Call Number:

SC.280

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Extent:

.1 linear ft.

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item or series here], Henry Drinker letters to Isaac Hicks, SC/280, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.

Date:

1801, 1817 (inclusive) and 1801 (bulk) (bulk)

Creator:

Drinker, Henry, 1734-1809 and Drinker, Henry Sandwith,, 1770-1824

Abstract:

Henry Drinker (1734-1809) was a successful Philadelphia Quaker merchant and served as clerk of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. A prominent New York City merchant, Isaac Hicks (1767-1820) was a cousin of the Quaker artist and minister Edward Hicks and of Quaker minister Elias Hicks. Drinker and Hicks were close friends and acted as business agents for each other, reflected in the 1801 correspondence. As prominent members of the Society of Friends, they were active in Quaker concerns, including education. A single letter from Henry Drinker's son, Henry S. Drinker, dated September 3, 1817, acknowledges Hicks's receipt of funds forwarded to support the education of the children of Thomas Potts, a English merchant in Honduras.

Henry Drinker (1734-1809) was a successful Philadelphia Quaker merchant and active in the Society of Friends. He was the son of Henry and Mary (Gottier) Drinker and married first Ann Swett in 1757 (died 1758) and second, Elizabeth Sandwith, with whom he had nine children. A member of the shipping and importing firm James and Drinker, he also was a significant landowner. In 1777 Drinker was one of the "Virginia Exiles," a group of pacifist Quakers who were forcibly exiled to Winchester, Virginia, on claims that they were loyalists. He served as clerk of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and as an elder. A strong proponent of education, he was on the first committee of Westtown School and on the Board of Overseers of Public Schools in Philadelphia. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society and served as President of the Abolition Society and Director of Pennsylvania Hospital.

Isaac Hicks (1767-1820) was a cousin of the Quaker artist and minister Edward Hicks and Quaker minister Elias Hicks. A prominent New York City merchant, in 1796 he established a large fleet of international trading vessels. He retired in 1806 and became deeply involved in Quaker concerns, traveling widely with his cousin, Elias Hicks (1748-1830), the prominent New York Quaker minister.

This series of letters offers insight into the close friendship and business relationship between two prominent Quaker merchants, Henry Drinker of Philadelphia and Isaac Hicks of New York City. The two men relied on each other in financial matters, particularly as they were part of the Quaker business community. For example, Drinker notes that debts owed by Robert Brown and Joseph and Nathaniel Pearsall will not be repaid unless the Meeting Overseers enforce it.

The letters are arranged chronologically.