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Morris-Shinn-Maier collection

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-1191

Scope and Contents

Contents of this collection include:

Information re Shinn and Newhall-Coffin genealogies.

Historical papers, (including deeds, indentures, certificates, letters) of people outside the Morris-Shinn-Maier family.

Julia Cope Collins: financial material, Haverford College Class of 1881 Reports.

Edward Drinker Cope: correspondence, personal and accounting material, estate documents.

Mary Thomas McClenachan Jones: personal and accounting material, correspondence, will. Maier family correspondence (William S., Rosine, Frederick Hurst, Julia, Earnest).

Maier family receipts (William S. and Frederick Hurst).

Anna Shinn Maier: correspondence, financial material, personal material.

Paul David Irwin Maier: correspondence, financial material, personal material, Haverfordiana, Joseph Sturge Mission School, Western Soup Society and White & Richardson Trust documents.

William Morris Maier: correspondence, Haverfordiana, legal papers, material from Quaker and charitable organizations.

Catharine Wistar Morris (1840): correspondence, personal material, financial material.

Israel Wistar Morris: correspondence, financial material.

Levi Morris: correspondence, legal papers, financial material, business material, personal books.

Naomi McClenachan Morris: correspondence, material re properties, personal material, financial material, papers re Levi Morris' death, will.

Stephen Paschall Morris: correspondence and papers.

Newhall family: letters, legal documents, material re family members' deaths. Mary, Abby and Hannah Johnson Newhall: diaries, commonplace books, correspondence.

Earl Shinn: correspondence, financial material, legal material, will, Shinn family material.

Earl Shinn, Jr.: correspondence, financial material.

Emma Morris Shinn: correspondence, personal material, financial material.

James Thornton Shinn: correspondence, personal material, financial material, material re death of Earl Shinn, Jr., material from after his death.

Application to place Harriton on the National Register of Historic Sites.

Photographs of Paul David Irwin and William Morris Maier, Abby and Mary Newhall, Harriton.

Dates

  • 1720-1975

Creator

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright and Rights Information

Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Archives with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.

Biographical / Historical

Below is a brief history of the Harriton Estate, a property in present day Bryn Mawr, which was passed down through these families: Rowland Ellis (1650-1731) was born in Dolgellu, Wales. He visited Pennsylvania in 1686, and moved there in 1696. He settled on about 698 acres in a region designated by William Penn for Welsh Quakers. Ellis named his property "Bryn Mawr," after his estate in Wales (which passed to his daughter Ann). Ellis is said to have built the mansion house, which still exists as a museum, in 1704.

Richard Harrison (?-174?) was a Maryland enslaver, tobacco farmer, and Quaker. He married Hannah Norris in 1717, and bought "Bryn Mawr" estate from Rowland Ellis in 1719. Harrison moved his family, possessions, and the people he enslaved to the Bryn Mawr estate from Herring Creek, Maryland. He renamed the estate "Harriton," following the example of his father-in-law Isaac Norris, who named his New Jersey estate "Norriton." Richard Harrison kept enslaved people at Harriton, which became one of the largest northern forced labor plantations of its time. He was at one point chastised by his meeting for holding too many people in slavery, and according to George Vaux, Harrison was "an exstensive slave-holder" (per Vaux's "Settlers in Merion: The Harrison Family and Harriton Plantation", 1890). Harrison built a meetinghouse (which was razed in the 1820s) and a family burial ground on Harriton grounds. Enslaved people who worked in the tobacco fields are believed to be buried in a separate plot behind the property (between Harriton House and Ithan Ave.).

Hannah Harrison Thomson (1728-1807) was the daughter of Richard Harrison and Hannah Norris Harrison, a Quaker minister whose parents had been a prominent colonial official, and the daughter of a prominent colonial official. Hannah Harrison married the Secretary of the Continental Congresses, Charles Thomson in 1774, and inherited the Harriton estate from her father after his death. Hannah Harrison Thomson lived with her husband at Fourth and Spruce during his political career. After his retirement in 1789, Hannah Harrison Thomson and Charles Thomson returned to her childhood home. Charles Thomson was an abolitionist, and presumably it was Charles and/or Hannah who ended the practice of holding enslaved people at Harriton.

The Thomsons had no children, and after helping to raise her great-nephew Charles McClenachan, the eldest surviving child of his generation, they selected Charles to inherit the Harriton estate after their deaths. However, Hannah Harrison Thomson died in 1807, and Charles McClenachan in 1811 (during the lifetime of Charles Thomson). Charles McClenachan then left his inheritance to a six-week old daughter Naomi McClenachan, but under the terms of a life estate, Charles Thomson remained in the old Harriton mansion until his death in 1824.

Page Cadorus (1774-1840) was a former servant or enslaved person, who was Black or mixed-race. He was a favorite of Charles Thomson, and was probably raised in the Thomson household. During his lifetime, Charles Thomson gave Cadorus a life-estate on another part of the Harriton property. The land was known as Cadorus (or Codorus) Farm, and was legally owned by Page Cadorus, but he never resided there; instead, he leased it to tenant farmers.

After Cadorus died in 1840, his life estate reverted back to the ownership of Naomi McClenachan Morris, who had inherited the entire property from her father. She moved there with her husband, Levi Morris.

