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- Title
- Pierre Eugène du Simitière collection
- Description
- The Library Company of Philadelphia purchased this collection of Pierre Eugene Du Simitière's manuscripts at the auction of Du Simitière's American Museum after his death on March 10, 1785. The books and pamphlets bought at the same auction have been dispersed through the Library Company's collections. Du Simitière gathered or copied these manuscripts during his travels in the West Indies, Boston, New York, and while he lived in Philadelphia, where he was a member of and one of the curators of the American Philosophical Society. After the Library Company of Philadelphia purchased the manuscripts, they were bound together. The Historical Records Survey of the Works Progress Administration described the manuscripts in "Descriptive Catalogue of the Du Simitière Papers in the Library Company of Philadelphia" (1940), from which many of the following series and records descriptions have been abstracted. Since the Historical Records survey, many of the bound volumes have been unbound and foldered by the Library Company of Philadelphia. The unbound volumes in the series descriptions contain folder level description; however, the bound volumes are described only as an overall work. For more detail on the bound volumes, see the "Descriptive Catalogue of the Du Simitière Papers in the Library Company of Philadelphia" (1940). Researchers should be aware that the series titles are drawn from the title of the bound volume. It is important to read the entire scope note for each series, because the volumes often contained additional topics than are listed in the title.
- Creator
- Du Simitière, Pierre Eugène, ca. 1736-1784
- Date
- 1492
- Title
- Proprietor of Pennsylvania accounts
- Description
- This collection consists of a volume recording the transactions of William Penn's proprietary government of Pennsylvania, including date, name of seller or customer, item or service, and amount paid. This volume dates from 1701 to 1704.
- Creator
- Penn, William, 1644-1718
- Date
- 1701
- Title
- Greenway Family Papers, 1772-1802 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Greenway Family Papers hold letters and documents relating to the family's personal and business lives in Philadelphia and New Jersey. Letters discussing the yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia are included., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Joseph Greenway (d. 1803) and his wife Hannah (d. 1810) lived in Philadelphia, and had close ties to Cape May, NJ. Greenway was a tradesman and a merchant.
- Date
- 1772
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 027, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64372#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Binny & Ronaldson Papers, 1805-1822 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Binny & Ronaldson Papers contains correspondence relating to their type-founding firm, including letters from the noted publisher John Binns, and author Joel Barlow, as well as to their ceramics factory, the Columbian Pottery. The financial records hold material documenting both business and the pair's personal lives, such as invoices for the funeral and burial of Binny's first wife Elizabeth (d. 1812)., The Library Company holds copies of A Specimen of metal ornaments cast at the letter foundery of Binny & Ronaldson (Philadelphia: Printed by Fry and Kammerer) in 1809, and their Specimen of printing types from the foundery of Binny & Ronaldson, Philadelphia in 1812., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Archibald Binny (1762-1838), type founder, was a native of Portobello, near Edinburgh, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States in 1796. James Ronaldson (1768-1842), also born near Edinburgh, arrived in America in spring 1794, and opened a bakery in Philadelphia in 1795. After losing his business in a fire in 1796, he joined Binny in partnership as Binny & Ronaldson type founders. Binny and Ronaldson were also partners in another endeavor, the Columbian Pottery, which was located on Cedar (now South) Street in Philadelphia, and operated from 1808 through about 1814. Binny retired to St. Mary's County, MD, in 1815, and Ronaldson continued in the type founding business through 1831.
- Creator
- Binny & Ronaldson
- Date
- 1805
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 006, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64353#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Charles Bird Papers, 1800-1837 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Charles Bird Papers holds the business records of a successful hardware importer and merchant, and includes correspondence and records of financial transactions with merchants in England, cities along the American east coast, and Cuba., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Charles Bird was a hardware merchant in Philadelphia from 1802 to 1833, importing merchandise from England, and selling it to customers in the United States and the Caribbean. He was also involved in partnerships with his sons Henry, John, and Joseph, as well as with James Clemson and the brothers George, Robert, and Thomas Earp. Bird made extensive investments in real estate, and was active in community affairs and charitable organizations in Philadelphia.
- Creator
- Bird, Charles, d. 1849
- Date
- 1800
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 010, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64433#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Thomas Wilkey journal on board the U.S.S. Delaware
- Description
- This collection consists of a single journal, written by Thomas Wilkey, that contains daily records of the U.S.S. Delaware's voyages in 1798, including weather conditions, courses set, latitude and longitude, daily activities, and encounters with other ships including privateers.
