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The six letterpress books of West Chester resident A. D. Sharples document his many business and philanthropic interests, and a number of letters also include news more of the Sharples, Paschall, and Darlington families.  The volumes cover the years 1899-1900 and 1905-1915. Alfred D. Sharples was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, on March 23, 1844, the son of Mary A. Paschall and Philip P. Sharples.  In 1863, A. D. married Rachel Roberts, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth Roberts, and they had six children, including Elizabeth (Bessie), Henry, Mary, and A. Roberts. Sharples began his career farming, but being known for his accounting skills, he was persuaded to become the accountant for the Philadelphia and West Chester Railroad.  In 1880, when he lost that position after the railroad was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, he re-opened the brick making business begun by his great-grandfather William Sharples in 1801.  Sharples Brickworks is the business with which most people connect him.  While still involved in brick making, he also audited financial records for other businesses, including the Denney Tag Company, the Edison Electric Illuminating Co. of West Chester, and the borough of West Chester.  In 1907, Sharpless put the Brickworks business up for auction. In addition to his professional work, an elder of the Birmingham Friends Monthly Meeting, Sharples was a trustee of the Quaker’s Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and helped to overseer the Friends’ George School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  He was also involved with the Friends’ Boarding Home of West Chester, the West Chester Friends’ Burial Company, and was named executor of a number of decedents’ estates.  A. D. Sharples died on October 19, 1919, at his home on Dean Street. less

This digitized diary of Abigail Speakman opens with entries from November 1871 spanning several pages. Nothing further is recorded until July 1882, introducing the bulk of more the volume which describes a trip by Speakman to Scotland and England. Abigail Speakman, known informally as Abbie, was one of eight children, born on May 17, 1842, to Nathan (1791-1860) and Ann Thomas Speakman (1797-1874) at their family home at Brandywine Summit in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Speakman spent most of her adulthood in Wilmington, Delaware, and traveled widely in the United States and Europe. In the 1920 census, Speakman was living in West Chester, Pennsylvania, as a boarder with the M. B. Hickman family. That same census lists her occupation as “editorial contributor to a magazine.” Speakman died in West Chester in her 90th year on January 22, 1932. She is buried in Concord Friends Cemetery, Concordville, Pennsylvania, where her family were members of Concord Friends Meeting. Speakman did not marry. The earliest entries in the diary reference the last days and death of Speakman’s mother along with other family news including the efforts of her brother Edward to save the inventory in his bookstore in Chicago during the fire in October that year. Entries regarding a trip to Scotland and England begin July 1, 1882; subsequent entries are rarely dated, and the descriptions end while Speakman is in London, around July 20. She wrote about shipboard life, including comments on other passengers, dealing with seasickness, and the celebration of the Fourth of July. The group was in Glasgow on July 13, and visited the Highlands, Stirling, Edinburgh, and Melrose. There is also a quick visit to York before proceeding to London. Speakman comments on places visited; the varying quality of the tour guides; her impressions of the landscapes; a run-in with beggars on the return from Dryburgh Abbey and the noise of Covent Garden. A number of items are laid into the volume, including several cyanotypes, one of which was taken aboard ship. Printed material laid into the volume includes a list of passengers on the ship S.S. Circassia; a list the tour group of which Speakman was a member; advertisements for several hotels; track charts of Anchor Line steamships, and some engravings of places visited. Dried plants are attached to some pages. Also laid into the volume are writings which are possibly drafts of travel articles, including one that describes Speakman’s visit to Dryburgh Abbey. The volume closes with an undated article describing a trip by steamship on the St. Lawrence River from Kingston, Ontario, to Quebec. less

