Wilkinson family correspondence, 1861 December 23--1872 January 26

The Kirk-Wilkinson manuscript collection consists of four series: Correspondence, Business and Financial records, Poetry, and Miscellaneous.

Series I, Correspondence, is further divided into two subseries: original correspondence and transcribed correspondence. The original correspondence subseries contains original letters written by members of the Kirk, Wilkinson, Pusey, and Haddock families, circa 1844-1926. This subseries is further categorized by the authors of the letters. The transcribed correspondence subseries contains transcriptions of letters written by the Kirk, Wilkinson, Pusey, and Haddock families, circa 1810-1886. The transcribed correspondence is arranged chronologically. The Maryland Center for History and Culture does not have the orignal copies of these transcribed letters. The donor believes them to reside with the Cecil County Historical Society. Both the original and the transcribed correspondence relates mostly to family matters.

The bulk of the original correspondence consists of letters written to Sarah H. Wilkinson from her sister Rebecca Kirk Pusey, her children, and cousins. The letters contain updates on the children and the health and movements of family members, as well as general musings on day-to-day events. The authors do not typically mention larger events of the time; instead, the letters reflect the lives of an average Quaker family. The language used between family members is that of plain speech, using "thee", "thou", and "thine" when referring to another person. The letters are dated in the Quaker manner as well, using the numbering system to replace the names of the months. For instance, January 1, 1870 is written as "1st month, 1st, 1870." This also applies to the days of the week, with Sunday as 1st Day, and so on to the 7th Day. The authors frequently mention attending Meetings, which is a Quaker religious service.

Series II, Business and Financial records, consists of 5 folders arranged chronologically. The first folder contains photocopies of land indentures to Caleb Kirk, dated 1792-1814. The documents concern land in Delaware, and are included in the collection for reference use only. The original documents are held in the Delaware Public Archives, Hall of Records, in Dover, Delaware.

Also included in Series II are a day book and ledger belonging to Sarah H. Kirk, beginning in 1838. Both the day book and the ledger contain the names of individuals who presumably frequented a family store. The entries list numerous items including coffee, cheese, satin and lace, spirits, quills, and paper, among others. On several of the pages, Sarah Kirk writes her name, along with a phrase of some kind. At the bottom of the page under 12th month 1st, 1838, a quote reads, "May Heaven be the happy residence of the good." Also included in the daybook as loose pages are articles of agreement for land belonging to Caleb Kirk and John Haddock. These documents date from 1839 to 1863. The final two folders in Series II contain checks and promissory notes, and a bill of sale belonging to Morris Wilkinson.

Series III, Poetry, consists of 3 folders of poetry compositions. The first folder in this series contains a book of poetry by Sarah H. Kirk, circa 1839-1841. Many of the pages contain the title of the poem, the poem itself, and the date and signature of Sarah H. Kirk at the bottom of the page. One poem is titled, "Farewell to the City of Beauty," followed by a note that says, "Written on leaving Baltimore." The date of the composition reads, "2nd month 9th, 1840." Intersperced throughout the book are loose pages, some written by Sarah Kirk, and some by unknown authors. The second folder contains a poem written by James Albert Haddock, and the third folder contains miscellaneous poetry by various members of the Kirk, Wilkinson, and Haddock families.

Series IV, Miscellaneous, consists three folders of materials unrelated to each other. Included is the Kirk book of marriages, births, and deaths, circa 1730-1880s. The inside cover of the book contains a note that reads, "This book bought by Adam Kirk the 10 of the 1st mo 1730." The book contains records of the births, marriages, and deaths of various members of the Kirk family beginning with Alphonsus Kirk, the first member of the Kirk family to immigrate to America in 1688. The pages are sporadically filled out by various members of the Kirk family over the course of 150 years, with many pages left blank. The final pages of the book contain a weather log from 1765-1824, as well as a record of the locusts for 1766, 1783, and 1800. In the log for 1766, the entry reads, "26th of ye fifth month the Locusts appeared above ground in Swarms. this is Done for Satisfaction to End Disputes Concerning the time they May come again, if it Pleases Providence that I may Live to See the Time.----S. Kirk." Included with the Kirk book is a transcription of the pages, provided by the donor.

Also included in Series III is an autograph book belonging to Sallie Wilkinson, the daughter of Morris and Sarah Wilkinson. The pages of the book contain signatures of her family, friends, and classmates at Martin Academy, a Quaker school in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The final item in this series is a single photograph of a Tom Haddock taken at the studio of M. & W. Garrett in Wilmington, Delaware. A note on the reverse of the photograph notes that Tom Haddock is "Lellie's and Hani's brother." He may be the son of Samuel Haddock, Sarah H. Kirk Wilkinson's first cousin.