The Female Charitable Society of Morristown was founded on August 10, 1813 in the home of Mrs. Samuel L. Fisher, wife of the First Presbyterian Church minister. Initially, seventeen women of that faith gathered in her parlor to organize for the purpose of assisting needy women and children in their community. Over fifty years later, women of another Presbyterian Church, as well as the other denominations of town, were admitted for active membership. Modeled after the Newark Female Charitable Society, the Morristown group was headed by a Directress, a Second directress, a treasurer and secretary. The town was divided into districts and a manager was assigned to each district. The managers were responsible for the relief of the poor in her designated area and these women visited the poor in their homes, assessing their level of need and reporting back to the Board of Managers. Over the years frequent donations of money, coal, and wool were given to the Society by area businessman and residents. Apart from monthly dues, monetary contributions in the form of bank bonds, church collections, meeting dues and charitable gifts was another reliable source of funding.
On the 100th anniversary of the Morristown Female Charitable Society, celebrated November 17, 1913, and with the aid of the Women's Town Improvement Committee, the society was reorganized as the Central Bureau of Social Services. As other relief organizations had taken root in Morristown during the same time period, the new structure of the group resulted in a centralization of charitable work and reduced duplication of relief. Other significant changes at the 100 year mark were the inception of paid workers and the inclusion of men as aid recipients.
The many women's welfare organizations that formed in the United States in the 1800's were dedicated to pious and charitable ends, and their consequences were far reaching. The Female Charitable Society of Morristown is one of the earlier examples of these benevolent programs. Their records detail the services the group performed, the women who participated in these efforts and the benefits of their charity. The mission and spirit of the society, preserved in their documents and records, continues today in the Family Services of Morris County agency.
Kihlstrom, Mary F.
The following titles represent only a few of the collection materials, books and records that relate to the subject and topics represented in the
The bulk of the records are administrative in nature. Included in this collection are minutes, reports, by-laws, and a resolution. Newspaper clippings, an account notebook, some correspondence and
The records have been arranged in a general chronological order in two manuscript boxes.
This material is open for research without restriction under the conditions of the North Jersey History Center archives access policy. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Material in the Female Charitable Society Records may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the History Center's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material.
Finding Aid to the Female Charitable Society Records, HM518 MSS Rec. North Jersey History Center, Morristown and Morris Township Library.
Inventory revision by S. Christine Jochem, 2001.
Described and encoded by Mary McMahon Dawson, June 2007.