SFHL/FHL/RG5. Family and Personal Papers
Record Group Term
Identifier: SFHL/FHL/RG5
The largest category of collections in Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College is that of Personal and Family Papers. These materials include correspondence, journals and diaries, and property records of Quaker individuals and family groups they date from the mid 17th century to the present.
Found in 10 Collections and/or Records:
Biddle family Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-177
Overview
This collection contains the papers of Philadelphia Quaker Owen Biddle (1737-1799), his son, Clement Biddle (1778-1856), and numerous descendants. Owen Biddle, a scientist and merchant, was a member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and helped in the establishment of Westtown School (1799). Owen Biddle's papers, 1772-1793, (Series 1) include correspondence, and journals, some of which relate to his Revolutionary War activities. Three of his letterbooks, 1778-1779, have been microfilmed. The...
Dates:
1793-1951
Zebedee Haines Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-056
Overview
Zebedee Haines (1843-1923) was a Quaker who was active in the work of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends and of its Indian Committee in the late 19th century. Zebedee was also a student, teacher, administrator, and school committee member at Westtown School. The Haines family ran a dairy farm in West Grove, Pennsylvania. The collection contains family correspondence and diaries. Also includes letters of Zebedee Haines to his wife, describing his visits to Tunesassa and to native...
Dates:
1857-1922
Holmes-Webb Family Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-065
Overview
William B. Webb was a druggist and member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite). He married Rebecca Turner in 1853. Their youngest daughter, Rebecca St. Claire Webb, married Jessie Herman Holmes in 1892. Holmes was a prominent Quaker, taught philosophy and religion at Swarthmore College, and was active in AFSC relief in Europe after World War I. He also served as President of the National Federation of Religious Liberals and was an active member of the Socialist Party. The...
Dates:
1839-1972
Emily Howland Family Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-066
Overview
Emily Howland (1827-1929) was a Quaker humanitarian and educator who is particularly known for her work with formerly-enslaved African Americans in Virginia during and after the American Civil War. A birthright Friend, Emily Howland was the only daughter of Slocum and Hannah (Tallcot) Howland of Sherwood, N.Y. She was educated locally and for a brief period in Philadelphia, and then moved to Washington, D.C. in 1857 to teach at the Miner School for Freedmen. During the war she worked at a...
Dates:
1763-1929
Edward F. Stratton Collected Papers on Ohio Quakers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-142
Overview
Edward F. Stratton (1876-1968) was a Quaker from Salem and Barnesville, Ohio. He served as Curator of the Salem Quarterly Meeting records and was Librarian of the Friends Society, Salem, Ohio. The collection contains historical and biographical information compiled by Edward F. Stratton about the Maule, Stratton, Williams, and related Ohio Quaker families, especially those involved in separations in Ohio Yearly Meeting. Of particular interest are Joshua's Maule's diaries and correspondence...
Dates:
1770-1967
Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon Schlesinger Library Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-124
Overview
Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon (1890-1979) was born into an extended Quaker family who lived for generations in Clarke and Loudon counties, Virginia. She moved beyond the Virginia Quaker community to a career in the women's movement, first as a campaigner for women's suffrage (1917-1920), then as an educator and political activist in Virginia (1920-1928) and finally as a research economist for the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor (1928-1956). During her retirement years, Pidgeon became...
Dates:
1906-1979
Turner Family Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-152
Overview
This collection centers around the family and descendants of Joseph Turner, Jr., (1790-1850) and his wife Rebecca (Sinclair) Turner (1787-1877), members of Baltimore Monthly Meeting-Western District. They raised eight children and had fifty-four grandchildren. As a young man, Joseph left the family plantation near Still Pond, Kent County, Maryland, and became a lumber merchant in Baltimore. He served as Clerk of the Lombard Street Meeting. Rebecca was a recorded minister and traveled widely....
Dates:
1776-1954
Samuel Walton Family Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-254
Overview
The Waltons were prominent Quakers in Philadelphia, Pa., and Belmont County, Ohio. Joseph Walton (1817-1898) taught at Westtown School, edited the Quaker periodical, The Friend, and served as Clerk of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Orthodox). His brother, Samuel Walton (1827-1899), moved to Ohio in 1847 and in 1854 married Sarah James Edgerton at Stillwater Monthly Meeting, the center of Wilburite Quakerism in Ohio. The family was deeply involved in matters relating to the Society of Friends....
Dates:
1813-1890
Joseph Wharton Family Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-162
Overview
Joseph Wharton (1826-1909) was a prominent Philadelphia Quaker merchant, industrialist, scientist, and philanthropist who was active in 19th century Delaware Valley manufacturing, business, and education development. The papers cover in depth his business activities as well as his career as Manager of Swarthmore College for over 35 years and as founder of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. The collection includes business correspondence, 1855-1908,...
Dates:
1691-1955
Benjamin F. Whitson Family Papers
Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-164
Overview
Benjamin F. Whitson (1867-1957) of Moylan, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, was a Quaker businessman. Whitson was active in Quaker affairs such as Friends World Conference in 1937 and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and in Quaker concerns such as peace, temperance, and education. He was the son of Thomas H. and Phebe (Cooper) Whitson, and his family and extended family has deep Quaker associations. Both Benjamin Whitson and his father, were recognized as Quaker ministers and made visits to...
Dates:
1835-1957
