Main content

King family correspondence

Notifications

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:
SC.265
Repository:
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Extent:
.1 linear ft. (.1 linear feet (1 folder, 6 items.))
Preferred Citation:
Cite as: King family correspondence, SC/265, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.
Date:
1817-1835 (inclusive)
Creator:
King family
Abstract:
The collection contains correspondence received by members of the King family, Quaker residents of Ceres, McKean County, Pennsylvania. The letters primarily deal with family concerns. One from Mary (King) Swayne, written in 1817, mentions that her husband, Joel Swayne, had contemplated returning to Indian territory but her poor health prevented his leaving. Anna King mentions her students and is distressed by the tensions in the Society of Friends in 1828.

Francis and Catherine (Marshall) King were English Quakers who emigrated in 1795 to Pennsylvania where they became members of Muncy Monthly Meeting. They had thirteen children, four of whom died in England. The Kings were early settlers of Ceres, McKean County, Pennsylvania, near the New York State border. Francis King (d. 1814) was employed to make surveys for a land development company, and a number of his children became residents of Ceres. Surviving children included John (1784-1865) who married Hannah Clendenon; Ann (1785-1867), who worked as a teacher in Pennsylvania; Mary (1787-1855) who married Joel Swayne, a Quaker missionary to the Indians; Martha (1790-1885) who married William Bell; James (1791-1835) m. Diannah Van Winkle; Jane (1796-1879) who married John Bell, a brother of William Bell; Anna Bella (1797-1849), a member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (Orthodox); and Robert (1801-1867).

Gift of Thomas Hamm. 2016.

Clendenon Family Papers, RG5/338

People
Subject

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
Susanna Morikawa
Access Restrictions

Open for research without restrictions.

Collection Inventory

J? Watson, Jersey Town, to John King and William Bell, Ceres Town, 1817-01-21.
Scope and Contents

Mentioned nusiness transactions and westward fever, but he was not planning to move.

James King, East Marlborough, to William Bell, Cerestown, McKean County, 1817-10-24.
Scope and Contents

To dear brother. He was expecting a visit from Joel and Mary [King] Swayne. Farming was not going well, he offered the advice to the family to pursue trades.

M[ary] Swayne, Aston, Delaware Co., to William and Martha Bell, Ceres, 1820-09-19.
Scope and Contents

She wrote that sister Ann, a teacher, was forced to close her school, had been injured by so much reading. Her husband Joel was thinking of returning to work with Indians, but she was not in favor. She wrote that they were living 5 miles from Westtown and attending Concord Meeting.

M. K. Swayne, Center, to Martha Bell, Ceres, 1828-02-17.
Scope and Contents

Family news and advice

Ann King, Purchase, to William and Martha Bell, Ceres, 1828-09-07.
Scope and Contents

Busy at school

Ann King, Yorktown, to John King, Ceres, 1835-06-08.
Scope and Contents

"Dear brother," mentions death of brother James

Print, Suggest