Saturday, October 29, 2016

1841+ Autograph Album of Ellwood Thomas at Westtown Boarding School, West Town, Pennsylvania



Autograph album started in 1841 by Ellwood Thomas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a student at Westtown Boarding School at West Town, Pennsylvania.

The album is missing its covers, if it ever had them.  It measures approximately 8" by 5" and contains the sentiments of 42 of Ellwood's schoolmates and others.  An alphabetical surname list and an alphabetical list of the inscribers, together with any personal information they offered or that I derived from the Morgan Library list, appear at the end of this post.

Westtown Boarding School was founded as a Quaker school in 1799 and is still operating today as Westtown School.   The school's website contains a history and timeline.  In addition, the school maintains the Esther Duke Archives, which contains records, manuscripts, photographs, artifacts, textiles, artwork, furniture and other items relating to the history of the school.

Read a history of the school here - from A Brief History of Westtown Boarding School, with a General Catalogue of Officers, Students, etc., published in 1884.

Ellwood penciled in the names of many of the inscribers in the upper right hand corner of the pages.  This was a great help as some of his fellow students wrote only an initial and surname or even less.  Another great help was the list of Westtown Boarding School students found on the Morgan Library of Ohio website.

The inscriptions were mostly left in February and March, with the months indicated as "2nd" or "2" or "3rd" or "3".  Quakers preferred  not to use the names of months named after gods and eventually adopted the numbering practice for all months, as you can see in this explanation on the Swarthmore College website.

One of the pages was inscribed on "3 mo 24, 1841" by Davis Reece, a teacher and governor at Westtown Boarding School.


Surnames in the Album

? [3]JJones [2]SS ?
AAllenLLightfootStephens
BBailey & Baily [2]MMagillStokes
CC ?MurrayTTaylor
CoatesNNewlinThomas
CrenshawPP ?UUnderhill
DD ?PennellVVail
EEldridgeQQuinbyWWalton
EmlenRReeceWarner
HH ?Rhoads [2]Warrington
HainesRichardson [2]YYarnall
HarperRoberts
HowellRudolph

