Monthly Meeting Papers accumulated in the hands of George Vaux and now placed in 12th St. Meeting-house Fire-proof 4/14/1913" and "Papers re: Friends Southwestern Burial Ground, and Western District Meeting 7/31/1958."
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Includes correspondence and business records related to Friends South-Western Burial Ground, including maintenance agreements and extensive correspondence of the heirs of Charles Gause concerning who had rights to burial in the family plot.
From the files of Richmond P. Miller, received from Alice Miller, 1973.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
(2) copies of the published Rules and Regulations, dated 1870, and one dated 1901. The former include maps of the property.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Agreement to employ Thomas Rudolph as Caretaker (1885) and other records.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
Gift of Gerry and Pauline Kelsey, 2005.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: Orthodox
List of properties of joint ownership and sketch (1960) with a list of headstones removed from the property of Friends Select School to Friends South-Western in 1967.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
1 folder
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: United
Subcommittee records, arranged chronologically, 1948-1961 & 1962-1999.
Available on microfilm in the following location(s):
- Swarthmore: No Film
- Haverford: No Film
2 boxes
Material Specific DetailsAffiliation: United