The diary of Chester County travels undertaken by Thomas L. Montgomery (the “Dragon”), John Thomson (“St. George”), Edward J. Nolan (“General Wheeler”), and Clarence Kates (the more “Cherub”) consists of 79 scanned pages and dates from July 8-15, 1899.   In the journal, the men refer to themselves by the nicknames indicated in the parentheses above. Thomas Lynch Montgomery (1862-1929) was a librarian.  He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his parents were Catherine Gertrude Lynch and Oswald Montgomery.  He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1884 and worked as librarian at the Wagner Free Institute of Science prior to his 1903 appointment as State Librarian.  After retiring from that position, he became the librarian and corresponding secretary of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  He also served as a trustee of the Free Library of Philadelphia.  His first wife was Brinca Gilpin; after her death he married Susan Kelm Savage, the widow of William Lyttleton Savage.  He was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, and in 1899, the Montgomery family either owned or rented a farm in Green Hill, Chester County. John Thomson (1835-1916) was also a librarian.  He was born in England in 1835 and married Mary Ann Faulkner, a poet and hymn writer.  They had a number of children and immigrated to the United States around 1881.  He was the private librarian for Jay Gould (railroad magnate and financier in New York City) and for Clarence H. Clark (banker and property developer in Philadelphia), and he produced printed bibliographies of the libraries of both these men.  Thomson then became head librarian of the Free Library of Philadelphia and oversaw the opening of its first branch at the Wagner Free Institute, where Thomas L. Montgomery also worked. Edward James Nolan (1846-1921) was a physician and librarian.  His parents were from Ireland, and he was born in either Ireland or New York, as indicated in different census records.  In 1862, he became library assistant at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, but then studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  In 1867, he returned to the Academy as librarian and remained there until his death in 1921.  In 1909, his history of the Academy was published and the diaries of his European travels were reported to be held by the American Catholic Historical Society. Clarence Sears Kates (1870-1922) was born in Philadelphia, the son of Julia May Smith and Horace Nicklen Kates.  After graduating from Episcopal Academy and the University of Pennsylvania (1889), Kates married Mary Avil, and they had two sons.  Kates had an interest in farming/agricultural enterprises and forestry, and he was a friend of forester Gifford Pinchot.  He was a member of a number of organizations, including the Pennsylvania State Grange, the Rural Progress Association of Pennsylvania, Chester County Farmers Club, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the Corn Exchange National Bank, the University Club, the Undine Barge Club (one of Philadelphia’s rowing clubs), and the Philobiblian Club (a group of book lovers). In the early 1900s, Clarence Kates purchased the old Coxe farm in Glen Loch, West Whiteland Township, Chester County, and there worked to establish a model farm.  He named the property Swedesford Manor and remodeled the old house to resemble Haddon Hall, a distinguished house in England.  He joined the local St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.  After the Reverend Charles Wesley Shreiner established the Church Farm School for boys on an abandoned farm in Glen Loch, Kates, a trustee of the school, worked with the students to clear the land.   After Kates’ death in 1922, his farm was rented by the school. The travel diary begins with the men meeting at Dr. Montgomery’s Glenwood Farm, in Green Hill, north of West Chester.  Along the way, some observations are made about landscape and plants, and places where they ate or lodged.   However, much of the diary is used to record snippets of their discussions.  They also document fantastical tales about some of the people they meet.  For example, a beautiful waitress in Parkesburg is said to be the daughter of Aida and Rhadamas (characters in the opera Aida).  In another tale, two workers (with Irish names and accents) at the Falls of French Creek are supposedly the twin sons of a German prince. They spend their first night in Downingtown, where they attend a baseball game.  On July 9, they travel through Loag’s Corner, over Welch [sic, i.e. Welsh] Mountains, to Springfield [i.e. Elverson], through St. Mary’s and Knauertown, and lodge that night at the Falls of French Creek [now St. Peters Village].  After visiting the granite quarry there, they drive to Honey Brook.  On July 11, they travel through Parkesburg, Cochransville, and Russellville, and spend the night in Oxford. Their travels on July 12 take them through Lewisville, Landenberg, Avondale, Toughkenamon, and Kennett Square.  They view Cedarcroft, the home of Bayard Taylor, but not liking the hotel in Kennett, they return to Toughkenamon for the night.  On July 13, they travel to Chadds Ford, but find that students from Drexel Institute have taken all the rooms, so they proceed to Wilmington, Delaware, for the night.  While there, they take a trolley to Brandywine Springs Park, a nearby amusement park. On the 14th, they eat lunch in Chadds Ford, where they see artists drawing costumed models.  These are students of Howard Pyle, although he is not mentioned by name.  After lunch, they pass the Birmingham school and the new county alms house, and spend the night in Coatesville.  Their journey ends on July 15 with their return to Glenwood Farm. Several typed transcriptions of the original diary were commissioned by Mrs. Thomas L. Montgomery in 1930.  A few passages from the original, however, were not included.  The locations of the original diary and the other typed copies are not known.  The entirety of this transcript, which also includes photographs of the four men, is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

The digitized papers of Charles J. Pennock consist of a small number of letters, most by or addressed to Charles J. Pennock; two bird log books; more a manuscript copy of a bird book by Charles L. Bonaparte; and a notebook of geology notes. Materials date from 1791 to 1927, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1860 to 1927. Charles John Pennock was an ornithologist who lived most of his life in Kennett Square, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Pennock was born to a Quaker family in 1857, the son of Deborah Yerkes and Samuel Pennock. He was married twice, and had two sons and two daughters. He was a tax collector, magistrate, and businessman in Kennett Square, but his chief love was for birds. Pennock collected specimens and took notes on the birds he spotted around Chester County. He was a member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, serving as president 1901-1903; the American Ornithologists’ Union (A.O.U.); and the West Chester Bird Club. He also studied birds in Delaware and was named its state ornithologist. He amassed a significant collection of books about North American birds, and his collection of birds and eggs was given to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. After attending an ornithological meeting in Philadelphia on May 15, 1913, Pennock did not return home. Police were alerted and a search for him was instigated, but he was not located. However, in 1919, Dr. Witmer Stone, curator of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, believed that notes various ornithologists were receiving from a John Williams in St. Marks, Florida were similar to notes Pennock had written. Stone’s suspicions were enough aroused that he alerted one of Pennock’s relatives, Dr. Richard J. Phillips. Phillips journeyed to St. Marks to investigate and discovered that John Williams was indeed Pennock. With his identity discovered, Pennock returned to his wife in Kennett Square and died there in 1935. less

