Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

The correspondence, 63 letters, from friends and family, most of whom appear to be members of the Society of Friends, contains considerable content on the abolition movement, abolition societies, lectures, meetings, conventions, discord amongst Quaker abolitionists, including division in the American Anti-Slavery Society, the Underground Railroad, women's rights, the rights of enslaved people, among other topics. There is also much content that documents the Quaker community of Philadelphia and its suburbs, including Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester counties.

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Description:

Includes 59 previously-bound letters, most of which were written to Davis; the remaining 7 were written to Davis's mother (2) and his brother Edward M. Davis (1), and to some of William M. Davis's associates. Davis wrote two of these. One of Davis's letters to his mother recounts an interview with Philadelphia abolitionist and businessman Passmore Williamson.

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Description:

Consists of 133 previously-bound letters that offer an almost daily record of life in Washington D.C. and the activities of Congress, including documentation of legislative and policy struggles faced by Congress; accounts of meetings and interactions with President Abraham Lincoln as well as members of Lincoln's cabinet, military leaders, and other members of Congress; Davis's opinion of Lincoln; trips to the front lines of the war in Virginia, including the First Battle of Bull Run; and events leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Description:

Includes 15 letters from Brown who writes from Washington, D.C. (6); Newburgh, New York (5); and Columbia, South Carolina, (3). There is also one letter from Henry's wife, Lydia Brown.

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Description:

3-page resolution on the division of the American Anti-Slavery Society with a group breaking off and creating the American and Foreign Anti- Slavery Society, possibly written by Elizabeth, as she was the secretary for the newly-formed Providence (PA) Anti-Slavery Society.

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Description:

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Description:

Includes a family tree of the Davis family, a typed obituary for William Morris Davis, photocopies of a letter of William M. Davis to General Cameron dated June 30, 1861, a letter of Edward M. Davis to his brother William M. Davis, dated August 25, 1861, and a pass allowing William M. Davis to travel and pass through the lines of the Army, dated July 19, 1861. Also included is an incomplete letter/note of Alexander Agassiz (1835-1910) of the Harvard Museum of Natural History concerning a microscope maker in New York State.

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Content Description

This collection primarily consists of correspondence detailing the involvement of Quaker abolitionists and husband and wife, William Morris Davis (1815-1891), member of the 37th U.S. Congress, and Elizabeth M. Jacobs Davis (1817-1904) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the antebellum and Civil War periods. This included support of John C. Frémont's presidential campaign, William running for Congress in order to advance immediate, universal, uncompensated emancipation, Elizabeth's involvement in anti-slavery societies, and their association with the Underground Railroad, specifically with John C. Lester, station master of the Underground Railroad, Richland (Quakertown), Pennsylvania.

The correspondence includes an almost daily record of William M. Davis's life in Washington as a member of the House of Representatives, in the form of letters to his wife, detailing the legislative and policy struggles faced by the 37th Congress; accounts of meetings and interactions with President Abraham Lincoln as well as members of Lincoln's cabinet, military leaders, and other members of Congress; trips to the front lines of the war in Virginia, including the First Battle of Bull Run; Davis's time in St. Louis, Missouri in September 1861 working with John C. Frémont immediately after Frémont issued a Declaration of Martial Law and Emancipation proclamation; and events leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862. Correspondence to Elizabeth M. Jacobs documents the abolitionist movement in the Philadelphia area in the 1830s and 1840s, the Underground Railroad, and women's rights. There are also primarily incoming letters to William, including from his friend, U.S. sculptor Henry Kirke Brown.

The collection also includes some ephemera related to William and Elizabeth and the Davis family, including a resolution on the division of the American Anti-Slavery Society; a manumission form used to formally emancipate slaves under John C. Frémont's Declaration of Martial Law and Emancipation proclamation; and a photograph of William M. Davis.

The collection's description is primarily based on the description provided by the dealer.

Arrangement

The arrangement of the materials as they came to the library was maintained, including letters that had been bound.

Collection Creator Biography:

Davis

William Morris Davis (1815-1891) was a Quaker abolitionist, Radical Republican member of the 37th U.S. Congress in the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 5th district, sugar refiner, and author.

