Saltar family correspondence, 1759-1880 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture and Saltar family
Abstract:
Over 200 pieces of correspondence dating from 1759–1880, written by women of the Saltar and Gordon families of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland between themselves and other family relations. Over a third of the letters date before 1825. The principal correspondents are Elizabeth 'Betsy" Gordon Saltar, her daughters Lucy Saltar and Frances "Fanny" Saltar, and Elizabeth's cousins Mary Gordon and Polly Gordon. Dozens of other letters come from family friends and relatives, male and female, from prominent families in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, and some from the Midwest and New England states. Topics include courtship; marriage; religion; pastimes; visits and travel; and the welfare of family members and friends. There are many references to illnesses, with many details on treatments and outcomes. There are also long passages and references to grief and mourning on the death of loved ones, and some discussions of finances. There are a few references to slavery and to enslaved people and servants. Letters sent during the Civil War discuss events centered around Pennsylvania, particularly in 1863; one discusses African American troops and their role in the war, and the circumstances surrounding the recruitment of the 3rd United States Colored Troops' commander, Benjamin C. Tilghman. A few earlier letters speak of the War of 1812, especially in and around Baltimore and Philadelphia. Acquired by the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
Extent:
0.5 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.10063

Background

Scope and content:

The papers consist almost entirely of 266 pieces of correspondence dating from 1759–1880, written by women of the Saltar and Gordon families of Pennsylvania and Maryland between themselves and other family relations. Over one-third of the letters date before 1825. The principal correspondents are Elizabeth 'Betsy" Gordon Saltar, the family matriarch, Lucy Saltar, Frances "Fanny" Saltar, Mary Gordon, and Polly Gordon. There are also single letters from other female members of the Saltar family and a handful of letters from men, some of whom were Saltar family members. The letters are organized by correspondent name, ending with a group of letters addressed to unidentified individuals.

The manuscript pages total approximately 765, primarily bifolios, almost all written in ink. There are also four additional manuscripts: an invitation; a sheet of paper with receipts; and a memorandum and bond concerning a land sale. A number of later letters are accompanied by addressed envelopes, some with stamps.

The correspondence is almost entirely comprised of women writing to other women: mothers to daughters; daughters to mothers; and cousins to cousins; and friends to each other. Over half of the collection comprises letters to and from a family matriarch, Elizabeth Gordon Saltar, living at her residence at Magnolia Grove (near Frankford, Pa.), and a large group of letters sent by various correspondents to her daughter Fanny Saltar, who was one of the family's historians. Also present is a large group of correspondence between cousins Elizabeth Gordon Saltar and Mary Gordon, as well as letters addressed to Elizabeth Gordon Saltar's other daughter Lucy Saltar, and letters addressed to Elizabeth Gordon Saltar's cousins, Mary Gordon and Polly Gordon.

Other families who correspond and/or are mentioned often in the letters: Bowne, Brooks, Bunyan, Coleman, Drexel, Hartshorne, Howell, Lardner, McMurtrie, Morgan, Morris, Stillman, Tilghman, Ulstick, Van Dykes, and Wharton. Many of these are prominent families from Pennsylvania or Maryland. One letter from a Bowne in series 7 contains a partial family tree of the Bownes and Saltar families. Most of these letters are found in the Fanny Saltar series.

Among the places from which letters were sent are areas in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York State, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Paris (France), and Rome (Italy). Cities represented are Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and others. Many letters were sent to or from Magnolia Grove, the Saltar plantation home near Philadelphia.

Topics tend to focus on societal mores and customs of the times as experienced by married and single women of land-owning classes: courtship; marriage; religion; pastimes; visits and travel; and the welfare of family members and friends. There are many references to illnesses such as measles, bowel complaints, eye conditions, diphtheria, tumors, and mental illness, with many details on treatments and outcomes. There are also long passages and references to grief and mourning on the death of loved ones, and fairly frequent mentions of finances.

The letters written during the Civil War discuss events centered around Pennsylvania, particularly in 1863, as well as a comment on friends going off to war, and one letter discusses African American troops and the circumstances surrounding the recruitment of the 3rd United States Colored Troops' commander, Benjamin C. Tilghman, whom the Saltars knew from Philadelphia. Earlier letters speak of the War of 1812, especially of events around Baltimore.

Acquired by the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.

Biographical / historical:

The Saltar (sometimes Salter) family of Pennsylvania and New Jersey traces its lineage back to Norfolk County, England. Their branch of the family in America begins with Richard Salter who settled in Monmouth County, New Jersey sometime between 1664 and 1687. The Saltars were economically and socially connected citizens and were closely involved, often through marriage, with many prominent families of the Philadelphia and New Jersey region: Drexels, Drinkers, Bownes, Bartons, Hartshornes, Logans, Morris, Tilghman, Usticks, Whartons, and others in Maryland, and Virginia. As Margaret Saltar married into the Lardner family in 1789 and had many children, there are correspondents from that family in the collection. The Gordon family was of Scottish descent, and its members were early settlers near what is now Princeton and Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The two families seem to have become firmly connected when Elizabeth Gordon married John Saltar in 1774. Their children were Maria (married Kearney Wharton), Lucy (died unmarried), John (married Margaret Howell), Lawrence (died at 22, unmarried), George (died at 22 unmarried), Frances (born c. 1790, died unmarried, 1880), and Gordon (died in childhood).

The Saltar family resided in the city of Philadelphia but also owned farms in the area, using enslaved people to work the land and serve in their houses. The plantation where they lived was known as "Magnolia Grove," near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, already part of the family lands during the Revolutionary War. Other members of the family also lived in Pemberton and Tacony, New Jersey. In her rich reminiscences of colonial life published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1916), Frances Saltar speaks of an African slave, African American slaves, and mulatto as well as English servants who were affiliated with her family. She also indicates that there were family members living in the West Indies.

Acquisition information:
The Saltar family correspondence was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in May 2013.
Processing information:

Processed by: Levi Crews, December 2013

Encoded by Paula Jeannet and Levi Crews, January 2013.

Accessions described in this finding aid: 2013-0088

Arrangement:

Correspondence arranged by principal author, roughly by chronological period. The collection is rounded out by letters to unknown Saltar family women and other individuals, and four other non-correspondence manuscripts.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Saltar family correspondence, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.