Joseph Galloway Papers: Finding Aid mssHM 36839-36895
Finding aid prepared by Olga Tsapina, September 1, 2010.
The Huntington Library
2016
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on May 15, 2024 by Mari Khasmanyan.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Joseph Galloway papers
Creator:
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803.
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 36839-36895
Physical Description:
10.66 Linear Feet
(1 box, 4 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1717-1874, bulk
1770-1803
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of
American British loyalist and statesman Joseph Galloway (1731-1803) and his wife, Grace
Growden (1727-1782), daughter of wealthy Pennsylvania landowner Lawrence Growden, Jr.
(1694-1770). Many of the documents relate to the Growden estate, as well as Galloway and
Growden social life, business affairs, family matters, Pennsylvania real estate
transactions, Life in exile following the American Revolution, and Napoleon.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Joseph Galloway papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Sotheby's, November 20, 1972.
Biographical / Historical
Joseph Galloway (1731-1803), was born at West River, Anne Arundel County, Md., son of Peter
Bines Galloway and Elizabeth Rigbie, Maryland Quakers. In 1740, Galloway moved with his
father to Kent Pa. In the late 1740s, Galloway began practicing law in Philadelphia; in 1748
he became member of the Schuyhill Fishing Company.
In 1753, he married Grace Growden (1727-1782), the younger daughter of Lawrence Growden,
Jr. (1694-1770), one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in colonial America. Although
Grace and her elder sister Elizabeth were brought up by the Friends, she joined the Church
of England and was married in Christ Church. Her elder sister Elizabeth had married Thomas
Nickelson, an English Quaker merchant, and lived in Poole.
Following the Quakers' withdrawal from the Pennsylvania assembly in the spring of 1756,
Galloway was elected, with the Quakers' support, to the Assembly. With Benjamin Franklin, he
became one of the leaders of the anti-proprietary faction. Galloway held his Assembly seat
from 1757 to 1766 and from 1766 to 1775 was the speaker of the House of Representatives. As
the Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774, he signed the non-importation
agreement, but refused to sign the Declaration of Independence.
In December 1776, Galloway joined Howe's army in New York and was appointed civil
commissioner and superintendent of policy in the British government. In 1778, the General
Assembly of Pennsylvania convicted him of high treason and confiscated his estates,
including the family home on the south-east corner of the 6th and High Street, which was
seized and sold at an auction, in accordance with the state Assembly's Act of Attainder
(1778) in September 1778. (It was appropriated by the state of Pennsylvania as the residence
of the President of the Supreme Executive Council and later sold to Robert Morris.)
In October 1778, Joseph Galloway and the couple's only surviving child, Elizabeth, fled to
England. In the spring and summer of 1779, he gave damaging testimony against Howe for the
House of Commons inquiry and worked on the loyalists' claims for compensation. His own claim
was settled in 1790 when he was allotted annual pension of 500 pounds.
Grace Galloway remained in Philadelphia to ensure that the properties that she had
inherited from her father would remain in the family. Two prominent Philadelphia Quakers,
Abel James (1724-1790) and his son-in-law John Thompson (1744-1819), acted as legal
representatives for the family. Following her eviction from her home in March 1779, she
stayed with Deborah Morris, a Quaker friend; she died in 1782.
The Growden estate was settled only after Galloway's death in 1803. The Pennsylvania
properties were legally inherited by the children of Grace Galloway and Elizabeth Nickelson
and their families. The beneficiaries were Grace's daughter Elizabeth Galloway Roberts(d.
1815)and her daughter Ann Grace Galloway Burton (d. 1837), and Elizabeth Nickelson's
daughters Elizabeth who married John J. Jeffery; Hannah whose second husband was Joseph
Metford, and Ann, wife of Ellis Button Metford (d. 1820), a physician of Taunton, England,
and their son William. John Thompsons's son Jonah and grandson John James Thompson
(1815-1875) represented them in Philadelphia.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains the papers of American British loyalist and statesman Joseph
Galloway (1731-1803) and his wife, Grace Growden (1727-1782). The bulk of the collection
consists of correspondence, legal instruments, plans, surveys, appraisals, accounts and
other documents related to the Growden legacy; including the shares in Durham Iron Works,
the properties in Durham, Bensalem, and Richland Townships, an upper lot of the Delaware
River, and houses in Philadelphia. The materials cover the 1773 partition of the Growden
estates and their fate after Pennsylvania Act of Attainder (1778) and the death of Joseph
Galloway.
