This collection contains ephemera related to Alice Potter Fordney, antiques dealer and rugmaker. Items in the collection include business correspondence with Armstrong, F. Schumacher & Co., and the Montclair art museum; personal correspondence with friends and family; hooked rug patterns; and antiques sale flyers from the early 20th century. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings, including the obituary of Fordney's sister Ellen Franklin; reference material for rug making and interior design (informational sheets, books and patterns); several items related to the Yeates School, which Fordney's brother William Bush Fordney attended; several photographs of unidentified persons; and a statement related to the will of William J. Fordney, her uncle.
Admin/Biographical History
Alice Potter Fordney was born June 21, 1887 in Lancaster, the daughter of Ida Cox and Thomas Potter Fordney. A prominent antique dealer from the late 1920s to her retirement in 1965, Fordney also made and sold hooked rugs.
Fordney's family features prominently in Lancaster County history. Her maternal great-grandfather was John Michael, who owned the historic Grape Hotel from 1805-1839. Fordney's paternal great-grandfather William Jenkins built Wheatland in 1828 and later sold the property to President James Buchanan. Colonel William Bush Fordney, her paternal grandfather, was a prominent lawyer in Lancaster. He served as district attorney from 1839-1845 and negotiated for the loan that enabled Lancaster city to build the "water works" in the 1830s. Sarah Cox, her maternal grandmother, was a known philanthropist and for years helped to manage the Home for Friendless Children in Lancaster. Her sister, Ellen Fordney Franklin, was a "pioneer" in the industry of women's knit suits, opening her first shop in 1929 in Philadelphia.
Fordney never married. She kept in contact with her nieces and nephews, as evidenced by letters in the collection. According to notes provided by Wendell Zercher, Sarah Ellmaker McIlvaine Muench, her niece and the donor of the collection, recalled her as "warm and artistic," and "a character." She died April 17, 1973, at the age of 85.
Works Cited:
"Mrs. Franklin, pioneer of women's knit suits, dies." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 10 May 1963, p. 2.
"Accident Fatal to Mrs. Sarah A. Cox." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], no date, page unknown.
"Miss Fordney, Antique Dealer, 85, Succumbs." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 18 April 1973, p. 2.
"One of Lancaster's Most Prominent and Venerable Citizens Passes Away." Daily Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA], 29 July 1889, p. 1.
3 boxes, 37 folders, 333 items, 1,015 pages to scan, 4.5 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
HC0001
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Associated Material
Sarah McIlvaine Muench Family Papers, MS 44 at Archives and Special Collections, Shadek-Fackenthal Library, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
Related Item Notes
See photograph collection.
See curatorial collection for examples of rugs.
Fordney Family Diaries (MG0539)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Archive of Alice P. Fordney (HC0001), Box #, Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
The kraft paper patterns in Folders 33-37 are restricted. Please make an appointment with the Director of Archival Services to view these items.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
G.04.23.52
Classification
HC0001
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
From the Heritage Center of Lancaster County collection, G04.23.52.
Processed and finding aid prepared by MJ, June 2018.
This collection contains poetry written by Seth L. Kinsey (1857-1948); letters written to Olive King and her children, A. Ruth, Katherine and James; real photo postcards of the Indian Steps Museum and miscellaneous ephemera.
Admin/Biographical History
Seth Leonard Kinsey was born 11 May 1857 in Harford County, Maryland, to Elam and Mary Ann Johnson Kinsey. He was a member of Eastland Friends Meetinghouse and worked as a reporter for newspapers in York County. He married twice - first to Anna Thomas in 1884 and to Phebe Coates in 1938. He died in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County on 15 August 1948 and is buried at Eastland Friends Burial Ground.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Seth L. Kinsey Papers, 1938-1948 (MG0930), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
The Rose Family of Safe Harbor Collection contains correspondence and genealogy about the family of William Rose. Civil War letters from Samuel Rose mention battles and troop movements.
Admin/Biographical History
William Rose moved to Pennsylvania from [Connecticut] and settled in Safe Harbor. He married Mary Ann Tripple, whose parents were from England. They had seven children. He owned a canal boat and worked along the canals in Pennsylvania. Their house stood near the Conestoga River.
