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The Quaker Collection consists of miscellaneous letters, diaries, and documents relating to the religious and social history of the Society of Friends in America during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Quaker collection consists of miscellaneous letters, diaries, and documents related to the religious and social history of the Society of Friends in America during the 18th and 19th centuries. These items offer insights into Quaker's daily activities and concerns, such as family life, education, and attending meetings, as well as their participation in various social reform movements, such as abolition, treatment of Native Americans, prison improvements, temperance, and pacifism. The collection also documents internal divergences of American Quakerism in the 19th century, particularly the social and doctrinal disputes that culminated in the Hicksite and Wilburite schisms.

Among the collection's notable items:
  • 1707: A manuscript copy of the death warrant of William Leddra, the last of four Quakers (including Mary Dyer) executed in Massachusetts Bay colony for their religious beliefs
  • July 26, 1755: A letter from Alexander Colden to Sir William Johnson voicing frustration with Quakers who refuse to support the war effort in Pennsylvania, and an announcement of General Braddock's defeat
  • August 4-12 and 17, 1761: Two accounts, one by an anonymous woman, of Quaker presence at Treaty negotiations held at Easton, Pennsylvania, between the government of Pennsylvania and the Six Nations tribes. Discussed are the negotiations, Quaker-Indian interactions, and the role of Quaker women in the Society
  • [After 1770]: An account by an anonymous author of a conference with Native Americans, mostly of the Minnisink Tribe
  • October 13, 1829: A letter from Phoebe Post Willis of Jericho, New York, to Isaac Post on the death of John Hicks and strife between Orthodox and Hicksite Quakers
  • March 10, 1843: A letter from Ethan Foster of Westerly, Rhode Island, to Thomas B. Gould on Wilburite-Gurneyite strife in his local meeting, and the disownment of Wilbur
  • [After 1863 July]: A letter describing a meeting between Abraham Lincoln and five Quaker prisoners of war, who had been forced into the Confederate army, captured by the Union, and held at Fort Delaware
  • Various dates: Reports, minutes, and epistles from yearly friends meetings in America and Great Britain
1 result in this collection

1.25 linear feet

The Tyler family papers contain correspondence, documents, and writings relating to four generations of the Tyler family, who were Quakers and tanners in Salem, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Tyler family papers contain 877 items, arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Documents and Financial Records; School Papers; Poetry, Notes and Other Writings; and Printed Items. Items in the collection span 1735-1888.

The Correspondence series consists of 235 letters to and from four generations of the Tyler family of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, covering 1748-1888. Much of the earliest correspondence is business-oriented and relates to Samuel and William Tyler's tannery and the sale of leather. Thomas Barnes, a frequent client and associate, wrote approximately 15 of the letters, which provide details on prices and the arrangement of transactions. Other early correspondence of the period relates to the activities of family members and neighbors, including a letter from Noah Bowson, an immigrant to Nova Scotia, who described his experiences there and recommended that the Tylers join him because of a leather shortage and favorable prices, (September 15, 1767).

Most letters between the 1790s and 1825 are the incoming correspondence of William and Catharine Tyler, primarily from family members. Letters tend to be fairly personal in nature, describing family news, religious thoughts, and health. During this period, Catharine and her sister, Ann Low, exchanged a series of letters, several of which included original poetry. Another sister, Hannah Gillespie, was also a frequent correspondent, and provided ongoing details about a "malignant fever" epidemic in Philadelphia in 1820, during which she considered seeking asylum in New Jersey. She described medical treatments, including "Jamestown weed" and blistering of the chest (August 14, 1821), as well as a strange incident regarding the autopsy of a friend who was pregnant with a "perfect Made child" that many believed she had carried for 14 to 17 years (June 11, 1820). Catharine's nephew, Joseph Elkinton, also wrote a letter, dated August 3, 1817, concerning his work teaching Native American children in Tunesassa, Pennsylvania.

