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Langstroth family papers, 1778-1955 (majority within 1831-1911)

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Summary

Creator:
Langstroth family
Abstract:
The Langstroth Family papers document the activities and relationships of several generations of the Langstroth family, originally of Philadelphia, including the founding of several schools for women and African Americans, the experiences of a patient the Friends Asylum, and service in the Civil War.
Extent:
780 items (1.5 linear feet)
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Shannon Wait, March 2010

Background

Scope and Content:

The correspondence series comprises 600 items covering 1831-1955, and sheds light on the personal lives, careers, and activities of several generations of the Langstroth family. The bulk of the earliest letters, dating from the 1830s, are from Catharine Langstroth to her father and siblings. These letters concern the death of her sister Sarah, financial issues, and the health of several family members, including Margaretta, and refer to temperance (July 20, 1835 “It affords me much pleasure to know that you gathered in your hay on temperance principles”) and religious study. One letter of particular interest is dated January 3, 1839, and was written by Margaretta during a stay at the Friends Asylum in Philadelphia. It describes a harrowing series of treatments for unspecified mental problems: “My head has been cut open to the bone for 3 inches; and large [peas?] inserted; a lead placed over the slit and on the top of this a bread & milk poultice has been applied for two months… My hair has been shaved at least 6 times; and three times since the head was opened.” Margaretta also described the Asylum’s lectures, food, and other patients (“only deranged at intervals”).

Letters from the 1840s and 1850s were written by a variety of family members and document the founding of Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies; the courtship of Thomas Langstroth, III, and Mary Hauss; and a range of religious attitudes, from Margaretta’s intense piety to Thomas’ doubt (December 12, 1853: “most all the young men in our church just before they got married have made a profession of religion, and how have they turned out! Look at them one half are as bad as they were before: but I have no right to judge.”). In early 1855, Margaretta wrote a series of letters from near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, describing her efforts at religious and educational outreach to slaves, for whom she felt sympathy (February 7, 1855: “Slaves! poor slaves! how my heart bleeds for them, they toil from night to morn, from morn to night--live and die here without knowledge enough to save the soul.”).

Little documentation of the family exists from the Civil War period, despite Edward and Thomas’ service on opposite sides, but Edward’s letter to Margaretta of July 14, 1865, indicates a rift between himself and his sisters, perhaps arising from his joining the Confederacy. Letters of the 1860s and 1870s are mainly incoming to Margaretta and concern teaching, finances, and advice. A number of letters to Thomas from the 1880s contain information about his brother Edward’s health. Approximately 25 folders of letters date from the 20th-century and were written between Hugh Tener Langstroth, his sister, Sara Paxson, and other relatives. These concern travel, social visits, health, and business matters.

The financial and legal documents series consists of 124 items relating to the Langstroth family, covering 1778-1913. It includes wills, records relating to milling, land indentures, an account book of 1814-1817 kept by Thomas Langstroth, Jr., paperwork related to loans, and other materials. Some materials relate to the bank failure which forced Langstroth to sell his mill in 1836. Only 15 items date from 1851-1913.

The diaries and journals series represents six volumes and a few fragments, covering the 1830s to the 1860s, all written by Margaretta Langstroth. The volumes dating from the 1830s contain biographies of historical figures and may have been used in school. Subsequent diaries recorded daily entries of varying length, covering parts of 1864-1868. The 1864 volume includes Margaretta’s memorials of deceased family members and is thus a good source of genealogical information. More commonly, her entries describe daily activities, religious meditations, and frequently seem to reflect a fragile mental state, as in this exceprt of April 15, 1865: “Abraham Lincoln shot in the Washington Theatre Secretary Sewar [sic] had this throat cut I hope Edwar [sic] has no hand in this what makes me fear that he had” or an entry of June 19, 1866, describing the death of a robin: “I felt very badly cannot describe my suffering poor bird…read hymns as it was dying wondering if it would live elsewhere[.] In bed all day so distressed so wretched…” In a number of passages, Margaretta noted the Sunday School classes that she taught, and commented on the number of students and the subjects of her lessons.