This collections represents all extant records of the Chester County Board of Relief from 1861 through 1865. The Chester County Board of Relief was set up more by the Act of May 15, 1861 P.L. 749, entitled "An Act to Create a Loan and to Provide for Arming the State" to aid local families of Civil War soldiers. Funded by state appropriations, its members included the County Commissioners and Court of Common Pleas Associate Judges. Township boards of relief were set up individually without legal precedent when townships felt the County Board did not meet the need for aid. Townships could petition the Board to assist their families although the Board did not always agree to help and the township boards assisted families without assistance from the county. The materials in this collection document the actives of the Board of Relief and provides detailed information on the families who sought its assistance. This collection is divided into four record series: account books, applications, correspondence, and administrative records. A full index to the account books, applications, and correspondence can be found here: https://www.chesco.org/1702/Board-of-Relief-1861-1865. less

This selection of digitized diaries by David Evans dates from 1835 to 1879. In these diaries, Evans notes his early studies in school; his experiences as more a teacher, farmer, and surveyor; his interests in geology, botany, and history; his attendance at Quaker and Anti-Slavery Society meetings; and the daily lives of his family and friends. From the late 1830s to the early 1850s, many of Evans’ entries provide names and details of aid he provided as a member of the Underground Railroad. There is also one volume by David’s brother, Josiah Evans, dating from March to December 1838, which documents Josiah’s time in Ohio. Early entries describe the passing environs en route to Ohio, and, once there, focus on daily life, visits with family and friends, and his attendance at Quaker and Anti-Slavery Society meetings. David Evans was born in 1818, the son of Nathan and Zillah Maule Evans of Willistown Township, Pennsylvania and died, age 80, on July 4, 1898. He had one brother and four sisters: Josiah, Catharine, Anne, Elizabeth, and Mary. Evans married Eliza W. House on March 21, 1861. Eliza died, most likely of breast cancer, in 1875, age 45; David did not remarry. Although young family members resided with David and Eliza, the couple was childless. In addition to living in Willistown, Evans resided in Malvern, Pennsylvania, a town he helped develop from the 1860s into the 1890s. Primarily an off-and-on school teacher and a farmer, Evans followed many interests, including his Quaker faith, the abolition of slavery, reading, farming, surveying, temperance, architecture, traveling, and rock formations. He was a member of the Willistown Library and the Willistown Literary Society. In March 1853, Evans was elected to a three year term as a Willistown Township school director. Six years later he was appointed township auditor. As a businessman, Evans operated a lumber yard. He wrote in his diary that he had “commenced business in the line of lumber coal feed flour etc. at the W. Chester Intersection R.R. January 1, 1866.” In Willistown, David Evans, with his father, Nathan, was part of a network of sympathizers who organized stations in the Underground Railroad. Additionally, he was involved in the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, serving as a delegate after the organization had been re-established in 1837. Even though Evans was a staunch abolitionist, he refused to serve in the Union army, instead registering as a conscientious objector. less

The digitized diary of Elizabeth Passmore consists of 382 scanned pages and dates from January to December of 1891. Found within the diary are descriptions of more her daily life, including family affairs, social engagements, housework, education, and religion. Elizabeth Broomell Passmore (1839-1932) was born to John and Esther Moore Hambleton Broomell of Upper Oxford Township. After teaching school in Upper Oxford, Elizabeth married George Birdsall Passmore in 1862. Together, they had 8 children, Hanson, Louella, Ellen, Andrew, George, Norman, and two children who died in infancy. George Passmore was an educator who taught for several years in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Rising Sun, Maryland before moving to Oxford Township where he established George B. Passmore and Sons, a coal, coke, and wood supply business. Both George and Elizabeth were actively engaged in the temperance and abolition movements, and after the death of her husband in 1890, Elizabeth became increasingly engaged in progressive efforts on the behalf of women’s suffrage, temperance, abolition, child welfare, and education. For over twenty years, Passmore was a board member of Swarthmore College, and she served fifteen years as a manager of the Chester County Children’s Aid Society. In addition, she served as President of the Oxford Public Library and was a working member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The diary covers Passmore’s lamenting of her husband’s death and her memories of their life together. She also documents her daily activities, including visits with family and friends, Society of Friends meetings, and volunteer meetings and events in the community. Many diary entries include quotes and selections from published writers and poets. The entirety of the Elizabeth Broomell Passmore Diary Collection, which consists of 40 bound volumes and dates from 1891 to 1930, is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

The digitized account book of Ennion Cook consists of 256 scanned pages and dates from 1798 to 1836. Found within this volume are Cook’s financial records more as a school teacher, including student boarding fees, firewood purchases, and guardianship accounts. The back of the book also includes account records for the Birmingham Society of Friends’ burying grounds. Ennion Cook (1773-1841) was born to Stephen and Margaret Williams Cook in London Grove Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. A teacher by profession, Cook moved to Birmingham Township, Chester County in 1798 and was a prominent member of the Quaker community. Cook married Agnes Garrett in 1800, and, in 1802, began teaching in the four-sided school house located next to the Birmingham Meeting House. He later taught in the Octagonal Schoolhouse (known as Harmony Hall), a building recognized on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In 1808, Cook was appointed Librarian of the Birmingham Library, which operated out of his residence, and within the year, also began serving as the sexton of the Birmingham graveyard. Cook’s account book includes an index of 89 names followed by detailed account records that list individual items purchased and amounts paid. Typical charges to account holders include school supplies, boarding fees, clothing, shoes, firewood, tuition, and tutoring fees. A listing of Agnes Cook’s boarders from 1798-1822 is provided on pages 111-112, and a record of eight personal bond purchases is listed on page 123. In the back of the book, Cook kept separate entries relating to his role as sexton of the Birmingham graveyard from 1809 to 1834, and these entries include account records for individual plot purchases and the amounts paid. The entirety of the Ennion Cook Account Book Collection is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