Levi handled the management of the estate until his death in 1868, and under his guidance, the Harriton property was leased to a number of tenant farmers. Levi also organized the building and leasing of a mill. He sold plots of land for their timber, and then resold the land as a farm (called Woodleave Farm). There were a number of different farms on the Harriton property, all of which generated money for the Morris family.

It is unclear what buildings existed on this part of the property. A building called Lane’s End, which still stands, may have housed Cadorus’ tenant farmer as well as a springhouse. The building as it stands now, however, was probably significantly altered (if not entirely re-built) by Levi Morris during the nineteenth century. The same goes for the mansion house in which the Morris family lived. There was probably a building on the same spot before the Morris’s moved to the property after Cadorus’ death in 1840, but it is unknown exactly what type of building. The current mansion may have been built on top of the former building, or expanded from it. The old Harriton mansion built by Rowland Ellis and lived in by Richard Harrison and family was the home of tenant farmers throughout the nineteenth century, but the Morris family never lived in it.

In the late nineteenth century, Naomi McClenachan Morris decided that it was improper for a Quaker lady to live in a house named after an enslaved person—although Page Cadorus was not necessarily one—and she decided to rename the house and farm where she resided "Harriton." After Naomi's death, her heirs squabbled over the "Harriton" name, and whether it should apply to the former Cadorus region of the estate or to the original side, with the old mansion house.

Biographical / Historical

Lydia Comfort Shinn Cadbury (1828-1904) – Daughter of Earl and Sarah Comfort Shinn, Lydia Shinn married Richard Cadbury in 1850 and they had four children: Caroline (1851-1914), Richard Tapper (1853-1929), Sara “Sally” Shinn (1855-1876), and Lydia “Lilly” Comfort (1856-1857/8). She was an active member of the Twelfth Street Meeting in Philadelphia.

Richard Cadbury (1825-1897) – Son of Joel and Caroline Cadbury, Richard Cadbury married Lydia Shinn in 1850. He was a partner in the dry goods firm of Cadbury & Thomas, later Cadbury, Rhoads & Thomas. The firm dissolved in the 1880s and Richard supposedly gave up his fortune, never again a rich man. In addition, he served as Steward of the Pennsylvania Hospital, treasurer and manager of the Magdalen Society, manager of Haverford College, and was an original director of the Provident Life and Trust Company with his brothers-in-law Samuel R. Shipley and Henry Haines.

Elizabeth Shinn Haines (1823-1883) – Oldest daughter of Earl and Sarah Comfort Shinn, Elizabeth Shinn married Henry Haines in 1845. They had one son, Henry, who appears to have died young.

Henry Haines (1819-1905) – Son of Job and Phoebe Haines, Henry Haines married Elizabeth Shinn in 1845. From 1865 until his death in 1905, he served as a director of the Provident Life and Trust Company of Philadelphia with his brothers-in-law Samuel R. Shipley and Richard Cadbury.

Jonathan Jones (1762-1822) – Second husband of Mary Thomas McClenachan Jones, Jonathan Jones lost his first wife, Mary Powell Potts Jones, in 1789 when she died in childbirth at the age of eighteen. Jones had an estate in Wynne Wood.

Mary Thomas McClenachan Jones (1787-1876) – Daughter of William and Naomi Thomas, Mary Thomas married Charles McClenachan in 1810 and had daughter Naomi McClenachan in 1811. Six weeks after Naomi's birth, Charles McClenachan died. In 1818, Mary Thomas McClenachan married Jonathan Jones, a second marriage for them both. Mary Jones gave birth to her second child Owen Jones in 1819. The family resided on the Jones estate in Wynne Wood. Mary Jones involved herself in property disputes regarding daughter Naomi McClenachan's contested inheritances of Harriton and a McClenachan estate in Ireland. In her later years, Mary Jones lived with Naomi at Cadorus Farm, a part of the Harriton estate.

Owen Jones (1819-1878) – Son of Mary Thomas McClenachan Jones and Jonathan Jones, Owen Jones was raised on his father's Wynne Wood Estate. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, studied law in Philadelphia, and established a law practice in Ardmore. Owen Jones was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1856 and served from 1857 to 1859. He also served as a delegate from Pennsylvania to the 1860 Democratic National Convention. In 1861 Jones became a Colonel in the United States Army and led Troop B of the First Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil War. Owen Jones married Mary Roberts and they had three children: J. Aubrey, Glendower "Glennie," and Emily Roberts. Glennie and Emily each died, at separate times, at the age of twenty-four.

Anna Morris Shinn Maier (1874-1941) – Daughter of Emma Morris Shinn and James Thornton Shinn, Anna Morris Shinn married attorney and Haverford graduate Paul David Irwin Maier in 1906. They had two sons: James Shinn (1907-1999) and William Morris (1909-1982). In this collection, she is sometimes referred to as A.S.M.

James Shinn Maier (1907-1999) – Eldest son of Paul D.I. and Anna S. Maier, James Shinn Maier graduated from Haverford College in 1929. He married Phyllis Flannery in 1945 and they had two daughters: Marianna (1946- ) and Cynthia (1948- ). In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as J.S.M.

