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John Stephen Benezet Diaries

 Collection
Identifier: BEN

Scope and Contents

In his diaries, John Stephen Benezet gives brief descriptions of his daily activities and observations of life in antebellum Philadelphia from 1838 to 1850. By the time he begins to keep these journals, Benezet is already a husband and father supporting a family of at least four children as a clerk in the United States Mint in Philadelphia. He gives no account of his own childhood and family history. His writing style suggests that Benezet was a man of measured precision and accounting. As in most personal journals of the 18th and 19th centuries, he begins each entry with a description of the day's weather conditions. Then he gives an accounting of his activities for the day, noting not only the names of individuals but also the time and address of each of his ventures and returns home. While his grief is evident as he records his wife's death on October 4, 1838, Benezet also notes that her illness lasted four months and three days, that she died at the age of 45 years, one month and nine days, and that they lived together for 21 years, five months and 24 days. On August 15, 1843, the day his daughter Catharine married William Gibbs Porter, Benezet focuses on the difficulty in securing a clergyman--they had applied to four, all of whom would be out of town that day before finding Rev. Spear of the Episcopal Church. He concludes with a list of all who attended the ceremony. While such an account may seem unsentimental, it implies the importance Benezet placed on church and a practice of faith. In many of his entries, some in great detail, Benezet writes of attending services and his pleasure in his children's formal declaration of their faith. Upon leaving his job at the Mint, Benezet apparently occupied his time not only stopping at church; he also regularly "assisted" at a school. Visits to lodges, tea and dinner with family and friends filled his days as well. Benezet's entries occasionally give a glimpse of contemporary social and political activities, such as his attendance of a meeting in 1838 to amend the state's constitution. The most recurring subject is cholera. During certain months, Benezet ends most of his entries with the number of cases and deaths reported by the Board of Health.

In addition to the bound volumes, stitched and loose pages of diary entries, the collection also consists of a few items belonging to Benezet's grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren, descending from the family of his daughter Catharine and her husband William G. Porter. According to a notation on the back inside cover of the second bound volume, Helen B. Porter read the diaries in 1937 and no doubt she was the person who took the notes inserted in the volume. There is a 1949 receipt from the Frick Art Reference Library in New York City made out to Catharine B. Porter of Fairfield, Connecticut. Also included is a reprint of an address given in 1892 by Dr. William G. Porter, a Philadelphia surgeon. He is probably the William Gibbs Porter who lived from 1846 to 1906, and would therefore have been the son of Catharine and William.

Dates

  • 1838-1850, 1892, 1949

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Loose pages of diary entries are extremely fragile, as are certain pages of the 1838-1839 volume. Access is at discretion of Archivist.

Conditions Governing Use

The John Stephen Benezet Diaries are the physical property of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Archives. The Museum holds literary rights only for material created by Museum personnel or given to the Museum with such rights specifically assigned. For all other material, literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for obtaining permission from rights holders for publication and for other purposes where stated.

Biographical / Historical

Based on names cited in these diaries and in papers pertaining to the original descendant/owner of them, John Stephen Benezet was the namesake of his great grandfather, a Protestant who fled France and came to Philadelphia in 1731. Like his grandfather James Benezet, John served in the Prothonotary's Office, Clerk of Quarter Sessions in Bucks County before moving his family to Philadelphia. The family name is best recognized through his great uncle, Anthony Benezet, a Philadelphia philanthropist and advocate of education for women and African-Americans.

John Stephen Benezet was born May 19, 1788, and while in the Prothonotary's Office, raised his family in Doylestown. In 1817, he married a woman named Sarah, who may also have been from Bucks County, in Eddington, Bensalem Township. She died in 1838 and was buried there. They had at least three daughters, Sally, Catharine and Helen, and a son Samuel. John came to Philadelphia in 1830 when Samuel Moore appointed him a Clerk in the US Mint. He remained there for approximately ten and one-half years. The family's first home in the city was at 409 Race Street. By 1838, they were living at 256 Filbert Street. The first church he joined was the 13th Street Church, between Market and Filbert, with the Rev. John Chambers. Benezet later moved with that congregation to their new church, the First Independent Church Broad Street, located at Broad and George Streets.

Extent

2 linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The diaries of John Stephen Benezet offer a glimpse of life in antebellum Philadelphia from 1838 to 1850. By the time he begins to keep these journals, Benezet is already a husband and father supporting a family of at least four children as a clerk at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. In addition to his personal activities, such as attending church, assisting at a school and taking tea and dinner with family and friends, Benezet's entries occasionally give a glimpse of contemporary social and political activities. The most recurring subject is the outbreak of cholera.

Arrangement

Chronological.

Processing Information

These materials were arranged and described by Bertha Adams. Funded by a grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Creator

Title
Guide to the John Stephen Benezet Diaries
Author
Finding aid prepared by Bertha Adams
Date
2009
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Funded by a grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services

Repository Details

Part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Library and Archives Repository

Contact:
Philadelphia Museum of Art
PO Box 7646
Philadelphia PA 19101-7646 United States