The son of Evan Roberts Davis (1783-1824) and his wife Rachel Hill, Davis was born on August 16, 1815, in either Keene Valley, New York, or Pennsylvania. In 1831, Davis went on a whaling voyage, aboard the ship Chelsea, William E. Beetle, master. He kept a journal of the adventure which was later published as: "Nimrod of the Sea or The American Whaleman" (New York: Harper & Bros., 1874). Following this experience, Davis moved to Philadelphia and became a sugar refiner, initially as a member of the firm of Joseph S. Lovering & Co. (Joseph Lovering was likely related to Davis's relatives through his half-brother Isaac's marriage). He later joined and became a senior member of the firm of Davis, McKean & Co., sugar refiners of Philadelphia. By the 1880s, Davis became involved in the gold mining business. He had a company, Davis Chlorination Company, with 130 workers and a mine at Salisbury, North Carolina, with another mill in operation at Florence, Colorado. Davis also worked in the florist business with H.B. Davis under the name William Morris Davis & Company at 1029 Walnut Street in Philadelphia.

An opponent of slavery and advocate of immediate emancipation, Davis became involved in politics to advance these goals. Along with his brother, Edward Morris Davis (1811-1887), who was the husband of abolitionist and women's rights activist Lucretia Mott's daughter, Maria Mott (1818-1897), he was an early and influential advocate of the presidential campaign of John C. Frémont. Davis served as a delegate to the first Republican national convention, held in Philadelphia in 1856, and ran for and was elected to Congress in 1860, the first Republican member from the Fifth Congressional District, at that time comprising both the Twenty-second Ward and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He served in the 37th Congress from 1861 to 1863, during which time he was involved in efforts to end slavery in the District of Columbia and efforts to influence Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Davis married Quaker and abolitionist Elizabeth M. Jacobs (1817-1904) of Norwood Farms (near Phoenixville), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on October 17, 1844. They had at least five children: Emily Davis (1846-?), Isaac Robert Davis (1848-1865), Helen Morris Davis (1852-1909), Henry Kirk Brown Davis (named for Davis' friend the sculptor Henry Kirke Brown), and William Morris Davis, Jr. (1867-1876). William and Elizabeth Davis made their residence on Old York Road near Milestown, Philadelphia. William died in Berdes, New York on August 5, 1891, at 76, and was buried at the Society of Friends' Fairhill Burial Ground in Philadelphia.


Davis

Elizabeth M. Jacobs Davis (1817-1904) was a Quaker abolitionist and women's rights proponent who played an active role in anti-slavery efforts and organizations in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-area, including involvement in the Underground Railroad. The daughter of John and Amelia Jacobs, Elizabeth was born on August 8, 1817, at Norwood Farms (near Phoenixville), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Davis was a member of several anti-slavery organizations, including the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society and the corresponding secretary of the Providence (PA) Anti-Slavery Society. She also subscribed and contributed to the Pennsylvania Freeman (edited by John Greenleaf Whitter from March 1839 to February 1840), collected an antislavery library, distributed petitions against slavery, and attended the two meetings held by the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women and lectures by abolitionists.

Elizabeth married Quaker abolitionist and Congressman, William Morris Davis (1815-1891) at Norwood Farms on October 17, 1844. They had at least five children: Emily Davis (1846-?), Isaac Robert Davis (1848-1865), Helen Morris Davis (1852-1909), Henry Kirk Brown Davis (named for Davis' friend the sculptor Henry Kirke Brown), and William Morris Davis, Jr. (1867-1876). Elizabeth and William Davis made their residence on Old York Road near Milestown, Philadelphia.

Acquisition:

Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books in 2020 (AM 2021-27).

Custodial History

At least some of the materials, specifically letters to and from Willaim Morris Davis, belonged to Francis W. Davis, William and Elizabeth's grandson. The genealogical items and photograph of William Davis were from Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, ME and purchased February 28, 2020.

Appraisal

No materials were removed from the collection during 2021 processing beyond routine appraisal practices.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Faith Charlton in April 2021. Finding aid written by Faith Charlton in April 2021.

Conservation

Letters that were bound were removed from their bindings and mended during 2021 processing.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

William Morris Davis and Elizabeth M. Jacobs Davis Correspondence; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/kd17d3286
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes B-001563 to B-001564