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Montgomery, Scott, and Wheeler families papers
This collection from the Montgomery, Scott, and Wheeler families, spanning 60 linear feet, documents the history of Ardrossan, an estate in Villanova, Pennsylvania -- one of the largest on Philadelphia's Main Line -- and its residents over the course of more than two centuries. In 1911, local i...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Collection: | Montgomery, Scott, and Wheeler Families Papers |
| Collection Number: | 4470 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
| Item Description: |
There are 113 books associated with the collection but not included in the inventory. A list of titles is available upon request. |
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| Physical Description: |
60.6 Linear feet ; 103 boxes, 142 volumes, 11 flat files |
| Access: |
Robert Montgomery Scott diaries are closed until 1 January 2081. |
| Summary: |
This collection from the Montgomery, Scott, and Wheeler families, spanning 60 linear feet, documents the history of Ardrossan, an estate in Villanova, Pennsylvania -- one of the largest on Philadelphia's Main Line -- and its residents over the course of more than two centuries. In 1911, local investment banker Colonel Robert Leaming Montgomery (1879-1949) hired Horace Trumbauer to design the residence on the family's 800-acre plot, complete with a dairy farm and horse stables. The son of William Woodrow Montgomery and Rebecca Waln Leaming, Robert L. Montgomery would go onto to establish what is now the investment firm of Janney Montgomery Scott. He married Charlotte Hope Binney Tyler (1881-1970) in 1902, and the couple had four children: Helen Hope, Mary Binney, Robert Alexander, and Charlotte Ives. Their eldest daughter, Helen Hope Montgomery (1904-1995), became well known in Philadelphia's social circles, and she went on to marry Edgar Scott (1899-1995), grandson of Thomas A. Scott, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. She took over Ardrossan's management in the 1940s and oversaw its farming and dairy operations until her death. Helen Hope was also a philanthropist, a premiere horse trainer, and a respected horse show judge, who helped organize the popular Devon Horse Show. Helen Hope Montgomery Scott's life is said to have inspired Philip Barry's 1939 play The Philadelphia Story. The Scotts' son, Robert Mongtomery Scott, was president and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for 14 years, with both attendance and endowment growing substantially under his direction.
Among the items in this expansive collection are family letters, business papers, genealogical records, photographs and prints, photograph albums and scrapbooks, journals and diaries, books and publications, and financial records. The formation of the Ardrossan Estate, is well documented through building contracts; receipts and invoices; plans, blueprints, and images; correspondence with various contractors and architects; and a few livestock records. There is a cache of diaries from Helen Hope and Edgar Scott's son, Robert Montgomery Scott, as well papers on and from their ancestors of the Montgomery, Scott, Leaming, Waln, Tyler, and Binney families. Other highlights include the Scott's correspondence with notable figures, from celebrities to dignitaries; papers from the Montgomery family's Mansfield estate in South Carolina; and records on the Estate of Helen Hope Montgomery Scott.
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