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Rebecca Singer Collins papers

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-1196

Scope and Contents

The collection contains many letters between Rebecca and Isaac Collins during his extended business trip to London in 1845. Rebecca passes along news from friends and family, and from the Philadelphia Quakers. Isaac writes about the English Quakers, news from friends, and describes the gifts he is sending to Rebecca and the children. There are also many letters to Rebecca from Mary Anna Longstreth, during Rebecca’s visit to English and Irish Meetings in 1842-1843. There are also letters of John Pease to Rebecca and Isaac Collins. Rebecca’s diaries in the form of booklets and individual pages are dated 1824-1847. Entries are not in order; some are on stray pages rather than in books, and some of the entries in books have been copied from stray “scraps.” Most entries concern Rebecca’s religious feelings and her often-repeated desire to dedicate herself more and more fully to her faith. Some later entries describe her charitable visits to prisoners, the poor, the sick, and the patients of an "insane asylum". One diary is dedicated to the illness and death of Rebecca’s brother Henry, including accounts of the remedies offered by doctors, and of Henry’s mental and spiritual condition.

A small collection of Quaker documents related to the family includes an original printed birth certificate for Rebecca’s youngest daughter Mary Forster Collins, and alsoan original marriage certificate for James Walton and Achsah Croasdale, grandparents of Mary Forster Collins’ husband James Morris Walton. Among the printed material is some paper currency. “United Colonies” bills from 1776 may have been saved because Isaac Collins, Sr. worked as a printer at that time, although these bills are not printed by his establishment in Burlington. There is also a United States bill for ten cents, dated 1874. Finally, there are genealogical notes on the Collins, Singer, and Walton families. These seem to be written at different times by different people. Most are handwritten notes, but there is also a printed page containing a biography of James Morris Walton.

Dates

  • Creation: 1824-1886

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is available for research use.

Biographical / Historical

Daughter of German Lutherans John and Anna Maria Singer, Rebecca (Singer) Collins (1804–1892) became a Quaker as a young woman. She was the second wife of Isaac Collins, Jr. (1787-1863), who served on the Board of Managers of Haverford College from 1830 to 1842. Rebecca and Isaac had three children together, Anna (1835), Stephen Grellet (1836), and Mary Forster (1843). Rebecca was a minister of Twelfth Street Meeting in Philadelphia, and author of Parent’s Gift; or, reading book for little children, as well as editor of a book of quotations entitled Treasured Gems. She traveled extensively to speak to Friends’ Meetings in Europe, and late in life was well known for her philanthropic work in New York City. (Information from internal evidence, the Dictionary of Quaker Biography, The American Friend, and The Collins Family by Margaret Hill Collins and Ellinor Collins Aird.)

Extent

0.5 linear ft. (1 document box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Letters and diaries of Rebecca Singer Collins (1804-1892), a nineteenth-century Quaker well known for her religious philanthropic work.

Related Materials

-Collins family tree on pages 112-113 of The Collins Family by Margaret Hill Collins and Ellinor Collins Aird, call number BX 7721 C 712 C71 v.2. -Family tree of Isaac Collins, Sr., MS 990B. -Isaac Sr.’s marriage certificate, in 990 BR. -Portraits of Rebecca and of Isaac, Jr. are in 988B. -A letter from Rebecca is in 851; more of Isaac, Jr.’s letters are in 910a. -The American Friend of 1900 3/22 featured Rebecca’s picture on its front page and a short article on page 269. See also, Sketches of the Lives of Sybil Jones and Rebecca Collins, BX7755 J68 Z6. -Parent’s Gift; or, reading book for little children, BX7747 C718P2 -Treasured Gems, BX7725 C7T7

Title
Rebecca Singer Collins papers,1824-1886
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • May, 2022: Revised by Janeen Lamontagne

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 Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library

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