Call Number:

18

Repository:

Germantown Historical Society

Extent:

2.8 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1814-1966 (inclusive)

Creator:

Germantown Historical Society.

Abstract:

The Wisters were a prominent merchant family, established in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 18th century. The family built many homes in the area which are now on the National Register of Historic Places. The Germantown Historical Society collection on the Wister family, 1814-1966, is comprised of materials created by various members of the Wister family, such as business records, correspondence, diaries, knitting patterns, and photographs.

"The members of [the Wister] family were descendants of Johannes Caspar Wister and his wife, Anna Katherine Wüster, of Hillspach (near Heidelburg), Germany. Two of their sons came to America: John (1708-1789) and Caspar (1696-1752), the owner of a glasshouse in New Jersey. John became a merchant and real estate investor in Philadelphia, Pa. John's son, William (1746-1800), became one of the most eminent and wealthy merchants of the city. William's nephew, Charles Jones Wister (1782-1865), was also a merchant and was interested in such scientific pursuits as botany and mineralogy."

Bibliography:

Quoted material from finding aid for Wistar family papers, 1739-[ca.1854]. Winterthur Library, Col. 94. Accessed March 14, 2012. http://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0094.htm.

This is an assembled collection of materials created by various members of the Wister family of the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It features an index scrapbook of receipts from Germantown business transactions of the Wister Family, 1815-1870. From Charles Jones Wister Jr. (1822-1910), this collection includes receipts, correspondence, and manuscripts, circa 1865-1910. There is also an unidentified weather diary, circa 1814-1817, which may have belonged to Charles Jones Wister Sr. From Rachel Wister, this collection includes knitting patterns, 1859. There are photographs in this collection, some of Wister family homes (circa 1910s-1920s) and a few of family members.

There is also a series of 14 newspaper clippings scrapbooks, "Notable Persons and Events," collected by Elizabeth B. Wister and dating from 1892 to 1966.