Allen Family Papers
Scope and Contents
Contains the papers of the Allen Family, a Quaker family of Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pa. Includes correspondence, journals, notebooks, genealogical charts, biographical sketches, memorials, marriage certificates, deeds, and other papers relating to the Allen and related Breidenhart, Casdorp, Gibbons, Hubley, Jacobs, Matlack, and Samuel families. Persons represented include Charles Allen (1776-1843), a Philadelphia druggist, and his son, George Breidenhart Allen (1804-1869), a Delaware County farmer.
The Allen family papers contain extensive genealogical material, family correspondence, journals and memorials which provide excellent source material on Quaker family life in the 19th century in the Philadelphia area. Of particular interest are letters from Charles and Rebecca Allen to their children, several of whom were educated at Westtown School.
Dates
- Creation: 1700-1954
Creator
- Allen family (Family)
- Allen, Charles, 1776-1843 (Contributor, Person)
- Allen, George Briedenhart, 1804-1869 (Contributor, Person)
- Westtown Boarding School (Contributor, Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Some of the items in this collection may be protected by copyright. The user is solely responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns to reuse, publish, or reproduce relevant items beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to the law. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/.
Biographical / Historical
The Allen family traces its ancestry to one of William Penn's commissioners, Nathaniel Allen, who landed at Chester Creek in 1681. The collection's main focus is on the 5th and 6th generations: Charles Allen (1776-1843) and his son George B. Allen (1804-1869).
Charles Allen, a druggist, first married Sarah Breidenhart (1778-1807) and later married Rebecca Jackson (1781-1860), a teacher. Their home was on Pine Street in Philadelphia, and Charles and Rebecca were overseers and elders of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Southern District. Charles frequently accompanied ministers on their visits to other meetings. Rebecca served on the committee in charge of Westtown Boarding School.
George B. Allen, a farmer at Marple Hill, was an active member of Springfield Meeting. He married Sidney Jacobs of Bradford Meeting, a teacher. One of their sons, Joshua B. Allen (1832-1902) became a physician and was one of the original members of the Philadelphia Obstetrical Society. He is responsible for the research on the Allen family ancestry. Later additions were made by Mary S. Allen (1871-?), his niece.
Extent
2 linear ft. (4 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Contains the papers of the Allen Family, a Quaker family of Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, which traced its ancestry back to one of William Penn's commissioners. Includes papers relating to the Allen and related Breidenhart, Casdorp, Gibbons, Hubley, Jacobs, Matlack, and Samuel families. The Allen family papers contain extensive genealogical material, family correspondence, journals and memorials which provide excellent source material on Quaker family life in the 19th century in the Philadelphia area. Of particular interest are letters from Charles and Rebecca Allen to their children, several of whom were educated at Westtown School.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into six series:
- Biographical and genealogical material
- Correspondence
- Journals and diaries
- Financial papers
- Legal papers
- Miscellaneous
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donor: Alice Allen, 1976
Separated Materials
The following material was removed from the collection and recatalogued:
- Transferred to Deeds: Allen, Nehemiah to Allen, Nathaniel 10mo 20 1718,
- Transferred to marriage certificates: Allen, Nehemiah to Tyson, Esther 4mo 17 1700
- Transferred to marriage certificates: Allen, George B. to Jacobs, Sidney 9mo 13 1827
- Transferred to marriage certificates: Pyle, Jesse to Jacobs, Susan H. 5mo 18 1815
Subject
- Allen family (Family)
- Breidenhart family (Family)
- Casdorp family (Family)
- Gibbons family (Family)
- Hubley family (Family)
- Jacobs family (Family)
- Matlack family (Family)
- Samuel family (Family)
- Title
- An Inventory of the Allen Family Papers, 1700-1954
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- 1976
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
Find It at the Library
Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting repoductions from Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College Library