Paul David Irwin Maier (1874-1936) – Son of William S. and Rosine Maier, Paul D.I. Maier graduated from Haverford College in 1896 and the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1900. He opened the law firm Cahall and Maier with partner Thomas Cahall in Philadelphia in 1901. He married Anna Morris Shinn in 1906. They had two sons: James Shinn (1907-1999) and William Morris (1909-1982). Maier was elected a Quaker minister in 1916 and was very influential at his Twelfth Street Monthly Meeting and in the wider Philadelphia and Haverford alumnus communities. He was superintendent of the Joseph Sturge Mission School, director of the Friends Central School, and was involved in numerous other philanthropic organizations including the Foulke and Long Institute for Orphan Girls, American Sunday-School Union, Western Soup Society (Western Community House), Infant Clothing Association, Bible Association of Friends, Benezet House, and The Grandon Institution. In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as P.D.I.M.

William Morris Maier (1909-1982) – Youngest son of Paul D.I. and Anna S. Maier, William Morris Maier graduated from Haverford College in 1931 and the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1935. Upon graduation, he practiced law within his father’s firm, Cahall and Maier. Maier served on the Haverford College Board of Managers from 1938 to 1942, during which time he was active on numerous committees, including the Special Nominating Committee for a New President and the Special Library Committee. Maier also served as clerk to Haverford Monthly Meeting beginning in the 1950s. Like his father before him, he was active in many philanthropic organizations, including the Western Soup Society (Western Community House), Friends’ War Problems Committee, the Book Association of Friends, State Teachers College at Cheyney, and the American Sunday-School Union. From 1941 to 1945, Maier served as Executive Secretary of the Hawaii Branch of the American Friends Service Committee, during which time he met Margaret Waterman whom he married in 1943. He was a board member of the American Friends Service Committee for several terms between 1953 and 1969 and served as Treasurer of the Corporation of Haverford College from 1949 until his retirement in 1975. William and Margaret W. Morris had two sons: James Hollingsworth (1947- ) and Anthony Morris (1949- ). In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as W.M.M.

Charles McClenachan (1783-1811) – Son of Robert McClenachan of Ireland, Charles McClenachan was the eldest, and favorite, nephew of Hannah Harrison Thomson. As such, Charles McClenachan was named as heir of the Harriton estate that Hannah Harrison Thomson inherited from her father Richard Harrison. Upon his death in 1811 Charles McClenachan had one child, six week old daughter Naomi.

Caspar Morris (1805-1884) – Son of Israel Wistar Morris and Mary Hollingsworth Morris, Caspar Morris was a prominent physician in the Philadelphia area and was instrumental in the founding and operation of the Hospital of the Protestant Episcopal Church, established in 1851. He married Ann Cheston in 1829 and they had six children: James Cheston, Israel Wistar, Mary Hollingsworth, Galloway Cheston, Cornelia, and Daniel Corrie.

Catharine Wistar Morris (1772-1859) – Daughter of Samuel Morris and Rebecca Wistar Morris, Catharine Wistar Morris never married but remained close to the children and families of her brothers throughout her life.

Catharine Wistar Morris (1840-1922) – Daughter of Levi Morris and Naomi McClenachan Morris, Catharine Wistar Morris was named for her great-aunt and, like her aunt, never married. Catharine lived in the family mansion, "Cadorus,” on the Harriton estate for most of her life. After the death of her mother in 1893, Catharine briefly moved from Harriton to live in Philadelphia. In the early twentieth century, Catharine oversaw the Cadorus-Harriton orchards, and sold peaches and other produce in the neighborhood. In this collection, she is sometimes referred to as C.W.M.

Henry Morris (1802-1881) – Son of Israel Wistar Morris and Mary Hollingsworth Morris, Henry Morris married Caroline Old in 1830. An ironworker by trade, he and another ironworker, Thomas T. Tasker, joined his brother Stephen Paschall Iron Works which, in 1835, became the firm of Morris, Tasker and Morris. In 1856 the name of the firm changed to Morris, Tasker, and Company. Henry Morris’ Philadelphia home, "Solitude," was located around Fifth and Tasker Streets and, like his “cottage” in Newport, Rhode Island, was designed by Quaker architect Addison Hutton, a close friend of the Morris family. Morris’ children with Caroline Old were Ellen, Stephen Paschall, and Emily Hollingsworth.

Israel Morris (1811-1905) – Son of Israel Wistar Morris and Mary Hollingsworth Morris, Israel Morris was an iron merchant and opened a firm in 1829 at Sixteenth and Market Streets, Philadelphia. In 1836, Jacob P. Jones joined the firm, followed by Richard H. Downing in 1847, after which the firm took the name Morris, Jones & Co. The firm was a very successful manufacturer of American Bar and Sheet Iron. Israel Morris retired from Morris, Jones & Co. in 1860. He married Elizabeth Longstreth in 1839 and they had four children: Theodore (1840-1913), Frederick Wistar (1842-1924), Anna (1844-1916), and William Henry (1846-1925). In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as I.M.

