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Anna S. Palmer Collected 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
Anna S. Palmer, the daughter of David and Agnes (Simpson) Palmer, was a birthright member of Falls Monthly Meeting (Hicksite), born 2mo 21, 1881. Her parents served as directors of Friends Boarding Home, Newtown, Bucks County, and her mother (1842-1922) was an elder and clerk at Falls Monthly meeting. Anna graduated from the George School in 1899 and worked as a teacher. She died 9mo. 3, 1973.
Anna's mother, Agnes Simpson Palmer, was the daughter of John and Letitia Buckman Simpson, and she was a great-granddaughter of Quaker minister John Simpson. John Simpson was born in England 10 mo 23, 1739, and his parents, members of the Society of Friends, came to America when he was an infant. He married Ruth Whitson and circa 1764 was recognized as a minister. Ruth died in 1803, and he married second Ann Ingham. He traveled widely in the ministry throughout the United States, moving to Ohio in 1809. In 1810, he requested a certificate of transfer from Falls Monthly Meeting to West Branch, Ohio. A letter dated 1810, 9mo, 2, informs his son David that they are living in a cabin near West Branch Meeting and the lot he purchased.
In 1877, Mary Hadley, daughter of John Simpson's second wife, Ann Ingham, arranged publication of Memoirs and Letter of John Simpson. Mary I. Hadley was also a prominent Friend, active in Indiana Yearly Meeting. Many of the John Simpson letters and excerpts in the published Memoirs are to his daughter Hannah Shinn who had married Samuel Shinn in 1795. The letters in the manuscript volume by an unknown copyist are largely to Simpson's eldest son, David, who married Agnes Wiggins in 1795. David Simpson's son, John (1799-1878), married, Letitia Buckman (1882), the grandmother of Anna S. Palmer, the collector. All were active members of the Society of Friends.
Three of John and Letitia's children married members of the Satterthwaite family, and the youngest, Agnes (1842-1922), married David Palmer. The genealogical information in the manuscript volume includes entries for the descendants of Joseph Simpson, including Palmer, Simpson, Taylor, Shinn, and Satterthwaite branches. The last entry records the death of Mahlon Taylor in 1898.
Family and Quaker papers collected by Anna S. Palmer (1881-1973), a member of Falls Monthly Meeting. Included is a manuscript volume containing copies of letters and memorials concerning John Simpson (1739-1811), Quaker minister. Also postcards of Quaker meeting houses collected by Anna S. Palmer and/or her mother, Agness Simpson Palmer; and other miscellaneous Quaker manuscripts. The manuscript volume complements an 1877 published selection of John Simpson's letters and memoirs compiled by his step-daughter, Mary Ingham Hadley.
Arranged topically
Henry P. Palmer, a descendent of John Simpson, acquired the papers after the death of Anna S. Palmer, his aunt. It was her wish that the papers be given to Swarthmore.
Gift of Henry P. Palmer, Accession 2005.007
Staff determination to keep papers as a collection since they were assembled by a single person. They are arranged as received.
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- Susanna Morikawa
- Use Restrictions
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Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
Includes copies of letters to family members, memorials concerning John Simpson and others, and genealogical information on descendants of John Simpson
Physical Description1 folders
Printed for Mary Hadley. Hadley was the step-daughter of John Simpson, the daughter of his second wife, Ann Ingham. She removed with her mother and step-father to Ohio in 1809 and served as an elder of Springfield Monthly Meeting and clerk of Indiana Yearly Meeting of Women Friends. The booklet is also cataloged in FHL book collection.
Copy of Thomas Clarkson's account of his visit with the Emperor of Russia in 1815 and a copy of Joseph Hoag's Vision
Wedding invitation for marriage of Mark Palmer and Rebecca Blackfan with carte-de-visite of Mark Palmer; invitation to wedding dinner after service at meeting house; "Quotations given in the morning at Langhorne Friends Institute, 1903-1904," by Anna S. Palmer. Mimeograph of descendants of John Palmer (1713-1746).
Probably collected by Anna S. Palmer and/or her mother Agnes S. Palmer. Some have messages. Removed from acidic scrapbook and stored in acid-free envelope.
Loose items, some may also have been represented in scrapbook.
Physical Description1 folders