- Creator
- Wilkey, Thomas
- Title
- McAllister Miscellaneous Manuscripts, 1683-1872 (inclusive)
- Description
- A collection of miscellaneous and individual papers including letters, deeds, indentures, invoices, depositions, wills, certificates, passports, summons, and other government, legal and financial documents, most of which bear no relation to each other. Among the documents is a memoir by Scottish immigrant Quintin Campbell, three songs by Scottish hymnist James Montgomery, a letter from Dr. J.K. Mitchell, papers relating to A.H. Dohrmann and William Kneass, and a letter from Louis-Antoine Caraccioli to Tobias Smollett.., Several hundred clipped signatures were filed throughout the pre-2005 McAllister Manuscript Collection; they were extracted and assembled into their own alphabetically arranged McAllister Autograph Collection (McA MSS 022)., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., John A. McAllister was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia.
- Creator
- McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1783
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 025, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64658#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Episcopal Clergy Manuscripts Collection, 1765-1867 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Episcopal Clergy Manuscripts Collection primarily contains letters written by ordained leaders of the Episcopal Church to their peers. Nearly all of the authors of the letters and documents were then, or became, bishops in the church. Some letters hold notable content, while others simply ask for, or reply to, a request. Several of the correspondents wrote from or of the American Midwest, chiefly Ohio, and describe conditions in their dioceses, churches, and communities. Most of the letters are unrelated to each other and were most likely acquired for their signatures. The collection also holds two eighteenth-century autograph manuscript sermons by Rev. Edward Bass (1726-1803), the rector of St. Paul's Church in Newburyport, MA., The Library Company's Print Department holds portraits of American clergymen, both in prints and photographs. The John A. McAllister Papers (McA MSS 001) contain several letters to McAllister from clergymen of all denominations, including Episcopal., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., John A. McAllister was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia.
- Creator
- McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1765
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 029, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64530#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- David Lewis Papers, 1793-1839 (inclusive)
- Description
- The David Lewis Papers span Lewis's career, and document some of his activities with his firm Wharton & Lewis, with the Phoenix Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and as a merchant., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., David Lewis (1766-1840) was a Philadelphia merchant in business with Isaac Wharton (1745-1808) for twenty years. Wharton and Lewis were two of the founders of the Phoenix Insurance Company of Philadelphia, which was organized in 1803. Wharton was elected the company's first president and Lewis its vice president, offices they held until Wharton resigned in November 1805. At that point, Lewis became president, and retained the position until his death in 1840.
- Creator
- Lewis, David, 1766-1840
- Date
- 1793
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 015, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64985#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Thomas Leiper and family business records
- Description
- The Thomas Leiper family business records include “Letterbooks;” “Estate records;” “Paper, lumber and wood business records;” “Quarry business records;” “Tobacco business records;” and “Miscellaneous and household accounts and receipts,” dating from 1771 to 1947. These volumes document the business efforts of Thomas Leiper and his descendants, including the businesses of Thomas Leiper and Sons, Tobacconists; several quarries; a lumber yard and stable; and the Caldwell and Crosby estates. In addition to his other businesses, Leiper bought and sold real estate.
- Creator
- Leiper, Thomas, 1745-1825
- Date
- 1771
- Title
- Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson papers
- Description
- This collection consists of six volumes of writings by Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson who is considered to be the outstanding female poet of her place and time, and a leader in the literary world of colonial Pennsylvania. These volumes, which date from 1752 to 1799, are arranged alphabetically by title.
- Creator
- Fergusson, Elizabeth Graeme, 1737-1801
- Date
- 1752
- Title
- Civil War Manuscripts, 1854-1868 (inclusive)
- Description
- The collection holds disparate letters and documents pertaining to both military and naval officials, and civilians, active during the Civil War. There are small groups of material relating to the careers of five Union men who functioned at various levels in the war: an army colonel, William Watts Hart Davis; a navy surgeon, James McClelland; a soldier from Philadelphia, J. Ridgway Moore; an army general, Lovell Harrison Rousseau; and a Union spy, Richard Wilcox. There are also ten prisoner-of-war letters written by Confederate soldiers being held in Indianapolis, IN, and Columbus, OH. Much of the material was removed from military office files during the war and sent to the collector, John A. McAllister in Philadelphia., Additional Civil War-related autographs, clipped from letters and documents, are in the McAllister Autograph Collection (McA MSS 022)., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Some of the items in this collection were previously assigned accession numbers 5786.F, 5787.F, and 5795.F., John A. McAllister was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia.
