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Samuel M. Janney Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-183
Samuel M. Janney Papers (digitized selections)

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Scope and Contents

Largely correspondence of Samuel M. Janney with family and with friends such as John Comly, Joseph Dugdale, Benjamin Ferris, William Dudley Foulke, Isaac T. Hopper, Halliday Jackson, Horace W. Mann, James and Lucretia Mott, Edward Parrish, Moses Sheppard, and George M. Truman. The collection includes letters written during the period of the Civil War and during the period of Janney's Indian Superintendency, also letters of members of his family to one another, his manuscript journal (published 1881 as Memoirs), sermons and essays, manuscripts for his History of the Religious Society of Friends, vol. III, vol. IV , The Life of George Fox; with a Dissertation on the Views of George Fox concerning the Doctrines of the Christian Church, and The Life of William Penn. Also his Day Book, 1825-1856.

Dates

  • Creation: 1815-1880

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/.

Biographical / Historical

Samuel McPherson Janney, distinguished Quaker minister, author, educator, and reformer, was born January 11, 1801, in Loudoun County, Virginia. He was the son of Abijah and Jane (McPherson) Janney and a descendant of Thomas Janney, a Quaker minister who emigrated with his family to America in 1683. In 1826 Samuel Janney married Elizabeth Janney, a third cousin, and they had eight children. As a young man, he worked for his uncle Phineas Janney, an Alexandria, Virginia, merchant, and then briefly partnered with Thomas M. Bond in an apothecary shop in Alexandria. He later was a partner in a cotton factory which was not successful. In 1839 he returned to Loudoun County and opened a boarding school for girls. He retired in 1855 to devote himself to the ministry, writing, and social concerns. He traveled widely in the ministry, meeting with other denominations as well as being immersed in the contemporary issues facing the Society of Friends. Among his activities were establishing schools for African Americans and women, creating public schools in Virginia, and the abolition of slavery. In 1869 he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Nebraska. He died April 20, 1880.

Extent

4 linear ft. (8 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Samuel McPherson Janney was a Virginia Quaker minister, author, educator, and reformer. In 1839 he opened a boarding school for girls in Loudoun County. He traveled widely in the ministry, meeting with other denominations as well as being immersed in the contemporary issues facing the Society of Friends. Among his activities were establishing schools for African Americans and women, creating public schools in Virginia, and the abolition of slavery. In 1869 he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Nebraska. The collection contains primarily correspondence of Samuel M. Janney with family and with friends such as John Comly, Joseph Dugdale, Benjamin Ferris, William Dudley Foulke, Isaac T. Hopper, Halliday Jackson, Dillwyn Parrish, Edward Parrish, Moses Sheppard, John Jackson, Deborah Wharton, Halliday Jackson, Barclay White, William Dorsey, and George M. Truman. Also letters of members of his family to one another, his manuscript journal (published 1881 as Memoirs), sermons, essays, and other writings, and his Day Book, 1825-1856.

Physical Location

For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donor: Mary T. Shoemaker, 1954

Donor: Emily T. Brown, 1967

Separated Materials

The life of George Fox : With dissertations on his views concerning the doctrines, testimonies, and discipline of the Christian church. Philadelphia : Friends' Book Association, 1875

The life of William Penn : with selections from his correspondence and autobiography. Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & co., 1852

Memoirs of Samuel M. Janney. Philadelphia : Friends' book association, 1882

Processing Information

The collection, most of which was the gift of Mary T. Shoemaker, was processed in the mid 1950s; it was organized chronologically with items individually catalogued in a typed manuscript card file. In 1967, the day book was added to the collection, gift of Emily T. Brown. In 2006, the collection was re-organized into series: Correspondence, Writings, and Day Book. A new finding aid with annotation was produced and coded.

Related Names

Subjects

Record Groups

Digital Material

Administrative Information

Title
An Inventory of the Samuel M. Janney Papers, 1894-1908
Author
Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff
Date
2006
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Revision Statements

  • 2020: Updated outdated, harmful terminology related to enslavement, except where it appears in a title, quotation, or subject heading.
  • 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.

Find It at the Library

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

http://www.swarthmore.edu/friends
Contact:
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Swarthmore Pennsylvania 19081 USA

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