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Title: Godfrey Weber Papers. 1802-1844 (inclusive)
Description: Series I, Correspondence (1842-1843) holds letters that relate to Weber's business interests. There are three letters from Pennsylvania representative Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868), one of which replied to Weber's letter regarding silk duties. One letter is unsigned and unattributed; written in December 1842, it is addressed to President John Tyler and recommends the appointment of Henry Mahler of New York to the position of United States Consul in Zurich. It is filed with the Weber material based on a letter from Ingersoll to Weber saying that he had forwarded Weber's recommendation to the secretary of state along with an endorsement of Weber's character as a reference. Mahler was appointed to the post as the country's first consul to Zurich, and served from 1843-1844., Series II, Documents (1802-1844) mostly pertains to the estate of a doctor and druggist, Peter Anthony Blénon (1759-1836), for which Godfrey Weber was an executor. A native of Sens in the Burgundy region of France, Pierre Antoine Blénon became an American citizen in 1798, and was a resident of Hamilton Village in West Philadelphia. He left a large part of his estate to “Institutions of Charity and Benifence” in the city of Philadelphia. Included in the Weber papers is a set of refunding bonds signed by each of the thirty-two organizations, which bear a collection of beautiful institutional seals. Other documents in the series are a receipt book that records payments made from the Blénon estate between July 1836 and February 1844, two of Weber's French passports and two of his French military conscription forms., 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., Godfrey Weber (1780 or 1-1862) was a merchant in Philadelphia. Born Christian Godfrey Weber in Strasbourg, France, he first appeared in the Philadelphia directories in 1820 as Godfrey Weber, a merchant at 160 1/2 South Second St. In 1833 his description and location changed to an importer of French goods at 68 South Third St. The compendium Memoirs and Auto-biography of some of the Wealthy Citizens of Philadelphia (1846) describes Weber & Co. as “Importers of French and other goods. Adopted citizens.” with a net worth of $50,000. At the end of his life, Weber was listed in the Philadelphia directories as a dry goods merchant living at 635 Pine Street. The donor of the papers, John A. McAllister, was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia. Family history and census documents suggest that Weber was related to McAllister's wife Annette Steinbrenner (d. 1926); the McAllisters are buried with the Weber and Steinbrenner families in Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Creator: Weber, Godfrey, d. 1862
Date: 1802
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 028, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64407#page/1/mode/1up

Title: John Smith Papers, 1802-1819
Description: The collection contains correspondence and documents covering the government and military careers of John Smith; they primarily related to his career as the United States marshal for the district of Pennsylvania during the War of 1812., John Smith was appointed United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Thomas Jefferson on March 28, 1801, replacing John Hall. He was reappointed by James Monroe on November 27, 1818, for a four-year term, but in January 1819 he was removed from office and replaced by Samuel D. Ingram. Smith was listed in the Philadelphia city directories as “late marshal” from 1819 to 1822, and was not listed thereafter. He married Elizabeth Turner on October 15, 1795, at St Michael and Zion Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. No date of death is known. Smith also had a long military career, serving almost continuously from 1776 until 1814, when the 1st Regiment of the Pennsylvania Cavalry, which he commanded, was disbanded., United States Marshals were public servants appointed by the President; their primary function was to provide local support for the operation of federal courts. The post involved a wide range of duties including procuring witnesses, serving subpoenas and warrants, and paying the fees and expenses of court clerks, judges, federal attorneys, and jurors. Marshals advertised seized property and oversaw its sale. In addition, until 1870, marshals conducted the federal census, and collected a variety of statistical information on behalf of the federal government., In time of war, such as the War of 1812, the marshal's duties expanded to include keeping track of enemy aliens living in the U.S., issuing passports for their domestic travel, and guarding and providing for British prisoners of war.
Creator: Smith, John, marshal
Date: 1793
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 026

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: 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: 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: Gratz-Franks-Simon Papers, 1752-1831 (inclusive)
Description: The Gratz-Franks-Simon Papers contains correspondence and documents concerning the lives of two generations of three families of merchants living and working in eastern Pennsylvania. The material is primarily related to their business transactions, with some personal and family topics also present. Among the correspondents are Levy Andrew Levy, who worked with Joseph Simon in Lancaster, the trader and speculator George Croghan, and the Gratz's cousins Jacob and Solomon Henry., The Edwin Wolf 2nd Collection of Jewish Historical Documents at the Library Company holds many letters by and to members of the Gratz, Franks, and Simon families., Barnard Gratz (1738-1801) and his brother Michael (1740-1811) immigrated to Philadelphia in the 1750s. They were merchants active during the Revolutionary period, and who formed partnerships with the merchants David Franks (1720-1794) of New York and Philadelphia, and Joseph Simon (ca. 1712-1804) of Lancaster, PA. Michael Gratz's two sons, Simon (1773-1839) and Hyman (1776-1857), inherited their father's business.
Creator: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
Date: 1752
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 011, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64563#page/1/mode/1up

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