- Creator
- McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1854
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 024, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64502#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Logan family papers
- Description
- The Logan family was prominent in Philadelphia from the start of the province, serving the people in many capacities, including political, medical and literary. This is a collection of manuscripts obtained by the Library Company of Philadelphia that relates to the Logan family. The collection includes papers of the Logan family members Albanus Charles, Algernon Sydney, Deborah Norris, William Jr., and James as well as family materials collected by Frances A. Logan and William Logan Fox. The collection dates from 1684 to 1925 and consists of family papers, correspondence, diaries, writings, medical texts, lecture notes, financial records, poetry, visiting cards, and invitations. The collection is divided into seven series and arranged in the following order: “Albanus Charles Logan papers,” “Algernon Sydney Logan papers,” “Deborah Norris Logan papers,” “Frances Armat Logan collection,” “James Logan papers” and “William Logan Fox collection of papers relating to the Library Company of Philadelphia v. William Logan Estate.”
- Date
- 1684
- Title
- William Trent Papers, 1763-1789 (inclusive)
- Description
- The William Trent Papers describe some of Trent's land holdings and business dealings in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Maryland, and the Ohio Valley, with several investors including John Swift, Joseph Morris, George Campbell, George Croghan, Joseph Simon, David Franks, and Thomas Smallman, among others. Among the documents is an undated “List of Books, Papers, &c being the contents of a Black Trunk, belonging to the estate of William Trent deceased” describing fifteen items and bundles of papers (none of which are contained in the McAllister Collection). Another undated document is Trent's copy of a list of twenty-eight parcels sold to Campbell, Mitchell, and Davis, which includes six tracts along Jennings Run in Maryland., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., William Trent (1715-1787), soldier, Indian trader, and land speculator, was a prominent figure in the development of Western Pennsylvania during the second half of the eighteenth century.
- Creator
- Trent, William, 1715-1787?
- Date
- 1763
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 016, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64400#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Dillwyn and Emlen family correspondence
- Description
- This collection consists of five disbound volumes of letters written to and from William Dillwyn of London and his daughter Susanna Dillwyn in America from 1770 to 1795; and thereafter until 1818, to and from Susanna and her husband Samuel Emlen, Jr. of Burlington County, New Jersey. Although Susanna lived almost her entire life apart from her father, their letters are frequent and deal primarily with family matters and kin. However, there is frequent comment concerning such topics as yellow fever; abolitionism and slavery; and American and European politics, including the Napoleonic wars and the embargo, as well as their effects upon trade and merchants in Philadelphia and London. Moreover, events such as the Federal Convention of 1787 and topics such as the health of Benjamin Franklin, the popularity of President Washington and the trials of a new republic are addressed throughout the correspondence.
- Creator
- Dillwyn, William, 1743-1824
- Date
- 1770
- Title
- John Dickinson papers
- Description
- This collection documents John Dickinson's roles in politics, business, law, nation building, and the American Revolution. The collection is arranged in two series: "John Dickinson" and "Mary Norris Dickinson," with the bulk of the collection contained within the "John Dickinson" series. This collection was organized into its current arrangement, probably in 1978. Prior to that, the collection was described to an item level in a calendar created by John H. Powell. While the 1978 re-arrangement has resulted in the physical order of the calendar being unusable, the information contained therein is of the utmost value and a pdf version of the calendar is attached to this finding aid.
