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Holmes-Webb Family Papers

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Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the 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

Call Number:
RG5.065
Repository:
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Extent:
1.5 linear ft. (3 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item or series here], Holmes-Webb Family Papers, RG5/065, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Date:
1839-1972 (inclusive)
Creator:
Webb, William B. (William Barber), 1824-1894, Webb, Rebecca T. (Rebecca Turner), 1825-1900., Sharma, Shirpad Rama, -1879, Holmes, Rebecca W. (Rebecca Webb), 1868-1957, and Holmes, Jesse Herman, 1864-1942
Abstract:
William B. Webb was a druggist and member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite). He married Rebecca Turner in 1853. Their youngest daughter, Rebecca St. Claire Webb, married Jessie Herman Holmes in 1892. Holmes was a prominent Quaker, taught philosophy and religion at Swarthmore College, and was active in AFSC relief in Europe after World War I. He also served as President of the National Federation of Religious Liberals and was an active member of the Socialist Party. The collection includes correspondence of the Webb and Holmes families, journals of Jesse Herman and Rebecca W. Holmes, and other miscellaneous materials. Of particular interest is the correspondence between the Holmes during his trip overseas and several letters from S. R. Sharma concerning the early Indian self-determination movement and the work of Mahatma Gandhi from 1930 to 1934.

William B. Webb was a druggist and member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite). He married Rebecca Turner in 1853. Their youngest daughter, Rebecca St. Claire Webb, married Jessie Herman Holmes in 1892.

Jesse Herman Holmes was born 1864 1mo 5 in Iowa, the son of Jesse and Sara Morgan Paxson Holmes. He attended Nebraska State University and John Hopkins University, where he received a Ph.D. in chemistry. He married Rebecca S. Webb, daughter of William B. and Rebecca [Turner] Webb in 1892. Holmes taught at Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C. and then George School in Bucks County, PA until 1899, when he set sail for Oxford to prepare to teach philosophy at Swarthmore College. He continued to teach at the College until 1937. He was an active participant in AFSC relief after World War I, travelling to oversee work in reconstruction throughout Europe. Correspondence from Europe in 1920, included in this collection, detail the organizational hurdles that he encountered. Holmes was the president of the National Federation of Religious Liberals and an active member of the Socialist party.

Jesse and Rebecca had three children, Elizabeth Webb, Robert Sinclair, and Jesse Herman Holmes Jr. [III]. Elizabeth died at 16 of complications from diabetes. The family lived in Swarthmore and were members of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting.

Holmes-Webb Family Papers includes the correspondence and writings of Jesse Herman Holmes, a prominent Quaker and professor of philosophy and religion at Swarthmore College. It also contains family materials and genealogical data from his wife's [Rebecca Webb] family.

The Holmes-Webb Family Papers also contain correspondence between Rebecca Turner and William B. Webb before their marriage in 1852 and between members of the Webb family, mostly between Rebecca T. Webb and her sisters. It also includes correspondence between Rebecca W. Holmes and Jesse during his trips overseas (Oxford, the Middle East, Eastern Europe) and letters from Rebecca to her sisters. Several letters from a correspondent in India tell of the early Indian self-determination movement (1930 and 1934) and give a first hand opinion of Mahatma Gandhi's work there.

Three travel journals in the collection include anecdotes about Heidelburg (1898), Scotland (1913), and travel by ocean to Oxford (1899). The rough notes of several talks, poetry, and writings of Holmes speak of the lands he traveled to, but often his longing to be at Swarthmore and the Crum Creek.

Holmes-Webb Family Papers includes personal memorabilia and financial materials as well.

The collection is divided into seven series:

  1. Biographical and genealogical
  2. Correspondence
  3. Family memorabilia
  4. Journals and writings
  5. Financial and legal
  6. Pictures
  7. Miscellaneous

Donor: Gift of Kenneth and Anne Rawson, 1989

Biographical and genealogical materials in Series 1 were compiled by Rebecca T. Webb and trace the St. Clair and Turner lines of the family. The collection was compiled by Margaret Byrd Rawson, Swarthmore College, '23, a student of Jesse H. Holmes and Kenneth Rawson's mother.

Received unprocessed. Sorted into series by FHL staff and placed Record Group 5.

See also:

  1. RG 5/064, Jesse Herman Holmes Papers. Documents relating almost exclusively to academic concerns and projects.
  2. Wahl, Albert. Jesse Herman Holmes, A Quaker's Affirmation for Man. BX7796 +.H765 W2. Typed in manuscript form.

People
Organization
Subject
Place

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
1989
Sponsor
Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Some of the items in this collection may be protected by copyright. The user is solely responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns to reuse, publish, or reproduce relevant items beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to the law. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/.

Collection Inventory

Scope and Contents

By Rebecca T. Webb and others.

General correspondence concerning genealogy, 1894-1895.
Box 1
Correspondence with Charles St. Clair, concerning genealogy, 1891-1896.
Box 1

Webb family, 1839-1886 and n.d.
Box 1
Rebecca Turner to William B. Webb, 1852 and n.d.
Box 1
William B. Webb to Rebecca Turner, 1852 and n.d.
Box 1
William B. Webb to Rebecca Turner Webb, 1881-1885.
Box 1
Jesse H. Holmes to Rebecca Webb Holmes, 1899-1900.
Box 2
Jesse H. Holmes to Rebecca W. Holmes, 1920.
Box 2
Rebecca Holmes to sisters while in Europe, 1914.
Box 2
Cassandra [Webb] Carr to sisters while in California, 1908.
Box 2
S.R. Sharma (in India) to Jesse H. Holmes, 1930 and 1934.
Box 2
Albert Wahl to Jesse Herman Holmes Jr., 1973-1973.
Box 2
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1869-1972.
Box 2

Obituaries.
Box 2
Memorabilia of Rebecca Turner Webb.
Box 2
Memorabilia of Rebecca Webb Holmes.
Box 2
Autograph book, Elizabeth Webb.
Box 2
Jesse Herman Holmes Jr. baby book.
Box 2
Jesse Herman Holmes Jr. memorabilia.
Box 2

Journal, Jesse Herman Holmes, Oxford, 1899.
Box 2
Journal, Rebecca W. Holmes, Germany and England, 1898.
Box 2
Journal, Rebecca W. Holmes, England and Scotland, 1913.
Box 2
Copybook containing suggestions for teaching children, no author, n.d.
Box 2
General and poetry.
Box 3
India.
Box 3
Far East.
Box 3
Russia.
Box 3

Deeds and mortgages, 1862-1872.
Box 3
Burial ground plots, 1870-1927.
Box 3
William Webb estate, 1954-1958.
Box 3

Photographs used for the Wahl biography of J.H. Holmes.
Box 3
Jesse Herman Holmes family.
Box 3
Webb/Holmes extended families.
Box 3
Jesse H. Holmes Jr. family.
Box 3
Swarthmore College Reunion, 1939.
Box 3
Miscellaneous.
Box 3

Printed material, includes poetry, map of the Rhine, and copies of presidential documents.
Box 3
Manuscripts, no author, [19th c.].
Box 3

Print, Suggest