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Stackhouse 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 Stackhouse family was a Pennsylvania and New Jersey Quaker family with roots in the earliest settlement of America. Amos Stackhouse (1757-1825) was the son of James and Martha (Hastings) Stackhouse, Philadelphia Quakers, who had five children including Amos and Hastings Stackhouse (1752-1800). Hastings Stackhouse married Margaret Robbins in 1774 by license and left the Society of Friends. Their son, Samuel Hastings Stackhouse (1779-1822), married Mary Hills. His widow and their son Hastings William Stackhouse moved to Copiah County, Mississippi, where they and other members of the family became plantation owners.
Amos Stackhouse married by license to Mary Powell, daughter of John and Susanna (Bryan) Powell in Mount Holly, New Jersey, but they were restored to membership. In 1790, they transferred from Mount Holly Monthly Meeting to Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of the Northern District. Amos operated a china business in Philadelphia. He and Mary had eleven surviving children: Susanna (1779-1856) married Abraham Lower, Philadelphia cabinetmaker; Hastings (1781-1840), married out of unity in 1806; Powell (1785-1863) married Edith Dilworth; Esther (1787-1819) married Elijah Bangs; Martha (1789-1840, member of Green Street, unmarried; James (1792-) married Hannah; Samuel P. (1794-1858) married Rebecca Shelden; Amos (1796-1818); Robert (1801-1881) married first Elizabeth Davis Kimber who died in 1839 and second, Ann Roberts Matlack of Moorestown Monthly Meeting; Mary P. (1805-1884); and John P. Stackhouse (1809-1883).
Powell Stackhouse (1785-1863) and Edith D. Stackhouse had ten surviving children including Susan (1821-1887) who married Daniel J. Morrell; Anna D. (1823-1893), unmarried; and Powell, Jr., (1827-1900) who married Emily Sharpless Townsend in 1851 under the care of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (Hicksite). Powell Stackhouse, Jr., was a Philadelphia surveyor and conveyancer, a lawyer specializing in real estate. As such, he handled family estate matters, a vocation which grew into a passion for family genealogy.
Robert Stackhouse (1801-1881), a younger brother of Powell Stackhouse, Sr., had two surviving children by his first wife: Edward L. Stackhouse (1833-1911), a Fallsington, Pa., farmer who did not marry and Tacy Elizabeth Stackhouse (1839-1919) who married first Allen Lippincott and second Milnor Gillingham. Robert and his second wife, Ann R. Matlack Stackhouse (1810-1893) had one child, Asa Matlack Stackhouse (1845-1916). A.M. Stackhouse, known as Matlack in the family, was born in Philadelphia where his parents were members of Green Street Monthly Meeting. In 1851, the family transferred to Moorestown Monthly Meeting, NJ. A.M. Stackhouse received his early education in Moorestown, NJ. He received an A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1865 and an M.A. in 1868. The same year he was awarded an M.D. from the Homeopathic Medical College (now Hahnemann Medical College). He practiced medicine in Allentown, Pa., until 1871, where he married Ella Jane Romig whose father was a doctor at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He subsequently worked in the insurance business until 1891. The family moved to Moorestown where Matlack and his wife attended the Presbyterian Church. While he his did not resign from the Society of Friends, shortly before his death, he joined the Episcopal Church. In Moorestown, he was active in local history, a founder and curator of the Burlington County Historical Society and wrote genealogies and local histories until his death on October 6, 1916. His elder son, William Romig Stackhouse, became a Roman Catholic. His younger surviving son, Ernest Robert Stackhouse (1884-1958) became a member of Moorestown Monthly Meeting on request and married Willie Elizabeth Smith in 1907. Their son, E. Robert Stackhouse, Jr., was born in 1911 and was active in Medford Monthly Meeting and Seaville Meeting, NJ.
Arranged in three series: 1. Family papers; 2. Correspondence; 3. Genealogy and estate matters.
Purchase, Acc. 2016.030
As received, the collection was loosely divided into two groups: 3 cartons of largely genealogical forms and correspondence and 2 cartons of mixed materials including correspondence, diaries, photographs, and other family papers. To process, the papers were separated into series and then by correspondent or subject. The genealogical forms have not been processed.
Marriage certificate, Robert Stackhouse and Ann Roberts Matlack, 1841 9m 23 stored in Marriage Certificates, ++S. Family photograph album and loose pictures removed to FHL Picture Collection.
