John Welsh papers

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Background Note

Scope and Contents

Overview of Arrangement

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Bibliography

Collection Inventory

I. Correspondence (1806-1935, undated)

II. Select Files (1844-1920, undated)

Summary Information

Repository

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator

Welsh, John, 1805-1886.

Title

John Welsh papers

ID

1529

Date [bulk]

Bulk, 1840-1880

Date [inclusive]

1806-1935, undated

Extent

8.0 Linear feet ; 9 boxes, 45 volumes, 2 flat files

Author

Finding aid prepared by Willhem Echevarria.

Sponsor

This collection was processed as part of the Civic Engagement Collections Project. Funding for this project was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Language

English

Mixed materials [Oversize]

Flat files 1-2

Mixed materials [Volume]

1-45

Mixed materials [Box]

1-9

Abstract

This collection contain the papers of John Welsh, president of the North Pennsylvania Railroad, financial manager for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia merchant, and American diplomat to the British mission under President Hayes. The collection spans from 1806 to 1935 and consists of correspondence, financial files, his diaries, and documents created by both Herbert Welsh and Edward Lowber Stokes.

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Background Note

John Welsh was born in Philadelphia and was trained by his father to follow his steps as a merchant businessman. During his early years Welsh dealt dry goods and, in association with his brothers, went into the West Indies sugar business. He was very interested in public service and was part of the Philadelphia Select Council between 1855 and 1857. Welsh was also very interested in the development of Fairmount Park and was a member of the Fairmount Park Commission until his death in 1886. He took part in the funding efforts to build the Episcopal Hospital and was for many years vestryman in St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church. His expertise in financial matters allowed him to have an influential role in the organization of the Sanitary Fair for war charities of 1864 and, most important, the management of the finances of the Centennial Exhibition. The success of this event held in Philadelphia in 1876 secured Welsh’s reputation nationally. As a token of appreciation for the success of the Centennial Exhibition, a group of Philadelphia citizens offered Welsh $50,000 for a public memorial; Welsh donated the money to the University of Pennsylvania to fund the establishment of a John Welsh Centennial Professorship.

In 1877 Welsh was appointed minister to Great Britain by President Rutherford Hayes; he spent two years in England after which he retired to Philadelphia. Welsh was married twice; first to Rebecca Miller, who died in 1832, and then to Mary Lowber in 1838. John Welsh was also the father of Herbert Welsh, well known activist and founder of the Indian Rights Association.

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Scope and Contents

The papers in this collection span from 1806 to 1935 with the bulk of the materials dating from the years 1840-1880. The collection contains correspondence, financial files, prints, invitations and programs of events attended by Welsh, broadsides, posters, and diaries. There are also documents related to the Centennial Exhibition and to the Fairmount Park Commission. Multiple documents in this collection were created after John Welsh’s death. This is due to at least two facts. Herbert Welsh, son of John Welsh, presumably continued to take care of his father’s estate, in particular the administration of rental properties in Camden, New Jersey. Correspondence in the collection also includes letters written by John Welsh’s grandson Edward Lowber Stokes (who donated the collection to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania), who in 1931 was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. This part of the collection also features letterpress copybooks of outgoing correspondence in volume form.

The collection consists of two series: Correspondence and Select Files. Series I (Correspondence) is arranged by year and includes letters not only by John Welsh but also by his son Herbert Welsh and his grandson Edward Lowber Stokes.  Series II (General Files) contains John Welsh’s diaries, and documents about the Fairmount Park Commission and the Centennial Exhibition. This portion of the collection contains financial documents, some of which cover tax and real estate matters dated after John Welsh’s death. The rest of the collection consists of invitations to events, programs of events Welsh attended, prints, and miscellaneous printed matter such as broadsides and leaflets. A volume titled John Welsh Centennial Exhibition Testimonial is also included here.

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Overview of Arrangement

I. Correspondence, 1806-1935, undated; 4 boxes, 5 volumes

II. Select Files, 1844-1920, undated; 4 boxes, 40 volumes, 2 flat files

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania 2012

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Edward Lowber Stokes, 1946.

Processing Information

This collection was processed using guidelines set out in the "More Product, Less Process" approach to archival processing. This collection contains materials produced by his son Herbert Welsh, who is already represented with his own collection here at HSP. That collection itself contains documents produced by the father and future consideration should be given to the possibility of rearranging both collections based upon authorship.

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

Herbert Welsh collection (Collection 702)

Ulysses S. Grant Address at the Centennial Exhibition, 1876 (Am.3417)

Gilbert Hartley diary of trip to the Centennial Exhibition, 1876 (Am.071945)

Historical Society of Pennsylvania collection of Centennial Exhibition records 1876-1879 (Collection 1544)

Centennial Commission records 1876-1903 (Am.0405)

At other repositories:

John Welsh correspondence, 1879. Research and Reference Services, Library of Congress

Joseph Shipley papers, 1741-1898. Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware

Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.) records, 1875-1876. Research and Reference Services, Library of Congress

Centennial Exhibition digital collection. Free Library of Philadelphia

Scrapbook of the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, 1876. Rare Books and Manuscripts, Penn State University Libraries

United States Centennial Commission records, 1876-1879. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Fairmount Park Commission (Philadelphia, Pa.).
• Philadelphia (Pa.).

Genre(s)

• Broadsides.
• Correspondence.
• Diaries.

Personal Name(s)

• Stokes, Edward Lowber.

Subject(s)

• Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.).

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Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography (1936). Gale Biography in Context. Accessed through the Free Library of Philadelphia, 9/10/2012.

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Collection Inventory