Old Philadelphians, also called Proper Philadelphians
[See generally, Baltzell, Nalle , "Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia" and "Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class."] or Perennial Philadelphians,
are the First Families of Philadelphia, that class of Pennsylvanians who claim hereditary and cultural descent mainly from
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and who founded the
city of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
. They settled the state of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
They are considered part of the historic core of the
East Coast establishment, along with other wealthy families such as
Boston Brahmins of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and
The Four Hundred of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
[See generally, Burt.] These families were influential in the development and leadership of arts, culture, science, medicine, law, politics, industry and trade in the United States.
They were almost exclusively
white Anglo-Saxon Protestants
In the United States, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or WASPs are an ethnoreligious group who are the White Americans, white, American upper class, upper-class, Protestantism in the United States, American Protestant historical elite, typically ...
(WASPs), and most belonged to the
Episcopal church and
Quakerism.
Families
In 1963, Nathaniel Burt, a chronicler of Old Philadelphia, wrote that of Philadelphia's most notable early figures were listed in "the ancient rhyme, rather out-of-date now, called the Philadelphia Rosary," which goes:
:Morris, Norris, Rush and Chew,
:Drinker, Dallas, Coxe and Pugh,
:Wharton, Pepper, Pennypacker,
:Willing, Shippen and Markoe.
Burt's full list of prominent families (with those in the poem in italics):
Annenberg Annenberg may refer to:
* Annenberg (surname)
* The Annenberg Foundation, formerly Annenberg/CPB, known for funding educational television and the Annenberg Channel
* The USC Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern Calif ...
,
Bacon
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
,
Baer
Baer (or Bär, from german: bear, links=no) or Van Baer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Baer
* Alan Baer, American tuba player
* Arthur "Bugs" Baer (1886–1969), American journalist and humorist
* Buddy Baer (1915–198 ...
,
Baird, Ballard,
Baltzell,
Barrymore,
Barton,
Bartram,
Berwind,
Biddle,
Bingham,
Binney, Biswanger,
Bispham,
Bok,
Bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
,
Borie,
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
,
Brinton, Broadbent, Bromley, Brooke, Buckley,
Bullitt
''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...
,
Burpee,
Cadwalader, Brooke,
Cassatt, Castor,
Carey
Carey may refer to:
Names
* Carey (given name), a given name
* Carey (surname), a surname
** List of people with surname Carey
Places Canada
* Carey Group, British Columbia; in the Pacific
* Carey Island (Nunavut) in James Bay
United Kingdom
* ...
Cheston,
''Chew'',
Clark
Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
, Clothier, Hadley,
Coates, Converse,
Cope
The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...
,
''Coxe'',
Cramp
A cramp is a sudden, involuntary, painful skeletal muscle contraction or overshortening associated with electrical activity; while generally temporary and non-damaging, they can cause significant pain and a paralysis-like immobility of the aff ...
,
Curtis
Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...
,
Da Costa,
''Dallas'', De Solis-Cohen,
Dickinson,
Disston,
Dorrance,
Drayton,
Drexel, ''Drinker'',
Duane,
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
,
Elkins,
Earle, Emlen, Evans,
Fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
,
Foulke, Fox,
Francis
Francis may refer to:
People
*Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
*Francis (surname)
Places
* Rural M ...
,
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
,
Furness
Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire.
The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of vill ...
,
Gates
Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to:
People
* Gates (surname), various people with the last name
* Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player
* Gates McFadde ...
, Geyelin,
Gowen,
Gratz, Griffith,
Griffitts,
Griscom, Gross,
Grubb Grubb is a family name and may refer to the following:
* Armstead Otey Grubb (1903–1968), American educator and acting president of Lincoln University
* Catharina Elisabet Grubb (1721–1788), Finnish industrialist
* Curtis Grubb (c. 1730 – ...
,
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
,
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
, Harrison,
Hart
Hart often refers to:
* Hart (deer)
Hart may also refer to:
Organizations
* Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer
* Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer
* Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores
* Hart's Reptile Wo ...
,
Hays,
Hazard
A hazard is a potential source of harm
Harm is a moral and legal concept.
Bernard Gert construes harm as any of the following:
* pain
* death
* disability
* mortality
* loss of abil ity or freedom
* loss of pleasure.
