Collection Full View
Batcheler, Hartshorne and Sahlins Family Papers (1798 - 2007)
RepositoryHistorical Society of Pennsylvania
Collection ID#3173
Size40 linear feet
Collection Description
This collection documents four generations of the Batcheler, Hartshorne, and Sahlin families, with branches in Sweden and the U.S. The material mostly relates to five families. In the United States, the family is represented by Gertrude Chandler (Jul 17, 1860-1953) and Axel Sahlin (1855-1937); their daughter Ellen Sahlin (Feb 21, 1895-Jun 4, 1988) and her husband, Judge Richard Hartshorne of Newark (Feb 29, 1888-Sep 19, 1975); and their daughter, noted architect and preservationist Penelope Hartshorne (1928-2007) and her husband, George Batcheler (1926-2009). The Swedish side of the family is represented by Axel and Axeline Sahlin and the family of their daughter, Essie Sahlin (1859-1950) and her husband, Simon Johannes Boëthius (1850-1924).
Judge Richard Hartshorne (1888-1975) was the son of William Sidney Hartshorne (b. Newark, 1838-d. Newark, 1919) and Margaret Hartshorne (d. Newark, 1912). An ancestor, Richard Hartshorne of Middletown, NJ (b. England), was a prominent Quaker lawyer, a Proprietor of East Jersey, and served briefly as a judge (1695-1698). The 20th century family also claimed descent from Elizabeth Swain, the first white woman to arrive in Newark.
Richard Hartshorne was a graduate of Newark Academy (1905) and Princeton University (1909). His family lived at 780 Lake St., Newark; they were members of the Newark's Old First Presbyterian Church. After attending Columbia University Law School, Richard practiced law privately from 1912 to 1931 at the Newark firms of Riker and Riker, Edward W. and Raymond Colie, and Stewart and Hartshorne. He also served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1925. In 1931, he became a judge in the Essex County Court of Common Pleas, and he served as a U.S. District Court Judge for New Jersey from 1951 to 1961. He was active in the Republican Party, and was a close friend of Reform Republican and NJ Supreme Court Justice Arthur Vanderbilt.
Hartshorne's numerous organizational affiliations included the Essex County Bar Association, the Board of Proprietors of Eastern New Jersey, the International Film Foundation, the East Orange Tennis Club, the Essex Club, the Masons, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the American Legion. He was also a member of the Princeton University and Columbia Law School Alumni Associations.
After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve in World War I, Richard Hartshorne married Ellen Fritz Sahlin in March 1919. She worked as an interior designer before the birth of their four children: Richard, Jr., John Fritz, Nancy, and Penelope. Penelope, who became Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler, was a National Park Service Historical Architect who carried out restoration on Independence Hall in Philadelphia from the 1950s through the 1970s. For many years the family home was at 168 Park St. in East Orange; Richard and Ellen Hartshorne moved to Philadelphia in the last years of their lives.
Judge Richard Hartshorne (1888-1975) was the son of William Sidney Hartshorne (b. Newark, 1838-d. Newark, 1919) and Margaret Hartshorne (d. Newark, 1912). An ancestor, Richard Hartshorne of Middletown, NJ (b. England), was a prominent Quaker lawyer, a Proprietor of East Jersey, and served briefly as a judge (1695-1698). The 20th century family also claimed descent from Elizabeth Swain, the first white woman to arrive in Newark.
Richard Hartshorne was a graduate of Newark Academy (1905) and Princeton University (1909). His family lived at 780 Lake St., Newark; they were members of the Newark's Old First Presbyterian Church. After attending Columbia University Law School, Richard practiced law privately from 1912 to 1931 at the Newark firms of Riker and Riker, Edward W. and Raymond Colie, and Stewart and Hartshorne. He also served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1925. In 1931, he became a judge in the Essex County Court of Common Pleas, and he served as a U.S. District Court Judge for New Jersey from 1951 to 1961. He was active in the Republican Party, and was a close friend of Reform Republican and NJ Supreme Court Justice Arthur Vanderbilt.
Hartshorne's numerous organizational affiliations included the Essex County Bar Association, the Board of Proprietors of Eastern New Jersey, the International Film Foundation, the East Orange Tennis Club, the Essex Club, the Masons, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the American Legion. He was also a member of the Princeton University and Columbia Law School Alumni Associations.
After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve in World War I, Richard Hartshorne married Ellen Fritz Sahlin in March 1919. She worked as an interior designer before the birth of their four children: Richard, Jr., John Fritz, Nancy, and Penelope. Penelope, who became Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler, was a National Park Service Historical Architect who carried out restoration on Independence Hall in Philadelphia from the 1950s through the 1970s. For many years the family home was at 168 Park St. in East Orange; Richard and Ellen Hartshorne moved to Philadelphia in the last years of their lives.
Collection Contents
The collection consists mostly of correspondence and other personal papers, including diaries, artwork, school work, and genealogical research on all branches of the family, as well as a substantial number of family photographs.
Series IV contains papers (1887 to 2003) of Richard Hartshorne, Ellen Sahlin Hartshorne, their daughter, Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler, and her husband, George Batcheler. Much of the Richard Hartshorne material is personal in nature; a collection of his professional papers and documentation of his public life is housed at the New Jersey Historical Society.