Inscribers in the Album
  • Henry of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Henry C. William
  • W. or M.
  • F. T. or F. S. or F. F. or F. ?.
  • Charles J. Allen, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on March 19, 1841; Charles J. Allen of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, presumably the same Charles J. Allen who became a treasurer of Westtown Boarding School
  • E. Bailey; possibly Edward Baily of Coatesville, Pennsylvania; or Eleanor Baily of Parkersville, Pennsylvania; or Elizabeth Baily of Parkersville, Pennsylvania; or Elmira Bailey of Cincinnati, Ohio
  • W. L. Baily, inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania in 1841; either William L. Baily of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or William L. Baily of Coatesville, Pennsylvania
  • George C? of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, inscribed on February 26, 1841
  • G. Coates of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, inscribed on February 25, 1841.  George Coates of Coatesville, Pennsylvania
  • Edmund Crenshaw of Virginia, inscribed on February 23, 1841;  Edmund Crenshaw of Richmond, Virginia [spelled Edmond in a school document]
  • E. D., inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania, on February 23, 1841
  • Abner Eldridge, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on March 22, 1841
  • James Emlen, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School in April 1841.  Perhaps the James Emlen of Middletown, Pennsylvania, who attended Westtown Boarding School in 1802 and may have returned as an instructor; or the James V. Emlen of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who attended Westtown Boarding School in 1830 and may have returned as an instructor
  • William H., inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania, on March 23, 1841; presumably William H. Nicholson of Haddonfield, New Jersey
  • E. Haines, inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania.  Possibly Edwin Haines of Medford, New Jersey; Emmor Haines of Lockport, Pennsylvania; or Erasmus W. Haines of Christiana, Pennsylvania
  • Benjamin Harper, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on March 3, 1841. Benjamin Harper of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Joshua R. Howell, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on March 25, 1841; Joshua R. Howell of Edgmont, Pennsylvania
  • G. Jones, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on February 23, 1841; possibly George Jones of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
  • J. Jones or T. Jones or ? Jones, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on March 5, 1841
  • F. Lightfoot, inscribed on March 10, 1841; Francis Lightfoot of Goshen, Pennsylvania
  • Edward Magill, inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania, on February 23, 1841; Edward H. Magill of New Hope, Pennsylvania
  • John Murray of New York, New York, inscribed on February 23, 1841
  • Levis P. Newlin, inscribed in March 1841; Levis P. Newlin of Middletown, Pennsylvania
  • C. A. P.
  • Larkin Pennell, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on March 19, 1840; Larkin Pennell of Chichester, Pennsylvania
  • Watson Quinby, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on February 23, 1841; Watson F. Quinby of Brandywine, Pennsylvania
  • D. Reece, inscribed on March 24, 1841; presumably Davis Reece who was a teacher and governor at Westtown Boarding School
  • George Rhoads, inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania; George Rhoads of Springfield, Pennsylvania
  • J. P. Rhoads, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on February 22, 1840, "Washington's Birth Day"; presumably John P. Rhoads of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • John Richardson; presumably John Richardson of Wilmington, Delaware, who was a student at Westtown Boarding School in 1839
  • Joseph P. Richardson, inscribed at West Town Boarding School in 1841; Joseph P. Richardson of Wilmington, Delaware
  • John F. Roberts, inscribed at West Chester, Pennsylvania; John F. Roberts of West Chester, Pennsylvania
  • T. Rudolph, inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania; Thomas Rudolph of Springfield, Pennsylvania
  • S. R. S. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, inscribed on February 25, 1841; Samuel R. Shipley of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; student at Westtown Boarding School
  • William Stephens, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on February 23, 1841; William Stephens of Tredyffrin, Pennsylvania
  • Edwin Stokes, inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1841;  Edwin Stokes of Marlton, New Jersey
  • Benjaminn F. Taylor, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on February 23, no year specified;  Benjamin F. Taylor of Taylorsville, Pennsylvania
  • Ellwood Thomas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his autograph album started on February 20, 1841, compiled while a student at Westtown Boarding School at Westtown, Pennsylvania; he inscribed the first and last pages.
  • Robert Underhill of New York, New York; inscribed on February 23, 1841
  • Hugh D. Vail, inscribed at West Town, Pennsylvania, in March 1841; Hugh D. Vail of Plainfield, New Jersey
  • Joseph Walton, Jr.; possibly the Joseph Walton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was a student at Westtown Boarding School in 1830
  • Yardley Warner; Yardley Warner of Fallsington, Pennsylvania
  • Thomas Warrington, inscribed on March 24, 1841; Thomas Warrington of Moorestown, New Jersey
  • Howard Yarnall, inscribed at Westtown Boarding School on March 16, 1841; Howard Yarnall of Edgemont, Pennsylvania, a student at Westtown Boarding School in 1828 - perhaps he returned as a teacher.
If you have information to share on any of the people mentioned above, especially album owner Ellwood Thomas, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Westtown was described in a 19th century school publication as a day's ride from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2 comments:

  1. Pam,

    I have a number of books off people who attended Westtown, dates and where they were from.

    And several versions of A Century of Westtown History. (1799-1899 for example)

    A Brief History of Westtown Boarding School with a General Catelogue of Officers, Students, Etc, 1888, page 154 Lists Ellwood Thomas

    Third Thousand:

    379, Ellwood Thomas, Philadelphia, PA 10th mo 1839

    That date, is the Date of Entry.

    I have several generations of Ancestors that attended that school. I went to Kindergarden there and have a cousin whose children attended there.

    Russ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment, Russ. What a coincidence! If you have a chance, can you double check that I've interpreted names correctly and supply missing first names and surnames where possible?

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