Biographical / Historical:

First Generation

Thomas Langstroth, Jr., was born on February 21, 1775, in Germantown (now Philadelphia), Pennsylvania. He was the fourth of thirteen children born to Thomas Langstroth, Sr., (1745-1800), an immigrant from Yorkshire, England, and his German immigrant wife, Catherine Youck (1751-1831). By 1794, the family was living in Moreland Township, and Thomas, Sr., had purchased Israel Hallowell Mill, a paper mill on Pennypack Creek. Thomas, Jr., and his brother John worked as apprentices in the mill, and inherited the operation upon their father’s death in 1800. When the mill was destroyed by fire in 1809, John Langstroth stepped down, and Thomas raised the money for its reconstruction through popular subscription.

Around 1809, Langstroth married Mary Lupp. The two had at least six children before Mary’s death at age 47 in 1827: Catharine Clara (b. 1810), Caroline Frances (1812-1829), Amanda Louisa (1814-1842), Margaretta (1816-1896), Mary M. (b. 1820), and Sarah Josephine (d. 1835). After the death of his wife, Thomas married Hannah E. Boureau (b. 1798-) and had five more children: Alonzo (January 4 - October 31, 1829), Thomas Henry (1830-1916), Caroline Frances (1832-1855), Cyrus C. (b. 1834), Edward F.B. (1837-1881), and William H. (1841-1864).

Thomas suffered a financial setback in 1835, when the State Bank at Trenton declared itself bankrupt. That December, Thomas and other creditors sued for their unpaid funds; Thomas stood to lose $1500. The State Legislature voted to extend their charter long enough for the bank to pay all its creditors, but Langstroth was forced to sell the Hallowell Mill during the interim, in order to remain solvent. Langstroth died December 25, 1861, at the age of 76.

Second Generation

Catharine Clara Langstroth’s first husband was James E. Moore. They had three children together, but all died in infancy, and Moore himself died in 1830. Catharine remarried several years later, to a schoolteacher named Timothy Chisman, and the Chismans began teaching female students in their home around 1840. They opened Mount Holly Institute for Young Ladies on May 2, 1843, offering an education combining “accurate scientific instruction, with discreet and maternal supervision over the morals and manners of…pupils” (25 April 1843 letter, written on the back of a Mount Holly advertisement). Catharine’s sisters, Mary and Margaretta, were both employed as teachers at the school during the 1840s. Timothy Chisman died on January 17, 1855, and Catharine and Mary removed to Philadelphia, where they ran the West Philadelphia Female Seminary. Letters in the collection imply that Catharine ("Sister Chisman") died in 1867 (January 27, 1867; November 29, 1867).

Margaretta (also known as Marguerite and Margaret) Langstroth’s life was bookended by stays in mental hospitals, first in the Friend’s Asylum 1838-39 and finally in the State Lunatic Asylum in Ewing, New Jersey, sometime before 1880. However, between these confinements, she had a productive career as a teacher, first at Mount Holly, and then in several positions in Arkansas and Florida. In 1855, she was teaching religious lessons to young slaves near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and during the Civil War, she taught Sunday School to African Americans in Pennsylvania. She died in 1896.

Thomas Henry Langstroth worked in his youth as a clerk and farmer and in 1854, married Mary Elizabeth Hauss. In 1857, they moved to Maryland, where Thomas conducted a livery stable and a mail route. Langstroth served with the Quartermaster’s Department of the Union Army and the 5th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. Thomas and Mary had 10 children. Thomas died February 14, 1916.

Thomas’ younger brother, Edward F.B. Langstroth, sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War, enlisting with the Army of Northern Virginia, but gallstones prevented him from seeing much action. He recuperated in General Hospital No. 11, and then served as a druggist and hospital steward in Confederate Hospitals until the end of the war. He later worked as teacher, law clerk, and physician, primarily residing in Vinton, Iowa, where he died in 1881.

Later Generations

Most of the 20th century correspondence revolves around Kate Souder Langstroth (1853-1939), the widow of Theodore Ashmead Langstroth (1882-1968). Theodore Ashmead Langstroth was the great nephew of Thomas Langstroth, Jr., and the grandson of Thomas' brother, Piscator.

Acquisition Information:
1980, 1998. M-1898, M-3491 .
Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the "We the People" project.

Arrangement:
The Langstroth family papers are arranged in four series:
  • Correspondence
  • Legal and Financial Papers
  • Diaries
  • Miscellaneous

Within each series, the items are arranged chronologically.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Langstroth Family Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

Langstroth family papers, 1778-1955 (majority within 1831-1911)
Total components 79
Last indexed 2025-02-09