Israel Wistar Morris (1778-1870) – Son of Samuel Morris and Rebecca Wistar Morris, Israel Wistar Morris was a merchant in Philadelphia. He was elected a member of the Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse in 1798 and became an honorary member in 1803. Israel married Mary Hollingsworth in 1799 and they had ten children: Stephen Paschall, Henry, Samuel, Caspar, Levi, Hannah, Israel, Jane, and Wistar. The family lived on the Hollingsworth estate at Green Hill Farm, purchased in 1925 by Friends Central School. Mary died in 1820, but Israel never remarried. A devoted Quaker, who wrote serious letters on morality, behavior and conscience to his son Levi, Israel Wistar Morris lived at Green Hill Farm until his death. In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as I.W.M.

Levi Morris (1807-1868) – Son of Israel Wistar and Mary Hollingsworth Morris, Levi Morris attended Westtown school from 1819 to the early 1820s. A practical machinist, Levi apprenticed in the machine shop of Lyman and Ralston in Boston from 1826 to 1828. After he returned to Philadelphia, Levi founded and operated an ironworks at Sixteenth and Markets Streets in Philadelphia. His cousins Isaac Paschall Morris and Joseph Paschall Morris joined his ironworks business, which was subsequently called Levi Morris and Company. Isaac remained a partner until his death in 1869, while Joseph stayed on only briefly. Levi married Naomi McClenachan in 1830. They moved to Naomi's Harriton estate in 1841, after the death of Page Cadorus and after Levi's health problems led him to retire from Levi Morris and Company, the name of which was changed to I.P. Morris and Company. Levi oversaw the construction of the Harriton Mills during the 1830s and then leased the mills to mill workers during the remainder of the nineteenth century. He ran the farms and orchards on the Harriton estate, particularly Cadorus Farm, where his family lived. He rented various sections of the Harriton estate to tenant farmers, throughout most of the nineteenth century. Levi died in 1868 after falling from a train near the Haverford Station. In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as L.M.

Mary Morris (1833-1844) – The first child of Levi Morris and Naomi McClenachan Morris, Mary Morris died of an illness while attending boarding school in 1844.

Mary Hollingsworth Morris (1776-1820) – Daughter of Levi and Hannah (Paschall) Hollingsworth, Mary Hollingsworth married Israel Wistar Morris in 1799. They had ten children before she died in 1820, and their names were: Stephen Paschall, Henry, Samuel, Caspar, Levi, Hannah, Israel, Jane, and Wistar. The collection contains a series of affectionate letters between herself and son Levi while he was at Westtown Boarding School.

Naomi McClenachan Morris (1811-1893) – Daughter of Mary Thomas McClenachan (later Jones) and Charles McClenachan, Naomi McClenachan became the heir of Harriton estate at the age of six weeks when her father died. Her grandfather William Thomas, along with others, acted as Naomi's guardian (though her mother was still alive) until she married Levi Morris in 1830. The properties that Naomi inherited were the subject of many disputes, and her family failed to secure her inheritance to an Irish estate. Levi and Naomi Morris lived in Center City Philadelphia until 1840, when they moved to Naomi's Harriton estate. They lived on the former life-estate of Page Cadorus. Naomi and Levi had six children, only three of whom (Sarah "Sallie" Morris Vaux, Catharine Wistar Morris, and Emma Morris Shinn) survived to adulthood. After Levi's death in 1868, Naomi ran the Harriton farms and mills and dealt with tenant farmers, with the help of her sons-in-law, George Vaux VIII and James Thornton Shinn, and her brothers-in-law. In this collection, she is sometimes referred to as N.M.M.

Stephen Paschall Morris (1800-1865) – Eldest son of Israel Wistar Morris and Mary Hollingsworth Morris, Stephen P. Morris suffered from depression and illness throughout his life. A blacksmith, he founded the Paschall Iron Works in Philadelphia in the 1820s. Stephen P. Morris married Quaker Rachel Johnson, a friend of the Grimké sisters, in 1827. Rachel died at age 30, in 1837, and in 1854, Stephen Paschall married Mary Ann Cope. In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as S.P.M.

Wistar Morris (1815-1891) – Youngest son of Israel Wistar Morris and Mary Hollingsworth Morris, Wistar Morris was elected a Director of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1855 and held that post until his death. He also served as President of the Board of Managers of Haverford College and of the Pennsylvania Hospital. Wistar Morris managed his mother's estate, Green Hill Farm, and built an elaborate country house there in 1863, the year he married Mary Harris. They had one daughter, Mary (1864-1891).

Earl Shinn (1796-1865) – Son of Samuel E. and Hannah Simpson Shinn, Earl Shinn married Sarah Comfort in 1822. Over the course of sixteen years they had eight children: Elizabeth Shinn Haines (1823-1883), Anna Shinn Shipley (1826-1888), Lydia Comfort Shinn Cadbury (1828-1904), Samuel Earl (1830-1855), James Thornton (1834-1907), Charles (died in infancy), Rebecca (1836-1882), and Earl Jr. (1838-1886). Earl Shinn worked as a bricklayer and measurer and owned property in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. He and Sarah were prominent members of the Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia. In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as E.S.