- Creator
- Dickinson, John, 1732-1808
- Title
- Bank of the United States Records, 1790-1842 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Bank of the United States Records contains correspondence and documents primarily related to the second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, with a small collection of material from the first bank, and from several of the second bank's branches in other American cities. There is correspondence with officers of the banks and its patrons John Sergeant, Basil Hall, Nathaniel Silsbee, and William Henry Harrison, as well as documents relating to the construction of the second Bank building designed by William Strickland. Papers relating to the duties of the Commissioners of Loans in the states of Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania are filed at the end of the collection., The early national period of the United States was marked by two attempts at central banking, the first and second Bank of the United States, both headquartered in Philadelphia. The first bank was chartered in 1791 with a twenty-year term that was allowed to expire in 1811. Its first president, serving from 1791 through 1807, was Philadelphia merchant Thomas Willing (1731-1821). The bank established offices of discount and deposit in 1792 in Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, and New York, after which it opened offices in Norfolk (1800), Washington and Savannah (1802), and New Orleans (1805)., Plagued by financial troubles during and after the War of 1812, Congress authorized a second bank in 1816, also with a twenty-year renewable term. The acting treasury secretary and Philadelphia native William Jones (1760-1831) was appointed the second bank's first president, succeeded in 1819 by Langdon Cheves (1776-1857), and in 1823 by Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844). The second Bank of the United States opened in Philadelphia in 1817 with seventeen branches in twelve states and the District of Columbia; by 1830 there were twenty-five branches in operation. The bank was not renewed by Congress, and ceased operation in 1836.
- Date
- 1790
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 012, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64307#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Thomas FitzSimons Papers, 1784-1811 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Thomas FitzSimons Papers spans the period from 1784 to 1811, covering the years when he was closely involved in the bankruptcy proceedings of Robert Morris (1734-1806). The collection mainly holds documents relating to Morris's assets, particularly his land holdings, and their management., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Thomas FitzSimons, a merchant and a prominent member of Philadelphia's Irish-Catholic community, was born in Ireland in 1741, and immigrated to the United States with his family in the 1750s. FitzSimons entered politics after the American Revolution, representing Pennsylvania in the Continental Congresses of 1782 and 1783, and as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. After serving three terms in the Pennsylvania legislature, he was elected to the United States Congress in 1789 and remained there through 1795.
- Creator
- FitzSimons, Thomas, 1741-1811
- Date
- 1793
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 020, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64544#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Samuel George Morton papers
- Description
- This collection contains the papers of Samuel George Morton of Philadelphia, a physician, ethnologist, and professor of anatomy at Pennsylvania Medical College. The papers date from 1832 to 1851, when Morton devoted his research efforts almost exclusively to ethnology and to the collecting of human skulls for comparative studies. The bulk of the papers consist of incoming correspondence, relating to ethnology and other related interests such as anthropology, craniology, paleontology and Egyptology. His collecting efforts in the field of crania resulted in extensive correspondence on the subject, which is also included here. The collection is particularly valuable in illustrating the publication process of Morton's technical publications, as it includes extensive notes, annotations, sketches, research and reviews of his published work. There is also a small grouping of documents related to Morton's son, James St. Clair Morton. The collection is arranged into six series: “Correspondence,” “Notes,” “Pennsylvania Medical College,” “Writings,” and “James St. Clair Morton.”
- Creator
- Morton, Samuel George, 1799-1851
- Date
- 1832
- Title
- Stevens-Cogdell-Sanders-Venning collection
- Description
- The Stevens-Cogdell-Sanders-Venning family papers document the development of a white family and a prominent middle class African American family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, beginning with the 1760s emigration of John Stevens from England to South Carolina. The papers consist of seven series: “Stevens family papers,” “Cogdell family papers,” “Sanders family papers,” “Venning family papers,” “Unattributed family papers,” “Scrapbook materials and related ephemera,” and “Hinkson family papers.” The materials date from 1734 to 1976 and consist of scrapbooks, ephemera, newspaper clippings, Common Prayer books, invitations, holiday cards, correspondence, business papers, and a variety of personal papers. The materials document the Stevens-Cogdell-Sanders-Venning families'; professional, family, and personal lives.
- Creator
- Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstricker), 1892-1973
- Date
- 1734
- Title
- Read family papers
- Description
- This collection contains the papers of four generations of the Read family of Philadelphia, consisting of John Read, Judge John Meredith Read, General John Meredith Read, and Harmon Pumpelly Read. The materials date from 1736 to 1896, with the bulk dating from 1792 to 1896, and include extensive correspondence, bills and receipts, genealogical notes, legal documents, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks and ephemera. The majority of the collection consists of General John Meredith Read's papers relating to his family history and genealogy, correspondence, and political materials. The collection is particularly valuable in illustrating Philadelphia social life, global and local politics, as well as Civil War experiences, as it includes extensive correspondence describing first-hand accounts of war activities as well as with several key political figures during the Civil War era.
- Creator
- Read, John Meredith, 1797-1874