William's brother Samuel fought in the Civil War. Family tradition states that Samuel Rose died 2 May 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville, nine days before his enlistment expired. He was wounded and carried to the edge of the woods. The woods were later set on fire and it is believed that Samuel perished there.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Rose Family of Safe Harbor Collection (MG0338), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions are noted at the item level. Please request at the Reference Desk or contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Letter to Deborah T. Simmons Coates from [a sibling], 1837
Letter to Elizabeth Coates from Alice, 1862 (Elizabeth Jackson Coates, future wife of Marriott Brosius)
Civil War diary of Marriott Brosius, 1863-1865, with damage from bullet that shattered his arm (original, digital copy of images of each page and transcription)
Note from Gertrude (donor's g-g-grandmother) to her daughters Gertrude and Helen regarding the diary
Framed certificate: Commission to 2nd Lt., 97th Infantry
Pass for leave, Marriott Brosius, 1863
Digital and hardcopy of "Marriott Brosius story"
Digital and hardcopy of "Marriott Brosius military regiment history"
This collection has not been cataloged, but may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Thaddeus Stevens Collection (MG0115), Part 1, Folder # or Object ID, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-115
Other Number
MG-115, Part 1, Folder 14, Insert 5
Classification
MG0115
Description Level
Item
Custodial History
Added to database 13 November 2022.
Digitization of this document was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Appl ID # 202010016624, 2020-2023.
The Andrew J. Steinman Collection contains the personal and business papers of Andrew J. Steinman, the Steinman family, and John M. Hale. Andrew was a lawyer; his wife was the daughter of John M. Hale, also a lawyer. This collection is comprised of correspondence, legal papers, and financial records.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
This collection may have been a gift of Mrs. Buller, 21 October 1966.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Original documents may be used--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit or request at the Reference Desk.
Copyright
Collection items may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-66
Classification
MG0066
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Originally processed prior to 1997. Finding aid revised by PW; typed by KR, Winter 2012. Added to database 26 December 2023.
The Dr. Martin L. Herr Family Collection contains correspondence, photographs, Civil War documents, marriage certificates, bonds and promissory notes, a patent, and estate papers. Documents pertaining to Dr. Herr's medical career and an article on midwifery are also part of this collection.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Original documents may be used--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit or request at the Reference Desk.
Copyright
Collection items may be photographed. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-126
Classification
MG0126
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Processed and finding aid prepared in 1998-1999. Added to database 26 December 2023.
Civil War letters to Moses Long and Joseph H. Long's obituary
Description
Item 1 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his brother, Joseph H. Long. Camp Nevin. With transcription. 29 October 1861.
Item 2 Photocopy of newspaper articles. "Col. Hambright Slashes Red Tape, Gets Lancaster Regiment in Field" and "Local Troops Chowless on Stalled Train." Reprinted in the Lancaster Intelligencer, 24 November 1961.
Item 3 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long. Camp Nevin. With transcription and genealogy. 8 November 1861.
Item 4 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long. Camp Cooper near Shelbeyville. With transcription. 20 June 1863.
Item 5 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long. Louisville, Kentucky. With transcription. 1 October 1862.
Item 6 Map of Gen. O. M. Mitchell's campaign.
Envelope addressed to Moses Long. Postmarked Nashville, Tennessee, 18 July 1863.
Envelope addressed to Moses Long. Postmarked June 25.
Item 7 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long. Murfreesboro, Tennessee. With envelope and transcription.
6 June 1863.
Item 8 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long. Murfreesboro, Tennessee. With transcription. 22 June 1863. (see MG0018_SerA_F060_It08)
Item 9 Pass for a person of color to mend a fence along the Manchester Road. Written by Capt. M. D. Wickersham. 6 August 1862.
Item 10 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long. Camp King, Kentucky. With transcription. 13 July 1863.
Item 11 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long with praise for Mart Bachman. With transcription. No date.
Item 12 Letter from Reuben C. Long to his father, Moses Long. Cowan Station, Tennessee. With transcription. 1 August 1863.
Item 13 Letter from Lt. Edward McCaffrey to Moses Long with news of Reuben's death. Chattanooga, Tennessee. With transcription. 28 September 1863.
Item 14 Letter from Samuel W. Lantz to Moses Long stating that Reuben's body was not recovered from the battlefield. With transcription. 26 October 1863.
Item 15 Photocopy of newspaper obituary of Joseph H. Long (1845-1934).
Admin/Biographical History
Reuben Clark Long (1843-1863) enlisted 30 September 1861 and served as a private with the 79th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company E until his death at Chickamauga, Georgia on 19 September 1863.
