Call Number:

SC.268

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Extent:

2 folders (2 folders. (.1 linear feet))

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: Clark-Allen family papers, SC/268, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.

Date:

1725-1932 (inclusive)

Creator:

Allen family

Abstract:

The collection contains family correspondence (4 ALsS), genealogical notes, and bible records. It includes family correspondence received by Rebecca Clark, 1804-1806, before her marriage to John Humphrey. One letter is from her sister Elizabeth and the other letters were written by her mother Bathsheba Clark. Bathsheba mentions caring for a grandchild with smallpox and various needlework projects. The genealogical information includes pages from a family bible, research on the Allen, Clark, and Elten families, much of which is consolidated into a family tree by Richard J. Allen, Jr. (1860-1935), an older brother of William C. Allen.

Ruth Allen Bell (1917-2004) was the descendant of Quakers who settled in America in the 18th century. Her grandparents, Elizabeth Clark Bromley Allen and William C. Allen, were active Philadelphia Friends who traveled widely in their ministry. Ruth's mother, Grace Bromley Allen, a member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Western District, married Samuel Bell of Waterford, Ireland, in 1913, and they removed to the United Kingdom. Grace was descended from Benjamin and Bathsheba (Elten) Clark, members of Burlington Monthly Meeting. Bathsheba (1733-1817) and her youngest child, Rebecca, moved to Philadelphia in 1827. Rebecca Clark (1791-1836) married John Humphreys in 1827, and their daughter Elizabeth married James Bromley in 1862. William C. Allen also was a descendant of the Elten family as well as the Ridgways of New Jersey.

Organized into folders: Folder 1: Family records and genealogical research, 1725-1932; Folder 2: Correspondence received by Bathsheba Clark (later Allen), 1804-1806.