Macalester and de Pedroso families papers

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Background note

Scope and content note

Administrative Information

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Summary Information

Repository

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Title

Macalester and de Pedroso families papers

ID

4358

Date [inclusive]

1806-1985, undated (bulk, 1821-1880)

Extent

1.1 Linear feet ; 4 boxes

Author

Finding aid prepared by Randi M. Kamine.

Language

English

Abstract

This small collection consists of letters, photographs and documents from the Charles Macalester (1798-1873) family, and to a lesser extent, the Jose De Pedroso family. It gives the researcher insight into a prominent Philadelphia family in the early and mid-nineteenth century. The documents touch on the family’s relationship with several United States Presidents as well as the upper echelons of Philadelphia society.

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Background note

Charles Macalester was born in Philadelphia February 17, 1798. His parents came to the United States from Scotland several years before their son’s birth. Young Charles Macalester was a successful merchant. He briefly moved to Cincinnati following business pursuits but returned to Philadelphia in 1827 and lived there until his death in 1873. He was the founder of the Philadelphia Presbyterian Hospital. He established Macalester College in Minnesota. And he was the founder of Fidelity Insurance, Trust and Safe Deposit Company. Charles Macalester was involved with the Peabody Trust, an organization dedicated to providing decent housing to poor and needy citizens.

Charles Macalester bought land in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia (formerly located in Lower Dublin township) which he named after an estate in Scotland owned by the Macalester family. He became wealthy enough to build a mansion there in 1850 named Glengarry. The mansion was sold by his family in 1893 and renamed Glen-Foerd. It is listed on the National Register of Historic places and stands today as a historic house museum.

Macalester continued to maintain a residence at 1016 and 1018 Spruce Street until his death in 1873. He married twice. First was to Elizabeth Ann Lytle (1806-1835), and together they had one daughter named Lily (1832-1891). Macalester married his second wife, Susan Wallace, in 1841. A successful author, Lily Macalester served as was vice regent and then regent of the Pennsylvania Mount Vernon Association (1874-1891). She was also a member of the Independence Hall Committee, and the National Museum Committee; and she was involved with the Centennial Anniversary of the Constitution in 1887.

Lily would marry twice herself, as well. He first husband was Alfred Berghmans, a Belgian diplomat, with whom she had a daughter, Camile Berghmans. When Alfred Berghmans died, Lily married J. Scott Laughton, and they had no children. In 1887, Camille Berghmans married Jose de Pedroso, the Marques de San Carlos, a diplomat. They had two children.

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Scope and content note

The Macalaster and de Pedroso family papers encompass letters, photos, and other items that date from 1806 to 2000. It is a small and somewhat scattered collection that contains a few rich pockets of documentation pertaining to both families.

Much of this collection revolves around Lily Macalester Berghmans Laughton (1832-1891), and most of the letters in it are written to her. Among letters of interest are two letters written by George Childs in 1859. In a left-handed compliment, he remarks that Lily’s biography of President James Buchanan is pretty good for a woman. He writes, “I asked my friend if it was not well done for a woman…” and he replied, “the vivid description of the Mexican war as showing the author must have been a man.”

The remaining correspondence in the collection dates to the 1990s and concerns the De Pedroso family's interest in preserving the Macalester (then Foerderer) mansion, Glen Foerd, in Torresdale.

A significant part of the collection consists of photographs and etchings. Among them is a photo of Mrs. Lily Macalester Berghmans Laughton, and daughter Camille Macalester de Pedroso. There are several photos and etchings of Charles Macalester.

Charles Macalester was a significant supporter of the Peabody Education Fund. (George Peabody was an Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. Though born in Salem, Massachusetts, he is best remembered for the Trust, set up in London, which provided housing and education for the poor.) The collection has extensive minutes of the Peabody Education Fund.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2019.

Access restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Gift of Charlotte de Pedroso, 2000.

Accession number 000307.1.

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Controlled Access Headings

Geographic Name(s)

• Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs--20th century.

Personal Name(s)

• Childs, George W.
• de Pedroso, Camille Macalester.
• de Pedroso, Charlotte
• de Pedroso, Jose, Marques de San Carlos.
• Laughton, Lily Macalester Berghmans, 1832-1891.
• Lytle, Elizabeth Ann, 1806-1835.
• Macalester, Charles, 1798-1873.

Subject(s)

• Family life--Personal correspondence--19th century.
• Family life--Personal correspondence--20th century.
• Family life--Upper Class--19th century.
• Family life--Upper Class--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--20th Century.
• Glen Foerd (Philadelphia, Pa.)
• Peabody Trust.
• Social life and customs--Upper class--19th century.
• Social Life and Customs--Upper Class--20th Century.
• Upper class--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

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Collection Inventory