Repository: Historical Society of Pennsylvania / Form: Letters. - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Extent:: 1.33 linear feet (2 boxes, 4 volumes)
Abstract:: This collection contains the papers of Conrad Weiser (November 2, 1696 – July 13, 1760), a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania and became an Indian affairs agent and lieutenant colonel for the British forces in the French and Indian War. Weiser was responsible for negotiating many treaties with the Iroquois which transfered land ownership from the Native Americans to the colony of Pennsylvania and ensured the support of the Iroquois for the British during the war. His papers consist of correspondence, financial records, muster rolls, legal documents, a bound ledger, and a journal of a 1750 trip to Onondaga. The manuscripts in this collection were originally bound into two volumes, and their folders retain their volume and page numbers. The order of items in the volumes was loosely chronological and this arrangement has been kept.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.4 linear feet (; 10 volumes, 1 folder)
Abstract:: This collection contains the personal papers of Francis Daniel Pastorius, a German immigrant who founded the settlement of Germantown, which would later be incorporated into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pastorius was trained as a lawyer, and in 1683 purchased land in Pennsylvania on behalf of members of the German Frankfort Company. He is also known for his anti-slavery stance, joining the Pennsylvania Quakers in signing a protest against slavery in 1688 (the first anti-slavery document written in the United States). This collection dates from 1683-1719 and contains ten bound volumes and one folder of loose manuscripts of Pastorius’ personal papers. This includes his writings on farming and beekeeping, poetry, the beginnings of a German dictionary, a commonplace book, letters, and a book of medical ailments and remedies.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.4 linear feet (; 1 box [15 folders])
Abstract:: This collection contains scientific letters written to Henry Ernest Muhlenberg (1753-1815). Muhlenberg, a Lutheran pastor and biologist, is considered the first botanist born in America who researched the flora and fauna of his homeland systematically. His work contributed considerably to the advancement of natural science around 1800. Some new descriptions and assignations of North American plants based on the system of Carl von Linné (also known as Carl Linnaeus, 1707-1778) go back to Muhlenberg. He discovered a type of grass of the subfamily of Chloridoideae common in Mexico and the south west of the United States, which after his discovery was named “the Muhlenbergia.” Various types of plants bear the type-epitheton “Muhlenbergii” to honor Henry Ernest Muhlenberg. He also discovered and identified the bog turtle, which got the epitheton “glyptemys muhlenbergii.” The German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765-1812) honored Muhlenberg by naming a genus of grasses “Muhlenbergia.”...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Extent:: 3.0 linear feet (; 6 boxes)
Abstract:: The Charles S. Cox letters and printed matter consist of over 600 letters, postcards, and a few telegrams from Cox to his wife during their courtship and first years of marriage in the late 1920s, as well as during Cox's time in the Navy during World War II. During the war Charles served in the United States Navy as a motor machinist's mate on the USS Mona Island. The USS Mona Island was one of many ships anchored in Buckner Bay, Japan, in 1945. There are also some letters from Cox's wife and friends, newspaper clippings, and other printed matter in the collection. Charles Stanley Cox (1906-1992) was born April 18, 1906, in Eaglesmere, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. Charles married Margaret Elizabeth Strauser (1907-1985) on March 17, 1928. Prior to enlisting in World War II, Charles worked at a lumber company and a rubber company. He died on April 22, 1992.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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