Letter from R. C. Long to his father, 1863 (MG0018_SerA_F060_It08)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Civil War Collection (MG0018), Series #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
General Thomas Welsh Family Papers, Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Description
The General Thomas Welsh Family Papers, Series F is a collection of documents, newspapers, and newspaper clippings that covers the years 1815 through 1929, as well as genealogy and ephemera from the Welsh family Bible from 1850 through 1938. The series also includes two scrapbooks - the first contains articles from the late nineteenth century pertaining to Thomas Welsh and his family; the second contains newspaper articles and ephemera related to Thomas Welsh and his family from 1854 through 1936.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Welsh (1824-1863) was a Lancaster County native (born and raised in Columbia), who rose from hardscrabble origins to local fame, first as a Mexican War hero, and then as a brigadier general during the Civil War. He was well known and well respected as a no nonsense officer, for his leadership and gallantry in battle, for his dedication to the service of his country, and for his concern for the welfare of his men.
Welsh lost his father at the age of 2, and went to work to support his family at age 8. He had very little formal schooling, and was largely self-educated. In 1843, at age 19, he left Lancaster County for Washington City, then went west as an itinerant carpenter/laborer to Cincinnati, Little Rock, and Fort Smith.
When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he enlisted in a Kentucky regiment, and was severely wounded at the battle of Buena Vista (1847) from which he never fully recovered. Returning home to Columbia, he re-enlisted as a second lieutenant, assigned to the 11th U.S. infantry regiment in Mexico City. Within days of his arrival in Mexico City, he was declared unfit for service on account of his battle wound, and sent home again.
Back in Columbia as a civilian, he dabbled in politics, and received a patronage job in the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works (the rail and canal system connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). After several years, he opened up a grocery and dry goods store in Columbia's canal basin. He also became an insurance agent. In 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and his reputation grew as a community leader. By 1860, he was president of the Borough Council, a founding member of the Columbia Board of Trade, Vice President of the Columbia Cricket Club, and a canal boat operator, in addition to a dry goods merchant, insurance agent, and Justice of the Peace. He had a wife, 5 surviving children, and legal guardianship of his sister's 4 children.
When Confederate forces shelled Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the Civil War, Thomas Welsh raised and organized the first company of volunteers from Lancaster County, and took them into the field as their Captain. Within days, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, which served out its 90-day enlistment in the Shenandoah Valley.
Returning to Harrisburg, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, the problem-plagued processing center for new recruits. In short order, Welsh cleaned up the camp's poor sanitary conditions, improved the health of the camp, and implemented soldierly discipline and training.
In October 1861, he resigned from his camp duties, and as Colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania, led his regiment into the field. After brief service outside of Washington, they were sent to South Carolina in December, where they were posted to Otter Island. After the battle of James Island, they were recalled to Newport News, in July 1862, then sent to guard Aquia Creek.
In September, now in brigade command in Burnsides' 9th Corps, Welsh chased Lee's Confederate army west into central Maryland. His brigade broke the enemy line in Fox's Gap, on Sept. 14, then 3 days later achieved the furthest Union advance at Antietam, reaching the edge of Sharpsburg, and nearly cutting off Lee's only avenue of escape. Welsh's gallantry earned him a field promotion to brigadier general, which Congress confirmed on March 13, 1863.
The 9th Corps (Welsh now in command of the 1st Division) was sent west in the spring of 1863, then dispatched south to support Grant's investment of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg fell, they turned east and defeated Confederate General Johnston at the Battle of Jackson. Welsh contracted malaria in the southern swamps, and died in Cincinnati upon their return north. One of his men later recalled, "Had he lived, Welsh would undoubtedly have attained a much higher command. 1
1. Beauge, Eugene, in Albert, Allen D., Ed., History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865, Williamsport, PA: Grit Publ. Co, 1912, p. 79.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in series:
Series A Thomas Welsh before the Mexican War
Series B Mexican War, 1846-1848
Series C Between the Mexican War and the Civil War, 1848-1861
Series D Civil War
Series E Post-Civil War
Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Series G Papers from the families of Gen. Thomas Welsh and Blanton C. Welsh
Provenance: Passed down through the family, Blanton Charles Welsh to Emilie Benson (Welsh) Wiggin to Nancy Jane (Wiggin) Townsend.~~Acquired from: Chuck Townsend, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2016/05/15.
In Boxes 1 and 2
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact research@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact research@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material.
Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Classification
MG0828
Description Level
Series
Custodial History
Folders 1-35 organized by Richard C. Wiggin prior to donation.