Box 16, from Folder 13: contains Richard Hartshorne personal material, including letters to his young children, some charmingly illustrated by him; correspondence with his aunt, Elizabeth Harrison, of Newark; and 2 folders of his love letters to Ellen, during their engagement
Box 17: contains more personal material. Folder 7 includes a vivid and detailed typescript account of his World War I Naval experiences, from training camp to work in Washington, DC. (Feb 1919); Folder 10 includes his application for membership in the Society of Colonial Wars (1931), with family genealogy; and Folder 11, contains clippings about Richard Hartshorne and his children (1941-1961)
Box 17, Folder 15: contains miscellaneous material on Newark and Essex County history, such as clippings from Swedish newspapers on the <span class="highlight_word">Kennethspan> Gibson mayoral election. There are reminiscences of old Newark in several letters from Jeannette W. Quinby, a [great?] granddaughter of Stephen Condit of Orange, NJ (1962). She writes of the Sunday School at Old First Church in the late 1870s or early 1880s. In the pews, Mr. Hubbler, who sat in front of her, used to wear an old-fashioned wig. Her [great?] grandfather had slaves - one of whom she knew as a child. She adds memories of cobblestoned streets, the canal and its locks, and an area at the south end of Broad St. where hay was sold.
Ellen Sahlin Hartshorne's papers (in Boxes 17-24 and 60) contain letters to family, including her relatives in Sweden. Her letters describe her life at school and college, her social life, travels, interest in art, and, later, her genealogical research on her own family. Her "Early Childhood and Education" materials, in English, Swedish, and French, document her time spent in Swedish and Belgian schools. Also included are her diaries (Boxes 23 and 24), covering a thirty-year period, with brief entries relating to her education, travels, marriage, and childrearing, with annotations by her daughter, Penelope.
Box 17, Folder 16: contains material on Richard Hartshorne's death and funeral (at Old First Church, Newark, Sep 1975), with obituaries, a cv, etc. Most of the rest of this box consists of papers of Ellen Hartshorne.
Box 20, Folders 3, 4 and 5: contain condolence letters on the death of Richard Hartshorne (Sep 1975).
Box 23: includes family history materials, material relating to the Harteshorns' estate, and art work. Folder 12 contains minutes, with related letters, and notes, of the Women's Branch of the New Jersey Historical Society (1970; 1975-1976).
Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler's papers (in Boxes 28-60) contain, in addition to many boxes of files on her professional work and her travels, extensive family correspondence and material on her genealogical research into all branches of the family.
Several boxes of family photos and photo albums include, for example, an early Hartshorne family album (1855-1865, Box 79). A number of images from the photographs series, including childhood photos of Richard Hartshorne, have been digitized and can be found via the Society's Digital Collections page. See, or example, a Hartshorne Family album (1913-1936) at: https://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/objects/7833
Series IV contains papers (1887 to 2003) of Richard Hartshorne, Ellen Sahlin Hartshorne, their daughter, Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler, and her husband, George Batcheler. Much of the Richard Hartshorne material is personal in nature; a collection of his professional papers and documentation of his public life is housed at the New Jersey Historical Society.
Box 16, from Folder 13: contains Richard Hartshorne personal material, including letters to his young children, some charmingly illustrated by him; correspondence with his aunt, Elizabeth Harrison, of Newark; and 2 folders of his love letters to Ellen, during their engagement
Box 17: contains more personal material. Folder 7 includes a vivid and detailed typescript account of his World War I Naval experiences, from training camp to work in Washington, DC. (Feb 1919); Folder 10 includes his application for membership in the Society of Colonial Wars (1931), with family genealogy; and Folder 11, contains clippings about Richard Hartshorne and his children (1941-1961)
Box 17, Folder 15: contains miscellaneous material on Newark and Essex County history, such as clippings from Swedish newspapers on the <span class="highlight_word">Kennethspan> Gibson mayoral election. There are reminiscences of old Newark in several letters from Jeannette W. Quinby, a [great?] granddaughter of Stephen Condit of Orange, NJ (1962). She writes of the Sunday School at Old First Church in the late 1870s or early 1880s. In the pews, Mr. Hubbler, who sat in front of her, used to wear an old-fashioned wig. Her [great?] grandfather had slaves - one of whom she knew as a child. She adds memories of cobblestoned streets, the canal and its locks, and an area at the south end of Broad St. where hay was sold.
Ellen Sahlin Hartshorne's papers (in Boxes 17-24 and 60) contain letters to family, including her relatives in Sweden. Her letters describe her life at school and college, her social life, travels, interest in art, and, later, her genealogical research on her own family. Her "Early Childhood and Education" materials, in English, Swedish, and French, document her time spent in Swedish and Belgian schools. Also included are her diaries (Boxes 23 and 24), covering a thirty-year period, with brief entries relating to her education, travels, marriage, and childrearing, with annotations by her daughter, Penelope.
Box 17, Folder 16: contains material on Richard Hartshorne's death and funeral (at Old First Church, Newark, Sep 1975), with obituaries, a cv, etc. Most of the rest of this box consists of papers of Ellen Hartshorne.
Box 20, Folders 3, 4 and 5: contain condolence letters on the death of Richard Hartshorne (Sep 1975).
Box 23: includes family history materials, material relating to the Harteshorns' estate, and art work. Folder 12 contains minutes, with related letters, and notes, of the Women's Branch of the New Jersey Historical Society (1970; 1975-1976).
Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler's papers (in Boxes 28-60) contain, in addition to many boxes of files on her professional work and her travels, extensive family correspondence and material on her genealogical research into all branches of the family.
Several boxes of family photos and photo albums include, for example, an early Hartshorne family album (1855-1865, Box 79). A number of images from the photographs series, including childhood photos of Richard Hartshorne, have been digitized and can be found via the Society's Digital Collections page. See, or example, a Hartshorne Family album (1913-1936) at: https://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/objects/7833
FormatsGraphics; Photographic materials; Textual materials
SubjectsGenealogy; Law / Lawyers / Courts; Women's History; World War I
Time Periods18th Century; 19th Century; 20th Century; 21st Century
LanguagesEnglish; French; Swedish
Access policyOpen for research
ProcessedYes
Finding AidYes