Society Tribute to Charles Brunner Barclay

Society Tribute to Charles Brunner Barclay T HE OFFICERS and membership of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania paused during the course of the annual meeting on Tuesday, 27 March 1984 to pay special tribute to Charles Brunner Barclay. After nineteen years as President of the Society, Mr. Barclay was stepping down. In a surprise ceremony led, by the President-elect, William Buchanan Gold, Jr., Esquire, the Board of Directors presented Mr. Barclay with a Wedgwood Philadelphia Bowl, which features transfer prints of Philadelphia landmarks. Fine ceramics seemed to be the choice of the day as the Society's staff members, Margaret M. Fox and Rita Schive Mowrer, then presented Mr. Barclay with a copy of Philip Foster Chadwick Smith's book on the opening of the China trade, The Empress of China. Mr. Barclay's paternal grandmother lived in China in the later years of the China trade. The honor bestowed upon Mr. Barclay, known to all of us as "Mitch" Barclay, is well deserved. His tenure as President marks a period in the life of the Society notable for its advances. He has helped steer the Society towards the higher standards of professional genealogists. He has directed a strong program of lectures, tours, publications and accessions. Membership has reached the unprecedented level of 2,000 and the Society is more firmly undergirded with ample financial resources than at any time in its history. We acknowledge our great debt to him and look forward to his continued participation in Society affairs. "Mitch" Barclay has now "retired" for the second time. After taking early retirement from the Bentley, Harris Manufacturing Company of Conshohocken in 1961, he joined the Society in October, 1962. He was named Treasurer at the annual meeting in March, 1963 and President two years later. In more than ninety years only one President served longer, that being the founding President, Rear Admiral Edward Shippen, M.D., and then just three months longer. And while the active support of the Society by Mrs. Shippen cannot be doubted, it seems unlikely that she could have been more loyal than Mrs. Barclay. In recognition of "aiding and abetting the cause," the Board of Directors also presented her with a token of its appreciation. We wish them both well. 179