THE FRIEND : A Religious and Literary Journal [Eight Individual Issues]

Philadelphia: Printed by Joseph and William Kite, 50 N. Fourth Street. Very Good. 1845. First Edition. Paperback. 64 pages; Seven individual issues from 1845 and one from 1847 of this American Quaker weekly journal edited by Robert Smith and printed by Joseph and William Kite, 50 N. Fourth Street, Philadelphia. Each issue is a single sheet folded into 8 printed pages (uncut); then folded into quarters horizontally, as originally mailed. Each issue bears the original owner's name signed at one edge -- "Elisha Roberts" or "E. Roberts." ELISHA ROBERTS (1818 - 1905) was a prominent Pennsylvania Quaker, the son of David and Rachel H. Roberts, who were superintendent and matron at Westtown Quaker school. Elisha too was a successful teacher for some years. In 1842, Elisha Roberts married Elizabeth W. Hooton, and settled on a farm near Moorestown. Being mechanically-minded, he was the first to introduce labor-saving mowing and reaping machines into his neighborhood. In the spring of 1864 he and his family relocated to the Westtown Farm House, where he introduced a number of innovations, including updating the dairy farm operations and accommodations. In 1866 Elisha's daughter Sarah Hooten Roberts (1843-1928) married Samuel Allen (1841-1918), a Quaker farmer, inventor, and manufacturer. He and Elisha Roberts formed S. L. Allen & Co., which produced innovative agricultural and gardening equipment, including some invented by Allen (who later invented the sled known as "The Flexible Flyer"). In the year 1868, when Atlantic City was in its infancy, Elisha Roberts built the "Chalfonte" hotel, which he and his family operated for many years. Elisha Roberts together with Eliza P. Gurney established a Friends' Meeting House in Atlantic City. Roberts travelled extensively throughout the United States, making three trips to California. He became quite an enthusiast for photography, developing and printing from his own negatives. His photography revealed his skills as an observer and admirer of nature. THE EDITOR: Robert Smith III (c. 1770-1851) of Burlington, New Jersey was descended from a long line of New Jersey Quakers. He was the first editor of The Friend and, like many Quakers, an abolitionist. His "Relics from the Past" - an homage to Warner Mifflin in issues of The Friend. All in Very Good condition, some toning. One issue has some tears along one fold CONTENTS: Includes articles such as Canton River, or River Tigris; The Magnetic Telegraph - Its Proposed Extension; the conclusion of Texas Slavery - J.C. Calhoun to W.R. King; The Camden Race Course; Bookselling after the Invention of Printing; Benjamin Banneker (in two parts); On the Cultivation of the Grape Vine (No. 2); On the Cultivation of the Grape Vine (No. 6); Making a Woman of an Indian Brave; etc. ; Signed by Notable Personage, Unrelated .