This collection contains 11 volumes of writings and additional manuscripts, ca. 1793-1818, composed or transcribed by Halliday Jackson. These manuscripts primarily relate to his observations on more Seneca Native American life, some of which were later published in Civilization of the Indian Natives or, a Brief View of the Friendly Conduct of William Penn Towards Them in the Early Settlement of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Marcus T. C. Gould; New York: Isaac T. Hopper, 1830). Of Irish heritage, Halliday Jackson (August 31, 1771 - February 9, 1835) was a member of the Society of Friends who lived in New Garden, Pennsylvania and later moved to Darby, Pennsylvania. As a missionary, Jackson instructed on various pursuits. From 1798 to 1800 and at other times, he took part in Quaker missions to the Seneca Native Americans, which were organized by the Indian Committee of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. More specifically, between September 1 and October 4, 1806, Jackson traveled to Seneca settlements in western New York to inspect farms, fields, and mills that he and his fellow Quakers had earlier helped the Native Americans establish. In addition, while residing in Darby the 1820s, Jackson, a temperance advocate, served as secretary of the Darby Association for Discouraging the Unnecessary Use of Ardent Spirits. On March 18, 1801, Jackson married Jane Hough (May 23, 1775 - December 28, 1830) and together they had 12 children, including a son also named Halliday, who was a published author and poet. Following Jane’s death on June 13, 1833, Jackson married Ann P. Paschall (1792 - 1874), a Quaker minister born to Samuel and Mary Price Gibson of Darby. Halliday Jackson and his first wife are buried at Darby Friends Cemetery. The Chester County History Center also has two volumes of diaries kept by Halliday Jackson, 1793-1794 and 1810-1834. Other Halliday Jackson papers are at Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College (See: https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/5182haja) and Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections (See: https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/hcmc-950-101). less

This digitized selection from the Jean Kane Foulke papers measures 1.4 linear feet and dates from 1850 to 1955, with the bulk of the materials dating more from 1900 to 1920. Found within the scanned papers are correspondence, notes, news clippings, and printed materials related to Foulke’s work as a suffragist, community service leader, and organizer supporting the homefront during World War I. Correspondence and printed materials highlight Foulke’s work as a suffragist leader. From 1913 to 1920, Foulke sat on the board of both the Women’s League for Good Government and the Equal Franchise Society of Pennsylvania. She also served as chairwoman of the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women’s committee for rural women. Materials include internal organizational memoranda, membership form letters and mailings, printed ephemera, and 1920 election campaign materials. In addition, Foulke was actively involved with public health issues in Chester County, as documented by correspondence and printed material covering smallpox vaccinations, consumption, a scarlet fever outbreak, and the West Chester sewage system. Materials also document Foulke’s work with The Grange, Acorn Club, Chester County Historical Society, and College Club. Additional folders focus on women’s contributions to the war effort during World War I. These materials document the Women’s Land Army’s efforts to counteract food and farm labor shortages, women’s war work/labor, and other local safety and educational campaigns. The entirety of the Jean Kane Foulke papers is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

This digitized volume is a copy of John Churchman’s survey work of the Nottingham Lots. The location of the original is unknown. Gilbert Cope, a Chester more County, Pa. historian and genealogist, obtained access to Churchman’s personal papers and copied the volume from 1868 to 1873. John Churchman (1753-1805), a native of East Nottingham Township, Chester County, Pa., was a noted 18th-century surveyor and cartographer. Together with other members of his family, he is credited with compiling this volume recording information about the Nottingham Lots. For many years, Churchman held the official post of surveyor for Chester, Delaware, and parts of Berks and Lancaster Counties, Pa. In addition, he was a self-taught scientist, investigated magnetic phenomena in determining seafaring longitude, and was a member of the Society of Friends. Because Churchman eventually deviated from the Quaker “path of simplicity” and became involved in such assorted business activities as real estate investments and mining, he was dismissed from the Nottingham Monthly Meeting. Churchman’s publications include Variation Chart or Magnetic Atlas and a map of the Delmarva Peninsula (1778), which he dedicated to the American Philosophical Society. Churchman corresponded internationally; visited Copenhagen, Denmark, London, England, and St. Petersburg, Russia; and was elected to membership in the Royal Society of Arts (U.K.) and the Imperial Russian Academy. Churchman died at sea as he sailed home to America, having earlier suffered illness in London. The Nottingham Lots, consisting of 18,000 acres, were originally located in Southeastern Pennsylvania. They were created in 1701 by William Penn, who wanted both lands he could control and a settlement along the border separating Pennsylvania and Catholic-friendly Maryland. Penn's original tract was divided into 37 lots, each approximately 500 acres. It is believed that prospective owners made their selections by drawing lots; hence, the use of that descriptive word. Eventually, property ownership was disputed by Penn and his descendants and by Maryland’s Lord Baltimore and his descendants, chiefly over the location of the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northern border of Maryland. Much of this volume of 306 pages records handwritten text and precisely drawn maps relating to ownership of the Nottingham Lots, including owner’s names, lot locations, surveying data, and information dating from 1681 to 1875. Additionally, there are six other informative sections in the volume: - List of Nottingham Warrants (owners by surname) (pp. 128-149) - Contributors to Lancaster Meeting House (1759) (pp. 218-219) - Newlin Township (deeds, surveys, landowners, etc.) (pp. 242-248) - East Bradford Township (landowners) (pp. 251-254) - 4th Battalion, Chester County (1776) – militia list, etc. (pp. 292-299) - Chester County landowners (pp. 300-306) This volume was once part of the Gilbert Cope Historical and Genealogical Collection at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. In November 1952, it was deaccessioned and transferred to the Chester County History Center. Evidence suggests that prior to 1921, the volume was in the possession of two West Chester residents, William B. McCullough and Slater Russell. In addition to Churchman’s surveys, the digitized material includes a 16 page index of landowner names and locations mentioned in the surveys. Related records on the Nottingham Lots can be found at the Chester County Archives. less

