Manuscript Group 675, Pennington-Satterthwaite Family Papers, 1797-1967 (Bulk dates: 1889-1900)

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Manuscript Group 675, Pennington-Satterthwaite Family

Papers, 1797-1967 (Bulk dates: 1889-1900), 3.5 linear feet / 8 boxes

Call Number: MG 675 + box & folder number

Summary

• Biographical Note

• Provenance Note

• Scope and Content Note

• Related Collections

• Box/Folder List

Summary:

Diaries, legal and financial records of various members of this New Jersey family.   Contains manuscripts relating to Samuel Pennington (1765-1835) and his son Jabez P. Pennington (1803-1888), including an early subscription list for the Newark Centinel of Freedom, ca. 1799-1803, of which Samuel was a co-founder; and two dockets, 1827-1873, of Jabez, a Newark lawyer.   Also contains a diary, 1844-1849, kept by Caroline W. Condit (b. 1830); a record of the account of John R. Watts, Jr. at the New York Bank, 1828-1831; and sketchbooks and photo albums of Pennington Satterthwaite (1870-1946).

Gift of Pennington Satterthwaite, Jr., 1967.

Biographical Note:

The Pennington-Satterthwaite Family

The Pennington Family of New Jersey is descended from Ephraim Pennington, one of the first settlers of Newark, New Jersey, whose father, also Ephraim Pennington, immigrated to New Haven, Connecticut around 1643.

Samuel Pennington, the great great grandson of Ephraim Pennington, and the son of Mary Sanford (1725-1805) and Samuel Pennington (1725-1791), was born in Newark in 1765.  After the death of his first wife, Sarah Baldwin (1766-1797), Samuel married Sarah “Sally” Hayes (ca.1765-1833) on February 18, 1798, and with her had four children: (name unknown) (ca. 1799-1801), Jabez Pierson (1803-1888), Samuel Hayes (1806-1900), and Alexander Cumming McWhorter (1810-1867).

Samuel Pennington was a farmer by profession, but upon his brother Aaron’s death, he became the co-editor with Stephen Gould of the Newark Centinel of Freedom from 1799-1803.  Samuel was also a member of the New Jersey General Assembly for eleven years and a member of the 1827 State Council.  Samuel Pennington died in Newark on March 6, 1835.

Jabez Pierson Pennington, Samuel and Sarah Pennington’s son, was born on December 3, 1803 in Newark.  He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1823, studied law with Oliver S. Halsted, and was admitted to the Bar in 1826.  He was also the notary public for the State Bank of Newark for more than fifty years.

Jabez P. Pennington married Frances Harriet Stodder (1822-1866) on May 1, 1847, and with her had three children: Rosalie (1848-1942), Francis “Frank” (1861-1880), and Louis (1863-1936).  Jabez P. Pennington died on March 27, 1888 in Newark.

Pennington Satterthwaite, the son of Rosalie Pennington and Franklin Satterthwaite (1845-1888), a merchant, was born on October 6, 1870 in Newark.  He graduated from Princeton University in 1893 and then studied art in Paris until 1900. Upon his return, he became an architect in New York and New Jersey, working for almost thirty years before his retirement in 1928. He also served as a secretary of the industrial branch of the War Department with the District Board Division No. 2 of New Jersey during World War II.  Pennington Satterthwaite married Helen Murray Peabody (1879-1958) on June 25, 1909, and with her had three sons: Russell Peabody (1910-1929), Pennington, Jr. (1911-1989), and Franklin Bache.  After living in Short Hills, New Jersey for thirty-three years, Pennington Satterthwaite, Sr. died on April 27, 1946 in Summit, New Jersey.

Caroline W. Condit

Caroline W. Condit, the daughter of Phebe Williams (1810-1874) and Ichabod Condit (d.1840), was born on November 16, 1830.  She married Tunis A. Waldron (1825-1858) on November 10, 1852, with whom she had two daughters: Julia C. Waldron (b.1854) and Anna E. Waldron (b.1857).  After her husband’s death, she married James Johnson (b.1831) on October 27, 1864, a Newark shoemaker, and with him had two more children: William B. Johnson (b.1865) and Mary F.R. Johnson (b.1870).

