Image: Receipt for a Library Company share, 1733.

We continue our monthly “Shareholder Spotlight” series by taking a closer look at share #24 and its first owner, Rees Lloyd (1709-1743).

Shareholders have always been the backbone of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Starting with the first group of fifty tradesmen who formed the library in 1731, shareholders have provided crucial financial support each year for our mission to “pour forth benefits for the common good.”

We keep careful track of who has owned each historic share, and our list of 9,800+ shareholders includes signers of the Declaration and Constitution, merchants, doctors, soldiers, scientists, artists, philanthropists, politicians, and much more.

Share #24

This share was first issued to Rees Lloyd (1709-1743) on November 29, 1731.

Lloyd was a master carpenter. By 1731, he was obviously acquainted with Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and his fellow Junto members. That group drew up “Articles of Agreement” on July 1, 1731 to found a library, and Lloyd was among the first group of shares issued four months later. These subscribers each invested forty shillings and “promised to pay ten shillings a year thereafter to buy books and maintain a shareholder’s library.”

Lloyd was also among the earliest members of the Carpenters’ Company, but no records earlier than the 1760s survive to confirm his date of membership.[i]

The Library Company’s minutes from July 11, 1743 note that Lloyd’s widow “desires her late Husband’s Share may be held by her Brother in Trust for her Children.” Several Directors were to consider the request, but the minutes do not record the final decision.

Image: The minutes from July 11, 1743 noted that “Rees Lloyd’s Widow desires her late Husband’s Share may be held by her Brother in Trust for her Children.” Detail from Directors Minutes Volume 1, Volume 163, Library Company of Philadelphia records (MSS00270).

The share was next acquired by Lloyd’s son-in-law Samuel Hudson (1736-1793). The official date of that share transaction was not recorded in Library Company records, but it seems likely that he acquired share #24 after marrying Lloyd’s daughter, Martha “Patty” Lloyd (circa 1741-1780).

Hudson was certainly a shareholder by 1765. At a Directors meeting on November 11, 1765, Hudson was unanimously elected to take over the term of longtime Director Joseph Stretch. Hudson attended Library Company Directors meetings on December 9, 1765 and March 10, 1766, but did not serve for the next term that began in May 1766.

Hudson is listed as a “gentleman” based on North Fifth Street in both the 1785 and the 1791 Philadelphia directories.

After Samuel’s death, his son William Hudson did not continue the family’s shareholding in the Library Company. But in 1796, William did donate a tall case pendulum clock made by Johannes Fromanteel, a distinguished clockmaker from London. The clock was purported to have been owned by Oliver Cromwell’s family.

Image: Johannes Fromanteel. Tall Case Clock. Gift of William Hudson, September 5, 1796.

Share #24 remained dormant until it was reissued as share #1310 in 1931. Martha Bunting (1861-1944) acquired the share on August 6, 1931.

Bunting was a biologist and teacher. She had earned a Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College in 1895, and had taught biology at the Woman’s College of Baltimore (later Goucher College), Girls’ High School in Philadelphia, and Wadleigh High School in New York City. She later worked as a research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania. She apparently had family connections to the Lloyd family and compiled family genealogies and sketches in the 1930s.[ii]

The share was reissued as share #24 again in the late 20th century. The share has been owned by six people total in its history.

Not yet a shareholder?

Share #24 is currently available. We work hard to match potential shareholders with historic shares that match their interests, and we would love to match you with Rees Lloyd’s share or another option. To learn more, reach out to our Development Office at development@librarycompany.org.

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[i] “Lloyd, Reese,” Carpenters’ Company Digital Archive & Museum, https://archive.carpentershall.org/items/show/25804 (accessed July 31, 2024).

[ii] Mary R. S. Creese, Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900: A Survey of Their Contributions to Research (Lanham, MD, 1998). Also see the finding aid for Samuel Bunting, Jr., Family Papers (SFHL-RG-5-021), Friends Historical Library of Swathmore College, https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/5021bunt (accessed July 31, 2024).