Correspondents include: Joseph Galloway, his brother-in-law Thomas Nickelson and their
Philadelphia representatives Abel James and John Thompson; Nickelson's sons-in-law Ellis
Button Metford and John Jeffery; Grace Galloway's granddaughter Ann Grace Roberts Burton;
John Thompson's grandson John James Thompson (1815-1875); and others.
Personal correspondence of Grace Galloway and her family, including her daughter Elizabeth
Galloway Roberts (d. 1815) and Ann Collier, an English cousin and a Quaker who lived in
Topsham, Devon. In the letter of November 6, 1753, to her sister, Grace Galloway gives an
account of her wedding and decries the "ceremonious farse" of society's demands on the new
bride. The letter to her daughter and husband (1779, May 17 and 22) vividly describes the
privations and distress of a British loyalist woman in the revolutionary Philadelphia. Ann
Collier's correspondence contains local and family gossip, news from America, particularly
from Philadelphia, and inquiries regarding American Quakers, including the descendants of
William Penn. There is also the letter from Deborah Morris, a close friend of Grace
Galloway's, to Joseph Galloway that recounts Grace's last days.
Also included are copies of newspaper publications regarding the trial of Abraham Carlisle
and John Roberts convicted of treason in 1779, a note about "a party of Rebel Troops"
raiding Joseph Galloway's house in 1779, and a newspaper clipping related to Sir William
Howe's attack on Joseph Galloway (1780, Nov. 11). Also included are contemporary copies of
accounts of Napoleon's voyage to St. Helena onboard of the Northumberland (1815): "An
extract of letter to a particular friend", by Charles Bayne Hodgson Ross, and an anonymous
"Remarks of Buonaparte" [sic].
Some letters bear notes and remarks by William S. Metford.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American loyalists -- Pennsylvania -- Archives
Bucks County (Pa.) -- History -- 18th century -- Sources
Estate records -- Pennsylvania
Executors and administrators -- Pennsylvania -- Archives
Family papers -- Pennsylvania
Land surveys -- Pennsylvania
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain
Letters (correspondence) -- Pennsylvania
Marriage customs and rites -- Pennsylvania -- History -- 18th century
-- Sources
Pennsylvania -- History -- 18th century -- Sources
Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 --
Sources
Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Personal
narratives
Quaker women -- Correspondence
Quakers -- Correspondence
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Foreign public
opinion, British -- Sources.
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 --
Sources.
Women -- Pennsylvania -- Correspondence
Abel, James, -1790
Abel, James, -1790 -- Correspondence
Collier, Ann, active 1779-1782
Durham Iron Works
Galloway family
Galloway, Grace Growden, -1789
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803 -- Archives
Galloway, Grace Growden, -1789 --
Correspondence
Growden family
Growden, Lawrence -- Family -- Archives
Growden, Lawrence -- Estate.
Metford, Ellis Button
Metford, Ellis Button -- Correspondence.
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 --
Captivity, 1815-1821
Nickleson, Thomas
Nickleson, Thomas -- Archives
Roberts, Elizabeth Galloway
Ross, Charles Bayne Hodgson
Thompson, John, 1744-1819
Thompson, John James, 1815-1875
Box 1
Rowlandson, R-----. Answers to questions about the bequest of land from
Lawrence Growden and Joseph Growden to Lawrence Growden
HM 36879 (a & b)
1717, Apr. 25
Scope and Contents
Annotations in other hands. Also a second questionnaire regarding the same land.
Box 1
Hooper, William. Bond for discharging the legacy left to Jenifer Hooper,
Martha Hooper, Elizabeth Hooper and Grace Hooper by Lawrence Growden. Attested by John
Hooper and Jonathan Lobb?
HM 36857
1720, Sep. 21
Box 1
Galloway, Grace Growden, -1789. 1 letter to Elizabeth Growden
Nickelson
HM 36845
1753, Nov. 6
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. 1 letter to Thomas Nickelson. Annotations in the
hand of William S. Metford
HM 36848
1770, Apr. 5
Box 1
Growden, Lawrence. Last Will and Testament. Attested by William
Hicks
HM 36856
1770, May 1
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. 1 letter to Thomas Nickelson HM 36849
1770, June 7
Scope and Contents
Enclosure: Suppositious estimate (1770, June 7, HM 36854).
