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Joel and Hannah Bean Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SFHL-RG5-012
Joel Bean Diary Transcripts

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Scope and Contents

The Bean Papers consist primarily of the writings and correspondence of Joel Bean, although some material by Hannah Bean is also present. Joel Bean's writings include accounts of the Iowa separations, sermons, religious writings, school lessons, poetry, historical writings, memorials, and personal reminiscences. Over 1800 letters and 69 volumes of diaries complete the collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1825-1914

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

Joel Bean was born in Alton, New Hampshire, in 1825, the son of John and Elizabeth Hill Bean, and educated at Friends Boarding School in Providence, Rhode Island. He migrated to Iowa in 1853, and taught school at West Branch, Iowa, from 1850 to 1861. In 1859, he married Hannah Elliott Shipley at Orange Street Meeting House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hannah. the daughter of Thomas and Lydia Shipley of Philadelphia, was born in 1830. Thomas Shipley was a noted Quaker abolitionist. Hannah was educated at the Westtown School and taught at Friends Select School and at Mary Anna Longstreth's School for the Higher Education of Girls. The Beans visited the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) from 1861-1862 as Quaker ministers, and Joel was appointed clerk of the Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1867. The couple toured Europe from 1872-1873 as ministers.

The Beans opposed the extremes of revivalism, but declined to join the Conservatives in withdrawing from Iowa Yearly Meeting. The strain of the controversy affected Joel's health, and the Beans moved to San Jose, California, in 1882. After their move to San Jose, they joined a group of Friends who were initially affiliated with Iowa Yearly Meeting and helped to form the College Park Association of Friends. However, Joel and Hannah were deposed as ministers by Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1893 and disowned by them in 1898. This action caused a strong reaction among Quakers outside of Iowa Yearly Meeting, particularly among English Friends who knew and respected the couple after their religious visit to Europe. They were subsequently received by New England Yearly Meeting as members and ministers. Hannah Bean died in San Jose, California, in 1909, and Joel Bean died in Hawaii in 1914.

The Beans were among the founders of the College Park Association of Friends in San Jose, and their granddaughter, Anna Cox Brinton, was influential in its later development into Pacific Yearly Meeting.

Extent

6 linear ft. (13 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Joel Bean (1835-1914) and his wife, Hannah Elliott Bean (1830-1909), were prominent Quaker ministers in Iowa Yearly Meeting in the mid-nineteenth century when Quaker settlements were expanding in Iowa. Joel Bean was born in Alton, New Hampshire, in 1825, the son of John and Elizabeth Hill Bean, and educated at Friends Boarding School in Providence, Rhode Island. He migrated to Iowa in 1853, and taught school at West Branch, Iowa, from 1850 to 1861. In 1859, he married Hannah Elliott Shipley in Philadelphia. Hannah was the daughter of Thomas and Lydia Shipley of Philadelphia. Joel Bean was appointed Clerk of Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1867, and he and Hannah traveled in Europe from 1872 to 1873. The Beans opposed the extremes of revivalism, but declined to join the Conservatives in withdrawing from Iowa Yearly Meeting. After their move to California, they joined a group of Friends who were initially affiliated with Iowa Yearly Meeting. They helped to form the College Park Association of Friends. However, Joel and Hannah were deposed as ministers by Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1893 and disowned by them in 1898. This action caused a strong reaction among Quakers outside of Iowa Yearly Meeting, particularly among English Friends. The Beans were subsequently received by New England Yearly Meeting as members and ministers. The Bean Papers consist primarily of the writings and correspondence of Joel Bean, although some material by Hannah Bean is also present. Joel Bean's writings include accounts of the Iowa separations, sermons, religious writings, school lessons, poetry, historical writings, memorials, and personal reminiscences. Over 1800 letters and 69 volumes of diaries complete the collection.

Arrangement

This collection is divided into eleven series:
  1. Biographical material
  2. Diaries, 1850-1913
  3. Incoming correspondence, 1846-1910.
  4. Outgoing correspondence, 1854-1913
  5. Miscellaneous correspondence, 1893-1914
  6. Ms. prose writings, 1864-1912 & n.d.
  7. Ms. poetry, 1841-1905
  8. Published writings, 1870-1913 & n.d.
  9. Published poetry, 1874-1907.
  10. School registers, 1855-1871.
  11. Miscellaneous, 1869-1900 & n.d.

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

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Richard H. Cox, 1976, 1979;

Gift of Catharine Cary, 2005, 2022.

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital transcription of some of the diaries, day books, and correspondence by Tom King, deposited in FHL 2005.

Related Materials

Additional source material on the Beans may be found at the Quaker Collection, Haverford College Library. See especially the Papers of the Rufus M. Jones Collection, and the Papers of the College Park Association.

Some correspondence of Joel and Hannah Bean can be found at the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society Library, Honolulu, Hawaii. A brief inventory of these letters, 1862-1891, can be found at the beginning of Box 1.

The Nicholson Papers at Earlham College include extensive correspondence between Timothy Nicholson and Joel Bean.

General

Bibliography

  1. Elliott, Errol T. Quaker Profiles from the American West. Richmond, Indians Friends United Press, 1972. pp. 23-46.
  2. Le Shana, David. Quakers in California. Newberg, Oregon: Barclay Press, 1969

Related Names

Source

Subjects

Record Groups

Digital Material

Administrative Information

Title
An Inventory of the Joel and Hannah Bean Papers, 1825-1914
Author
FHL staff
Date
1979
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
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

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:
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore Pennsylvania 19081 USA

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