Earl Shinn Jr. (1838-1886) – Son of Earl and Sarah Comfort Shinn, Earl Shinn Jr., against the wishes of his parents, sought a career in painting and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where he studied from 1859 to 1863. After a brief stint in New York, he traveled to France in 1866 where he studied drawing at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jean-Leon Gèrôme and helped establish the artists' colony at Pont-Aven on the Breton coast. His colorblindness and nearsightedness, however, hindered him from becoming a professional artist. He returned to Philadelphia in 1868 and wrote art criticism for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. In 1870 he moved back to New York where he remained an art critic until his death. During that time he contributed to such publications as the Nation (for which he held the ambiguous post of art editor from 1874-1879), Lippincott's Magazine, Scribner's Monthly, the New York Evening Post, and The Art Amateur. He was also a member of the Tile Club, a group of New York artists and writers that included Winslow Homer, William Merritt Chase, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Shinn also wrote a series of books about art, including a catalogue of the art gallery at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, several volumes about modern French art, and two massive works about private art collections in America, all under the pseudonym “Edward Strahan.” Through all of these writings he emerged as one of the leading American art critics of the 1870s and 1880s yet simultaneously remained for the most part out of the public eye. In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as E.S. Jr.

Ellen Morris Shinn (1832-1866) – Daughter of Henry Morris and Caroline Old Morris, Ellen Morris married James Thornton Shinn in 1863. Diagnosed with cancer in the early 1860s, Ellen died of the disease in 1866. In 1870, her husband James married her cousin, Emma.

Emma Morris Shinn (1849-1912) – The youngest daughter of Levi and Naomi McClenachan Morris, Emma Morris married James Thornton Shinn in 1870. Her first child Morris Earl died at the age of two years old from measles. Her second and only surviving child Anna married Paul D.I. Maier in 1906. Emma lived with her husband James next to James' pharmacy at the South West corner of Broad and Spruce Streets. In the early twentieth century, Emma sold parts of the Harriton estate out of the family, effectively splitting the old Harriton mansion and property, owned by the Vaux family, from the Cadorus (now "Harriton") side of the property, owned by the Morrises and later the Maiers. In this collection, she is sometimes referred to as E.M.S.

James Thornton Shinn (1834-1907) – Son of Earl and Sarah Comfort Shinn, James Thornton Shinn studied at Westtown School from 1848 to 1849. In 1854 he enrolled at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy where he remained for two years. Upon the death of his older brother Samuel Earl Shinn in 1855, he took control of his pharmacy on the corner of Broad and Spruce Streets and operated it with his partner Thomas A. Montgomery until 1892 when they sold the business. In his retirement (and even before it) he became a philanthropist, serving as secretary of the Pennsylvania Hospital, president of the board of managers of the Catherine Street House of Industry, the Association Centre of University Extension Teaching, and the Philadelphia Vacant Lots Association, and manager of the Philadelphia Fuel Savings Society and the Indian Rights Association. He married Ellen Morris in 1863, three years before she died of cancer. In 1870 he married her cousin Emma Morris and they had a son, Morris Earl (1871-1874) and a daughter, Anna Morris (1877-1941). In this collection, he is sometimes referred to as J.T.S.

Morris Earl Shinn (1871-1874) – Son of Emma Morris Shinn and James Thornton Shinn, Morris Earl died of measles at the age of two. He was buried in the graveyard of the Haverford Meeting House.

Rebecca Shinn (1836-1882) – Daughter of Earl and Sarah Comfort Shinn, Rebecca Shinn suffered from poor health for much of her adult life. In this collection, she is sometimes referred to as R.S.

Sarah Comfort Shinn (1801-1865) – Daughter of David and Beulah Walton Comfort, Sarah Comfort married Earl Shinn in 1822. They had eight children: Elizabeth (1823-1883), Anna (1826-1888), Lydia (1828-1904), Samuel Earl (1830-1855), James Thornton (1834-1907), Charles (dates unknown, appears to have died early), Rebecca (1836-1882), and Earl (1838-1886).

Anna Shinn Shipley (1826-1888) – Daughter of Earl and Sarah Comfort Shinn, Anna Shinn married Samuel R. Shipley in 1851. They had three daughters, Susan, Anna, and Anna Bella. Anna Shipley wrote poetry, some of which can be found in Occasional Poems and Hymns, published by her family and friends shortly after her death.

Samuel Richard Shipley (1828-1908) – Husband of Anna Shinn Shipley, Samuel R. Shipley served as president of the Provident Life and Trust Company, a prominent Philadelphia bank and insurance company, from 1865 to 1905. During his adult life he involved himself in a number of philanthropic and benevolent activities. He and Anna had three daughters, Susan, Anna, and Anna Bella.

Charles Thomson (1729-1824) – Secretary of the Continental Congresses, Charles Thomson is perhaps the most famous individual in the Morris-Shinn-Maier Collection. Married to Hannah Harrison in 1774, Thomson lived after his retirement from politics on his wife's estate. After Hannah Harrison's death in 1807, Charles Thomson remained in the Harriton mansion according to his life-estate. An abolitionist, it may have been Thomson who ended Harriton's operation as a slave plantation. Thomson died in 1824, just as Naomi McClenachan's guardians prepared to take him to court to force him off the Harriton estate. Thomson, and his wife Hannah, were buried in the Harriton family burial ground in unmarked graves. In 1838, their bodies were disinterred and transplanted to Laurel Hill Cemetery amid controversy over the ownership of the bodies and the burial ground. Due to the lack of head stones, however, the bodies of Charles and Hannah Thomson may still reside in the Harriton graveyard.

