Joseph Brevitt Townsend papers supplement

The Joseph Brevitt Townsend papers supplement, spanning the dates 1800-1920, contains substantial additions to the original collection and documents the professional career of the Philadelphia lawyer, Joseph Brevitt Townsend. The supplement comprises 5.8 linear feet of legal and personal correspondence, wills and estate records, legal proceedings, legal account and receipt books, and other judicial and financial records.

In tandem with the original collection, the supplement also exhibits the professional work of Eli K. Price (Townsend's mentor and later business partner), as well as the work of Townsend's four sons: James Price, Joseph Brevitt Jr., John Barton and Charles Cooper.

The supplement is arranged into three series: I. Correspondence, II. Legal documents, and III. Financial documents.

Series I. consists of legal and personal correspondence of Joseph Brevitt Townsend and various Philadelphia legal entities during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The majority of the correspondence concerns mortgages and the settlement of estates. These include letters relating to the estate of Confederate Brigadier General Alexander W. Reynolds (1817-1876), as well as Philadelphian Charles Picot, whose estate records may be found in the original collection. Other notable correspondence includes a letter to architect Horace Wells Sellers, (1857-1933), a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) committee that restored Independence and Congress Halls in the early twentieth century. James P. Townsend’s correspondence includes the last will and testament of William (W.G.) Malin who served as steward of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane in West Philadelphia (now the Kirkbride Center) from 1841-1883.

Series II. comprises documents divided into two subseries: estate records and legal documents. Series II.A. consists of inventories, appraisements, and settlements of estates. It also includes indentures, summonses, receipt books, wills, leases, charters, and affidavits. The materials document the proceedings of Townsend and Price in private practice and within the Pennsylvania court systems including, the Supreme Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the High Court of Justice-Chancery Division, and the Orphan’s Court of the City and County of Philadelphia. The series also includes the last wills and testaments of Joseph B. Townsend and his wife Ada E. Townsend.

Joseph Brevitt Townsend and Eli K. Price were the executors of the will of Philadelphia lawyer Edward Shippen Burd (1779-1848), whose estate records include various construction agreements for the Burd building (now demolished) on Ninth and Chestnut Streets. The Burd Building estate records include letters from prominent Philadelphia architect John McArthur, Jr. regarding the building’s use of marble. Other notable estate records include documents relating to Woodlands Cemetery which was purchased by Eli Kirk Price in 1840.

The series also includes the last will and testament of Francis Darley, who bequeathed an “original study of Victoria, Queen of England,” as well as other original works by his grandfather, artist Thomas Sully, to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Series II.B. consists of general legal documents relating to the professional work of Eli K. Price, Joseph Brevitt Townsend, and his sons. Spanning 1800-1920, the subseries is arranged chronologically by decade, and contains contractual documents, checks, receipts, indentures, wills, and other judicial records. These documents are representative of the role of Eli Kirk Price, Townsend, and his sons in the settlement of land disputes, general mortgages and deeds of trust, conditions of sales, statements of payment, and exemplification of deeds. Documents relating to the Provident Life and Trust company, including its charter and bylaws, further demonstrate the work of the Townsend sons who managed many of the company’s affairs. This series also contains documents relating to the original deed to the Free Quaker Meeting House on Fifth and Arch Streets in Philadelphia.

Series III. contains financial documents including account books of J.B. Townsend, James P. Townsend, Charles C. Townsend, and the firm Townsend, Eliot, and Townsend. The series also contains receipt books, checks, planners, bills of sale and other financial documents.