People
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- Susanna Morikawa
- Finding Aid Date
- 2017
Collection Inventory
Loose receipt at end is for payments to Robert Montier, note in pencil "coloured man." Stackhouse was in the china business. Receipts for purchase of chinaware glassware, education of children, store, home repair and improvement, estate settlements
Wife of Amos Stackhouse and mother of Robert Stackhouse and Powell, Sr. Floral pen and watercolor drawings.
Brief diary of Martha Stackhouse (1789-1840), daughter of Amos and Mary P. Stackhouse. Diary begins close to her 23rd birthday in 1812. A second brief spiritual diary 1816-1820 probably of her mother, Mary P. Stackhouse; mentions deaths of daughter Esther and son Amos. In 1820, she vows to refrain from using sugar and other products produced with the labor of enslaved people.
Mimeographed typed, with correction at end regarding specific bequest.
Son of Amos and Mary. P. Stackhouse. Personal and business. Receipt book, 1829-ca. 1841. Invoice book, 1830-1850. Ledge, 1857-1876 with receipt 1850. Ledger 1857-1876 (leather covers). 2 small ledger books, 1839-1866. Loose pages, stocks etc.
Expenses to 1876. One volume is missing a cover, authors not identified. Volume 1871-1875 includes addresses of family members and William Still, African-American abolitionist
Receipt from Dr. Lynch for treatment of breast cancer of Elizabeth Stackhouse, first wife of Robert. Also, Robert Stackhouse to daughter Tacy Elizabeth, an undated account of her mother's illness and death.
Robert Stackhouse, son of Amos and Mary Stackhouse of Philadelphia, and Ann R. Matlack, daughter of Asa and Tamar Matlack, under care of Moorestown [Chester] Monthly Meeting. Stored in Marriage certificates, ++S.
Robert Stackhouse's loan from father=in=law Asa Matlack, receipts, specifications for a house at Falsington, Mordacai Matlack receipts (brother-in-law of Robert, 1808-1896)
For Tacy, Asa M. Stackhouse - many for Moorestown Seminary tuition
Indenture for seven year old Lizzie B. Wright for apprenticeship in housewifery
Undated Ms copy. He died in 1881 and left estate to his wife Ann R. Stackhouse. Ann and sons Edward L. and Asa M. to serve as executors.
Celebration of the long lives of the siblings, signed by family and friends including W. R. Stackhouse, Lippincotts, Matlacks, Roberts
Powell Stackhouse (1785-1863). His children Powell, Jr., Charles D. and Anna D. Stackhouse were co-executors. Included in the file is small bank account ledger kept by Powell, Sr., 1850-1862 with loose receipts. 1845 version of his Will is marked "cancelled"
Unmarried son of Amos and Mary P. Stackhouse. 2 Ms copies, giving estate to his sister, Mary P. Stackhouse and the balance to Lower nieces. Appraisal 1883. Mary P. Stackhouse and John P. Stackhouse were living on his farm in Falls, Buck Co., with niece Tacy and Milnor Gillingham in 1880. Rosamond Bowers, great-niece, also was in the household. Long list of residuary legatees prepared by Powell Stackhouse,Jr., undated.
Pocket memo book with financial notes; 1878 pocket memo book of quotes, etc. Author not identified.
Includes a copy of "Abide with Me" on A. M. Stackhouse stationary and genealogy of the Gillingham family (by Tacy?). Tacy Elizabeth Stackhouse married second Milnor Gillingham in 1867.
Lower, Stackhouse. Most addressed to Mary and Martha Stackhouse, daughters of Amos.
He noted on cover that this was his first public speech.
2 small bound notebooks and one volume removed from soft covers. #1 - "Memoranda of family matters,1891-1910." Includes notes on household help, the founding of the Historical Society of Burlington County, family events, etc., and ends with his account of the queries addressed to him when he was confirmed as an Episcopalian in 1910 and why he did not accept Quaker or Presbyterian denominations. # 2 "Memoranda of family matters, #2," 1910-1912. Diary of events and opinions. He hope that his children will collect and publish his manuscripts. #3 - Diary, 1915-1916, family matters.
Included in file is the Will of William J. Romig, father of his wife Ella, and proof of Will of his older half brother, Edward L. Stackhouse (1911)
Poem/letter written to Rebecca Myers, Richmond, VA. Hair sample of Anna R. Stackhouse, Charles D. and Dilworth
Published advertisement for A. M. Stackhouse medical practice, programs for musical performances Moorestown Seminary, etc.