In the mid 1820s, the focus of the collection shifts to Dorothea Hoskins and her future husband, John Mason Tyler, whom she would marry in 1832. Both received many letters from friends and relatives, revealing details about their social circle and families. Barclay Smith, an inmate at Friends Asylum in Philadelphia wrote two letters to Dorothea in 1823, informing her of the number of patients there and of his activities. A few letters relate to business matters; like his father and grandfather, John worked as a tanner. Beginning in the 1840s, John and Dorothea's children, William Graham Tyler and Catharine Low Tyler, contributed much of the collection's correspondence. In 1856-1857, William wrote a number of letters from Haverford College, describing his studies, classmates, and improvements made to the campus and buildings. Upon graduating, he expressed feeling torn between farming and pursuing a more intellectual career (December 13, 1857), and was chided by his father for his "indifference" toward agriculture (January 14, 1859). During the Civil War, William volunteered for a non-combatant role, working in the commissary at Hampton Hospital. He wrote several letters to his family during this period, and received many from his father, who shared his interest in contrabands, and gave information on friends involved in the war. The 11 post-war letters are primarily addressed to William, and contain updates on college friends and family members.

The Documents and Financial Records series spans 1735-1792, and contains seven subseries. The Salem County, New Jersey, Documents shed light on Samuel Tyler's work and duties as a constable in Salem, New Jersey, in the late 18th century. The William Richmond Estate Documents and James Tyler, Jr., Estate Documents record the dispersal of these estates between 1773 and 1799. The John Vanculin Accounts document transactions for groceries and other goods, 1786-1788. The Dorothea (Hoskins) Tyler Receipts record four of her purchases in 1832. The Other Legal Records subseries contains land indentures; a 1740 power of attorney document; a 1760 marriage certificate signed by 34 witnesses; and several apprentice indentures, relating to various members of the Tyler family. The Other Financial Records subseries, 1735-1881, includes a 1735 bill of lading for a ship called the Monmouth Hope; numerous receipts relating to the tanning business; records of debts; bills for laying pipes and for water from the Schuylkill River (1827); and other miscellaneous items.

The School Papers series, spanning 1765-1856, contains copybooks, an 1848 report card for Catharine Tyler, and an examination schedule and report card for William Graham Tyler at Haverford College, 1855-1856. Undated items include school essays on government, history, philosophy and metaphysics, and the classics. One essay, entitled "The cause of the extinction of the aborigines of this country," and likely written by William Graham Tyler, blames injustice, disease, and rum for the demise of Native Americans.

The Poetry, Notes and Other Writings series contains 31 items, all undated, and mainly unattributed, on a number of topics. The poetry includes a piece called "On Sugar," which characterizes sugar as "Steep'd in a thousand Negroes tears" and criticizes its use. Other poems include "On Marriage," "To Health," "On the Choice of a Wife," and several sentimental poems addressed to family members. The writings and notes comprise several religious musings, a genealogical essay, and instructions on how to "stop holes in iron."

The six items in the Printed Items series include several poems, clippings, and fliers, and other miscellaneous items, 1765-1880.

1 result in this collection

0.5 linear feet

The Warder-Haines papers (178 items) contain letters collected by Elizabeth Haines Warder, a Quaker from southeastern Pennsylvania, concerning her extended family and friends, primarily between the 1820s and 1850s. Much of the collection consists of letters between the women of the families concerning sickness, death, childbirth, and personal matters, as well as the anti-slavery movement, science and medicine, and Quakerism in Germantown, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati.

The Warder-Haines papers (178 items) contain letters collected by Elizabeth Haines Warder, a Quaker from southeastern Pennsylvania, concerning her extended family and friends, primarily between the 1820s and 1850s. Much of the collection consists of letters between the women of the families (mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins, and friends). The women discussed family issues such as sickness and health, death, childbirth, and personal matters, as well as the anti-slavery movement, science and medicine, and Quakerism in Germantown, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. Dr. John A. Warder contributed twelve letters, all written to his wife Elizabeth during her visits to family members, and during his travels as physician and lecturer in medicine. These relate to everyday family matters and rarely touch on his professional and scientific interests. Topics of note include descriptions of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, written by family members during their sojourn in the winter of 1836-1837. The family also discussed a cholera, or possibly typhoid fever, epidemic in Cincinnati from 1850 to 1852.