George Vaux VIII (1832-1915) – Son of George and Eliza Head Sansom Vaux, George Vaux VIII married Sarah "Sallie" Morris Vaux in 1859, and had three children: Mary Morris Vaux (Walcott) (1860-1940), George "Georgie" Vaux IX (1863-1927), and William "Willie" Sansom Vaux (1872-1902). He had a contentious relationship with his mother-in-law Naomi McClenachan Morris, sisters-in-law Catharine Wistar Morris and Emma Morris Shinn, and brother-in-law James Thornton Shinn. George Vaux managed the finances and property of his wife's family after her father Levi Morris died in 1868. He also served as Secretary and Treasurer of the Swatara Coal Company and involved himself in numerous charitable organizations. For much of his adult life he lived at 1715 Arch Street, Philadelphia. In the 1880s, Vaux built a "cottage" called "Llysyfran" on his children's share of the Harriton property. This cottage was later torn down to make way for Cavershem road. Also on his children's property, George Vaux built a house, "The Thicket," which now houses Bryn Mawr College's English House.

George Vaux IX (1863-1927) – Son of George Vaux VIII and Sarah Morris Vaux, George Vaux IX graduated from Haverford College in 1884. He was a member of the law firm of P. Pemberton Morris until 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to the Board of Indian Commissioners, a post he held until his death. Throughout his life he continued his father's practice of philanthropy and community involvement. He married Mary Walsh James in 1907 and they had two sons, George Vaux X (1908-1996) and Henry Vaux (1912- ).

Mary Morris Vaux Walcott (1860-1940) – Daughter of George Vaux VIII and Sarah Morris Vaux, Mary Vaux married Charles Walcott in 1914. The couple moved to Washington, D.C. for Charles’ job at the Smithsonian Institute.

Sarah H. Morris Vaux (1838-1880) – The eldest surviving daughter of Levi Morris and Naomi McClenachan Morris, Sarah “Sallie” Morris married George Vaux VIII in 1859 and resided in his home at 1715 Arch Street. They had three children: Mary Morris Vaux (Walcott) (1860-1940), George "Georgie" Vaux IX (1863-1927), and William "Willie" Sansom Vaux (1872-1902).

William Sansom Vaux (1872-1902) – Son of George Vaux VIII and Sarah Morris Vaux, William Sansom Vaux was named for his uncle, George Vaux’s brother. He graduated from Haverford College in 1893, and died in 1902 of tuberculosis.

Emily Hollingsworth Morris Wood (1842-1916) – Daughter of Henry Morris and Caroline Old Morris, Emily "Lilly" Morris was a great friend of her cousin Catharine Wistar Morris. She married James Wood (1839-1925) in 1868 and the couple built their home, “Braewold,” in Mt. Kisco, New York, designed by Addison Hutton, the same Quaker architect who designed her partents' Philadelphia home called "Soliture." Emily and James had three children: Ellen Morris (1868-1900), Carolena M[orris] (1871-1936) and Levi Hollingsworth Wood (1873-1956), the latter two of whom were well-known Quaker activists. Carolena did relief work in Europe (she was among the first American women, with Jane Addams and Dr. Alice Hamilton, to visit Germany after World War I), Central and South America, and Asia, as well as in the United States. L. Hollingsworth Wood was a classmate of Paul D.I. Maier at Haverford, a prominent attorney, and a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Friends Service Committee.

[Sources: Dictionary of Quaker Biography; Bruce Cooper Gill, Curator, Harriton House; Hugh Barbour, “The Woods of Mt. Kisco,” Quaker History 87.1 (Spring 1998); John F. Crosfield, A History of the Cadbury Family, Vol. I [BX7721.C12 C94] ; Thomas Allen Glenn, Merion in the Welsh Tract [BX7664.M56 G5]; John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. I [BX7720.J82 C7]; Lower Merion Historical Society, The First 300: The Amazing and Rich History of Lower Merion [BX7664.P52 L91]; Robert C. Moon, The Morris Family of Philadelphia [CS71.M87]; Morris Family Publication Committee, Descendants of Samuel Morris 1734-1812 [CS71.M87]; and Josiah H. Shinn, The History of the Shinn Family in Europe and America [BX7721.S51 S5]. See also Daniel Lenehan, “Fashioning Taste: Earl Shinn, Art Criticism, and National Identity in Gilded Age America” (2005), HC Senior Thesis Archive, for more information on Earl Shinn Jr.]

Extent

78 Linear Feet (131 boxes)

Language

English

Overview

This collection spans approximately 200 years, from the late 1700s to the late 1900s, and five generations of the Morris-Shinn-Maier family, which are traced through matrilineal and patrilineal lines. They were prominent Quaker businessmen and lawyers in the Philadelphia area, and a large portion of the collection is dedicated to their legal and business material, as well as a great deal of very detailed financial material. There is also a quantity of personal material, namely diaries and correspondence, and material from philanthropic work done by later generations. Principal individuals include Paul David Irwin Maier, William Morris Maier, Anna Shinn Maier, Levi Morris and Naomi McClenachan Morris.