Family record from Amos and Mary Powell Stackhouse to Ernest Robert Stackhouse, Jr., son of Ernest Robert and Willie Stackhouse in 1911.
Small, leather-bound
Including donation to Westtown Old Scholars
ID cards, train tickets, and two photographs of Pennsylvania Railroad trains (1950). Sons of Asa Matlack Stackhouse.
Family correspondence of Amos and Mary P. Stackhouse of Philadelphia, Pa., and their descendants, primarily the family of their son Robert Stackhouse of Philadelphia and Moorestown, NJ.
ALS with great detail about his family - births, vocations, etc. Mentions their old playmate William Rush, a fine carver in Philadelphia.
Mary, the widow of Hastings Stackhouse (1779-1822) and her son William Hastings Stackhouse (1808-1887) settled in Copiah Co., Mississippi, where she notes there were very few whites in area. Her son thinks of moving to Texas, "that Eldorado of N. America." In 1841 letter Mary writes her thoughts about blacks brought to America and learning religion. Undated letter from William Hastings mentions his rice and cotton crops.
Most are from sister Martha Stackhouse (1789-1840). ALS of 1 mo 25 1822 mentions terrible fire at the Orphans Asylum in which many children died. Family and Friends news. Letter from a friend 1832 refers to the division in the Society of Friends and the "dark walls of free masonry."
An interesting series of letters. ALsS 1853 from E. Yarnall and Tacy from Edgemont where Tacy is staying. 1854 from Sharon Boarding School, mentions hair styles, sewing project, being promoted and a flood on Darby Creek. An undated letter describes her studies in fossils and geology.
ALS describes her studies at Sharon Female Seminary and conversation with Rachel Jackson about teaching. Lucretia Mott expected to come to Darby Meeting to speak First Day.
2 ALsS with local news from Edgemont.
1 ALS. Family news and attended Quarterly Meeting at Trenton where A. Peasley spoke.
1 ALS from New Orleans. Mentions that she has not been to church or meeting for about five years, doesn't count singing in Catholic church. Also asks how the subject of spiritualism is coming - Dr. Clapp articles in local newspaper.
ALS from Mary Romig, mother of A. M. Stackhouse's wife, Ella. Written from Philadelphia to her husband, mentions plan to take Robert for photograph, but was too rainy and daughter Ella.
Mary Powell Stackhouse (1804-1884) to brother Robert (?) with family news from Fallsington.
In 1872 he reports that Matlack and Ella are moving from N.J. for better job prospects - her family lived in Allentown, Pa. Family news. Robert and his wife and children had transferred from Green Street Monthly Meeting to Moorestown Monthly Meeting in 1851.
Matlack discusses the books they are reading, especially the novels of Charles Reade. He and his family are living with his in-laws in Allentown; they are strict church-goers and well-to-do, in insurance business which he joins. Wife Ella suffers from mental and physical illness for some years, and their middle son Ernest Raymond died after a short illness in 1876.
Matlack was living in Moorestown with wife Ella and their sons William Romig Stackhouse and Ernest Robert Stackhouse. William already interested in family ancestry in England. Tacy is teaching a First Day class, and Matlack comments on the difference in evangelical church schools and Friends' approach.
A letter dated 1873 3 mo 27 is from her brother Amos who was living in Warm Springs, NC. Most ALsS from her brother Powell Stackhouse, Jr., regarding financial distributions and accounts.
To "Dear Sister." Morrell (1821-1885) was a York County Quaker who became manager of the Cambria Iron Works in Johnston, Pa., and a Representative in the U.S. House. He married Susan, daughter of Powell Stackhouse, Sr. The content are largely financial.
Mira T. Stackhouse was the daughter of Powell and Emily Stackhouse. A letter from her sister Clara reports that their father is very ill. 2 ALsS from sister Edith who married Edward Lorimer describing near death of daughter E. Marie of diphtheria and the subsequent disinfecting.
Miscellaneous correspondence including from Uncle Percy regarding train engine, business cards of E. Robert Stackhouse who had a printing company in Moorestown, NJ. TLS 1925 from Harriett Sartain regarding print job for Philadelphia School of Design for Women. E. Robert, Jr., was born in 1911.
