Thomas Wistar Brown papers

Materials in this collection include letters, diaries, and other materials of T. Wistar Brown and his family.

Deeds in this collection are for land in Philadelphia in the 1850s, mostly being passed from T. Wistar Brown and Moses Brown Jr. to John F. Bird and William R. Stockton. Correspondence includes family letters, several letters from Eliza Paul Gurney, and telegrams of sympathy upon the drowning of John Farnum Brown.

Miscellaneous manuscript materials include Extracts from the Minutes of Dover [N.H.] Monthly Meeting, 1701/2-1785; Poems by Thomas Wistar; Will of William Brown, of Dover, NH; Album, by J. J. Gurney; Poems copied for T. Wistar Brown, by Moses Brown, 1874-1875; Picture of Anthony Benezet's house in Philadelphia; Three daily themes by John Farnum Brown, while at Harvard; Recollections by T. Wistar Brown, 1904; Recommendation of committee to Board of Managers of Haverford College concerning possible request for resignation of Prof. Henry Cadbury. [ca. 1916]; Remarks at funeral of T. Wistar Brown.

Printed materials include a map of Philadelphia, a picture of John Farnum;, The Youth's Monitor; or A Daily Text for the Month; Little Fret; Map of the Circuit of Ten Miles Around the City of Philadelphia, 1847; Newspaper clippings about Charley Ross kidnapping, fire in T. Wistar Brown's home, and tribute to him after his death; Tribute to T. Wistar Brown, taken from Haverford Alumni Bulletin; 165th Annual Report of Pennsylvania Hospital; Rules of the Philadelphia Dispensary...with the Annual Report...for 1916; Prospectus for the Thomas Wistar Brown Graduate School of Haverford College.

The letterbook of Mary W. Brown contains letters from Lydia H. Chase, written from Salem. Lydia’s letters tell of the depth of her friendship and her daily life. The T. Wistar Brown lettebook includes colonial money, letters related to philanthropy and family news, from a variety of senders. The Moses Brown letterbook includes spiritual guidance and business letters.

The Extracts from the Diary of Elizabeth Young are very religious. T. Wistar Brown’s diary documents mostly weather and plants, with a few family comments. The diary of T. Wistar Brown and Moses Brown Jr. was kept by their parents when they were children, recording their behavior. T. Wistar Brown’s scrapbook features cut out woodcuts, and was probably made when he was a child. T. Wistar Brown account book records payments to people and companies, not for individual items

Mary Farnum’s piece books contain copies of poems, mostly by Tennyson, Longfellow, and Whittier. Account of the sickness and death of the wife and daughter of Daniel Wheeler is written by Sarah, William, and Charles Wheeler, in the form of both letters and accounts. The death of their mother is followed by an account of their sister Jane’s death from consumption (tuberculosis). John Farnum Brown’s bird notes record bird sightings and behaviors.