Elkinton Family Papers
Scope and Contents
Contains the papers of the Elkinton Family, a prominent Quaker family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and its vicinity.The collection contains correspondence, journals, and other papers as well as reference material and papers on various Quaker concerns and early letter books of the Philadelphia Quartz Company.
Dates
- Creation: ca. 1736-2002
Creator
- Elkinton, David Cope, 1915- (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, Howard W. (Howard West), 1892-1955 (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, J. Passmore (Joseph Passmore), 1887-1971 (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, J. Russell (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, Joseph, 1794-1868 (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, Katharine Wistar, 1892-1961 (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, Malinda Patterson, 1836-1920 (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, Marian Dunham, -1912 (Contributor, Person)
- Elkinton, Thomas, 1836-1901 (Contributor, Person)
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
Joseph Elkinton was born in Salem, New Jersey, in 1794 and settled in Philadelphia where he established a soap manufacturing business which eventually became the Philadelphia Quartz Company. He was involved with the Seneca at the Quaker school for Indian Children at Tunesassa (Quaker Bridge), New York, where his oldest son, Joseph Scotton Elkinton, was born in 1830. The latter was a Quaker minister and involved with the resettlement of the Doukhobors in Canada. His oldest son, Joseph Elkinton, was active in the Society of Friends in the Midwest and traveled to Japan and China on religious visits. His sister, Mary Passmore Elkinton, married the Japanese diplomat, Dr. Inazo Nitobe, in 1891. His son, Joseph Passmore Elkinton, married Mary Russell Bucknell in 1909; after Mary's death in 1929, he married Anna Bassett Griscom, a Hicksite minister, in 1931. J. Passmore also was a Quaker minister. See the notes preceding each series for more detailed information.
Extent
53 linear ft. (132 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Contains the papers of the Elkinton Family, a Quaker family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and its vicinity. Joseph Elkinton was born in Salem, New Jersey, in 1794 and settled in Philadelphia where he established a soap manufacturing business which eventually became the Philadelphia Quartz Company. He was involved with the Seneca Indians at the Quaker school at Tunesassa (Quaker Bridge), New York, where his oldest son, Joseph Scotton Elkinton, was born in 1830. The latter was a Quaker minister and involved with the resettlement of the Doukhobors in Canada. His oldest son, Joseph Elkinton, was active in the Society of Friends in the Midwest and traveled to Japan and China on religious visits. His sister, Mary Passmore Elkinton, married the Japanese diplomat, Dr. Inazo Nitobe, in 1891. His son, Joseph Passmore Elkinton, married Mary Russell Bucknell in 1909; after Mary's death in 1929, he married Anna Bassett Griscom, a Hicksite minister, in 1931. J. Passmore also was a Quaker minister. The collection contains correspondence, journals, and other papers as well as reference material and papers on various Quaker concerns.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into twelve series:
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The bulk of the collection was given J. Passmore Elkinton beginning in the late 1940s. In 1966, he gave additional Rachel Edgerton Passmore correspondence which he had received from Rachel’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Lowry Froelicher. Beginning in the late 1970s, his youngest son, David Cope Elkinton, also a member of Media Monthly Meeting, continued his father's goal of creating a family collection, with deposits up until the time of his death in 2002 and subsequently by his estate.
Separated Materials
The following material was also given:
- Tape recording made at J. Passmore Elkinton's 80th birthday, 1967, removed to FHL Audio Visual
- Photographs removed to PA 60
- Bound marriage certificates previously stored in FHL Marriage Certificates removed to Series 1 (4/2013).
Processing Information
The collection was received intermittently beginning in 1940, largely from Joseph Passmore Elkinton (1887-1971) with additional deposits by his son David Cope Elkinton (1915-2003) after 1977. The papers were collected by J. Passmore Elkinton and other members of the family and organized by him and David C. Elkinton into family series. The collection includes some handwritten explanatory notes and copies by Martha Gregson who, according to J. Passmore Elkinton, did secretarial work for both Joseph S. and William T. Elkinton, apparently helping them organize the papers. Additions were interfiled or added as new series or sub series, including business papers of Joseph Elkinton (1794-1868) and family journals which were received from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. In the 1990s, parts of the collection were re-foldered and the albums of letters compiled by Joseph S. Elkinton were dismantled due to the condition. In 2009, FHL staff completed a major re-processing, organizing the series into a more logical, basically chronological order, and adding recent gifts from David C. Elkinton. David succeeded his father, Joseph Passmore Elkinton in compiling the family records at Friends Historical Library.
Subject
- Elkinton family (Family)
- Title
- An Inventory of the Elkinton Family Papers, 1736-2002
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- 2009
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- 2024: This finding aid was reviewed in order to change or contextualize any outdated, harmful terminology related to Indigenous Peoples, except where it appears in a title, quotation, or subject heading.
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