Place: Philadelphia (Pa.) / Language: English / Year: <span class="single" data-blrl-single="1832">1832</span> - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

John Wanamaker collection, 1827-1987 (inclusive)

Extent:: 193.2 linear feet (; 316 volumes, 438 boxes)
Abstract:: John Wanamaker (1838-1922) was a well-known merchant, entrepreneur, and lifelong resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was active in the city's religious, political, and philanthropic areas, founded several Presbyterian churches and Sunday schools, and served as postmaster general under President Benjamin Harrison from 1889 to 1893. He opened his first Philadelphia clothing store, Oak Hall, with partner Nathan Brown in 1861, and founded John Wanamaker and Co. in 1869. In 1876, he opened "A New Kind of Store" known as the Grand Depot at Thirteenth and Market Streets. This store later became the flagship store, with satellite stores eventually established in central and southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as New Jersey, Delaware, and New York City. Wanamaker was at the forefront in many areas of retailing including merchandising, employee relations and advertising. His sons Thomas B. Wanamaker and L. Rodman Wanamaker were also active in the business. Thomas ran John Wanamaker and...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Mutual Assurance Company (Green Tree) records, 1784-1995 (inclusive)

Extent:: 455.0 linear feet
Abstract:: The Mutual Assurance Company for Insuring Houses from Loss by Fire was organized in Philadelphia in 1784, in order to make fire insurance available to those citizens who wished to have trees in front of their houses. A group of sixty-one men met on July 8, 1784 at the City (or London) Coffee House and agreed to create a new mutual fire insurance company. A deed of settlement was adopted and a green tree was selected as a symbol to appear on the company's policies and fire marks. The company archives of The Mutual Assurance Company, familiarly known as the Green Tree, consist of financial accounts and receipts, correspondence, histories, cancelled insurance surveys and policies, and miscellaneous material. The records date from the formation of the company in 1784 to 1995.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Barry-Hayes papers, 1778-1861 (bulk) 1723-1875 (inclusive)

Extent:: 23.0 boxes and [7 oversize volumes, and 1 oversize folder]
Abstract:: John Barry (1745-1803), often credited as the Father of the American Navy, served the Continental Navy and the United States Navy for seventeen years. He and his descendents, particularly his nephew Patrick Hayes and grand-nephew Patrick Barry Hayes, became prominent members of Philadelphia society, serving as seamen, merchants, businessmen and politicians. The Barry-Hayes papers are the business, political and personal papers of John Barry and of his family, especially Patrick Hayes and Patrick Barry Hayes. The collection includes correspondence, letterbooks, diaries, logbooks, legal and financial papers related to Barry’s career in the Navy, the business ventures of the Hayes, Keen and Somers families, and their personal lives.

Held at: Independence Seaport Museum, J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library [Contact Us]

Conner family papers, 1832-1856 (bulk) 1832-1856 1816-1903 (inclusive)

Extent:: 3.0 folders
Abstract:: Susan Dillwyn Physick was born on June 22, 1803, in Philadelphia, the second of four children. Her parents were Elizabeth Emlen, whose family was one of the wealthiest in Philadelphia, and Philip Syng Physick, the prominent physician. In 1824 she met naval Master-Commandant David Conner, and the two married on June 25, 1828. The Conner family papers consist primarily of 23 journals kept by Susan Dillwyn Physick Conner from 1832 to 1856. The collection also includes her unfinished autobiography with amendments by her son, a scrapbook, two notebooks, two journals by her son, one journal by Philip Conner’s wife, two letters (one by Mary Lewis, one by Philip Conner), three account books, two published books owned by Susan Physick Conner, and notes and drafts by Arthur Hale, Philip Conner’s son-in-law.

Held at: Independence Seaport Museum, J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library [Contact Us]

John Dickinson papers, 1753-1808 (bulk) 1676-1885 (inclusive)

Extent:: 5.2 linear feet and 13 containers, 5 volumes
Abstract:: John Dickinson (1732-1808), a Philadelphia lawyer and politician, was a major figure in colonial Delaware and Pennsylvania governments and during the early national period. He was an active presence and prolific writer during the American Revolution and early Republic from the passage of the Sugar Act (1764) until the Jefferson presidency (1801 to 1809). He also served in the military as colonel, private, and brigadier general. He married Mary Norris in 1770. John Dickinson died in Delaware in 1808. The John Dickinson papers contains incoming and outgoing correspondence; drafts and original manuscript documents from the revolutionary and early national government, Revolutionary War, Delaware and Pennsylvania government; land papers; legal papers; bills and receipts; collected essays, notes and commonplace books; and estate material. The papers provide a clear picture of the way in which colonists envisioned their new country and how these new Americans worked, compromised and...(see more)

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

Library Company of Philadelphia minute books, 1731-2000 (inclusive)

Extent:: 46.0 volumes
Abstract:: In 1731, Benjamin Franklin and a group of intellectual Philadelphians established the Library Company of Philadelphia, a subscription library supported by its shareholders. The Library Company flourished because it adopted a purchasing policy responsive to the needs of its intellectually alert, economically ambitious, but non-elite membership. The Library Company of Philadelphia is now an independent research library specializing in American society and culture from the 17th to 19th centuries. The history of this organization is best documented by its minute books dating from 1731 to 2000. The collection consists of minute books documenting the meetings of the Directors (both the final approved version of the minutes and the rough drafts of the minutes), 1731 to 2000; the Trustees of the Loganian Library, 1853 to 1876; and the Committee for Fixing the Value of Lost Books, 1785 to 1848. In addition to meeting minutes, the minute books include financial reports, and supporting...(see more)

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

Stevens-Cogdell-Sanders-Venning collection, 1734-1982 (inclusive)

Extent:: 3.0 linear feet
Abstract:: 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 materials date from 1734 to 1982 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 as well as the development of a prominent middle-class African American family.

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

Horace William Castor family papers, 1827-1964 (inclusive)

Extent:: 1.5 linear feet
Abstract:: This collection consists of several generations of Castor family papers and provides insight into the wide interest in family history and the history of Frankford and Philadelphia cultivated by noted architect Horace W. Castor. It also documents financial, real estate, and legal transactions conducted not only by Mr. Castor but by his father and grandfather as well. Historical research notes and genealogical notes, personal correspondence and wills document family relationships among the three generations of Castors represented in the collection. Besides collecting and preserving these documents, Horace W. Castor wrote several papers on subjects of local history. A copy of one of these: "A Story of Pine Street Church and Frankford Gun Powder Mill," written for The Historical Society of Frankford, March 11, 1948, is in the collection.

Held at: Historical Society of Frankford [Contact Us]

George W. Holstein family papers, 1817-1927 (inclusive)

Extent:: 17.0 linear feet
Abstract:: George Washington Holstein, M.D., was a prominent citizen of Bridgeport in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was at times a burgess, postmaster, and school director. He was a Civil War veteran and long-time member of the Odd Fellows. The George W. Holstein family papers, 1817-1927, consist primarily of Dr. Holstein's journals, notebooks, essays, and correspondence. There are also some journals and papers from other family members.

Held at: Historical Society of Montgomery County [Contact Us]

LMHS.15: Levering family papers, 1807-1973 (inclusive)

Extent:: 0.4 linear feet
Abstract:: Born in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, John Levering (1789-1878) was a graduate of the University Academy and a noted mathematician and surveyor. The Levering family papers, 1807-1973, consist of a family bible, a burial plot deed, two obituaries, two photographs, and genealogical notes.

Held at: Lower Merion Historical Society [Contact Us]

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