Library Company share #20 was first issued to Charles Read, Jr. on November 22, 1731.
By 1731, Read 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 Read 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.”[i]
The Library Company’s records provide no further information about Read, but the share remained in his name for the next thirty-one years.
The share was next acquired by James Humphreys on August 1, 1762, but Library Company records list the transfer as “not recorded.”[ii]
After Humphreys’s death, his estate administrator Assheton Humphreys sold the share to merchant John Haworth (1745-1808) on October 24, 1786.
Haworth maintained the share for the rest of his life, but Library Company records provide no further information about him.
By 1788, Haworth was apparently manufacturing and selling mustard and chocolate, according to a newspaper advertisement that described him continuing the business of W. & M. Norton & Co. By 1795, Haworth had purchased a mill in Germantown and converted it to grinding chocolate and mustard, but in 1801, the property was sold at public auction to settle his debts.[iii]
After Haworth’s death, the share remained owned by his estate for another twenty-eight years until his heirs—Martha Eckroyd, John Haworth, Susan/Susanna Haworth, and Mary H. Jenkins—sold the share to William L. Hirst on October 7, 1836.
Hirst maintained the share for less than two years. (A William L. Hirst later owned Library Company share #522 from December 1854 to July 1852, but it remains unclear if this is the same person.)
The 1837 Philadelphia directory listed Hirst as an attorney based on 7th Street.
He sold the share to Sarah A. Huntt (1798-1884) on August 7, 1838.
She was newly widowed in 1838. Her husband Clement S. Huntt (1782-1837) had passed away just the year before. The 1839 Philadelphia directory lists her living on Spruce below 12th Street.
Huntt maintained her Library Company share for the next four years. She sold it to John H. Chisolm (d. 1850) on July 15, 1842.
Chisolm was a receiving teller with the Farmers and Mechanics’ Bank, and “widely known” to the community according to his obituary.[iv]
After Chisolm’s death, his estate administrator George Campbell sold the share to Garrick Mallory/Mallery, Jr. (1831-1894) on September 6, 1850.
Mallory had graduated from Yale University in 1850, and earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1853. He helped found what became known as the “Shakspeare” Society of Philadelphia in 1851, and served as its secretary starting in 1858. He practiced law in Philadelphia until 1861, when he enlisted in the army. He eventually served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 151st Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers.[v]
Image: Shareholder Garrick Mallory, Jr. is named on this recruitment poster for the Pennsylvania Volunteers. United States Army Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 151st (1862-1863) Company A, Volunteers wanted! 151st Regt. P.V. Col. R.A. Parrish, Lieut. Col. Garrick Mallory, Jr. : A few good men wanted for Company A, in the above regiment. Apply at N.W. cor. Twelfth & Coates Sts. / Alex. Fisher, 1st Lieut. Wm. S. White, Capt., (Philadelphia, 1862).
(More than a decade after his time with the Library Company, Mallory became one of the first ethnologists for the newly created Bureau of American Ethnology.)[vi]
After maintaining his Library Company share for sixteen years, Mallory sold share #20 to Lewis C. Cassidy (d. 1889) on December 3, 1868.
Cassidy was a lawyer and eventually a politician. He served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1883 to 1887.[vii]
He passed away in 1889, but the Library Company’s records do not mark his share as forfeited until May 1895.
A couple decades later, the share was reissued by the Directors as share #1258 and acquired by Clifton Lisle on September 7, 1922.
He maintained the share for the next thirteen years. The Library Company’s records show that Lisle’s ownership of the share was forfeited in May 1935. The Directors later reissued the share again, this time as share #1451. Donald C. Rubel acquired it on April 30, 1937.
The Library Company’s records show that Rubel’s ownership of the share was forfeited in June 1948.
The share was reissued as share #20 by 1999.
Share History:
- Charles Read, Jr., acquired share #20 on November 22, 1731
- James Humphreys, acquired on August 1, 1762
- John Haworth (1745-1808), acquired on October 24, 1786
- William L. Hirst, acquired on October 7, 1836
- Sarah A. Huntt (1798-1884), acquired on August 7, 1838
- John H. Chisolm (d. 1850), acquired on July 15, 1842
- Garrick Mallory/Mallery, Jr. (1831-1894), acquired on September 6, 1850
- Lewis C. Cassidy (d. 1889), acquired on December 3, 1868
- Reissued as share #1258, Clifton Lisle, acquired on September 7, 1922
- Reissued as share #1451, Donald C. Rubel, acquired on April 30, 1937
Shareholders who acquired this share after 1950 are not displayed for privacy reasons.
Learn more about Library Company shareholding today.
[i] “At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin”: A Brief History of the Library Company of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 2015), 5.
[ii] Chronological Share and Directors Register, volume 193, Library Company of Philadelphia Records (MSS00270).
[iii] “Mustard & Chocolate Manufactury,” The Freemans Journal, or the North American Intelligencer, July 30, 1788. Oscar Beisert, “5115-39 Belfield Avenue Nomination for the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places,” Philadelphia Historical Commission, February 22, 2021.
[iv] “Obituary,” North American, May 3, 1850.
[v] Finding Aid for Manuscript 2372: Garrick Mallery Collection on Sign Language and Pictography, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
[vi] Finding Aid for Manuscript 2372.
[vii] “Pennsylvania Former Attorneys General,” National Association of Attorneys General, https://www.naag.org/attorneys-general/past-attorneys-general/pennsylvania-former-attorneys-general/ (accessed August 8, 2024).