{"id":393,"date":"2025-09-08T13:07:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/librarycompany.org\/librarycompanypapersproject\/?p=393"},"modified":"2025-09-08T13:07:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:07:18","slug":"history-of-share-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/librarycompany.org\/librarycompanypapersproject\/2025\/09\/08\/history-of-share-12\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Share #12"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Library Company share #12 was first issued to Joseph Wharton (1707-1776) <\/strong>on November 22, 1731.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wharton was a merchant. By 1731, he was obviously acquainted with Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and his fellow Junto members. That group drew up \u201cArticles of Agreement\u201d on July 1, 1731 to found a library, and Wharton was among the first group of shares issued four months later. These subscribers each invested forty shillings and \u201cpromised to pay ten shillings a year thereafter to buy books and maintain a shareholder\u2019s library.\u201d[i]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, just two years after Wharton acquired his Library Company share, he sold it to John Read <\/strong>on August 16, 1733. This transaction is not recorded in Library Company share records, but it is mentioned in the minutes of the Directors meeting that month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is possible that this is John Read, the brother of Franklin\u2019s wife Deborah Read Franklin (circa 1708-1774).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Library Company\u2019s records provide no further details about Read, other than he remained on the list of shareholders for almost twenty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read\u2019s \u201cassignee\u201d Daniel Benezet sold the share to Jonathan Evans (1714-1795) <\/strong>on August 25, 1752. This transaction was witnessed by Benjamin Franklin, who was serving as Library Company Secretary at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Image: James Read\u2019s \u201cAssignee\u201d Daniel Benezet managed the 1752 share transfer to Jonathan Evans. Detail from <\/em>Share Record Book A<\/a>, volume 171, Library Company of Philadelphia records (MSS00270).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans too was a merchant. He maintained his Library Company share for twenty-four years until he transferred the share to his son Joel Evans (b. circa 1734) <\/strong>on May 22, 1776.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joel was a merchant as well. He took over her father\u2019s share #12 during a volatile time in the colonies, and just a few weeks before the Declaration of Independence was issued on July 4, 1776.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Philadelphians clearly felt Joel was on the wrong side of the Revolutionary War. Two years after acquiring this share, his name was included in a list of men accused of high treason for aiding the British.[ii]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1784, Joel had been living in Kingston, Jamaica for some time, and had been disowned by the Religious Society of Friends for marrying a non-Quaker and having \u201cengaged in a military service with the British Army.\u201d He sent word to the Library Company that he was transferring his share to his brother Jonathan Evans (1759-1839)<\/strong>, still in Philadelphia. The transfer was recorded on April 28, 1785.[iii]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan maintained the share for a decade before he sold it to Benjamin Bryant (d. 1824) <\/strong>on August 19, 1795.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1794 Philadelphia directory lists Bryant as a tanner and currier. He maintained the share for twenty-nine years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time of his death, Bryant was living in Abington in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. His estate administrator Richard M. Shoemaker sold the share to Abel Satterthwaite (1779-1867) <\/strong>on October 13, 1824.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satterthwaite too lived in Abington in Montgomery County, and he kept the share for only a couple months. He sold the share on December 8, 1824 to Thomas Evans (1798-1868)<\/strong>, who was the son of the fifth shareholder Jonathan Evans (1759-1839).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas was a druggist, author, editor and Quaker. He was a member of the group of Quakers who founded Haverford College<\/a> in 1833, and from 1837 to 1854, he served as editor with his brother William Evans on The Friend\u2019s Library<\/em><\/a>, a compilation of standard Quaker writings. He also authored An Exposition of the Faith of the Religious Society of the Friends<\/em><\/a> (Philadelphia, 1828), among other works.[iv]<\/p>\n\n\n

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Image: The Library Company\u2019s copy of this 1828 work by shareholder Thomas Evans (1798-1868) was a gift from Evans himself. Thomas Evans, <\/em>An Exposition of the Faith of the Religious Society of the Friends (Philadelphia, 1828).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas apparently maintained Library Company share #12 for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Thomas\u2019s death, his executor and relative Charles Rhoads (1828-1903) sold the share to Thomas\u2019s son John Wistar Evans (1836-1873)<\/strong> on December 7, 1869. More specifically, Rhoads sold the share to J. Wistar Evans as the \u201ctrustee of the residuary estate of Thomas Evans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J. Wistar maintained the share for a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After J. Wistar\u2019s death, his executors and relatives Jonathan Evans (1843-1911), Thomas P. Cope (1823-1900), and Francis Stokes (1833-1917) sold share #12 to J. Wistar\u2019s sister, Hannah Bacon Evans (1839-1939), <\/strong>on December 4, 1879.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Image: <\/em>Photograph of Hannah Bacon Evans<\/a>, Cope-Evans Family Papers, Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. Courtesy of Haverford College.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah lived to the age of 100, but she owned share #12 only into her 60s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sold share #12 to Harold D. Eberlein (1875-1964) <\/strong>on November 1, 1900. Eberlein was a newspaper editor for the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph<\/em> and the Philadelphia Public Ledger<\/em>. He was also an antiquarian and author. By the end of his life, he had authored or co-authored more than 50 books and numerous articles about American history, architecture, and interior design, among other topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Share History:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n