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Jones (Henry) Diaries
mssHM 83955-83964
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Henry Jones diaries
Creator:
Jones, Henry, 1816-1910
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 83955-83964
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Physical Description:
10 Items
Date (inclusive): 1837-1871
Abstract: Diaries of Henry Jones, a Quaker farmer
and abolitionist, of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania from 1837-1871.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
HM 83955-83964, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC, October 2019.
Henry Jones (1816-1910) was a Quaker farmer and abolitionist from Upper Dublin, Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania. Jones' parents, Henry Jones and Jane Lewis, were descendants of Welsh
Quakers who settled in the area in the 1680s. Jones was the youngest of four boys, born five
months after the death of his father in October 1815. His brothers were: Lewis (b. 1806),
Clement (b. 1808), and John L. (b. 1811). In 1821, the family relocated to Mrs. Lewis'
parents' three farms in Three Tuns in Montgomery County. After their mother's death in 1840,
Lewis took over his father's homestead and the other brothers remained in Three Tuns,
dividing the three farms between them. Henry in partnership with his brother, Clement,
managed the Upper Dublin farms, operated a mill, and kept a general store in Gwynedd,
Pennsylvania. In the late 1850s, Henry gave up the store and devoted himself to farming; he
later sold the farm. He married Margaret Yerkes Shoemaker (1828-1896) in 1850. The couple
had no children. As a committed abolitionist, Jones regularly attended anti-slavery
meetings. He was also a member of the Hicksite Society of Friends. In 1870, he obtained an
appointment to run a trading post in Nemaha, Nebraska and returned to Pennsylvania in the
mid-1870s, where he remained until his death.
This collection consists of seven diaries kept by Henry Jones from 1837-1871. Jones' daily
entries, often accompanied by philosophical reflections, sentiments, and opinions, begin in
November 1837 and continue largely uninterrupted until the end of 1858. Entries for the year
1860 consist of only a few in December. The diary resumes in 1864 and continues until July
1870, when Jones departs for Nebraska. In his diaries, Jones' presents a detailed account of
his personal life and his relationship with friends and family, along with the life of the
Quaker communities in Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, Montgomery Township, and other villages in
Pennsylvania. He relates information on the antebellum and Civil War era because of his
frequent trips to Philadelphia, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey. Also included are three
cartes-de-visite: one of Henry Jones and two of Mary Yerkes Shoemaker.
Jones meticulously documents the local, state, and national abolitionist meetings,
conventions, lectures, including women's organizations, that Jones attended for almost 30
years. He writes about his ties with Hicksite Quaker preachers, leading non-Quaker
abolitionists, and social reformers, including Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, Thaddeus
Stevens, Charles Sumner, and John Mercer Langston. He describes political meetings and
conventions between 1838 and 1896, including temperance meetings, festivals, the
Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention of 1838, the Whig, and then Republican party
nominating conventions. He reveals his opinions on economic and political issues,
revivalism, phrenology, "animal magnetism," telegraph, alternative medicine, and
spiritualism. He also lists books read, including the writings of Frederick Douglass, Lydia
M. Child, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Processed by Gina C Giang in February 2020.
The diaries are arranged chronologically, followed by the cartes-de-visite.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Abolitionists -- Pennsylvania -- Archives
African Americans -- Pennsylvania -- History -- Sources
Antislavery movements -- United States -- History -- 19th century --
Sources
Books and reading -- United States -- History -- 19th century --
Sources
Hicksites -- Pennsylvania -- Archives
Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Archives
Reconstruction (U.S. history,
1865-1877)
Society of Friends -- Pennsylvania -- History -- Sources
Women -- Pennsylvania -- Montgomery County
Maryland -- Description and
travel
New Jersey -- Description and
travel
New York (State) -- Description and
travel
Montgomery County (Pa.) -- History -- Sources
Pennsylvania -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War,
1861-1865 -- Sources
Diaries
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895
Langston, John Mercer, 1829-1897
Mott, Lucretia, 1793-1880
Stevens, Thaddeus, 1792-1868
Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery
Society
Philadelphia Female Anti-slavery Society