Sources:

Condit, Jotham H. and Eben Condit. Genealogical Record of the Condit Family, Descendants of John Cunditt, 1678-1885 (Ward & Tichenor: Newark, NJ, 1885).

Pennington, Denman Babice Ingersoll. Biography and Genealogy of the Pennington Family and Connections, 1939-1940.

Pennington Family File, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Provenance Note:

The Pennington-Satterthwaite Papers were donated to the New Jersey Historical Society by Pennington Satterthwaite, Jr. in 1967.  At that time the sketchbooks, photo albums, and photographer’s record books were moved to the museum collection.  These items were returned to the manuscript collection in 1982 and 1996.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers generally consist of the sketchbooks and photo albums of Pennington Satterthwaite (1870-1946) dating from his time at Princeton University in 1889-1893 and from his visit to Europe in 1893-1900. The collection also contains some documents relating to Samuel Pennington (1765-1835), Jabez P. Pennington, and Caroline W. Condit, which date from 1797-1967.

The papers contain 19 sketchbooks and 19 photo albums created by Pennington Satterthwaite as an art student.  The sketchbooks are in pencil, charcoal, and occasionally watercolor, and contain sketches of architectural details, human figures, still-lifes, and landscapes, some of which are dated and signed. While the artwork dates from Satterthwaite’s time both in Princeton and Europe, the photo albums are solely from his trip to Europe. The images show towns and people from such places as Germany, France, Austria, and possibly Asia and are rarely labeled.

The papers also contain an account book, two daybooks, and a cashbook documenting the business of a professional photographer in Newark from 1894-1903. The volumes probably did not belong to Pennington Satterthwaite for he was an amateur and they were created during his time in Europe.  Entries in these volumes include date, job, price, and such customers as the Essex County Parks Commission, the Newark Gas Light Company, Edward T. Cone, the Essex County Court House, the Atlas Manufacturing Company, William H. Burnett, and the Erie Railroad Company.  There is also one volume of the minutes of the Professional Photographers Association of Northern New Jersey (formerly called the Photographer’s Club of Northern New Jersey) from 1920-1933. The minutes document the association’s activities in contests, advertising, lectures/demonstrations, officer elections, membership qualifications, and policy-making. Secretaries during the timeframe of the volume were ( ) Polito, T.R. Lindsley, U. Grant Charnell, Howard Somers, George F. Wettlin, P.A. Valentine, F.W. Dickerson, and J.B. Whitman.

Documents created by Samuel Pennington (1765-1835), Jabez P. Pennington, John Watts, Jr., and Caroline W. Condit are also present in the Pennington-Satterthwaite Papers.  These items include the daybook and cashbook Samuel Pennington used to trace his activities as a farmer from 1797-1799; an indexed subscription list to the Centinel of Freedom; two dockets of mostly Essex County debt cases used by Jabez P. Pennington from 1827-1873; John Watts, Jr.’s account book with the Bank of New York from 1828-1831; and school journals created by Caroline W. Condit from 1844-1849.  The latter document the schooling of a young girl in Newark, New Jersey and contain entries that discuss the weather, school subjects, books, trips taken, and also school essays on such topics as “On the Condition of Woman in Different States of Society” and “The Instinct of Animals.”

Related Collections

:Manuscript Group 234, William S. Pennington (1757-1826) Papers

Manuscript Group 331, William Pennington (1796-1862) Papers

Manuscript Group 1494, Scrapbook Collection: Contains the scrapbook (SB20) of Franklin Satterthwaite (1845-1888)Box/Folder List:

ca. 1799-1803Jabez Pierson Pennington (1803-1888)64Bachelor of Arts Degree from the College of New Jersey182365Docket: Essex County1827-186166Docket1838-187367Loan book1837-1885Pennington Family: Miscellaneous68Relief Assessment bill1887Family history notes, taken by Pennington Satterthwaite (1911-1989)1967Caroline W. Condit (Waldron Johnson) (b. 1830)81School journalMay 1844-May 184582School journalMay 1845-June 184683School journalSept.1846-April 184784Notebook1849John Watts, Jr.85Account book with the Bank of New York1828-1831Processed by Kim Charlton, March 2000 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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