%eadnotat; ]> 5004assc An Inventory of the Ash-Schofield Family Papers, 1888-1970 Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 1980, 1986 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, December 2000. ENG Ash-Schofield Family Papers, 1888-1970 FHL staff Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 1980, 1986 Descriptive Summary Ash-Schofield Family Papers, 1888-1970 RG 5/004 3 boxes; 1.5 linear ft. Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Samuel Shinn Ash and his wife, Sarah J. Schofield, were prominent Quakers, active in a variety of philanthropic activities, including anti-slavery, peace, temperance, women's rights, and education. Samuel Shinn Ash was apprenticed as an engineer and machinist and worked in manufacturing. 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.

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399

Phone: (610) 328-8496 FAX: (610) 690-5728

 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.

 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Accession information

Donor: Mrs. G. Herbert, 1940

Donor: Eleanor Jenkins Zendt, 1980

Donor: Katherine Smedley Yellig, 1986

The collection was given by Mrs. G. Herbert Jenkins (born Mary Schofield Ash) and her daughter, Eleanor Jenkins Zendt.

 Access

Collection is open for research.

 Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to Friends Historical Library All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Friends Historical Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

 Preferred Citation

[Indicate the cited item or series here], Ash-Schofield Family Papers, RG5/004, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

 Processing Information

Previously cited as Samuel Shinn Ash Papers.

 Related Material

See also:

Martha Schofield Papers, RG 5/134 SELECTED SEARCH TERMS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Friends Historical Library (TRIPOD). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings:

Quakers - Pennsylvania Swarthmore College Schofield Normal and Industrial School 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 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below:

 Ser. 1. Biographical and genealogical material, 1847, n.d. General, includes family trees 1 Extended genealogical lists 1 handwritten Memoirs and obituaries 1 Disownment of Oliver W. Schofield from Newtown Meeting 1847 1 Ser. 2. Correspondence, 1796-1912 Mary H. Jackson (Schofield), 1818-1869 From her father1818-19 1

Letters her father wrote her while she was a student.

 From Edward Stabler 1828-30 1 To presidents and governors 1847-69 1 Oliver W. and Mary H. Schofield, 1831-1859 Correspondence with each other1833-52 1 Correspondence sent 1831-1859 1 Correspondence received 1835-1852, n.d. 1 Sarah Schofield Ash, 1852-1912 Correspondence sent1852-1863 1 Correspondence sent1871-1877 1 Correspondence sent1880-1912, n.d. 1 Correspondence received1851-1911 1 Samuel Shinn Ash, 1853-1910 Correspondence sent1853-1859 2 Correspondence sent1861-1876 2 Correspondence sent1884-1910 2 Correspondence received1854-1877 2 Correspondence received1884-1910 2 Lydia Ann Schofield, 1865-1895 Correspondence sent1865-1895 2 Correspondence received1871-1875. 2 Mary Schofield Ash, 1892-1911 Correspondence sent1892-1911 2 Correspondence received1893-1911 2 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1796-1840 1796 T. Scattergood to Jane Hough Jackson 2 1801 Halliday Jackson to his bride 2 1816 Mary Jackson, short verse in a letter to her father 2 1831 Edward Stabler to Halliday Jackson. 2 1840 Edward Hicks to John Jackson 2 Ser. 3. Writings

Listed by author.

 Mary H. Jackson, 1831-1874, n.d. Notebooks 2 Journal1845-1874 2 Miscellaneous pieces, many original 1831-1864, n.d. 2 Sarah Jane Schofield, 1850s Commonplace book with original pieces 1850s 2 Lydia Ann Schofield, 1870s On her mother, Mary H. Jackson ca. 1870s 2 Mary Schofield Ash, 1894 Diary 1894 2

Written while a student at Swarthmore College.

 John Jackson, 1855 Dissertation, “On the Christian Ministry” 1855 3 Miscellaneous, 1851-1902 Comments to London Yearly Meeting and others, notes from class “The New Covenant”, 1902 3 Miscellaneous 1851-1901 3 Ser. 4. Miscellaneous items, 1818-1939, n.d. Miscellaneous1818-1939 3 Quaker invitations 1825-1909 3 Friendship calendar 1909 3 Silhouettes 1909, n.d. 3 Memorabilia of G. Herbert Jenkins 3

Includes “Welsh Society” book and invoice.

 Piece from William Penn Treaty Tree 3

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. 3 Buildings 3 Swarthmore College student life, ca. 1896 Mary Schofield Ash. 3