The digitized reminiscences recorded by John Hill Brinton consist of five volumes (three original and two typed transcripts) and date from 1856 to 1868. Found within more the collection are descriptions of early Chester County people, places, and historical events dating back to the late 1600s. John Hill Brinton (1811-1893) was born in Thornbury, Pennsylvania on June 2, 1811, the son of Thomas Hill and Catharine Odenheimer Brinton. He attended Strode’s Academy, West Chester, Pennsylvania and Germantown Academy in Philadelphia. Brinton then studied law for three years with William H. Dillingham and was admitted to the Chester County bar on October 6, 1832. He practiced law in West Chester, and was the oldest member of the county bar at the time of his death. Active in politics and a self-identified Jacksonian Democrat, Brinton was a compelling speaker. Though he was never elected to office, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General—the equivalent of District Attorney—for Chester County, serving from April 1847 until July 1848. Brinton was also a local historian interested in his family genealogy, as well as early Chester County history. In 1873, he traveled to Europe in part to learn about his family’s origins. Additionally, beginning in the 1840s, he interviewed Chester County residents about their families and recorded their memories about the county’s past. Brinton died, aged 81, unmarried and childless, after a brief illness on February 5, 1893. The collection consists of three handwritten volumes and two volumes of transcriptions that document the history of Chester County, Pennsylvania from the late 1600s to the mid-1800s through the reminiscences of residents interviewed by Brinton. After Brinton’s death, the original manuscript was held by the Ogier family for many years before being returned to the Brinton family at which point handwritten indexes were added. In 1915, Francis D. Brinton underwrote the manuscript’s typed transcription and the two volumes of transcripts were bound by Fahr and Johnson of Philadelphia in 1950. The only typed index is in the first transcribed volume, leaving readers to refer to the original manuscript volumes for handwritten indexes to Book 2 and Book 3. Book 1 is described by Brinton as “Conversations held with old people respecting former times—some of them relatives, some of them friends, some acquaintances—and residing generally in Chester and Delaware Counties and Birmingham and Thornbury Township.” The volume begins with a 23 page index followed by 240 pages of Brinton’s handwritten synopses. These recollections include many members of the Carr, Darlington, Dilworth, Downing, Hickman, Hoopes, Mendenhall, Sharpless, and Taylor families. Brinton notes that these conversations were recorded as soon as they took place, though in cases of multiple conversations with single individuals, manuscript notations were consolidated into a single record. Topics discussed include the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Brandywine, the growth and development of Chester County, the changing appearance of the county’s land and trees, house and road construction, Quaker meetings, family genealogies, local mills, property ownership, politics, legal precedents, and etc. In addition, Brinton family members and the building, renovation, and general appearance of the 1704 Brinton House are discussed at length. Book 2 begins with a 32 page index followed by 231 pages of handwritten recollections, which cover topics similar to those in Book 1. In addition, Brinton records his visit to Europe, which he undertook in part to trace his family’s history and origins. Book 3 begins with a 14 page index followed by 174 pages of notes. The first section, “Notes of Conversations held by me with old inhabitants about the early settlement in Penn’s Colony,” covers events relating to Chester County’s earliest European inhabitants. The second section, “Some account of William Brinton one of the early settlers in Penn’s Colony of Pennsylvania and of His Descendants,” is an essay on the life of William Brinton, who settled in America in the 1600s. less