The Haldeman Family Papers and Business Records collection contains correspondence between various members of the Haldeman family-the majority of which were sent or received by Samuel Haldeman or his daughter Eliza. The first sets of letters are between Samuel's parents and other family and acquaintances, then progress to Samuel and his family. The content includes Paris Haldeman's life during the California gold rush; Eliza's studies in Philadelphia and France; the Civil War; Carsten Haldeman's severe throat illness; and Samuel's travels throughout Europe. The letters span from 1814 to 1883. Mentioned in many of the letters to and from Eliza is her friend Mary Cassatt, an American Impressionist artist. As for the letters sent by Samuel, their content tends to be extremely detailed, sending home as good a description of his travels as he could with locations ranging from Philadelphia to Pompeii. Also included in the collection are several newspaper clippings concerning the Haldeman mansion and Chickies Rock as well as a ledger from the E. Haldeman and Co. furnaces at Chickies.
Admin/Biographical History
Samuel Steman Haldeman (1812-1880) born at the mansion in Bainbridge on August 12, 1812, was the oldest of seven children of Henry Haldeman (1787-1849) and his wife Frances Steman (1794-1826). His father, who appreciated culture, endeavored to foster a love of learning in his children. His mother, an accomplished musician, died when Samuel was fourteen years of age.
Samuel was educated in the public schools, at the classical academy in Harrisburg and at Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA. He found college routine irksome and left after two years at the age of eighteen saying, "I cannot learn from others, I must see for myself." Thereafter he educated himself by attending lectures, recording observations of bird habits, learning to stuff birds and mammals from a traveling Methodist minister, resulting in a large collection of specimens in natural history and also a scientific and linguistic library.
As a child Haldeman had a penchant for collecting specimens from nature and Native American stone implements found on and near the mansion site, keeping them in his own museum. His collection included skeletons of rabbits, opossums, muskrats, and field mice, which he prepared by boiling the carcasses. It also included fresh-water shells from both banks of the Susquehanna River and its islands. A letter from Samuel to a friend, dated 1844, says, "I collected shells on the banks of the Susquehanna long before I knew the meaning of genus and species." We'll see later what an influence these early shell-collecting days on the Susquehanna River had on Haldeman's scientific scholarship.
After his marriage in 1835 to Mary A. Hough of Bainbridge, he moved to a new residence at the base of Chickies Rock, Marietta. Not only did he design the stately home built by his father, he laid out the grounds with native specimens of trees and shrubs gathered from the surrounding woods, and some foreign varieties, all of which were planted with his own hands.
Not having a particular fondness for business, he continued his studies of nature, but did assist his father in a saw mill and later became a silent partner in the iron business with his brothers. He wrote articles on anthracite furnaces for Silliman's Journal, and contributed sound and practical suggestions for improvements to both the mill business and construction of the blast furnace.
At the age of twenty-three, Samuel contributed to the Lancaster Journal an article refuting Locke's "Moon Hoax". From then on, his life was devoted to science. For forty-five years he spent most of the time in his library, many times working sixteen hours a day. In 1836, Professor Haldeman became an assistant on the State geological survey of New Jersey, and was later transferred to a similar position in Pennsylvania. During extensive geological work, he discovered a new genus and species of fossil plant. Geology did not engross his whole attention, as he was now busy collecting and studying shells, and made substantial contributions in this field through an expertly illustrated massive work of copperplate engravings, drawn and colored from the original shells and living animals. This was finished in 1845.
One professional association of Samuel Haldeman during this period of 1840 to 1850 is particularly significant for his scientific development as well as for the development of American science. In 1844 he became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fledgling organization just beginning to function. At the request of this organization, he prepared a paper entitled "Enumeration of the Recent Freshwater Mollusk Which are Common to North America and Europe, with Observations on Species and their Distribution." Fifteen years later, an obscure British scientist had the following to say about this paper, "In 1843-44 professor Haldeman (Boston Journal of Natural History, United States, Vol. IV, pg. 468) has ably given the arguments for and against the hypothesis of the development and modification of species: he seems to lean towards the side of change." This scientist was Charles Darwin and he was writing in the preface to his Origin of Species, one of the most influential and controversial science books ever published. Samuel was said to have been the only American Naturalist with whom Charles Darwin corresponded, and whose opinion Darwin regarded as authoritative."
