An Inventory of the Ash-Schofield Family Papers, 1888-1970
General International Standard for Archival Description
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.
Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, December 2000.
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Ash-Schofield Family Papers, 1888-1970
Biographical History for: Ash-Schofield Family Papers, 1888-1970
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTE Samuel Shinn Ash, son of Dr. Caleb and Rebecca (Shinn) Ash, was born Feb. 2, 1829, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Caleb Ash was described as a “radical Quaker and Reformer.” His marriage to Rebecca Shinn was the first to be solemnized in the new Cherry Street Meeting House; the bride's family had taken the Orthodox side in the Separation of 1827 and did not attend the ceremony. The family moved to Darby in 1834, and here Samuel Shinn Ash received his early education. At 15, he joined the Franklin Institute, of which he remained a life-long member. Apprenticed as an engineer and machinist, he joined the firm of Howard and Son (later Howard and Ash) and subsequently worked to perfect a stamp-perforating machine for the manufacture of U.S. postage and revenue stamps. At the termination of the Government contract, he joined the furniture and upholstery firm of Amos Hillborn, where he remained until his retirement in 1897. In 1859 he married Sarah J. Schofield, daughter of Oliver W. and Mary Jackson Schofield of Darby. Three sons and one daughter were born of this marriage, the youngest son and the daughter surviving their parents. A number of the letters in the collection concern the loss of the two older sons, at ages of 14 and 21 respectively. Throughout their lives, Samuel Shinn Ash and his wife were active members of their Meeting. He was not only a minister much in demand for a variety of spiritual services, but they were active in a wide range of philanthropic activities, antislavery, peace and temperance movements, women's rights, and education. As clerk of the First Meeting of Friends' Educational Association, he was one of the founders of Swarthmore College. Samuel Shinn Ash died in 1911, and Sarah Ash died in 1912.
SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE RECORDS This collection consists of family papers, manuscript letters and memorabilia, largely of a domestic nature. Includes some descriptions of Meetings and religious journeys, of the early struggles of Samuel S. Ash in engineering and business, and references to the Schofield Normal and Industrial School in Aiken, S.C., of which Martha Schofield, one of the correspondents, was Manager. The exchange of letters between Mary S. Ash and her mother, Sarah Ash, describes student life at Swarthmore College in the 1890's.
Quakers - Pennsylvania
Schofield, Martha
Child, Mary H. (Mary Hough), 1803-1874
Schofield, Oliver W. (Oliver Wilson), 1806-1852
Ash, Samuel S. (Samuel Shinn), 1829-1911
Ash, Sarah J. (Sarah Jane), 1835-1912
Jenkins, Mary Ash, 1875-1948
Schofield, Lydia A. (Lydia Ann), 1835-1909
Swarthmore College
Schofield Normal and Industrial School
series
Ser. 1. Biographical and genealogical material, 1847, n.d.
General, includes family trees
Extended genealogical lists
Memoirs and obituaries
Disownment of Oliver W. Schofield from Newtown Meeting 1847
Ser. 2. Correspondence, 1796-1912
Mary H. Jackson (Schofield), 1818-1869
From her father1818-19
Letters her father wrote her while she was a student.
From Edward Stabler 1828-30
To presidents and governors 1847-69
Oliver W. and Mary H. Schofield, 1831-1859
Correspondence with each other1833-52
Correspondence sent 1831-1859
Correspondence received 1835-1852, n.d.
Sarah Schofield Ash, 1852-1912
Correspondence sent1852-1863
Correspondence sent1871-1877
Correspondence sent1880-1912, n.d.
Correspondence received1851-1911
Samuel Shinn Ash, 1853-1910
Correspondence sent1853-1859
Correspondence sent1861-1876
Correspondence sent1884-1910
Correspondence received1854-1877
Correspondence received1884-1910
Lydia Ann Schofield, 1865-1895
Correspondence sent1865-1895
Correspondence received1871-1875.
Mary Schofield Ash, 1892-1911
Correspondence sent1892-1911
Correspondence received1893-1911
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1796-1840
1796 T. Scattergood to Jane Hough Jackson
1801 Halliday Jackson to his bride
1816 Mary Jackson, short verse in a letter to her father
1831 Edward Stabler to Halliday Jackson.
1840 Edward Hicks to John Jackson
Ser. 3. Writings
Listed by author.
Mary H. Jackson, 1831-1874, n.d.
Notebooks
Miscellaneous pieces, many original 1831-1864, n.d.
Sarah Jane Schofield, 1850s
Commonplace book with original pieces 1850s
Lydia Ann Schofield, 1870s
On her mother, Mary H. Jackson ca. 1870s
Mary Schofield Ash, 1894
Diary 1894
Written while a student at Swarthmore College.
John Jackson, 1855
Dissertation, “On the Christian Ministry” 1855
Miscellaneous, 1851-1902
Comments to London Yearly Meeting and others, notes from class “The New Covenant”, 1902
Miscellaneous 1851-1901
Ser. 4. Miscellaneous items, 1818-1939, n.d.
Quaker invitations 1825-1909
Friendship calendar 1909
Silhouettes 1909, n.d.
Memorabilia of G. Herbert Jenkins
Includes “Welsh Society” book and invoice.
Piece from William Penn Treaty Tree
Given to Halliday Jackson by Mary H.J. Schofield Child.
Ser. 5. Photographs and pictures, 1834-1910, n.d.
Portraits and family pictures ca. 1834-1910.
Buildings
Swarthmore College student life, ca. 1896 Mary Schofield Ash.