Mary Brackett Willcox Papers MC 10 Finding Aid Prepared by Faith Charlton and Heather Schubert
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Mary Brackett Willcox papers MC 10 Finding aid prepared by Faith Charlton and Heather Schubert. Last updated on November 04, 2015. Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center ; December 2011 Mary Brackett Willcox papers Table of Contents Summary Information....................................................................................................................................3 Biography/History..........................................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 5 Administrative Information........................................................................................................................... 7 Related Materials........................................................................................................................................... 7 Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................8 Other Finding Aids........................................................................................................................................9 Publication note............................................................................................................................................. 9 Bibliography...................................................................................................................................................9 Collection Inventory.................................................................................................................................... 11 - Page 2 - Mary Brackett Willcox papers Summary Information Repository Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center Title Mary Brackett Willcox papers Call number MC 10 Date [bulk] 1842-1854 Date [inclusive] 1807-1864 Extent 0.4 linear feet (; 1 box) Language English Abstract This collection contains mostly incoming correspondence to Mary Brackett Willcox (1796-1866), wife of James M. Willcox (1791-1854) whose family owned one of the most significant paper mills in the country in Ivy Mills, now Glenn Mills, Pennsylvania. Along with their status in industry, the Willcox family was also one of the most prominent families within the Catholic community in the Philadelphia area. The family’s mansion became the center of Catholicity in Delaware County, and served as the beginnings of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, the oldest parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. During the 1840s and 1850s, students and the Vincentian administrators of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary spent their summers at the Willcox estate. The letters in the collection are from Vincentians, seminarians, and other priests serving the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who formed close ties with Mary and the Willcox family during this period. A majority of the letters address the topics of religion and spirituality, and more specifically, the teachings of the Catholic Church. These topics were of special interest to Mary. From an old established Puritan family from Massachusetts, she converted to Catholicism after marrying into the Willcox family. The correspondence - Page 3 - Mary Brackett Willcox papers also documents the Vincentians' work in the Philadelphia diocese and in other parts of the country; and relates to the Willcox family. Besides correspondence, the collection also includes miscellaneous drafts, notes, and other writings that Mary likely authored. Cite as: Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Mary Brackett Willcox Papers, 1830-1866 (MC 10), Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center. Biography/History Thomas Willcox (-1779), from Devonshire, England founded the Willcox family paper mill, Ivy Mills, in 1729 in Concord Township, Delaware County. The mill quickly rose to great importance in the Philadelphia area and the whole of the eastern coast as they became a leading supplier of paper for Provincial, Continental, and Federal currency, and a leading supplier of banknote paper. Along with their status in industry, the Willcox family also became one of the most prominent Catholic families in the Philadelphia area. (The family was related to other prominent Catholic families, including the Kennedys and the Jenkins of Baltimore.) The family’s mansion, located next to the mill, became the center of Catholicity in Delaware County. Thomas Willcox and his wife Elizabeth Cole allowed their home to serve as a meeting place for the small number of Catholics living in the area. Congregations regularly met there for masses, which were performed by visiting order priests living in the Philadelphia area. This congregation came to form St. Thomas the Apostle parish, initially known as St. Mary’s, which is considered the first parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Mass was said on the Willcox estate for over a century until 1852 when, due to the increasing number of parishioners, a church was built. James Mark Willcox (1791-1854), grandson of Thomas Willcox, donated the land. In 1827, after the death of his father, Mark Willcox (1744-1827) James Mark Willcox inherited and operated the family’s paper mill. James first married Eliza Orne (-1817), daughter of Capt. James Orne of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1813. They had two children: Mark Willcox (1814-) and William Jenkins Willcox (1815-1845). James then married Mary Brackett Willcox (1796-1866), the daughter of Captain James Brackett (1780-1864) and Elizabeth Odiorne (1782-1870). The Bracketts were an old established Puritan family - Page 4 - Mary Brackett Willcox papers from Massachusetts, and appear to have had a close relationship with the Willcox family. James M. Willcox’s brother, John Willcox (1789-1826), married Mary Brackett’s sister, Elizabeth A.G. Brackett (1803-1879) in 1823. James and Mary Willcox were married in 1819, and had several children: Mary Elizabeth Willcox (1820- ), Thomas B. Willcox (1822-1840), James Brackett Willcox (1824-1895), John Willcox (1827-1846), Joseph Willcox (1829-1918), Mary Elizabeth Willcox (1831-1846), Edward Jenkins Willcox (1834-1890), Henry B. Willcox (1838-), and Ida Eliza Willcox (1841-). According to records, Mary Brackett Willcox remained staunchly anti-Catholic for several years after her marriage to James. She did, however, eventually convert to Catholicism. She was baptized in 1827 and received the sacraments of Holy Communion and Confirmation in 1842 from Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick, who had become a close friend of the Willcox family. Mary played an active role in the Catholic community, including the construction of St. Thomas the Apostle Church with her husband James, and became a noted and respected figure amongst Catholics in the Philadelphia area. She became especially close with many priests and seminarians who spent their summer vacations on the Willcox estate. Mary’s standing within the Catholic community is evidenced by her obituaries. The Catholic Standard article entitled “Death of an estimable Catholic lady,” noted that besides close friends and family, more than twenty clergymen, including Bishop Kenrick, celebrated her funeral mass. Another obituary noted that “Never was grief more sincere, for everyone there knew that a dear friend had gone forth from among them, whose loss should be sincerely felt and whose place could never be supplied.” (Smith, “Sketch of Mary Brackett Willcox,” 400) Scope and Contents From 1842 until his death in 1854, James M. Willcox invited seminarians attending St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, at the time located in Philadelphia, to spend their summers on the Willcox property in Ivy Mills, Delaware County. During this time, the Vincentian, or the Congregation of the Mission, priests who administered and taught at the Seminary, also visited and ministered to the Willcox home. The correspondence, which makes up the bulk of the collection, reveals the close relationships that developed between the Willcox family, in particular James M. Willcox, and his wife Mary Bracket Willcox, and the seminarians as well as the diocesan and Vincentian priests who frequented the family estate. In their letters to Mary, many of the priests and seminarians often addressed her as “Ma” or “Mother.” A well-educated and intellectual woman, incoming letters from the various seminarians and priests with whom Mary formed strong relationships, reveal that she often had serious and thought-provoking discussions about the teachings of the Catholic Church and Catholic faith. Even after her conversion to Catholicism, it appears that Mary continued to question and to explore the tenets of the Church. - Page 5 - Mary Brackett Willcox papers A majority of the letters address the topics of religion and spirituality, and more specifically, the teachings of the Catholic Church. The priests and seminarians with whom she corresponded offer Mary advice about how to be a good Catholic and how to maintain a strong sense of faith. Many of Mary’s correspondents were noteworthy priests who served in the Diocese of Philadelphia, including celebrated convert Edward J. Sourin, S.J. and Virgil H. Barber, S.J., as well as Seminary students, a couple of whom later became priests. The majority of correspondents were members of the Vincentian religious order (also known as the Congregation of Priests of the Mission). Among the noteworthy Vincentian correspondents are