Call Number:

01

Repository:

Tyler Arboretum

Extent:

3.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1681-1937 (inclusive)

Creator:

Tyler, John J., 1851-1930

Abstract:

Tyler Arboretum in Delaware County, Pennsylvania is one of the oldest arboretums in the northeastern United States. It began as a private horticultural collection developed in the mid 19th century by brothers Minshall and Jacob Painter, and was turned into a not-for-profit public garden by John J. and Laura Hoopes Tyler in 1944. John and Laura Tyler both descended via the Painter family from Thomas Minshall, a Quaker "First Purchaser" who acquired land from William Penn in 1681. The Tyler family papers, 1681-1937, consist of various papers from John J. Tyler and his wife Laura, the Painter Brothers (Jacob and Minshall Painter), and other members of the Painter and Minshall families.

"The history of the [Tyler,] Minshall and Painter families in America begins with Thomas Minshall (1652-ca. 1728), a Quaker who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682 with his wife Margaret (Hickock) Minshall. The previous year he had purchased 625 acres from William Penn, part of which was located in the northern part of Middletown Township in present day Delaware County. Bounded by Ridley Creek on the east, the property descended through the Painter line into the mid 20th century.

"In the mid-19th century, brothers Minshall and Jacob Painter [(descendents of Thomas and Margaret Minshall)] resided on the family farm where they established a plant collection which at one point contained over 1,000 trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. After their death, the property went to their sister, Ann Painter Tyler. Her surviving son, John J. Tyler, inherited the farm in 1914. In 1930 John Tyler made a will leaving 68 acres around the home of the Painter brothers as an arboretum, with an endowment from his estate. In 1944, his widow, Laura Tyler, also a direct descendent of Thomas Minshall, bequeathed the balance of property to [the John J. Tyler Arboretum] board of trustees."

Bibliography:

Quoted text from: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Finding aid to "Painter family papers, 1687-1948, RG5/110." 2010. Accessed March 21, 2014. http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/friends/ead/5110paif.xml

This collection consists of various papers from John J. Tyler and his wife Laura, the Painter Brothers (Jacob and Minshall Painter), and other members of the Painter and Minshall families. Included are financial records (receipts, cancelled checks), property-related documents (deeds, lease searches), estate papers (Enos Painter, Joseph L. Murphy, and J.J. Tyler), correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs (of family members, family property buildings and grounds, plants and trees, and some local sites including Friends meeting houses). Highlights include: William Penn deed to Thomas Minshall, 1681; Thomas Minshall land survey, 1701; several early 19th century deeds; astronomy notes, circa 1820; essays on slavery and on navigation, 1824; "Cycle of Knowledge or Thought," manuscript by Jacob and Minshall Painter; Minshall Painter account book, mortgages and loans, 1842-1873; Minshall Painter, statistics of the populations of Middletown Township and Delaware County, 1850; and family photograph albums, circa 1870s.

Many items have been cataloged and described in a card catalog on-site. The photograph albums were scanned and cataloged by the Friends Historical Library.