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Truman-Underhill 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
The Truman and Underhill families were Pennsylvania Quaker families with close ties to Swarthmore College and involved in social concerns. Best known is George Truman (1798-1877), Quaker merchant, dentist, and doctor and a recognized minister who visited Indians in the American West and former Quaker settlements in the West Indies.
Benjamin Mott Underhill (1863-1930) and his wife, Georgia Cook Myers Underhill (1877-1926) attended Swarthmore College. Benjamin Underhill graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1895 and from 1908 until his death was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He was active in the Delaware County Institute of Science and in Providence Friends Meeting in Media, Pennsylvania. His maternal grandfather was George Truman (1798-1877).
This collection contains chiefly the papers of Benjamin Mott Underhill (1863-1930) and Truman-Underhill family genealogical and family documents, one folder of family correspondence, and a picture collection which includes family albums, cased photographs, and silhouettes of the Truman and Underhill families. Of particular interest are a letter from George Truman to his wife Catherine describing his religious visit to Santa Cruz in 1840 and an account book, 1781-1796, of James Truman, coppersmith.
The collection is divided into five series:
- Biographical and genalogical
- Family correspondence
- Family papers
- Benjamin Mott Underhill papers
- Pictures removed to PA 74
Accession information
Donor: Albert Cook Myers, 1940
The collection was deposited by Albert Cook Meyers who was a local historian and collector and was related to the Truman-Underhill families by marriage. Myers also gave the George Truman Papers, RG 5/189, the same year, on behalf of his deceased brother-in-law Benjamin Mott Underhill and his children.
Brought to library in small trunk and two suitcases by Albert Cook Myers, who was the brother-in-law of Benjamin Mott Underhill. Preliminary checklist made in 1961. In 1974, marriage certificates removed to Chart case "Marriage certificates" and diplomas placed in "Diploma file." Bibles, secondary materials, Swarthmore College yearbook, and relics catalogued and stored separately. In 1984 the remaining oversize items flattened and oversized pictures catalogued, Mott letter transferred to Mott Manuscripts.
The following material material, originally part of the collection, has been recatalogued:
- Marriage certificates and diplomas stored in those collections (see list below). Brass key, spectacles and quilt placed with Relics. Family Bible placed in Bible Collection. Proceedings of Delaware County Institute of Science placed in SG 3, The Monthly Review v. 1 in SG 1, The Halcyon 1901 in RG 6, Yearbooks. In 1984, the Mott letter was removed to the Mott Manuscripts. In 1997, pictures were removed to PA 74.
Marriage certificates in chart case:
- Joseph Moore and Sarah Hampton, 10/18/1764
- Joseph Master and Jane Clothier, 6/30/1768
- James Truman, Jr. and Phoebe Moore, 5/3/1787
- William Lloyd Maddock and Jane Moore, 3/12/1795
- Nathan Allen Smith and Phoebe Pearson, 10/7/1817
- George Truman and Catherine H. Master, 10/4/1821
- Benjamin Underhill and Sarah Truman, 4/3/1856
- John Townsend and Catherine H. Truman, 4/24/1873
- Benjamin Mott Underhill and Georgia C. Myers, 5/25/1912
Diplomas stored in diploma chart case:
- George Truman, Philadelphia Medical College, Dr. of Medicine, 1848
- James Truman, Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, Dr. of Dental Surgery, 1877; University of Pennsylvania, Doctor of Laws, 1904
- Benjamin Mott Underhill, George School, 6/17/1897; Swarthmore College, Bachelor of Letters, 6/12/1900
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- FHL staff
- Finding Aid Date
- 2000
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research
- Use Restrictions
-
Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
Arranged chronologically in one folder.
Describes religious visit to Santa Cruz and the welfare of enslaved people.
Physical DescriptionALS
ALS
Original transferred to Mott Mss.
Physical Descriptioncopy of ALS
11 albums
Hollowcut, one folder. One dated 1819 but others cut after 1830. Some appear to be from the Peale Museum. See also Album 1 silhouette of George and Catherine Truman by August Edouart, 1843.