Joel Feinberg giv ...
, Henry,
Hopkinson Hopkinson is a surname of English and Welsh origin. Notable people with the surname include:
* Abdur Rahman Slade Hopkinson (born 1934), West Indian writer
* Alfred Hopkinson (18511939), British politician
* Alister Hopkinson (194199), New Zealand ...
, Horwitz,
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Huston, Hutchinson,
Ingersoll Ingersoll may refer to:
People
*Ingersoll (surname)
*Ingersoll Lockwood (1841–1918), American lawyer and writer
Places Canada
* Ingersoll, Ontario
United States
* Ingersoll, Oklahoma
* Ingersoll, Wisconsin
* Ingersoll Township, Michigan
* ...
, Jayne,
Jeanes, Jones, Keating,
Kelly
Kelly may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* Kelly (Kelly Price album)
* Kelly (Andrea Faustini album)
* ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap
* "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland
* ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...
, Kuhn,
Landreth,
Lea
Lea or LEA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
England
* Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish
* Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...
, Lewis,
Lippincott,
Lloyd,
Logan,
Lorimer, Lovekin,
Lukens,
McCall,
McKean,
McLean
MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...
, Madeira,
''Markoe'',
Matlack,
Meade,
Meigs,
Meredith,
Merrick, Meyers,
Middleton,
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
, Montgomery, Morgan,
''Morris'', Munson, Newbold,
Newhall,
Newlin,
''Norris'', Oaks, Oakes
Packard, Patterson,
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
,
Peale, Pegg,
Penn,
''Pennypacker'',
Penrose,
''Pepper'', Peterson,
Pew
A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom.
Overview
...
, Platt,
Potts
Potts may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Doc Potts, animated television series
*Tom Potts, Child ballad 109
* The Potts, said to be the world's longest-running cartoon strip drawn by the same artist
Mathematics
*Potts model, model of interac ...
,
Powel,
Price
A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...
, ''Pugh'',
Rawle,
Randolph,
Read
Read
Read may refer to:
* Reading, human cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct or derive meaning
* Read (automobile), an American car manufactured from 1913 to 1915
* Read (biology), an inferred sequence of base pairs of ...
,
Redman,
Reed
Reed or Reeds may refer to:
Science, technology, biology, and medicine
* Reed bird (disambiguation)
* Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times
* Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales
* ...
,
Rhoads,
Rittenhouse,
Robbins,
Roberts,
Rosenbach,
Rosengarten,
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
,
''Rush'', Sands, Savage, Scattergood,
Scott, Scull,
Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
,
Shelmire,
''Shippen'', Sims,
Sinkler,
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
,
Stetson
Stetson is a brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, in particular, in Scouting.
John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous hats when he ...
,
Stockton,
Stokes,
Stotesbury, Taft, Thayer, Toland, Townsend,
Van Leer, Van Pelt,
Van Rensselear,
Vauclain,
Vaux,
Wanamaker,
Wetherill,
''Wharton'', Whitaker,
Widener,
''Willing'',
Wistar,
Wister, Wolf, Wood, Wright, and Yarnall.
Members of these families are generally known for being fiscally conservative, socially liberal, and well educated. These families often have deeply established traditions in the Quaker and Episcopal faiths. Many Old Philadelphia families intermarried and their descendants summer in
Northeast Harbor, Desert Island, Maine.
Many of these families trace their ancestries back to the original founders of Philadelphia while others entered into aristocracy during the nineteenth century with their profits from commerce and trade or by marrying into established Old Philadelphia families like the Cadwaladers and Biddles and Pitcairns.
Note the following incomplete history of the Penn-Gaskel Hall's 3 who persist to today (2017) https://www.jstor.org/stable/1914979?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Clubs and societies
Old Philadelphia exclusive clubs and societies
*Acorn Club
*
Athenaeum of Philadelphia
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, located at 219 S. 6th Street between St. James Place and Locust Street in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a special collections library and museum founded in 1814 to collect materials ...
*
Bachelors Barge Club[Burt, p. 300.]