Samuel continued to write important and prize-winning essays and articles in philology, phonography, ethnology, natural history, and archaeology. His writings in all fields of science are literally innumberable, with well over one hundred articles on such scientific subjects as conchology and crustacea (the study of mollusks and shells), entomology (the study of insects), arachnidae (the study of spiders), annelids (the study of earthworms, leeches and related animals ), geology, chemistry and archeology.
He became professor of zoology at Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in 1841; chemist and geologist of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society in 1852; professor of natural history at the University of Pennsylvania from 1850-1853; and the same position at Delaware College at Newark, Delaware from 1855-1858; and professor of comparative philology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1876 until the time of his death. This university conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. Professor Haldeman was among the first to undertake the spelling reform of English words. He corresponded with Noah Webster, who credited him with many words and definitions in his dictionary, also contributing to Worchester's Dictionary, the National Dictionary, and Johnson's Cyclopedia. He studied the languages of our Indian tribes, and of various nations and tribes of other parts of the world. He considered his most outstanding accomplishments to have been his investigations in philology (the study of the evolution of speech sounds).
Dr. Haldeman was elected to twenty-eight honorary scientific societies, both in this country and abroad. With others, he formed the Entomological Society of Pennsylvania and was president of the American Philological Association. Letters of inquiry from all parts of the world came across his desk; publishers asking opinions of books; writers begging information; teachers with a pronunciation to be settled; naturalists forwarding packages of shells, insects, or minerals for identification; farmers and others sending clays to be analyzed; requests for lectures; requests for data from scientific newspaper articles; request for reviews from editors, and so on.
Samuel Steman Haldeman died on September 10, 1880 at the age of sixty-eight, at his study table, of heart paralysis. He left a wife, two sons, and two daughters. He is buried beside his wife in the Haldeman family plot in the Marietta Cemetery. At a meeting of scientists following his death, this remark was made of him, "He was no ordinary man whom you might compliment with a passing respectful obituary notice - in science and letters he was a great man." - HMPS Records www.haldeman-mansion.org/samuelstemanhaldeman.htm
The biographical information was provided by the Haldeman Mansion Preservation Society. www.haldeman-mansion.org
Haldeman Mansion Preservation Society https://www.haldeman-mansion.org/
Related Item Notes
Curatorial Collection
S. S. Haldeman Papers, MG0344
Notes
The following notes, including a partial Haldeman Family tree, document only those who authored and/or received the letters:
Henry Haldeman (18 Dec 1787 - 21 Mar 1849)
m. (1) Francis Steman (1 Mar 1794 - 15 Feb 1826) on 1811
Children: Samuel Steman Haldeman; Horace Haldeman
m. (2) Margaret Armstrong (15 Aug 1804 - 17 May 1867) on 1830
Children: Paris Haldeman
Samuel Steman Haldeman (12 Aug 1812 - 10 Sep 1880)
m. Mary Ann Hough (12 Dec 1812 - 6 Jul 1883) on 1835
Children: Carsten N. Haldeman (13 Oct 1837 - 14 Apr 1892); Eliza (Itty) Jacobean Haldeman (5 Nov 1843 - 10-Dec 1910); Frances H. Haldeman (9 May 1840 - 20 Oct 1904); Victor M. Haldeman (29 Jul 1854 - 12 Aug 1924)
Horace Haldeman (14 Aug 1820 - 10 Sep 1883)
m. Annie Breneman Haines (1823 - 16 Jan 1892)
Paris Haldeman (30 Jan 1831 - 13 Aug 1893)
Preston Elder Haldeman was Eliza Haldeman's cousin
Mira/Myra H. Black (1847-1895) and her brother Harry (Pep) Crawford Black (14 Mar 1846 - 22 Mar 1921) were second cousins to Eliza Haldeman.
Loyos Philip Haldeman Figyelmessy (2 Sep 1877 - 8 Apr 1889) was Eliza Haldeman's son. Eliza was married to Col. Philip Figyelmessy (1822-1907).
Mary S. Cassatt (May 22, 1844 - June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children. She was a close friend of Eliza Haldeman.
J. Solis-Cohen had a private medical practice in Philadelphia, where he concentrated on diseases of the throat and chest. www.collegeofphysicians.org
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
2014.MG0736
Other Numbers
MG-736
Classification
MG0736
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
The letters and record book in this collection were kept by Eliza Haldeman and later sold by her son, S. Haldeman Figyelmessy, to his cousin and the donor's father, Guy K. Haldeman.
Processed and finding aid prepared by RR and SM in Summer and Fall 2015; and SW in Spring 2016. Added to database 23 May 2021.
