John Hunt Papers
Scope and Contents
John Hunt kept a diary for more than 40 years, citing William Penn's advice to his children to keep a journal: "Mind an inward sense upon doing any thing." This collections consists primarily of the manuscript journal, 1770-1800; fragments of 1805, 1806 1808; and 1814-1824. There if also an account book, some correspondence received, and other miscellaneous materials.
Hunt documented many significant events in his record:
- 1771 9mo Ann Moores's visit to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
- 1771 4mo26 First appearance in the ministry
- 1772 12mo26 News of the deaths of cousins John Woolman and William Hunt
- 1776 12mo Soldiers lodged at meeting house
- 1777 1mo22 Visit with Joshua Evans to Edgepelick (Munsee Lenape reservation)
- 1779 1mo Yearly meeting committee on the work of "reformation"
- 1779 2mo Attended first of many meetings appointed by Friends "for the negroes"
- 1781 9mo22 Yearly meeting and the appearance of Jacob Lindley
- 1782 9mo2 YM Reformation Committee discusses issues of plainness and alcohol
- 1783 9mo Yearly meeting concerned with slavery and West India produce as well as plainness
- 1785 1mo Jacob Lindley on plainness and war taxes
- 1787 10mo24 Imprisonment of his son, Samuel, for non-payment of war tax
- 1789 5mo Visit to Baltimore Yearly Meeting
- 1791 9mo Yearly Meeting and the appearance of Robert Nesbit on the subject of plainness of clothing
- 1791 9mo30 Death of son, Samuel
- 1793 8mo27 Account of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia
- 1796 2mo14 Epistle directed to the Black People from the Abolition Society and appearance of Hannah Burrows, a black woman
- 1796 9mo Referred request from Rahway to receive a black woman into membership in the Society of Friends and discussion within Yearly Meeting
- 1797 1mo25 Visits to Black schools in Philadelphia
- 1797 5mo Elias Hicks' visits to meetings in New Jersey
- 1797 7mo7 Death and burial of Joshua Evans
- 1800 10mo Journey to Pelham in Canada
- 1801 4mo18 Visit of Elias Hicks to Select Yearly Meeting
- 1804 10mo Visits to Redstone et.al.
- 1807 10mo25 Death and account of John Parrish
- 1808 9mo2 Death of daughter, Esther Conrow
- 1811 9mo Visit to Stroudsburg and meetings in western New Jersey
- 1818 8mo18 Joseph Clark's meeting to encourage female benevolent societies
- 1818 9mo Tavern shows and temperance
- 1819 1mo3 Remarks on bible societies
- 1822 9mo Comments on the reading of news and the use of tobacco
- 1822 11mo27 Death of son, Benjamin
- 1823 1mo20 Preaching of Daniel Pucket, Priscilla Hunt, Elias Hicks
Dates
- Creation: 1770-1928
Creator
- Hunt, John, 1740-1824 (Person)
- Matlack, Asa (Contributor, Person)
- Foulke, Joseph, 1786-1863 (Contributor, Person)
- Cox, John, approximately 1754-1847 (Contributor, Person)
- Elizabeth A. Lippincott (Contributor, Person)
- Matlack, Ann R. (Contributor, Person)
- Roberts, Josiah, 1783-1841 (Contributor, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Items may not be photocopied, due to the fragile nature of the originals.
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
John Hunt was born in 1740, the son of Robert and Abigail (Wood) Hunt of New Jersey. His father was a first cousin to the minister, John Woolman (1720-1772). His mother, Abigail, died when John was young, and Robert Hunt remarried.
In 1763, John Hunt married Esther Warrington in the Chester meeting house, under the supervision of Evesham Monthly Meeting. They eventually had ten children, three of whom died young. Hunt was a Quaker minister for more than 50 years. He died in 1824, and was buried in the Moorestown Friends burial ground. His memorial, published in 1841 (Memorials Concerning Deceased Friends. Philadelphia: S.B. Chapman & Co., 1842, pp. 12-16), highlighted his public testimony concerning pride and superfluity, and stated that he was particularly concerned with temperance.
Extent
1.5 linear ft. (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
John Hunt, a Quaker minister from Chester, New Jersey, was born in 1740, the son of Robert and Abigail (Wood) Hunt. He kept a journal for more than 40 years, recording Quaker concerns and daily events. This collections consists primarily of the manuscript journal, 1770-1800; fragments of 1805, 1806 & 1808; and 1814-1824. There if also an account book, some correspondence received, and other miscellaneous materials.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of William Bacon Evans, 1956.
Gift of the Stackhouse Family, 2004.
Existence and Location of Copies
Exerpts from the complete set -- including the period from 1800-12 for which only fragments are know to survive -- were printed in volume 10 (1837) of Friends Miscellany, under the title of "Journals of the Lives, Religious Exercises, and Labours in the Work of the Ministry of Joshua Evans and John Hunt, Late of New Jersey."
Parts of the manuscripts were also published in the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society from 1934-1935; at that time, Asa Matlack Stackhouse gave permission for their publication.
Processing Information
The first part of the Journal and related papers were given to Friends Historical Library in 1956, and were catalogued as MSS003/77. This portion consisted of an incomplete manuscript, 1812-1824, with two fragments from 1806 and 1808, and 11 parts from 7mo7 1812 to 10mo10 1824. These were said to have been in the possession of Dr. Rachel Williams of Moorestown, New Jersey, and had been given by her to William Bacon Evans for him to convey to this Library. Rachel was the daughter of Jonathan G. and Susanna R. Williams, and Susanna was the Daughter of David and Rachel Hunt Roberts. The latter was a child of Joshua Hunt, John Hunt's half-brother.
The second part of the journal -- the earlier chronologically -- was traced to the Stackhouse family who had inderited it from Asa M. Stackhouse who had given permission for an exerpted publication to the New Jersey Historical Society in the 1930s.
Subject
- Evans, Jonathan, 1759-1839 (Person)
- Hunt, John, 1740-1824 (Person)
- Hicks, Elias, 1748-1830 (Person)
- Title
- An Inventory of the John Hunt Papers, 1770-1828
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- 2004
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- 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.
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