Benjamin F. Whitson Family Papers
Scope and Contents
Papers consist of correspondence, 10 journals (1893-1957), accounts of trips to Quaker conferences, essays, speeches, and genealogical notes and correspondence of Benjamin F. Whitson (1867-1957) of Moylan, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a Quaker businessman. Whitson was active in Quaker affairs such as Friends World Conference in 1937 and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and in Quaker concerns such as peace, temperance, and education. He wrote extensively on topic such as "Ohio Yearly Meeting, 1912," "Are Soldiers Murderers?" "To Change the Social Order", "Quaker Pioneers", "A Confession of Faith," "Treasures of Old Thoughts", "Letters to Friends - 1916". Whitson was active in local organizations in the town of Media, Pa. He was the son of Thomas H. and Phebe (Cooper) Whitson, and his family had deep Quaker associations. Both Benjamin Whitson and his father were recognized as Quaker ministers and made visits to Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative). Benjamin Whitson lived in California from 1905-1907 and was active in Pasadena Meeting of Friends. In later life, he collected letters and genealogical information on the many Quaker branches of his family. Included in the papers are a 1936 diary of his wife, Jane T. Whitson; Thomas H. Whitson's "Account of Religious visit to Ohio, Indiana, Iowa;" piece books, extensive correspondence, and other memorabilia of members of the Cooper, Masters, Moore, Stratton, Thorp, Walker, Whitson, and Yarnall families. Also of interest is a copy of an 1824 letter of Huldah Hoag.
Dates
- Creation: 1835-1957
Creator
- Whitson, Benjamin F., 1867-1957 (Person)
- Friends World Conference, 2nd (1937) (Swarthmore College; Haverford College) (Contributor, Organization)
- Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends (Conservative : 1854- ) (Contributor, Organization)
- Five Years Meeting (Society of Friends: U.S.) (Contributor, Organization)
- Whitson, Jane Thorp, 1866-1952 (Contributor, Person)
- Whitson, Thomas H., 1829-1907 (Contributor, Person)
- Hoag, Huldah, 1762-1850 (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
Benjamin F. Whitson (1867-1957) of Moylan, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, was a Quaker businessman, active in Quaker affairs such as Friends World Conference in 1937 and the Fellowship of Reconciliation and in Quaker concerns such as peace, temperance, and education. He wrote extensively on social and religious topics for Quaker periodicals.
Whitson was the son of Thomas H. and Phebe (Cooper) Whitson, and his family and extended family had deep Quaker associations. Thomas Whitson (1829-1907) was a farmer and acknowledged as a minister by New Garden Monthly Meeting (Pa.). An Orthodox Quaker, he and his wife were conservative in dress and worship. In 1901, he traveled as a minister to Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative).
Thomas and Phebe Whitson had five children: Sarah (1857-1945; Quaker minister of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (Orthodox); married first Phillips Chamber and second, Elwood Cooper); Samuel L. (1858-1918, married Frances Linton); Mary (1860-1924); Joseph T. (1861-1925, married Jane Thorp); and Benjamin F. (1867-1957). Benjamin Whitson was a birthright member of New Garden Monthly Meeting. He was educated at Westtown School and briefly taught at Barnesville School before entering various business ventures.
In 1892, he was married under the care of New Garden Monthly Meeting (Ohio) to Anna Masters (1869-1925) at a double ceremony at which Anna's sister, Mary Masters, married Elisha K. Brantingham. Benjamin Whitson and his family lived in California from 1905-1907 and were active in the Pasadena Meeting of Friends. Benjamin Whitson was acknowledged as a minister by Chester Monthly Meeting in 1913, and he and wife Anna, an Elder in the Meeting, made a ministerial trip to visit Conservative Quaker meetings in Ohio in 1923, accompanied by Anna's father, Joseph Masters.
After the death of his first wife, Benjamin Whitson in 1927 married Jane Thorp Whitson (1866-1952), the widow of his brother. She was the daughter of James and Jane (Yarnall) Thorp and an also active in Chester Monthly Meeting (name changed to Media Monthly Meeting in 1955).
Extent
7 linear ft. (14 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Benjamin F. Whitson (1867-1957) of Moylan, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, was a Quaker businessman. Whitson was active in Quaker affairs such as Friends World Conference in 1937 and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and in Quaker concerns such as peace, temperance, and education. He was the son of Thomas H. and Phebe (Cooper) Whitson, and his family and extended family has deep Quaker associations. Both Benjamin Whitson and his father, were recognized as Quaker ministers and made visits to Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative). Benjamin Whitson lived in California from 1905-1907 and was active in Pasadena Meeting of Friends. In later life, he collected letters and genealogical information on the many Quaker branches of his family. Papers consist of correspondence, 10 journals (1893-1957), account of trips to Quaker conferences, essays, speeches, and genealogical notes and correspondence of Included in the papers are a 1936 diary of his wife, Jane T. Whitson; Thomas H. Whitson's "Account of Religious visit to Ohio, Indiana, Iowa;" piece books, extensive correspondence, and other memorabilia of members of the Cooper, Master, Moore, Stratton, Thorp, Walker, Whnitson, and Yarnall families.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into six series:
- Journals
- Correspondence
- Writing
- Organizations and interests
- Genealogical notes and correspondence
- Miscellaneous, including piece books and memorabilia
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession information:
Donor: Benjamin F. Whitson, 1955
Donor: Jay Whitson (Wilzue Whitson genealogy), 1964
Donor: Elizabeth Whitson, 1972
Donor: Ruth Whitson Stokes and Anna Whitson Fisher, 1993
The collection was given by Benjamin Whitson. Additional material was given by other family members.
Separated Materials
The following materials, originally part of the collection, were removed and recatalogued:
- Daguerreotypes removed and placed with FHL Cased Pictures, PA 107
- Sampler by Phoebe P. Cooper, 1835, assigned Relics #379.
Processing Information
Collection was arranged and annotated by Benjamin F. Whitson when received, and that order largely has been preserved. Whitson had working files on family members which included letters, piece books, etc., which were stored with his genealogical notes; these have been placed in Series 6, Miscellaneous. Memorabilia from Elizabeth Whitson added in 1972. Volume 10 of Whitson's Journal, 1955-1957, gift of Ruth Whitson Stokes (granddaughter) and Anna Whitson Fisher, was added in 1993. In 2001 the collection was refoldered and described more fully.
Subject
- Whitson family (Family)
- Thorp family (Family)
- Masters family (Family)
- Cooper family (Family)
- Title
- Benjamin F. Whitson Family Papers, 1835-1957
- Author
- SKM
- Date
- 2001
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
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