Correspondence regarding with Friends General Conference regarding speakers, history of the meeting, births and deaths, photograph of the meeting house. Ernest Robert Stackhouse (1884-1958) became a member on request in 1903 and married Willie Elizabeth Smith at Moorestown Meeting in 1907. In 1941, the family transferred to Medford Monthly Meeting (NJ. E. Robert Stackhouse became very active in Seaville Meeting in Cape May Co., N.J., working to establish a seasonal meeting for worship in 1931.
The grandson of Amos Stackhouse and Mary Powell Stackhouse, Powell Stackhouse, Jr., (1827-1900) was a Philadelphia surveyor and conveyancer, a lawyer specializing in real estate. He was the cousin of Asa Matlack Stackhouse who also became interested in family history after corresponding with Powell. As part of his responsibility as a real estate lawyer, Powell Stackhouse was involved in the estates of many members of the family and identifying heirs. Beyond this, he endeavored to pursue "scientific genealogy," sending out forms to be completed by all known Stackhouse descendants.
Powell sent out three versions of printed genealogical forms circa 1885-1895. The most extensive was four pages in length and asked for full details of ancestors and descendants to be returned to his address, Powell Stackhouse, Jr., Conveyancer. A second form dated 189-- was addressed to "Respected Friend" with a list specific of information requested and a short genealogy of Thomas and John Stackhouse and their immediate descendants. A third mailing, ca. 1895, was an personal handwritten letter, sometimes lengthy, with an enclosed the single page form with the basic information supplied. In 1891, William R. Stackhouse, son of Asa Matlack Stackhouse, received Powell's mailing and began a collaboration. The oldest son of Asa Matlack and Ella Stackhouse, his interest focused on the family's roots in England. In 1907 he published a booklet on the Stackhouse family based on material compiled by his father and Powell Stackhouse, Jr. The intention was to eventually compile all the research into a monumental Stackhouse genealogy.
Asa Matlack Stackhouse's research and Powell Stackhouse's estate correspondence begin the series, followed by samples of Powell's method. Note that some who were contacted assumed this was concerning heirs of Thomas Stackhouse and hoped for distribution of estate. Powell's voluminous research was sorted and identified in his meticulous handwriting, but the project did not continue after his death. The family apparently saved the research with the hope that someone who eventually follow up. The completed forms are stored in a carton and archive box.
Manuscript compilation of research on descendants of Amos and Mary Powell Stackhouse, organized by family units with an introductory essay.
Published booklet by William R. Stackhouse and Powell Stackhouse, Jr., with an Introduction by A. M. Stackhouse, MD. Folder also contains a brochure "A Retrospect off Colonial Times in Burlington County" by A.M. Stackhouse.
Notice of a planned two volume genealogy, the first up to 1700 and the second the complete descendants. Sent by William R. Stackhouse, Mount Holly, NJ
Correspondence concerning genealogy
William, son of Asa Matlack Stackhouse, contacted Powell upon learning that he was compiling genealogical information,, and he wondered if they were related. William R. Stackhouse worked for a Philadelphia attorney and offered to help with the research, especially the Medford, NJ. branch and typing up the information. William's primary interest was the pre-1700 ancestry and if the family was connected to nobility.
Letter of condolence concerning death of Samuel's father, Powell Stackhouse, Jr.
Concerning sale of property. Presumably Dennisville, NJ, Cape May County
Powell Stackhouse was one of the trustees
Regarding an estate (John P. Stackhouse who never married?). Susanna, daughter of Amos and Mary Stackhouse, m. Abraham Lower 1799.
Genealogical research
Includes a branch in Wallingford, Pa., related to Pyles, Yarnall, Levis
Samuel Stackhouse was an uncle of Powell Stackhouse, Jr.
ALS requesting his legacy, asked William R. "Willie," Stackhouse, son of Dr. A.M. Stackhouse for advice on how to pursue.
Includes one sent after his death, "I heard you were dead." After Powell's death on April 2, 1900, a few responses to his request for information continued to arrive. A letter responds to apparent query if there were any African-American Stackhouses, a possibility that Asa M. Stackhouse disputed
Family information in reply to his inquiries, some mention hope that there will be estate distribution. Note from a Jas. Stackhouse says that life is too short to spend time on filling out the form.
Preliminary sorting and compilations for Stackhouse descendants. The project ended with Powell Stackhouse's death 1900 4mo 2nd.
Eaton Republic, Ohio (1836). Moorestown Republican with historical essays by Asa Matlack Stackhouse
Not sorted
Physical Description.5 linear ft.
Not sorted.
Physical Description1 cartons