Guide to the Joseph Bringhurst Sr. Papers, 1792-1814, undated
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine
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Joseph Bringhurst, Sr. (1733-1811), born in Philadelphia and a resident of Wilmington, Delaware, was an early member of the American Philosophical Society. He apprenticed as a cooper, but, like his father before him, he instead became a merchant and amassed a respectable fortune in trade. He was a prominent contributor to the Pennsylvania Hospital.
Bringhurst, who never married, was the uncle of Joseph Bringhurst, Jr. (1767-1834), a close friend of novelist Charles Brockden Brown.
The collection contains thirty-one letters (1792-1814), the majority of which are by Bringhurst to his niece, Elizabeth Foulke. Many of the letters concern the literary group that centered on the Bringhurst home, and the family's affairs. There is also a pen-&-ink manuscript map marked "Anthony L. Bleeker's land."
Elizabeth Foulke to "My Dear Friend" [Ruth Rutter], Philadelphia. 19 February, 1792 [4p.]
Ruth Rutter to Elizabeth Foulke, Pottstown, [Pa.?]. 5 May, 1795 [4p.]
Ruth Rutter to Elizabeth Foulke, [n.p.]. 13 August, 1796 [4p.]
T. Lightfoot to "Dear E.F." [Elizabeth Foulke], [n.p.]. 15 May, 1797 [2p.]
William Ellis to Elizabeth Foulke, Catawissa, [Pa.?]. 28 May, 1797 [2p.]
[?] to [Elizabeth Foulke?], Philadelphia. 8 June, 1797 [4p.]
[?] to [?], [n.p.]. August, 1797 [2p.]
Elizabeth Brown to "Dearly Beloved Friends M. Prior & E. Foulke", Nantucket. 24 August, [1798?] [4p.]
James Bringhurst to "Dear Eliza" [Elizabeth Foulke], Bristol, [Md?]. 19 September, 1798 [2p.]
[?] to Mary Foulke, Philadelphia. December, 1798 [2p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Plantation. 25 September, 1803 [3p.]
Deborah Stables to "Beloved Friend E. Foulke," [n.p.]. 15 May, 1805 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Dear Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington. 18 August, 1807 [3p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington. 27 November, 1808 [2p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Dear Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 12-13 February, 1809 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 29 August, 1809 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 8 September, 1809 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 31 December, 1809 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 25 June, 1810 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 28 August, 1810 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 3 December, 1810 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 22 December, 1810 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 25 January, 1811 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 10-11 February, 1811 [4p.]
Joseph Bringhurst, Sr., to "Beloved Niece" [Elizabeth Foulke], Wilmington, (Del.). 24 June, 1811 [3p.]
Micajah Collins to Elizabeth Foulke, Warrington, Virginia. 13 November, 1811 [4p.]
Thomas Rogers to "Esteemed Friend E. Foulke," [n.p.]. 7 June, 1814 [1p.]
[?] to "Beloved Friends James & Phebe Pemberton," [n.p.]. "Third Day, Evening, 8 o'clock" [2p.]
Jane M. Rogers to "My Dear Friend" [Elizabeth Foulke], Philadelphia. 17 July, [n.d.] [4p.]
"E.L." to "Beloved Young Dear Sister Ann Savery," [n.p.]. [n.d.] [1p.]
"E.L." to [?], [n.p.]. [n.d.] [4p.]
Pen & Ink Map of "Anthony L. Bleeker's Land," [ca.1825]