/ref>
*Colonial Society of Pennsylvania
*Contributionship/Hand-in-Hand
*Dancing Assemblies of Philadelphia The Dancing Assemblies of Philadelphia, and dancing assemblies in general, consisted of subscribers who paid a fee to pay for facilities and refreshments in order to meet on scheduled nights to dance, play cards, and particularly, discuss politics.
...
*First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry
The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, also known as the First City Troop, is a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. It is one of the oldest military units in the United States still in active service and is among the most decora ...
*Germantown Cricket Club
The Germantown Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was one of the four principal cricket clubs in the city and was one of the clubs contributing members to the Philadelphian cricke ...
*Gulph Mills Golf Club
*Merion Cricket Club
Merion Cricket Club is a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, founded in 1865. The current clubhouse is its sixth, the last four having been designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and his partner, Allen Evans, who was also a founder ...
[Burt, p. 301-08.]
/ref>
*Orpheus Club
*Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia
*Penllyn Club
*Philadelphia Charity Ball
*The Philadelphia Club
Philadelphia Club was founded in 1834 and is located at 13th and Walnut Streets in Center City, Philadelphia. It is the oldest city club in the United States and one of the oldest gentlemen's clubs. Notable members have included George Meade, ...
* Philadelphia Corinthian Yacht Club
*Philadelphia Cricket Club
The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania.
History
Founded on February 10, 1854, the Philadelphia Cricket ...
[
*Pickering Hunt
*The Rabbit
*]Racquet Club of Philadelphia
The Racquet Club of Philadelphia (RCOP) is a private social club and athletic club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has facilities for squash, real tennis, and racquets. The club is ranked in the Top 20 Athletic Clubs on the Platinum Club of A ...
* Radnor Hunt Club
*Rittenhouse Club
*Schuylkill Fishing Company
The Schuylkill Fishing Company of Pennsylvania, also known as the State in Schuylkill, was the first angling club in the Thirteen Colonies and remains the oldest continuously operating social club in the English-speaking world.
History
The club wa ...
*Society of Colonial Wars
*Sons of the Revolution
* Society of the Sons of St. George of Philadelphia
*Undine Barge Club
Undine Barge Club is an amateur rowing club located at #13 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The club was founded in 1856. Undine was not initially listed as a founder of the S ...
[
*]Union League of Philadelphia
The Union League of Philadelphia is a private club founded in 1862 by the Old Philadelphians as a patriotic society to support the policies of Abraham Lincoln. As of 2022, the club has over 4,000 members. Its main building was built in 1865 and ...
*University Barge Club
University Barge Club of Philadelphia (also known as UBC) is an amateur rowing club located at #7 in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Hist ...
Baltzell, "The Protestant Establishment Revisited" p. 102.
/ref>
*Welcome Society of Pennsylvania
*Wistar Parties
See also
* Old money
* Philadelphia Main Line
The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's once prestigious Main Line, it runs no ...
* Boston Brahmins
* Patrician
Patrician may refer to:
* Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage
* Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
* Bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
* Bourgeois of Brussels
* Seven Noble Houses of Brussels
The Seven Noble Houses of Brussels (also called the Seven Lineages or Seven Patrician families of Brussels; french: Sept lignages de Bruxelles, nl, Zeven geslachten van Brussel, Latin: ''Septem nobiles familiae Bruxellarum'') were the seven ...
* Daig
Saint Daig (d. 588?)Also spelled Dageus, Daggeus, Dagaeo, Daigeus, Dega, Daigh, Daghous, Daghaeus, Deghadh, Daygaeus, Dagous, Dagaeus, Dagée, Daganus was an Irish Christian bishop and confessor of Inis-Caoin-Deagha (now Inniskeen, County Mon ...
Notes
{{Reflist, 2
References
E. Digby Baltzell, ''Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class'', Free Press, 1958 (reprinted 2004)
*E. Digby Baltzell, ''The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy & Caste in America'', Random House, 1964.
E. Digby Baltzell, ''The Protestant Establishment Revisited'', Transaction Publishers, 1991 (reprinted 2001)
E. Digby Baltzell, ''Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia'', Beacon Press, 1979 (reprinted 2004)
Nathaniel Burt, ''The Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy'', Little, Brown and Company, 1963 (reprinted 1999)
History of Philadelphia
Culture of Philadelphia
Upper class culture in Pennsylvania