Smedley Family Photographs
Scope and Contents
The Smedley family in America is descended from a George Smedley, a Quaker, who arrived in Pennsylvania about 1682, purchasing property from William Penn in what is now Middletown Township, Delaware County. The collection represents the descendants of Thomas Smedley and his brother Edward G. Smedley. The property was purchased by a nephew, Walter Smedley, a well-known Philadelphia Quaker architect. His widow married C. Canby Balderston, a business executive. The family sold the remaining property to Middletown Township in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The collection includes photographs of the extended Smedley family, Westtown Boarding School, Penncrest Farm, and the careers of Walter Smedley, architect, and C. Canby Balderston.
Dates
- Creation: ca. 1875-1979
Creator
- Smedley, Walter, 1862-1939 (Person)
- Balderston, Ida Smedley (Ida Roberts Smedley Balderston), 1896-1993 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research
Conditions Governing Use
Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/. Add:
Biographical / Historical
The Smedley family in America is descended from George Smedley (died 1723) who arrived in Pennsylvania about 1682, purchasing property from William Penn in what is now Middletown, Delaware County. A descendant, Thomas Smedley died at the age of 43 in 1875, and his half interest went to brothers William B. Smedley and Edward G. Smedley. Thomas Smedley's widow, Philena Yarnall Smedley, and their children were close to their extended family and the network of students who studied at Westtown. Philena Smedley moved to a house in Media with unmarried daughters Rebecca and Emma Smedley until they moved to the Barclay Home in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Edward G. and Elizabeth Sharpless Smedley with their two daughters Edith and Susanna lived at the family farm until about 1888. They were appointed Superintendent and Matron at Westtown Boarding School in 1896.
Edward Garrett Smedley was a conscientious objector in the Civil War and a Clerk, Overseer and Elder at Chester Monthly Meeting. His wife, Elizabeth Sharpless, a Sharpless and Kite descendant, was friends with the Smedley siblings, especially Deborah, and all attended Westtown School. Edward G. and Elizabeth Smedley had three children, a son who died in infancy and two daughters, neither of whom married: Edith (1869-1915) and Susanna (1875-1970). Susanna was bookkeeper for the Westtown School, served as archivist, and took an interest in family history. The property subsequently was owned by the widows of William B. and Edward G. Smedley, Deborah Cope Smedley and Elizabeth Sharpless Smedley, until Walter Smedley, their nephew, purchased it in 1911.
Walter Smedley (1862-1939) was the middle child of Thomas and Philena Smedley and a prominent Philadelphia architect. In 1910, he purchased the farm in Middletown from his aunt and uncle and lived in Media with his widowed mother, two unmarried sisters, and a widowed sister. In 1919, he married Ida Wilkins Roberts, a teacher and member of Moorestown Monthly Meeting, and they had three children: Walter, Jr. (1920-2010), Henry R. (1922-1997), and Alice Roberts Smedley (1924-1995). Walter Smedley died in 1939, and in 1942, his widow married C. Canby Balderston, a business executive and widower with two grown sons, Frederick E. Balderston and Robert W. Balderston. C. Canby Balderston was a conscientious objector in World War I, taught at the University of Pennsylvania and served on the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1954-1966. He died in 1979, and Ida Roberts Smedley Balderston died December 31, 1993. Walter, Jr., and his wife, Mary Jane Smedley lived in the family homestead, Penncrest, until their deaths.
Extent
4 linear ft. (6 ) : 4 cartons, 4 boxes, wood boxes of glass plates, and camera reduced to 6 boxes plus glass negatives stored separately.
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Smedley family in America is descended from a George Smedley, a Quaker, who arrived in Pennsylvania about 1682, purchasing property from William Penn in what is now Middletown Township, Delaware County. The collection represents the descendants of Thomas Smedley and his brother Edward G. Smedley. The property was purchased by a nephew, Walter Smedley, a well-known Philadelphia Quaker architect. His widow married C. Canby Balderston, a business executive. The family sold the remaining property to Middletown Township in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The collection includes photographs of the extended Smedley family, Westtown Boarding School, Penncrest Farm, and the careers of Walter Smedley, architect, and C. Canby Balderston.
Arrangement
Arranged in four series: 1. Smedley Family; 2. Balderston Family; 3. Albums; 4. Glass plate negatives.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Smedley family, Acc. FHL 2018.055
Separated Materials
Walter Smedley camera removed to Relics.
Processing Information
A preliminary sort was made in 2018 into 4 cartons, 4 boxes, plus wood boxes of glass plates and Walter Smedley's camera. Glass plate negatives were inventoried and scanned by Adam Levine of the Media Historic Commission. In 2024, the collection was sorted by subject and the late 20th century family snapshots returned to the family. Camera processed with Relics.
Subject
- Smedley family (Family)
- Balderston, C. Canby (Caleb Canby), 1897-1979 (Person)
- Westtown Boarding School (Organization)
- Title
- Smedley Family Photographs
- Status
- In Progress
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
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