Thomas Wistar and Family Papers

Thomas Wistar (1765-1851), son of Richard and Sarah Wyatt Wistar married Mary Waln in 1786 with whom he had 13 children. A Quaker, he was an Elder in his Meeting, Philadelphia Monthly Meeting for the Western District. He was also a clerk of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Indian Committee.

Thomas Wistar (1798-1876), son of Thomas and Mary Waln Wistar, married (1) Elizabeth Buckley Morris (d. 1863) in 1822 with whom he had 2 children, and (2) Mary Richardson (d. 1894). Wistar lived at Stanley Farm in Abington near Philadelphia, Pa., which is today known as Fox Chase Farm, a working farm administered by Fairmount Park Commission and the School District of Philadelphia that provides educational opportunities for school children. In 1868, three Friends, Clarkson Sheppard, Thomas Scattergood and Thomas Wistar carried a memorial regarding Native Americans to President-Elect Grant out of which grew President Grant's Peace Policy by which Friends took charge of the Central Superintendency, including the Indigenous Nations in Kansas, together with the Kiowas, Comanches and other tribes in "Indian Territory," as well as the Northern Superintendency, including the various Nations of Nebraska. Thomas Wistar was appointed Indian Commissioner. Prior to that, government policy related to Indigenous Peoples had been the provence of the War Department. Also, with the aid of James Rhoads, later president of Bryn Mawr College, Thomas Wistar formed the Indian Aid Society. Wistar never received any remuneration for his services as Indian Commissioner. He was a member of the Free Produce Association Board in the Civil War period.

Caspar Morris Wistar, M.D. (1801-1867), son of Thomas and Mary Waln Wistar, married Lydia Jones in 1826 and had 10 children. A Quaker, he was a member of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting for the Western District. He donated the ground for Tulpehocken Reformed Church in Myerstown.

Caspar Wistar, M.D. (1761-1818), son of Richard and Sarah Wyatt Wistar, married (1) Isabella Marshall in 1788 and (2) Elizabeth Mifflin in 1798. He received a Bachelor of Medicine from the College of Philadelphia in 1782. In 1792, he conceived of the idea of exploration of the American northwest, and as he was friend of Thomas Jefferson, his idea resulted in the Lewis and Clark expedition. From 1792-1818, he was Prof. of Anatomy at the Philadelphia Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania. He was president of the American Philosophical Society from 1815-1818 and president of the Abolition Society. He established the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1812, and published A System of Anatomy for the Use of Students of Medicine in 1811 and 1814. He held what became the Wistar Association, but were originally called “Wistar parties” at his house, inviting members of American Philosophical Society.

Edward Morris Wistar (1852-1941) was the son of Thomas Wistar (III) and Priscilla Foulke and married Margaret Cooper Collins in 1876. He graduated from Haverford College in 1871 and was in banking, life insurance and the real estate and cotton yarn businesses. The "Thomas Wistar and family papers" were originally collected by Thomas Wistar, Jr. (1798-1876) and later by his grandson, Edward Morris Wistar (1852-1941).

(Information from internal evidence, the Dictionary of Quaker Biography, Rayner Kelsey's Friends and the Indians, obituary notices and other newspaper clippings)