Manly-Whedbee-Jenkins collection

The collection is arranged into four series: Manly family, Whedbee family, Jenkins family, and Miscellaneous. Each series related to a family group also contains two subseries: Correspondence and Other materials. The files within each subseries are arranged chronologically, followed by undated materials. Series I, Manly family, contains materials related to the Manlys of North Carolina and Maryland.

Subseries A, Correspondence, contains letters to and from members of the Manly family, dated 1873 to 1928, as well as undated correspondence. This subseries contains a number of letters from Maria Manly, the eldest Manly daughter, to her parents while traveling in Europe in 1873. Letters from her sister Elizabeth Manly Whedbee, also on the same trip, are located in Series II. There are four letters from Matthias Evans Manly to his children, William Manly and Elizabeth Manly Whedbee (Mrs. James Whedbee), dated 1874 to 1877. There are also two letters addressed to Matthias Manly, both dated 1876. The first letter is from his sister, Louisa Sophia Powell, containing information on their shared genealogy. The letter also contains instructions for stuffing an Easter ham. The second letter to Matthias Manly is from Patrick F. Healy, President of Georgetown College. Healy communicates the high esteem in which he holds his son, Clement Manly, noting that he is "generous of soul, prudent in counsel, conservative in views, ever industrious, neglecting no means of improvement, faithful in his duties to God and honorable in all his relations with his fellows..."

The subseries also contains a folder of condolences addressed to Mary Ford Manly after the death of her sister, Elizabeth Manly Whedbee, in 1896. The most robust folder of correspondence in the series is a file of letters addressed to Sarah Simpson Manly, the youngest child of Matthias Evans Manly and Sarah Simpson Manly. Dated 1918 to 1942, there are a number of letters to Sarah "Sadie" from her numerous nieces and nephews, particularly her sister Elizabeth's children. Matthias Manly Whedbee, who had married and settled in England, writes a number of times imparting family news and inquiring into his aunt's health. In a letter dated October 10, 1932, he laments her recent health troubles, and urges her to seek treatment should she require it, "and don't think about the expense-just send the bills to me." A final folder of correspondence in the subseries contains undated letters from Sarah Simpson Manly (wife of Matthias Evans Manly) to her children.

Series I, Subseries B contains other materials related to the Manly family, including genealogical information, poetry and short stories attributed to Sarah "Sadie" Simpson Manly, and writings by Matthias Evans Manly on various subjects.

Series II, Whedbee family, contains materials related to the Whedbee family of North Carolina and Maryland. Subseries A, Correspondence, contains letters to and from members of the Whedbee family, dated 1873 to 1942, as well as undated correspondence. The primary correspondents are Elizabeth Manly Whedbee and her husband, James Whedbee. The series contains letters from Elizabeth and James while traveling in Europe in 1873. A file of correspondence addressed to Elizabeth includes an 1887 letter from her son while visiting her family in New Bern. The remainder of the file mostly concerns her husband's estate following his death in 1891.

Series II, Subseries B, Other materials, includes other documents related to James Whedbee's estate, the obituary of Thomas Martin Whedbee, and a ticket to New Cathedral Cemetery.

Series III, Jenkins family, contains materials related to the Jenkins family of Maryland. Subseries A, Correspondence, contains letters to and from members of the Jenkins family, dated 1874 to 1961. This subseries includes a file of miscellaneous correspondence that contains three letters to Mrs. Joseph Jenkins (Ellen R. Jenkins), and a letter to Thomas Courtney Jenkins from the Baltimore Board of Trade, thanking him for presenting them with a portrait of himself.The two subsequent files of correspondence contain letters sent to Michel Ernest Jenkins and his wife, Clare Whedbee Jenkins. Included in the file of correspondence sent to Michael Ernest Jenkins are two letters dated 1912 from Father Thomas Frederick Price, the co-founder of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America. In the first letter, Father Price requests a previously promised check for $200 to support a trip to Lourdes, France, to visit the tomb of Bernadette Soubirous. In the following letter, Father Price writes to Mr. Jenkins from Lourdes, praising the holiness of the town and the miracles performed there. The file also contains a number of letters to Michael Ernest Jenkins from his mother, circa 1918 to 1953. From August to September 1953, she writes a series of letters to her son from England, noting the good weather and the ill health of her friend. There is also a letter from Michael Ernest's daughter, Clare Whedbee Jenkins, from the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic all-girls school.

The correspondence to Clare Whedbee Jenkins includes letters from relatives in England, as well as two letters from her daughter, Clare, in the fall of 1961. Clare, who by 1961 had married twice and had three children, writes to her mother about their schooling and their lives in New Orleans, Louisianna. Her daughter (also named Clare), is going to the Garden District Academy, "a private school that is fairly new here but well spoken of." She notes that "Tommy is at Newman again, about which we are most pleased." Her youngest, Michael, is still at home. "Poor Mike, he doesn't go to nursery school until the 5th of Oct." In the following letter, Clare writes to her mother about her tennis matches and new position as room mother in her daughter's 7th grade class.

Series III, Subseries B, Other materials, includes miscellaneous Jenkins family papers including Michael Ernest Jenkins' certification to practice law in the state of Maryland, a promissory note, extract of minutes from the proceedings of the Directors of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company, and a photostatic copy of an 1821 letter from William Jenkins to his son. The subseries also includes documents related to Jenkins family genealogy, including an application for membership in the Society of Colonial Wars and notes and diagrams relating to the Jenkins family vault. Also included are various pieces of ephemera such as invitations and dinner programs, and "a lock of hair given me by Ernest- May 5, 1880" signed by Ellen R. Jenkins. The final item in the subseries is a catalogue of art to be sold from the collection of Ellen R. Jenkins, 1920.

Series IV, Miscellaneous, contains materials that could not be attributed to the Manly, Whedbee, or Jenkins families in particular. Items include miscellaneous correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs of unnamed individuals and souvenier images of locations and monuments in Baltimore, recipes, and various pieces of religious ephemera. There is one envelope containing "relics of the martyred Jesuits during the civil war in France given us today in Paris, February 14, 1873," likely collected by the Manly siblings during their 1873 European trip (although there is not any notation of this).