A genealogical chart done by a Haverford student while processing the collection has been printed out and is included in the box 1191 (ovs).

Custodial History

Gift of the heirs of Paul D.I. and Anna Shinn Maier.

Physical Description

Quantity of papers as described in each instance is estimated.

  • Paul D.I. and Anna Shinn Maier blank postcards of Quaker meetinghouses
  • Haverford photographs. [Barclay Hall, Founders Hall, Alumni Hall/Library, Gymnasium]
  • misc. documents dealing with the Class of ’96 business including a document dealing with the discussion of the Spoon award 3 small Alumni Association calendars 1939-41 New Library Building dedication ceremony invitation, 1942 2 commencement invitations, 1931 Haverford class handbooks, 1927-28 excerpt from a play/dialogue written about members of ’96 “Constitution of the Class of ’96;” “Secretary’s Annual Report,” 1900 “Minutes of ’96 Class Meeting,” 1900 “Secretary’s Annual Report,”1901 “Resolutions from class meeting,” 1909 List of names and addresses of class of ’96, 1924 misc. invitations and alumni mailings misc. pamphlets 1883 Semicentennial materials Triangle Society documents 1897-98 athletics guide 1933 Centennial materials issues of Haverford News
  • A Query and Advices Addressed to Friends on Civil Liberties, prepared by a called Meeting of Friends at Scattergood Friends School in Iowal, 4/2-4 1954, distributed by Friends World Committee Handbook for Overseers, Representative Meeting, PYM History of Christ Church, pamphlet, 1908 Poem, titled St Luke ii:7 Annual Report, Lot Owners' League of Pocono Manor, 1940 Berea the Beloved foundation school (pamphlet) The Constitution and Bylaws of the Female Association of Philadelphia for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, 1854 Letter from Ann Shipley to "A Friend in Philadelphia", pamphlet, 1824 An Epistle of Affectionate Caution and Counsel, addressed to its members, PYM, 1853 Minutes of NEYM, 1850 The Testimony of the Society of Friends on the Continent of America, 1830 Invitation to opening of Joseph Sturge Mission 1st Day School , mounted on cardboard, 1830 Being a Record of the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society: The History, Officers and Members, 1939, book Books for Sale at Friends' Book Store, pamphlet, undated Constitution and Bylaws of the Book Association of Friends, 1892 William Penn and the Delaware Indians, 1932 Year Book, Religious Society of Friends in Philadelphia and vicinity, 1928 Pennsylvania Teachers' College Journal Nov 1950 (Vol 4 #1) Nov 1952 (Vol 6 #1) May 1954 (Vol 7 #1) Selected Recommendations for Industrial Arts Education, 1954 Cheyney: Religious Emphasis Week, December 1952, pamphlet Cheyney Summer Sessions Bulletin 1954 Cheyney Summer Sessions Bulletin 1955 Harrisburg Chapter of the Cheyney Alumni Association: 1953 A Public Meeting: The Problems of the Child in the Community Honors Convocation at Cheyney, 1953 Cheyney College Bulletin 1953-4 Cheyney President's Report 1954 The Word and Christian Culture pamphlet, 1879 Advertisement for Gatchel's Lightning Rods 1890 Central High School Commencement program 1917 Fellowship of Reconciliation printed letter Posthumous letter to Isaacs and Israel W. Morris from Catharine W Morris (Isaac and Israel were the executors of Catharine's will) Auction catalogs April 6-7 1916, antiquities Dec 3-4 1928, autograph collection Dec 7-8 1928, American antiques Nov 16, 1928, books Oct 9, 1928, autographs Dec 6, 1928, books Dec 19, 1928, books May 22, 1916, autographs Oct 9, 1928, autographs Sale of Interest in Sharp Estate First in 94 Years, newspaper clipping, 1927 Haverford College YMCA calendar of events, 1894-5 "At Eighty," poem by Joel Bean, 1905 Philadelphia Inquirer obituary of Anna Shinn Maier, March 19 1941 James Shinn Maier and William Morris Maier printed materials from Friends Select School, 1917-1924. [General Information Test, 1917, 1918; The Cauldron, 1918, 1921, 1922; “Boys’ Gymnasium Exhibition and Contest” program, 1921; “Alumni Prize Speaking Contest” invitation and program, 1924] [to Friends Select School]; James Shinn Maier printed materials from Westtown School, 1921-1925. [Catalog, 1921-22, 1923-24; Faculty and Student roster, 1923-24; Board meeting program, 1924; Commencement programs, 1925; The Brown and White, 1923 10/19, 1924 10/4, 1924 10/18, 1924 11/1, 1925 1/24] [to Westtown School]; Copy of Centennial Supplement to the Meeting (Haverford, PA), 1934, with William Morris Maier article in it. [to pamphlet group] issue of The Friend, 1899 3/4, with article by PDIM, “Our Privileges and Duties as Young Friends;” Westtown School faculty and student roster, 1924-25 Worship, Rufus M. Jones Writ, Richard Tapper Cadbury 1913 Quaker Calendar order form “The Quakers,” by Alfons Paquet and “A Letter to the Quakers,” by Wilhelm Schafer, 1920 “Information for Friends of Conscription Age,” 1918 “America Speaks as a Friend of France,” J. Henry Scattergood, 1923 “Some Books on Religious Education;” “A Selected List of Quaker and other Books