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University of Michigan William L. Clements Library

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Quaker collection, 1700-1888

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Summary

Creator:
William L. Clements Library
Abstract:
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.
Extent:
113 items
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Philip Heslip, February 2011

Background

Scope and Content:

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
Biographical / Historical:

The Society of Friends (Quakers) formed the bulk of the founding European populations in Pennsylvania and West Jersey during the 1680s. Over the next two centuries, the Quakers had profound influence on the shape of provincial and national affairs in America, and contributed to various reform causes, such as the antislavery, women's rights, Indian rights, prison and asylum improvement, temperance, and pacifist movements.

Acquisition Information:
M-2812.9 et al.
Processing information:

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

Arrangement:

This collection is organized chronologically with undated items at the end.

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

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:
Abolitionists.
American loyalists.
Antislavery movements.
Capital punishment.
Charities.
Children--Death.
Delaware Indians--Pennsylvania--Religion.
Delaware Indians--Rites and ceremonies.
Earthquakes--Pennsylvania.
Electricity.
Embroidery.
Epidemics--Pennsylvania.
Football.
Fugitive slaves--Vermont.
Funeral rites and ceremonies.
Hicksites.
House construction.
Indian captivities.
Indians of North America--Government relations.
Indians of North America--Wisconsin.
Marriage.
Menominee Indians.
Millerite movement.
Moravians--Pennsylvania.
Murder.
Nonviolence.
Oneida Indians--Missions.
Pacifism.
Phrenology.
Quakers.
Quakers--Education.
Quaker missionaries.
Real property--Pennsylvania.
Science--Study and teaching.
Slaves--Emancipation.
Spiritualism.
Suicide.
Thanksgiving Day.
Wills--Pennsylvania.
Yellow fever--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.
Formats:
Diaries.
Letters (correspondence)
Lotteries.
Marriage records.
Poems.
Receipts (financial records)
Wills.
Names:
Friends' Boarding School (Providence, R.I.)
Harvard University. Library.
Haverford College.
Society of Free Quakers.
Society of Friends.
Society of Friends--Charities.
Society of Friends--Doctrines.
Society of Friends--Education.
Society of Friends--History.
Society of Friends--Missions.
Braddock, Edward, 1695?-1755.
Brown, Moses, 1738-1836.
Chew, Benjamin, 1722-1810.
Foster, Abigail Kelley, 1810-1887.
Foulke Family--Pennsylvania.
Fox, George, 1624-1691.
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790.
Gurney, Joseph John, 1788-1847.
Hicks, Rachel, 1789-1878.
Holme, Thomas, 1624-1695.
Lightfoot, Susannah Hatton, 1719-1781.
Morris, Robert Hunter, ca. 1700-1764.
Sibley, John Langdon, 1804-1885.
Smallwood, William, 1732-1792.
Warren, John Collins, 1778-1856.
Washington, George, 1732-1799.
Wharton, Joseph, 1707-1776--Estate.
Wilbur, John, 1774-1856.
Places:
Germantown (Pa.)
Pennsylvania--Politics and government.
United States--History--French and Indian War, 1755-1763.
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Quakers.

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:

Quaker Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

Quaker collection, 1700-1888
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Total components 138
Last indexed 2023-08-09