Cooper-Richardson Family Papers
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence and family memorabilia of the children and grandchildren of William Evans and Sarah Cooper. William E. Cooper was the son of William and Sarah (Morgan) Cooper. Correspondence focuses on family matters and includes general family news. Two family chronologies log the births, deaths, and travels of the Coopers. The latter part of the collection stresses the lives of the daughters of Nathaniel and Mary K. (Cooper) Richardson, Elizabeth C. and Anna, neither of whom married. Of special interest is the Anna's journal of a two month trip to California in 1904. Anna and two companions traveled to Los Angeles and then north into Canada. The journal includes interesting descriptions of the slums and opium dens of Chinatown in San Francisco and notes prominent sites along the route. Photographs and postcards have been glued into the journal and are commented on extensively.
Dates
- Creation: 1863-1977
Creator
- Cooper, William E. (William Evans), 1812-1856 (Contributor, Person)
- Cooper, Elizabeth M. (Elizabeth Matlack), 1815-1902 (Contributor, Person)
- Cooper, Henry R. (Henry Roberts), 1856-1928 (Contributor, Person)
- Richardson, Elizabeth C., 1863-1947 (Contributor, Person)
- Richardson, Nathaniel, 1839-1920 (Contributor, Person)
- Richardson, Mary K. (Mary Kaighn), 1841-1912 (Contributor, Person)
- Cooper, Anna, 1872-1926 (Contributor, Person)
- Cooper, Sarah, 1838-1923 (Contributor, Person)
- Walker, Morgan Cooper, 1915-1997 (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
The Cooper family were Quakers of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, attending meetings in the Woodbury and Byberry areas. Materials in this collection focus on the children of William E. and Elizabeth Roberts Cooper, their spouses and children. William Evans Cooper (1812-1856) married Elizabeth Matlack Roberts (1815-1902) at Woodbury Monthly Meeting in Gloucester County, N.J., in 1836. They had 8 children: Annie who married Ezra Lippincott, Sarah, Mary Kaighn who married Nathaniel Richardson, Elizabeth Roberts, Joseph Morgan, Lucy who married Elisha Hunt Walker, William Alfred who married Mary Bagg, and Henry R. Cooper who married Jessie Bagg. Sarah and Anna C. Richardson, daughters of Mary K. and Nathaniel Richardson, were both teachers and active Friends. Their father was an acknowledged minister.
Extent
0.75 linear ft. (2 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Cooper-Richardson collection contains correspondence and family memorabilia from the Cooper family (William Evans and Sarah Matlack Roberts Cooper). The Cooper family were Quakers of New Jersey, attending meetings in the Woodbury and Byberry areas. The collection includes correspondence and family memorabilia. Of particular interest is the journal of their granddaughter, Anna C. Richardson, written on her trip to California in 1904, and the writings of Sarah Cooper.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into five series
- Biographical and genealogical
- Correspondence
- Family Memorabilia
- Journals
- Publications
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donor: Caroline D. Bain, 1987, 2006.004, 2009.018
The collection was given by Caroline Dwight Bain, descendant of the Cooper family through Henry R. and Jessie (Bagg) Cooper.
Separated Materials
The following pamphlets donated to collection and removed:
- Religious Views of the Society of Friends, Howard M. Jenkins, 1893.
- The Book of the Street [High Street]. Sarah Lowrie and Mabel Ludlum, J.B. Lippincott, 1926.
The following photographs, listed by individual and group family names are cataloged in PA 100 and meeting house photographs:
- Cooper
- Richardson
- Bagg
- Stiles
- Matlack
- Roberts
- Meeting Houses, including: (General meeting house File)
- Abington
- Woodbury
- Byberry
- Cecil (MD)
- Cooper and Richardson residences, New Jersey. (Residences)
- Album, “Cooper.” (PA 48)
- Photographs. (PA 118: separate finding aid)
Processing Information
The collection was initially processed in 1987 as Cooper-Bain Family Papers. The name was subsequently corrected to Cooper-Richardson Family Papers.
In 1987 photographs removed from the collection were placed in Individual Portraits and meeting house files. The album was placed in PA 48 and pamphlets in FHL reference. In 2013, photographs were removed to PA 118 with a separate inventory.
In 2015 additional oil and watercolor paintings were added to the collection (FHL 2009.018) and the finding aid revised and updated.
Subject
- Cooper family (Family)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- An Inventory of the Cooper-Richardson Family Papers, 1863-1977
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- 1987
- 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