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. Suppositious estimates of the value of the real
and personal estates of Lawrence Growden and of the annual income thereof
HM 36854
1770, June 7
Scope and Contents
Enclosed in: Galloway letter to Thomas Nickelson (1770, June 7, HM 36849).
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. 1 letter to Thomas Nickelson. Annotations in
another hand
HM 36850
1770, Nov. 25
Box 1
De Normandie, John. Survey of Land in Hilltown Township. Also: draft of
same
HM 36841 (a & b)
1772, Feb.
Box 1
Chapman, Thomas and Chapman, Benjamin. A Valuation of the Durham Township
Lands
HM 36839
1773, May 1
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. Accounts of transactions between Thomas
Nickelson and Joseph Galloway…
HM 36853
1773-1791
Folder Oversize 1
De Normandie, John. Survey of Durham Township Land HM 36887
[Approximately 1773]
Box 1
De Normandie, John. Survey of Delaware River tracts belonging to Thomas
Nickelson and Joseph Galloway
HM 36892
[Approximately 1773]
Box 1
De Normandie, John. Survey of land in Warwick Township HM 36842
[Approximately 1773]
Box 1
General Account of the Durham Township Lands HM 36889 (a & b)
[Approximately 1773]
Scope and Contents
Also: copy.
Folder Oversize 2
Survey of land in Bensalem Township HM 36893
[Approximately 1773]
Folder Oversize 3
Survey of Trevose and other estates in Bensalem Township HM 36895
[Approximately 1773]
Folder Oversize 4
Survey of Land in Falls Township and of Goat Island adjoining the Delaware
River. Also: second survey of same
HM 36894 (a & b)
1774, July 3
Box 1
Foulke, Samuel. Survey of Land in Richland Township owned by the late
Lawrence Growden
HM 36843
[Approximately 1774]
Box 1
Collier, Ann, active 1779-1782. 1 letter to Elizabeth Nickelson HM 36840
1778, Aug. 24.
Box 1
Galloway, Grace Growden, -1789. 1 letter to Elizabeth Galloway
Roberts
HM 36846
1779, May 15
Scope and Contents
Following the above: letter from Galloway to Joseph Galloway, 1731-1803, 1779, May
22. Annotations in the hand of William S. Metford.
Box 1
Roberts, Elizabeth Galloway. 1 letter to Ann Collier, active
1779-1782
HM 36875
1781, Oct. 22
Scope and Contents
Note: contains a passage quoted from a letter from Grace Growden Galloway, -1789.
Box 1
Roberts, Elizabeth Galloway. 1 letter to Ann Collier, active
1779-1782
HM 36876
1782, Feb. 6
Scope and Contents
Annotations in another hand.
Box 1
Morris, Deborah. 1 letter to Joseph Galloway, 1731-1803. HM 36871
1782?, May 29
Scope and Contents
Annotations in the hand of William S. Metford.
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. 1 letter to Ann Collier, active
1779-1782
HM 36847
1782, July 19
Box 1
Roberts, Elizabeth Galloway. 1 letter to Ann Collier, active
1779-1782
HM 36877
1783, Mar. 6
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. An Account of the Administration of the Estate
of Lawrence Growden
HM 36852
[Approximately 1783]
Scope and Contents
Enclosure: Abel James' second valuation of the lands owned by Joseph Galloway and
Thomas Nickelson, before 1803.
Box 1
Galloway, Joseph, 1731-1803. 1 letter to Thomas Nickelson HM 36851
1784, Apr. 2
Scope and Contents
Annotations in another hand.
Box 1
James, Abel, -1790. General Account of Lands sold for account of Thomas
Nickelson by Abel James, -1790 and John Thompson, 1744-1819
HM 36858
1785, June 3
Box 1
Thompson, John, 1744-1819. 1 letter to Thomas Nickelson HM 36880
1785, June 20
Box 1
James, Able, -1790, and Thompson, John, 1744-1819. 1 letter to John Jeffery
and Ellis Button Metford
HM 36859
1789, Sep. 14
Box 1
Garland, George. Certificate attesting to the legality of deeds of lease and
release between Ellis Button Metford and his wife on the one part of Abel James,
-1790, and John Thompson, 1744-1819 on the other. Also signed by H. Y. Stephens and
John Willis
HM 36844
1789, Sep. 16
Scope and Contents
Preceding the above: fragment of copy of said deed.
