{"id":408,"date":"2025-09-09T14:24:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/librarycompany.org\/librarycompanypapersproject\/?p=408"},"modified":"2025-09-09T14:24:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:24:20","slug":"history-of-share-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/librarycompany.org\/librarycompanypapersproject\/2025\/09\/09\/history-of-share-14\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Share #14"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Library Company share #14 was first issued to Richard Standley (d. 1747)<\/strong> on November 22, 1731.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standley was a potter. 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 Standley 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

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Image: <\/em>Articles of Association<\/a>, box 37, Library Company of Philadelphia records (MSS00270).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Library Company\u2019s records provide no further information about Standley, but he apparently maintained his share for the next sixteen years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1747, his \u201cdeathbed will\u201d was recorded by then-Librarian Robert Greenway (d. 1763), which certainly implies a strong connection between Standley and others involved with the Library Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenway had apparently found Standley \u201cdangerously sick\u201d when he stopped by his house, and therefore took down \u201cinstructions for his will in writing on an old letter which [Greenway] . . . had in his pocket in a manner scarse [sic] intelligible to any save [him].\u201d[ii]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to bequests to Standley\u2019s wife and a few others, Richard left most of his estate to his brother Valentine Standley (d. 1781) and his cousin William Standley and their heirs, including the \u201cold House adjoining his Dwelling House and also the Pothouse and yard . . . Likewise the Negroes and appurtenances belonging to the Potters Business.\u201d[iii]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometime after Richard\u2019s death, Library Company share #14 passed to his brother Valentine Standley (d. 1781)<\/strong>. The date of that transfer is not recorded, but given Librarian Greenway\u2019s presence at Richard\u2019s deathbed, the transfer would have been well-understood at the Library Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valentine too was a potter, though some records from his lifetime show his occupation as \u201cbrewer\u201d as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He maintained the share for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valentine\u2019s 1781 will does not specify what should happen with the Library Company share, but it does direct his wife to inherit one enslaved person named Violet. It is not clear if the pottery business still relied on enslaved people.[iv]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valentine\u2019s executor William Shippen eventually sold share #14 to Samuel Anderson<\/strong> on August 13, 1791.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transfer document identifies Anderson as a \u201cgentleman.\u201d The 1791 Philadelphia directory lists him as a broker based on Mulberry Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Library Company records indicate that Anderson forfeited the share in May 1794.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Anderson forfeited the share, it remained dormant for the next 140 years. The share was reissued as share #1338<\/strong> in 1934, and issued to Brandon Barringer (1899-1991)<\/strong> on May 7, 1934.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barringer worked in finance. He also served as treasurer of Curtis Publishing Company and as a trustee of Jefferson Hospital, among other roles.[v]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The share was reissued as share #14 by 1991.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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