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Howell family papers
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Held at: Delaware County Historical Society [Contact Us]408 Avenue of the States, Chester, Pennsylvania, 19013
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Delaware County Historical Society. 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
The Howell family were members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) who resided in Howellville, Edgmont Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Whey were a financially comfortable, well-educated family.
Israel Howell (1786-1864) was the son of Arthur Howell and Mary Mott Howell. His wife, Elizabeth Rowland Howell (1789-1866), was the daughter of Sarah Parker Rowland. Israel and Elizabeth R. Howell had several children together. Their daughter Elizabeth Howell was born in 1834 and died unmarried in 1876. Their daughter Sally R. Howell was born in 1829 and died in 1850. Their son Joshua R. Howell was born in 1825; he married a woman named Elizabeth in 1888. Israel and Elizabeth's son, Jacob Howell, was born in Philadelphia in 1827. He married Eliza Buckley Edwards (1840-1880) in 1866 and died in 1891.
Jacob and Eliza Howell had three daughters. The youngest, Mary Mott Howell, was born in 1878. Sarah Rowland Howell was born in 1876. Elizabeth Rowland Howell, born in 1867 (1873?), married William Warder Bacon (1867-1925) in 1893. Their daughter, Margaret Howell Bacon, was born in 1895.
This collection consists substantially of correspondence--over 200 letters--documenting several generations of the Howell family of Howelville (Edgmont Township, Delaware County, Pa.), particularly Sally R. Howell, Israel Howell, Mary Mott Howell, Joshua R. Howell, and Elizabeth Howell. The correspondence is mostly routine in nature, discussing family matters, offering religious advice, and mentioning personal life events. As the correspondence dates from the 1802-1888, it does span a tumultuous period in American history. The collection also includes a sizeable amount of school workbooks and report cards, mostly from the Westtown School; about 17 manuscript volumes from the early to mid-1800s, including a recipe book from 1827 and a ledger from the 1840s; and drafts of poems and other writings. There are also genealogical notes on the Howell family.
Gift of William and Ann M. Carey, 2012, in memory of Margaret Howell Bacon (mother of donor) (accession #2012.22)
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Delaware County Historical Society directly for more information.
People
- Howell family
- Howell, Elizabeth, 1834-1876
- Howell, Israel, 1786-1864
- Howell, Joshua R., 1825-
- Howell, Mary Mott, 1878-
- Howell, Sally R., 1829-1850
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Delaware County Historical Society
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Faith Charlton through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Delaware County Historical Society for information about accessing this collection.