Lemuel Lamb was born in 1779, one of nine children of Lemuel (1738-1812) and Desire Swan Lamb (1739-1797). The younger Lemuel became a merchant, moved to Delaware County, New York, and ran a store there by 1802. He invested in multiple business enterprises, including the La Motte Mining Company, the Quincy Land Group, and the Deep River Gold Mine. He served as the president of the Mechanics Bank from 1824 to 1841. Lemuel Lamb died on September 21, 1855.
Margaretta Lamb was born on April 10, 1801, the daughter of Irish immigrant and merchant Samuel Carswell (d. 1822) and Margaret Carswell. Margaretta had at least three siblings, Mary, Samuel, and Matthew. She married Lemuel Lamb (1779-1855) in 1822. The same year, she inherited her father's stock in the Mechanics Bank, and real estate in and outside of Pennsylvania. The family suffered financial losses, partly associated with the fall of the Second Bank of the United States in 1836, and, in order to help offset the losses, Margaretta established a girl's boarding school at the family's home on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was a friend of Margaretta's father, Samuel Carswell, and Rachel Jackson (1767-1828) held Mary Ann and Ezra Stiles Ely (Margaretta's sister and brother-in-law) in high regard. Margaretta raised her two sons and seven daughters, and actively participated in the family's business affairs, especially as Lemuel spent considerable time away from home. Margaretta Lamb died on November 14, 1882.
Robert Wharton Sykes, born on July 26, 1796, descended from the Wharton family, who emigrated from England to Pennsylvania in the 17th century. He was one of four children of Mary Wharton and William Sykes. Robert practiced law in Philadelphia. He married and had at least one child, Robert Franklin Sykes (December 5, 1838-December 12, 1838). Following the death of his first wife, Robert married Lucy Swan Lamb, one of Margaretta and Lemuel Lamb's daughters. Robert W. Sykes invested in Philadelphia and New Jersey real estate, and his extensive business records respect multiple rental properties. He died on September 13, 1875, at his residence in Germantown.
Isaac Norris, Jr., was born on August 2, 1865, the son of Lucy S. Lamb Sykes's sister Clara Lamb and Isaac Norris, MD (b. 1834). Isaac Norris, Jr., earned a bachelor of philosophy at Yale University in 1885, and a bachelor of law from the University of Pennsylvania in 1888. He practiced law and resided at Fair Hill, the family estate in Bryn Mawr. On April 3, 1902, he married Harriet Crownshield (d. August 18, 1905). They had one daughter, Mary Lloyd Norris (b. January 4, 1903).
From the guide to the Lamb-Sykes family papers, 1680-1947, 1819-1911, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
