Skip to main content

Emlen Institution for the Benefit of Children of African and Indian Descent records

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-999

Scope and Contents

Includes business correspondence (chiefly on financial matters), treasurer's accounts and reports, receipts, bills, inventories, trustees minutes. Also a printed copy of will of Samuel Emlen and deed to land in Warminster, Bucks Co., 1765 (recorded 17[8]7).

Dates

  • 1765 - 1956
  • Majority of material found within 1838 - 1956

Creator

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

The collection is open for research use.

Copyright and Rights Information

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17)

Biographical / Historical

The Emlen Institution for the Benefit of Children of African and Indian descent was the result of a bequest from Samuel Emlen, Jr., a Burlington, N.J. Friend who died in 1837. Emlen left money ($20,000) for the "education, maintenance and instruction in school learning and in agriculture and mechanical trades or arts, of free male orphan children of African or Indian descent..." Augustus Wattles and his wife, Susan Perley Wattles operated a manual labor school in Carthagena, Ohio for African Americans. They sold their property to Emlen's trustees in 1841 and continued as superintendents of the school. In 1857 the trustees sold the property in Ohio and chose another site which was closer (Solebury Twp., Bucks Co., Pa.). The soil proving poor, in 1873 the school was moved again, this time to Warminster Twp., Bucks Co.

Trustees of the Institute named at the first meeting in 1838 were Philip Physick, William Smith, Dr. H.L. Hodge, Daniel B. Smith, William White, Nathaniel Chauncey, Dr. Casper Morris and Dr. William Shippen.

[Note: The Emlen Institution was merged into the Fiduciary Corporation of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends, 12/31/1977 ­ actual effective date of merger 1/3/1978, according to a letter from Alan Reeve Hunt to Dorothy Hallowell in the papers of the Female Association of Philadelphia, Swarthmore College, Friends Historical Library .]

Extent

1.25 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Language

English

Overview

This collection includes various documents relating to the The Emlen Institution for the Benefit of Children of African and Indian descent, including business correspondence (chiefly on financial matters), treasurer's accounts and reports, receipts, bills, inventories, trustees minutes. Also a printed copy of will of Samuel Emlen and deed to land in Warminster, Bucks Co., 1765 (recorded 17[8]7).

Related Materials

Papers on the Emlen Institution are directly related to the Emlen Institution papers in the Edward Wanton Smith Collection (see Ms. Coll. 955; box 3, 45 items, ca. 1837­1848) of Haverford College.

Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • May 2022: by Nathaniel Rehm-Daly, Harmful Language Revision Project

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 reproductions from Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library

Contact:
370 Lancaster Ave
Haverford PA 19041 USA US