The two digitized diaries of Lewis White Williams consist of 102 scanned pages and date from July to August of 1857. Found within the diaries are more descriptions of geologic formations, plants, animals, rivers, and minerals sighted during a wagon road survey of the southwest commissioned by the U.S. Government and under the command of Lt. Edward Beale. Lewis White Williams (1804-1873) was born to Richard and Martha Good Williams in East Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. A teacher by profession, Williams was also a well-regarded expert in local geology and mineralogy, and was one of the earliest members of the Chester County Cabinet of Natural Sciences. In amassing mineral samples for his personal collection, Williams traveled widely at home and abroad, arranging personal expeditions to all fifty states and territories, as well as China and Japan. In addition, Williams is credited with discovering corundum deposits near Unionville in Newlin Township, Chester County. A variety of Serpentine gemstone, named Williamsite, is also named for him. In 1857, Williams was appointed by President Buchanan’s administration to join a survey expedition organized by Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale to reconnoiter a wagon trail from New Mexico to California. As the Assistant Geologist and Naturalist for the “Camel Expedition,” White was tasked with noting the geologic formations encountered during the expedition, which used 77 camels to carry gear to Fort Tejon, California. Upon the successful completion of the survey, the Beale Road was used by the U.S. Army and settlers traveling west, and portions of the route’s corridor have been incorporated into Route 66 and Interstate 40. The first diary notes the expedition’s departure from the Gulf city of Indianola, Texas on June 6, and covers the group’s first 35 days of northwest travel to Leon Springs, Texas, just north of San Antonio. Entries in the second diary cover the expedition from July 15 to August 12 as the surveyors continued towards Las Cruces, New Mexico, and ends on Day 63 when the party passes through Albuquerque, New Mexico. In both volumes, Williams notes the daily activities of the camp, miles traveled per day, and the distinct geologic and botanical features of the rivers and valleys the group travels through. In addition, he includes notes on fossil and native plant specimens, local news, Native Americans, and individuals the party encounters during the journey, including rangers and local townspeople. The entirety of the Lewis White Williams Diary Collection is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

This digitized volume contains the meeting minutes of the Liberty Cornet Band dating from 1920-1932 and 1937, and includes the names of appointed officers and members more of the band. The Liberty Cornet Band was an African-American musical group established in 1867 in West Chester, Pa. The band enjoyed a lofty profile in Chester County and the surrounding counties where they headlined concerts, performed at parades and sporting events, serenaded residents in surrounding communities, and played at Republican Party rallies and other political gatherings. Three prominent restaurateurs, Moses Hepburn, 1832-1897 (Magnolia House), Charles Burns, 1855/56-1917 (Burns’ Great Oyster House), and James Spence, 1843?-1925 (Spence’s Restaurant), were early band leaders. At its high point in January 1912, the band counted 50 members. In addition, the band performed farther afield, including Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic states. In 1897, the band was invited to take part in William McKinley’s presidential inauguration ceremony, and in 1901, it played at Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration. The band also gave benefit concerts, such as one in 1880 for the widow Abbey Smith of Media, Pa. In 1901, showing its patriotism, the band played at two events celebrating the return of American soldiers, including three African-Americans, from the Philippines and Cuba following the Spanish-American War. Not unexpectedly, the band enjoyed a banner reputation among West Chester’s African-American community. In an 1888 newspaper article, a reporter wrote, “West Chester yesterday belonged to the colored people, it being the date of the Liberty Band’s picnic.” The Liberty Cornet Band was active from its founding in 1867 to at least 1931. As with many organizations, the band had its ups and downs, adding members in good years and losing members in challenging times. For example, in August 1889, a significant number of members left to follow a religious revival; the band subsequently had to reorganize. In the 1920s, membership dropped from fifty to number in the thirties. The organization’s records reveal that there were no concerts or other activities, except practice sessions, after 1931. Undoubtedly, the depression of the 1930s contributed to the band’s collapse, as one member noted in 1931 that “we need to do something worthwhile immediately because of the critical condition of the band.” By 1937, the band in all likelihood folded. In February of that year, due to lack of funds, its officers authorized the disposal of its property at West Chester’s Masonic Hall. In addition to documenting specific motions and actions taken by band members, the volume records paid membership dues/fees, voting results, plans for future performances, mention of committee reports, personnel issues (i.e. fines to band members), administrative costs, performance venues, and concert ticket sales/costs. An index to the band’s cash accounts is listed on the verso of the front cover, and these cash account inventories include the band’s monthly receipts and expenses. Noted band members in this volume include the following three Presidents: Alfred Bowman (1923), Jacob Milby (1924-1930), and Herman Ray (1930-1932). William H. Burton, a teacher at West Chester’s Gay Street School and later a professor at Cheney University, served as the band’s Secretary from 1927 to 1932. less

