The Janvier family descended from Thomas Janvier (1664-ca. 1729), who was an early French immigrant to New Castle County, Delaware. He married Sarah Jordain, also of New Castle County.; they had six sons: Isaac, Thomas, Francis, Philip, John and Benjamin; and three daughters: Mary, Sarah, and Susannah. Francis, a blacksmith, married Elizabeth Calvert about 1730 and a son, Thomas, was born in 1731. Elizabeth died shortly thereafter and Francis married Sarah de Haes Janvier. Francis and Sarah had five sons and three daughters. Their youngest son, Philip, was born in New Castle, Delaware. in 1751.

Philip Janvier was the progenitor of the branch of the family to which most of the material in this collection relates. He was a brick-layer by trade and settled on a farm in St. Georges' Hundred adjoining “The Trap,” land owned by the McDonough family. He married Rebecca Golden, daughter of Abraham Golden, in 1784. Philip and Rebecca had seven children: John (1785-1859), Thomas (1787-1842), Sarah Golden (1789-1871), William Bradford (1793-1848), Jesse (1796-1870), Edward G. (1797-1851), and Rebecca Jane (1805-1875). Most of them settled in the New Castle area and were merchants, store owners, or homemakers.

John remained at the farm and married Eliza McDonough. Thomas became a merchant in Baltimore. Sarah Golden married Abraham Vandegrift. Edward G. married Ann Clearer and settled in Pencader Hundred. William Bradford married Jane W. Clopper of Baltimore in 1819. William apprenticed as a merchant with John and Thomas Janvier; later he owned a shop on Delaware Street in New Castle. William and Jane had eight children. Their daughter, Rebecca, married Richard McWilliams Marley; it is likely that the papers in this collection were passed down through her.

Further information on the Janvier family may be found in the Margaret Janvier Hort Papers, Collection 33. Hort was the Janvier family genealogist in the 1960s and 1970s.

This collection of 189 items contains materials (business accounts, family histories, legal and real estate documents, indentures, original poems, hand-sewn volumes of verse for mourning, and a journal of a trip from Delaware to the Pocono Mountains) related to members of the branch of the Janvier family that resided in New Castle County. The papers span four generations of Janviers; however, the bulk of the material dates from the 1790s to the 1820s and pertains to family oriented events, visits, and, relations.

The collection has been organized by document type. In Box 1, there is correspondence, arranged alphabetically by writer and recipient. Box 2 contains family histories, religious material, poems, miscellaneous items, financial documents, and legal documents. Deeds are in Box 3.

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Purchased from DeCaro Auctions.

Margaret Janvier Hort Papers, Col. 33.

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Repository code: DeWint File name: coll 55.xml Abstract: Papers of the Philip Janvier family of New Castle County, Delaware, including deeds, indentures, financial and legal documents, and correspondence. Extent: 1linear foot Date range: 1705-1913, bulk 1790-1823 Related materials Margaret Janvier Hort Papers, Col. 33. Language: English Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera Winterthur, DE 19732 (302) 888-4853 Janvier Family Papers Col. 155 Creator: Janvier family Title: Papers Dates: 1705-1913, bulk 1790-1823 Call No.: Col. 155 Acc. No.: 92×60 Quantity: 4 boxes Location: 18 C 1-2