Cadbury-Brown Family papers

The first section of the collection primarily contains letters of the Brown and Cadbury families about family, business, and Quaker issues. Includes news of personal matters, health, the sheep and merino wool business of John Brown, a visit of Elias Hicks to the meeting at Dover, New Hampshire, education, and attendance at Meeting. Correspondents include: Amos Brown, John Brown, Moses Brown, William Brown, Lydia Shinn Cadbury, Richard Cadbury, and Sarah Shinn Cadbury. There is also a mask of Caroline Cadbury Brown taken in her youth.

The first addition consists of over 240 letters between Caroline Cadbury (1851-1914) and Thomas Kite Brown (1851-1929) during their engagement. As their engagement was prolonged over three years, the letters show the progression of their relationship as they get to know each other better. Some letters include small pressed flowers or samples of fabric from new clothes Caroline is sewing for herself. Some of Tom’s 1875 letters offer a glimpse into the life of a nineteenth-century teacher at Westtown School. Other letters touch on the couple’s intellectual interests and spiritual strivings. There are also letters between Caroline’s parents Richard Cadbury (1825-1897) and Lydia Comfort Shinn (1828-1904) during their own engagement, as well as letters from Caroline to her mother, describing her early married life, and later ones to her children, written during a 1906 tour of Europe. Miscellaneous items include an invitation to the wedding of Caroline Cadbury and Thomas K. Brown, Caroline’s will, pages from the diary of Caroline’s daughter, and letters to and from other members of the Cadbury-Brown family.

Much of the second addition consists of the approximately 500 letters from Caroline Cadbury Brown (1851-1914). Correspondents include her children, brother, father, aunts, and cousins, but most of these letters are to her mother, Lydia Comfort Shinn Cadbury (1828-1904), and her husband, Thomas Kite Brown (1851-1929). There are also many letters from Thomas and Lydia to Caroline. With these two correspondents in particular, Caroline discusses such topics as the tasks of housekeeping, the progress of her children, and religious views. The letters from Caroline to Thomas during 1888 and 1889, however, show a different side of her. As she is resting for her health in Clifton Springs, New York, she discusses her mental state as well as frustrations with her children and position in life.

Letters from the children of Caroline Cadbury and Thomas Kite Brown are also included in this addition. The letters of Richard Cadbury Brown, Shipley Brown, and Thomas Kite Brown, Jr. offer glimpses into life at Haverford College during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The letters of Bertha Brown do the same for Bryn Mawr College. Many of the children go abroad, and in their letters home discuss the Quakers they meet in different parts of the world and the cultural differences that they perceive.

There are also letters from Caroline's brother, Richard Tapper Cadbury, her father, Richard Cadbury Sr., her aunt Anna Shinn, and cousin Sue Shipley. There are several letters from other friends and family members to the Cadbury Brown family. Diaries of Caroline Cadbury Brown and Lydia C. Brown are also included. Miscellaneous items include photographs, silk gloves, and programs for various concerts and exhibitions.