Other items of note:
  • October 30, 1798: Sarah Hartshorne of New York to Elizabeth Bowne concerning sickness and recovery
  • July 11, 1828: Oliver Armstrong to Jeremiah and John A. Warder containing a description of Springfield, Ohio
  • April 18, 1830: Elizabeth B. Haines to her mother Jane Haines reporting on social events in New York City, such as a party that lasted until 3am and visiting the American Museum
  • February 14, 1832: Elizabeth W. Janney to Ann Aston Warder concerning family news and charitable donations, including $300 to a "Black orphan shelter"
  • February 16, 1832: Caroline Cadbury to Ann Aston Warder containing family news, including ailments and treatments of many family members, and a mention of her children enjoying Peter Parley's 1st Book of History
  • March 7, 1832: John H. Warder to Jeremiah Warder reporting that sister Betsey took in a "runaway negro" but found out that she had "run away from Justice instead of Slavery[.] They have so much difficulty in procuring servants they think but to keep her until they meet with another"
  • July 26, 1832: Benjamin H. Warder to Jeremiah Warder concerning the opinions in Philadelphia about President Jackson, and a cholera epidemic in New York that is a "blessing in disguise in clearing off a mass of pollution--It has been very fatal in the neighborhood of the five points, occupied principally by prostitutes…"
  • September 1, 1832: Benjamin H. Warder to Jeremiah Warder containing treatments for cholera and typhoid fever
  • October 29 and December 6, 1832: Letters from James, John H., and Benjamin Warder to Jeremiah Warder discussing Andrew Jackson's presidential reelection chances, Jackson's attack on the United States Bank and South Carolina's reaction to the speech, and various Quaker affairs
  • October 1834: Remarks about the death of Reuben Haines on a funeral invitation from Walter R. Johnson
  • December 3, 1836: Friend to Ann A. Warder in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, warning her to "guard thy tongue- thy looks- even thy thoughts since they will be known through thy frank nature as if the spies of the inquisition were around thee- let Slavery and all its evils- Jacksonism and Van Bur-moral degradation and all other evils- pass unnoticed- for although- those outlaws- may not attack thee- yet the Doctor must pay the penalty of your impudence…"
  • December 23, 1836: [Ann A. Warden] to Jane B. Haines, containing a humorous descriptions of her family's squalid living conditions in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  • March 3, 1837: John A. Warder and Elizabeth Haines Warder to John Haines describing the relationship between slaves and their masters and the workings of the cotton gin
  • December 25, 1837: John Warder to Ann Haines, discussing Christmas presents and details of her young daughter's clothing
  • September 20, 1838: J.B. Haines to Elizabeth Haines Warder discussing family news and describing their garden and the viewing of an eclipse
  • November 20, 1838: Ann Haines to Elizabeth Haines Warder with a description of a "new method of walking upon water, by means of a small balloon attached to the body" invented in Germany, and a discussion of Democratic Congress member Charles Ingersol
  • April 13, 1840: J.S. Haines to Elizabeth Haines Warder with a description of an experiment with "Jacoby's batteries" and the process of electroplating with copper
  • October 11, 1840: Sister to Elizabeth Haines Warder with a mention of cousin Ann, who is a member of the Liberia School Association
  • August 16, 1842: Elizabeth B. Warder to Ann Haines containing a description of an attempted hypnotism, then termed "neurology" and "phreno-mesmirism"
  • November 2, 1842: Elizabeth Haines Warden to Ann Haines, concerning Henry Clay and John Crittenden visiting Cincinnati, searching for fossils, and seeing a "beautiful Exhibition of Deguerin [Daguerreian] Pictures accompanied by fine music" (early photography)
  • January 11, 1843: William Warder to his brother John Warder discussing Transcendentalist philosophy and "eclecticism"
  • March 19, 1843: Charles Comte de Miollis to Jane B. Haines describing his visits to General Andrew Jackson at the Hermitage
  • July 15, 1843: Ann A. Warder to Ann Haines concerning her sons strong anti-slavery beliefs
  • February 12, 1844: Mary W. Rannels to Ann Haines about practicing hypnosis and witnessing "the evils of slavery" in St. Louis, Missouri
  • March 18, 1844: John A. Warder and Elizabeth Warder to Ann Haines discussing their opinions of a new Charles Dickens book entitled A Christmas Carol
  • February 15, 1847: Ann A. Warder to Ann Haines concerning travel in the Mid-West, slavery in St. Louis and the "delusive dogma of the slaveholder"
  • January 21, 1849: Jane Haines to Robert B. Haines concerning an expedition of Quakers to California during the Gold Rush
  • [1854]: J.B. Haines to Elizabeth Haines Warder concerning a sick child and the practice of medical bleedings
The collection contains several sketches:
1 result in this collection