Valentine (Robert) Papers, approximately 1712-1927, bulk 1781-1786

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Summary

Title:
Robert Valentine papers
Dates:
approximately 1712-1927, bulk 1781-1786
Creators:
Valentine, Robert, 1717-1786
Abstract:
A collection of material related to American storekeeper and Society of Friends minister Robert Valentine.
Extent:
6 Linear Feet (5 boxes, 1 volume)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Robert Valentine papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of 305 items from 1712 to 1927, which contains the correspondence and papers of Robert Valentine; the material chiefly covers his voyage to Great Britain and its aftermath. Included are his letters to his daughters, often both retained and sent copies, and letters from Friends in England, Ireland, and Pennsylvania. A significant number of the letters were written by women Quakers. The collection also includes an account of Robert Valentine's journey to New Jersey in 1775 and other Quaker travel accounts. Also included are minutes and correspondence of various meetings in Pennsylvania, England, and Ireland, including a London Yearly Meeting of Women Friends; other material includes personal testimonies of individual Quakers recounting their visions and prophesies, devotional treatises and poems. There are also a few items relating to the relations between Quaker communities and Native Americans, including the minutes of a meeting between a group of Philadelphia Quakers, headed by Israel Pemberton, and representatives of the Six Nations (1756); also, a few pieces of correspondence between women Friends of Philadelphia and Oneida Native American women (from 1796 to 1797). There is a copy of the congratulatory address from the London Yearly Meeting to George III on the occasion of the end of the Seven Years War (1763). The collection also includes a smaller group of correspondence of Robert Valentine's daughter Rachel Valentine Malin and his granddaughter Rachel Valentine Sharpless Ashbridge. The latter group consists chiefly of the letters to her from her father, a Pennsylvania ironmaster Abraham Sharpless written between 1824 and 1834; also included are a few pieces of later family correspondence.

Biographical / historical:

Robert Valentine (1717-1786) was a Pennsylvania Quaker minister who was born in Ballybrumhill, Ireland. His parents came to Pennsylvania in the late 1720s or early 1730s, settling in Chester and then Delaware Counties. In 1747, Robert Valentine married Rachel Edge (1725-1779); the Valentines had ten children who married into the Sharpless, Malin, Massey, and Ashbridge families. In 1764, the Concord Monthly Meeting recommended him for ministry. He was a well-known public figure who maintained contacts with many leading Quakers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ireland, and England. As a "public Friend," he traveled extensively, and from 1781 to 1784 journeyed to England and Ireland. He died in East Caln, Pennsylvania in 1786.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Dawson's Book Shop, 1958.
Processing information:

Processed by Olga Tsapina, May 2003. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the electronic finding aid derived from the earlier finding aid.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Gayle Richardson
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-05-23 12:06:28 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Robert Valentine papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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