People: Smedley family - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Extent:: 22.4 linear feet (; 49 boxes, 11 volumes)
Abstract:: Gilbert Cope (1840-1928) was a well-known Quaker genealogist and local historian who compiled comprehensive genealogical records of Pennsylvania families. Cope was one of the founders of the Chester County Historical Society and served it as secretary, director, and honorary director. He was a member of the Friends’ Historical Association and a corresponding member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. In 1912, he was elected an honorary member of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and became one of its honorary vice presidents in 1924. Additionally, he served as president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Societies from 1911 to 1912, overseeing 75 historical organizations in Pennsylvania. Gilbert’s son Joseph Cope continued his father’s work, augmenting the Cope family’s genealogy and those of other prominent families. Gilbert Cope’s collections were acquired by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Extent:: 5 linear ft. (10 boxes and photographs)
Abstract:: The Ozone Club was a golf association for Quaker men in the Philadelphia area. It was established in 1901 and included in its membership the presidents of Swarthmore College and prominent Quakers. The Niblick Club which was set-off from the Ozone Club in the 1920s, also was a men's golf association with Quaker membership. The Ozone Club records include minute books, correspondence and miscellaneous papers. A small amount of records from the Niblick Club is also included with the collection, including annual meeting programs and photos.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Extent:: 6 linear ft. (10 boxes (and folder))
Abstract:: This collection contains manuscripts and other materials relating to the Whitson, Smedley, Fisher and other Quaker families of southeastern Pennsylvania. Along with commonplace books, correspondence, and photographs are a series of thematically arranged genealogical binders assembled by the donors. Of particular interest are the battlefield correspondence of Sam Smedley who was killed in the American Civil War and the journal of Esther Whitson, later Cope, who served as a nurse with the AFSC in Russia in the early 1920s

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Extent:: 12 linear ft. (23 boxes plus photographs)
Abstract:: The collection contains correspondence, journals and other writings, business and legal papers, and miscellaneous items of the Smedley family, a large and prominent Quaker family of Penncrest Farm, Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The family was related to the Kite and Sharples/Sharpless families of Chester and Delaware Counties. The papers include significant correspondence of the Kite family, especially Thomas Kite (1785-1845) and Mary Kite (1792-1861), both prominent Quaker ministers, and Thomas's daughter, Susanna Kite (1809-1844) who married Aaron Sharpless. Their daughter, Elizabeth S. Sharpless married Edward G. Smedley of Middletown, thus merging the Smedley-Sharples-Kite families. In the 20th century, the property became the home of Edward Smedley's nephew, Walter Smedley (1862-1939), a Philadelphia architect, and his wife, Ida Wilkins Roberts Smedley (1896-1993). She married second C. Canby Balderston. The papers cover a wide range of subjects...(see more)

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

Extent:: .25 linear ft. (1 volume)
Abstract:: These manuscripts of the Smedley family, Quakers of Chester County, Pennsylvania, were collected by Mary (Green) Smedley in the early 20th century. The scrapbook contains primarily 18th century legal and property documents concerning Thomas Smedley (1688?-1758) of Willistown, Chester County, a member of Goshen Monthly Meeting, and his descendants, particularly George Smedley (d. 1783) and family. The scrapbook includes records relating to a property dispute between George Smedley and George Albridg(e) which was taken up by Goshen Monthly Meeting and led to Smedley's disownment by the Meeting on 1766 12 month 5. His appeal to the Yearly Meeting was rejected the following year. Of particular interest is a 1759 manumission document for James Thompson, signed by George, Francis, John, and Thomas Smedley, as willed by their father Thomas Smedley. The collection also includes family wills, distribution of the estate of George Smedley by the executor, his wife Patience (1731-1812), and...(see more)

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

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