The three diaries kept by Phebe Ann Sharpless (now digitized) span 1849 to 1855, a time when Sharpless was in her twenties. Phebe Sharpless was born more August 16, 1829, the daughter of Samuel Sharpless (1804-1872), a farmer, and his wife, Abigail Garrett Ashbridge Sharpless (1808-1857). Phebe Sharpless had two younger brothers: Thomas Ashbridge Sharpless (1831-1875) who married Margaretta Tucker Evans; and Theodore Sharpless (1835-January 18, 1870). The family resided in East Goshen township and later in West Chester. They attended Goshen Friends Meeting. Phebe Sharpless died in the home of her nephew, Clarence D. Sharpless, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. In the diaries, Sharpless records family news, plus thoughts on her Quaker faith and practice as well as issues of the time including temperance, abolitionism, women’s rights, and the death penalty. She wrote about a talk by William Lloyd Garrison and her support of the African colonization movement in August 1851. As she approached her 25th birthday, Sharpless wrote about her thoughts on marriage for herself and whether other marriages were happy. Domestic activities such as cleaning, sewing (including quilting with her mother and some embroidery work), baking, and other food preparation are discussed. Much of this was Sharpless’s responsibility because her mother was in poor health, and she notes that girls (some immigrant, primarily Irish, and some African American) were employed at times in the household. Sharpless also planted and tended vegetable and flower gardens. She wrote about her appreciation of nature, opining that cutting down forests seemed to lead to milder winters and that native wildflowers were dying out. She attended lectures on a variety of subjects including a series on physiology which she found informative and useful. Leisure time was spent reading (Jane Eyre and Uncle Tom’s Cabin are mentioned), drawing (a small pencil sketch of a flower is in volume 3), attending concerts and picnics, visiting art exhibits, and shopping in West Chester and Philadelphia. Visits to family in Philadelphia and Wilmington are noted, along with travel to New York City, Maryland, and Cape May, New Jersey. The earliest diary is a small paper-bound volume, “Lipman’s Diary” with pre-printed dates. Regular entries ended in 1850, but the following family deaths were noted at the end of the volume: Sharpless’s aunt Hannah G. Ashbridge in 1860, her grandmother Phebe Garrett Ashbridge in 1870 and her brother, Theodore, also in 1870. The second and third diaries were blank volumes. The second volume includes poems written by Sharpless between 1856 and 1876. The third volume includes a partial index in the front of the volume, referencing entries in that diary. less

This digitized selection of eight diaries from the Sheeder Family Account Books and Diaries measures 0.5 linear feet and dates from 1870 to 1879. Found within more the diaries are entries documenting Anna Mary Sheeder’s life and daily routines on her family’s farm in East Vincent Township. Anna Mary Sheeder (1854-1943) was raised on the Sheeder family homestead in a community originally known as Sheeder Postoffice and later referred to as Red Hill. The farm was founded by Sheeder’s grandfather, Frederick Sheeder (1777-1865), an immigrant from Germany who arrived in Pennsylvania at the age of 16. In 1799, Frederick Sheeder purchased a plot of land bordering French Creek and began farming land that would be passed on to Joseph Sheeder, J. Frederick Sheeder, and Anna Sheeder. The diaries cover Anna Sheeder’s life as a young adult from age 16 to 25. During this period, Sheeder completed high school, attended West Chester Normal School (now West Chester University), and, following her graduation in 1874, worked as a schoolteacher for several years. From 1888 to 1901, she maintained the Sheeder farm account books and would eventually oversee the operation of the family farm, which specialized in dairy cattle. Diary entries are intermittent and limited to no more than a page a day—for some periods, there are entries every day interspersed between gaps of months or even seasons. Topics include the weather, chores, leisure activities, teaching, notable events in her daily life, and a summer vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Some notable events include seeking employment at a mill, choking on a raw oyster, beginning a star quilt, romantic interests, disciplining students, and the death of an acquaintance. The entirety of the Sheeder Family Account Books and Diaries is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

The digitized diaries of Walter Finney consist of three volumes with accompanying typed transcripts and date from 1778 to 1786. The diaries document Walter Finney’s observations more and notes during his service in the Revolutionary War, and as a witness to negotiations with Native American tribes after the War. A typed transcription of each diary, which adheres to Finney’s grammar and spelling, has been scanned and is included at the end of each volume in the collection. For ease of use, the order of scanned pages from the original diaries follows the same order presented in the typed transcripts. Walter Finney was born in New London, Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1748, the son of William (1701-1751) and Jean Stephenson Finney (1706-1751). Except for his military service during the Revolutionary War and immediately afterward, he resided on and cultivated his family farm in New London. According to Chester County and its People, by Wilmer W. Thomson, Finney was active in pre-Revolutionary War activities, including a meeting at the Chester County courthouse on December 20, 1774 “for the purpose of choosing a committee to carry into execution the association of the Continental Congress.” The following month he was appointed to a provincial convention in Philadelphia that recommended both the making of salt peter, a component of gunpowder, and the insuring of a proper supply. Eventually, Finney himself learned how to make salt peter and taught others how to do so. Walter Finney enlisted in the American revolutionary army as a Lieutenant, then rose to Captain and Major. As his diaries record, he spent his wartime service in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and several southern states. He suffered a head wound and was captured by the British and served his incarceration on a New York prison ship. After the war, Finney joined the State Society of the Cincinnati, a fraternal and hereditary organization founded in 1783 to commemorate the Revolutionary War. Following the Revolution, Finney seems to have taken part in treaty negotiations with Native Americans who had sided with the British. Once home in New London, Finney was a ruling elder of his Presbyterian Church, was named a director of the New London Library Company, and pursuant to the Pennsylvania constitution of 1790, Gov. Thomas Mifflin appointed him an associate justice of the Chester County Court on which he served until his death. Finney married Mary O’Hara, and together they had two sons, Walter Jr. and William. Finney died on September 17, 1820 and is buried at Thunder Hill Cemetery, also known as the Finney Family Burial Ground, in New London. Joseph Lee Boyle, a military historian who worked at Valley Forge Historical Park for more than a dozen years, transcribed the first two volumes of Finney’s diaries and published them with commentary in New Jersey History, vol. 121, nos. 1-4, 2003, pp. 23-81 and South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. 98, no. 2, 1997, pp. 126-152. less