Box 1
James, Able, -1790. Abel James' second valuation of lands owned by Joseph
Galloway, 1731-1803 and Thomas Nickelson
HM 36888
Before 1790.
Scope and Contents
Enclosed in: Joseph Galloway, 1731-1803, An Account of the Administration of the
Estate of Lawrence Growden, c.1783 (HM 36852).
Box 1
Thompson, John, 1744-1819, and Shoemaker, Edward. 1 letter to John
Jeffery
HM 36882
1794, Nov. 29
Scope and Contents
Following the above: letter from Thompson and Shoemaker to Ellis Button Metford.
Box 1
Thompson, John, 1744-1819. Record of the sale and rental of lands owned by
Thomas Nickelson and his wife
HM 36881
1802, June 2
Box 1
Notes regarding debts to the estate of Joseph Galloway, 1731-1803 HM 36890
[1803?]
Box 1
Ross, Charles Bayne Hodgson. 1 letter to "a particular friend" HM 36878
1815, Dec. 13
Box 1
Remarks on Buonaparte's [sic] HM 36891
Between 1815 and 1821
Box 1
Burton, Ann Grace Roberts. 1 letter to Ellis Button Metford HM 36873
1816, Dec. 24
Box 1
Metford, Ellis Button. 1 letter to ---- HM 36861
1816, Dec. 26
Scope and Contents
Following the above: draft of letter from Metford to John Thompson, 1744-1819.
Box 1
Metford, Ellis Button. 1 letter to Anne Grace Roberts Burton HM 36860
1817, Aug. 25
Box 1
Burton, Ann Grace Roberts. 1 letter to Ellis Button Metford HM 36874
1817, Oct. 9
Box 1
Metford, Ellis Button. 1 letter to John Thompson, 1744-1819 HM 36862
1817, Oct. 13
Scope and Contents
Following the above: draft of letter from Metford to Thompson, 1819, Mar. 30.
Box 1
Metford, William. 1 letter to Joseph Metford HM 36863
1824, Dec. 4
Box 1
Thompson, Jonah, 1786-1861. 1 letter to Ellis Button Metford HM 36886
1829, Sep. 19
Scope and Contents
Also: related piece.
Box 1
[Metford, William?]. Genealogical chart showing heirs to lots in Philadelphia
owned by Lawrence Growden
HM 36866
1846.
Box 1
[Metford, William?]. Sketch and description of six lots in Philadelphia owned
by heirs of Thomas Nickelson and Joseph Galloway, 1731-1803
HM 36869
[1846]
Box 1
Thompson, John James, 1815-1875. 1 letter to William Metford HM 36883
1851, May 6
Box 1
Thompson, John James, 1815-1875. Record of lots in Philadelphia owned by
heirs of Thomas Nickelson
HM 36885
1851, May 6
Box 1
Metford, William. 1 letter to John James Thompson, 1815-1875 HM 36864
1851, June 3
Scope and Contents
Following the above: miscellaneous computations.
Box 1
Grogan, Edwin. Last Will. Also signed by E. A. Metford? HM 36855
1851, June 20
Box 1
Thompson, John James, 1815-1875. 1 letter to William Metford HM 36884
1851, Aug. 2.
Box 1
Metford, William. 1 letter to John James Thompson, 1815-1875 HM 36865
1851, Oct. 11
Scope and Contents
Annotations in the hands of William Metford and William S. Metford.
Box 1
Place, Frances G? 1 letter to "My Dear Cousin" HM 36872
1859, Aug. 2
Scope and Contents
Also: letter from Place to "My Dear Cousin," 1859, Sep. 1 fragment.
Box 1
[Metford, William?]. Record of the estimated value of lots in Philadelphia
owned by the heirs of Thomas Nickelson and Joseph Galloway, 1731-1803
HM 36867
1869, Dec.
Box 1
Metford, William. Record of the sale of lots in Philadelphia owned by the
heirs of Thomas Nickelson and Joseph Galloway, 1731-1803
HM 36868
1869, Dec.
Box 1
Metford, William S. Note regarding the Thomas Nickelson and Joseph Galloway,
1731-1803 properties in Pennsylvania
HM 36870
1874, Jan.
Scope and Contents
Also: two related pieces.
