Anna S. Palmer Collected Papers

Anna S. Palmer, the daughter of David and Agnes (Simpson) Palmer, was a birthright member of Falls Monthly Meeting (Hicksite), born 2mo 21, 1881. Her parents served as directors of Friends Boarding Home, Newtown, Bucks County, and her mother (1842-1922) was an elder and clerk at Falls Monthly meeting. Anna graduated from the George School in 1899 and worked as a teacher. She died 9mo. 3, 1973.

Anna's mother, Agnes Simpson Palmer, was the daughter of John and Letitia Buckman Simpson, and she was a great-granddaughter of Quaker minister John Simpson. John Simpson was born in England 10 mo 23, 1739, and his parents, members of the Society of Friends, came to America when he was an infant. He married Ruth Whitson and circa 1764 was recognized as a minister. Ruth died in 1803, and he married second Ann Ingham. He traveled widely in the ministry throughout the United States, moving to Ohio in 1809. In 1810, he requested a certificate of transfer from Falls Monthly Meeting to West Branch, Ohio. A letter dated 1810, 9mo, 2, informs his son David that they are living in a cabin near West Branch Meeting and the lot he purchased.

In 1877, Mary Hadley, daughter of John Simpson's second wife, Ann Ingham, arranged publication of Memoirs and Letter of John Simpson. Mary I. Hadley was also a prominent Friend, active in Indiana Yearly Meeting. Many of the John Simpson letters and excerpts in the published Memoirs are to his daughter Hannah Shinn who had married Samuel Shinn in 1795. The letters in the manuscript volume by an unknown copyist are largely to Simpson's eldest son, David, who married Agnes Wiggins in 1795. David Simpson's son, John (1799-1878), married, Letitia Buckman (1882), the grandmother of Anna S. Palmer, the collector. All were active members of the Society of Friends.

Three of John and Letitia's children married members of the Satterthwaite family, and the youngest, Agnes (1842-1922), married David Palmer. The genealogical information in the manuscript volume includes entries for the descendants of Joseph Simpson, including Palmer, Simpson, Taylor, Shinn, and Satterthwaite branches. The last entry records the death of Mahlon Taylor in 1898.