and Pamphlets;” “Where Jesus is, ‘Tis Heaven;” “The Service of Elders & Overseers” pamphlet “The Distinguishing Doctrines of the Religious Society of Friends,” James Wood, 1898 “Friends’ Religious and Moral Almanac,” 1925 “The Service of the Church,” 1905 “Program of the School of Internationalism;” “William Penn’s First Charter” poster, 1925 2 maps of Philadelphia soup societies 12/22/1925 copy of The North Westchester Times with article about death of James Wood 12/31/1925 issue of The American Friend with James Wood tribute by Rufus M. Jones 12/31/1925 issue of the Friend with tribute to James Wood 1/1926 issue of Bible Society Record with tribute to James Wood 9/25/1937 issue of Friends Intelligencer 2/10/1938 issue of The Friend "Franklin Institute Lady's or Minor's ticket;" Philadelphia Museum ticket, 1842 library book tag “Consitution and By-Laws of the Merion Society for the Recovery of Stolen Horses and Detection of Thieves,” 1889. "Franklin Institute Lady's or Minor's ticket" two issues of The Freedman's Friend, 1864-65 Morningstar cooking stove advertisement, 1853. Three Earl Shinn Jr. (d. 1886) obituaries Earl Shinn: A Sketch by William Walton, 1887. Seating chart for Paul and Anna Maier's wedding, 1906 1912 obituary “Annual Report of the Haverford Branch of the Needlework Guild of America,” 1912, with memorial to EMS 2 Samuel R. Shipley poems, 1888 various newspaper clippings 1899 program of the Philadelphia Vacant Lots Association Six obituaries, 1907 Alumni Report of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Nov. 1907, with editorial about J.T.S. page taken from the American Journal of Pharmacy (Feb. 1908) with the resolutions regarding the death of J.T.S. by the Board of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy 1907-08 program of University Extension Lectures with tribute to JTS. Four pamphlets: “A Statement of Facts Exhibiting the Causes that Have Led to the Dissolution of the Connexion between Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting and the Monthly Meeting of Friends,” 1828 “Epistles and Testimonies Issued by the Yearly Meeting of Friends, in North America,” 1828 “A Declaration of the Yearly Meeting of Friends… Respecting the Proceedings of Those who Have Lately Separated from the Society,” 1828 “Testimony of the Society of Friends, on the Continent of America,” 1830. Rebecca Morris obituary, 1847 Caspar Morris obituary, 1884 “No Sect in Heaven” pamphlet, 1860 “Report of the Proceedings of the Tract Association of Friends,” 1865 George Vaux IX copy of geological map of Chester County Philadelphia Young Friends’ Association program, n.d. Memories of J. Rendel Harris, collected by Irene Pickard (1978) Bulletin of the Friends’ Historical Association, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Autumn 1941) “The CCL Book: The Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of the Founding of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends,” 1922 Small card with print of painting of Jesus, "The Only True Likeness of OUR SAVIOUR" Dr. William Pepper halftone print, clipping “Patent Fast Eyed Hoes” advertisement, n.d. “Patent Wheel Boxes” advertisement, n.d. “A collection of Elegiac Poems devoted to the Memory of Martha Thomas” given to Catharine Wistar Morris by her Aunt Mary R. Jones, 1837 pamphlet "Where to Turn in Philadelphia (For Social, Health, Youth and War Services)" 1943 January pamphlet “Why They Cannot Go To War...” “Sample Form 47: Special Form for Conscientious Objector.” “A Statement by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends,” 1918 3/29 “The Position of the Society of Friends in Regard to War.” 1939 11. “The London Tribunal Questions the C.O.” revised 1940. “Bulletin of Information for Persons Registered.” 1940. “The Conscientious Objector under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940: Preliminary Analysis.” 1940 “Civil Liberty: A statement defining the position of the American Civil Liberties Union on the chief issues.” 1940 1 “Selective Service Regulations, Volume 1: Organization and Administration.” 1940 9/23. “Selective Service Regulations, Volume 2: Registration.” 1940 9/23 “Selective Service Regulations, Volume 3: Classification and Selection.” 1940 9/23 “The American Civil Liberties Union, Inc.” 1940 10 “The Conscientious Objector under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940,” 1940 10/8. “A Service of National Importance,” by Kenneth Boulding from The American Friend. 1940 12/5 “United States vs. Arle Brooks.” 1941 1 “H.R. 162.” 1941 1/3
Title
Morris-Shinn-Maier collection, 1720-1975
Status
Completed
Author
Janela Harris and Jon Sweitzer-Lamme Other authors include: Daniel Lenahan, Kate Janoski, Jonathan Berke, Henry Wiencek and John Powers
Date
July, 2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Largely English, scattered documents in French and German, one in Arabic.

Revision Statements

  • June 2022: by Nathaniel Rehm-Daly, Harmful Language Revision Project

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