The digitized copybook of William Darlington consists of 170 scanned pages and dates from 1845 to 1851. Found within the bound volume are handwritten ink-on-paper transcriptions more of Darlington’s outbound correspondence to family, friends, acquaintances, institutions, and businesses. William Darlington (1782-1863) was born to a Quaker family near Dilworthtown, Chester County and spent his childhood on his family’s farm. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a medical degree, Darlington served as a surgeon on a merchant ship for several years before returning to Chester County to practice medicine. A prominent member of the community, Darlington served as a major in the War of 1812, was the president of the Bank of West Chester for thirty-three years, and served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms (1815-1817 and 1819-1823). After studying medical botany under Professor Benjamin Smith Barton at the University of Pennsylvania, Darlington continued to nurture a lifelong interest in botanical studies. In 1826, he published Florula Cestrica, a catalog of the plants native to West Chester, and that same year, was one of ten original members to establish the Chester County Cabinet of Natural Sciences. In 1837, he published an expanded volume of his catalog, Flora Cestrica, which contained a complete classification for every known plant in Chester County. Other works of note include Agricultural Botany (1847) and Memorials to John Bartram and Humphry Marshall (1849). The copybook covers Darlington’s outbound correspondence from 1845 to 1851. Correspondents include his sister, Jane Hough, and friends in the community, including the Batchelder and Jeffrey families. With these correspondents, Darlington shares thoughts on his family, women’s interest in science, and appreciation for condolence letters received upon the death of his son. A significant portion of correspondence relates to Darlington’s interest in botany, including detailed descriptions of plant specimens and their classification, and the exchange of printed publications with other botanists, plant collectors, and naturalists. Frequent correspondents include Dr. F. Boott, Anna Maria Collinson, Asa Gray, and H.W. Richardson. Additional correspondence to institutions and businesses relate to personal accounts, invitations to speak, society memberships, and other academic topics. The William Darlington Letterpress Copybook is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less

The two digitized diaries of William Riley Blakeslee consist of 538 scanned pages and date from January 1862 to December 1863.  Found within the diaries are more accounts of his service in the Civil War, including personal accounting records, daily events, travels between camps, and visits to Coatesville. William Riley Blakeslee (1822-1909) was born to Benjamin and Sophia Lane Blakeslee in Springville Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.  After receiving his medical degree, Blakeslee moved to Coatesville, Pennsylvania where he practiced medicine as a surgeon and general physician.  Blakeslee was married three times and left seven children.  As a well-known figure in his community, Blakeslee was known for his house and gardens, and for opening one of the first drug stores in Coatesville. During the Civil War, Blakeslee served as a surgeon with the 115th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers from October 1861 until his discharge in March 1863, and returned to service from July to August 1863 in the wake of Gettysburg.  After the war, he continued practicing medicine in Coatesville and was employed as a surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railroad for over fifty years. The first diary notes Blakeslee’s arrival at Camp Constitution in Camden, New Jersey in May 1962, and documents the regiment’s travels to various locations in Virginia, including Fort Monroe, Harrison’s Landing, Centerville, northern Virginia, and Fredericksburg from June to December of 1862. Entries in the second diary describe marches near Falmouth, Virginia in January, and activities at Camp Muhlenberg and Camp Cook from July to August of 1863.  Blakeslee’s entries for 1863 provide greater description and details regarding fellow officers, daily news, events, and visits back to his home in Coatesville.  In addition, entries dating from September 9 onward include recollections and notes of daily activities from the previous year. less

The Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights Collection measures 0.3 linear feet and dates from 1852 to 1933, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1893 more to 1917. Found within the collection are published materials, letters, manuscripts, and ephemera related to women’s suffrage. Materials document the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association (PWSA) at the state and chapter levels, as well as the larger National Woman Suffrage Association. The Chester County Equal Suffrage Association is also represented. Some organizational materials for men, sympathetic temperance materials, and anti-suffrage materials are also included. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton introduced a suffrage resolution at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York, equal suffrage became a central part of the national woman suffrage platform. Just a few years later, West Chester’s Horticultural Hall became the host location for the Pennsylvania Woman’s Rights Convention in June 1852. In the first afternoon session, voting rights was the first resolution debated and adopted in West Chester. In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded in response to the 15th amendment. By the early 20th century, auxiliary chapters of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, as well as similarly focused organizations for men, existed in Chester County. The collection includes correspondence regarding the planning of the 1894 PWSA Convention in West Chester, including letters between Lucy Anthony and her aunt Susan B. Anthony. A notebook by Mary Heald Way details women’s suffrage events, club activities, and quotes from publications related to women’s rights. Printed materials include flyers, tracts, and publications promoting suffrage activity dating from 1893 to 1917. In some cases, only the cover, title page, and individual relevant pages have been scanned from published materials. The entirety of the Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights Collection is housed and available for research use at the Chester County History Center. less