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Start Over Place Philadelphia (Pa.) Language English Year 1750 to 1799

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Thomas Leiper and family business records, 1771-1947 (inclusive)

Extent:
47.0 volumes
Abstract:
Thomas Leiper (1745-1825) was introduced into the business of tobacco shortly after his arrival in Virginia in 1763. Within several years, he moved to Philadelphia where he opened a tobacco shop. During the Revolutionary War, Leiper became the principal tobacco provider in Philadelphia. In 1776, Leiper purchased land in Delaware County that included a mill at a waterfall on the Crum Creek. He established snuff mills and later purchased a stone quarry. The Thomas Leiper and family business records include correspondence, country estate records, and business and financial records of the family's paper, lumber and wood working businesses, quarry business, and tobacco business dating from 1771 to 1947.

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

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Logan family papers, 1684-1925 (inclusive)

Extent:
11.0 linear feet and 10 containers, 62 volumes
Abstract:
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.

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

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Sharpless Family Papers, 1792-1892 (inclusive)

Extent:
2 linear ft. (4 boxes)
Abstract:
The collection represents two branches of the Sharpless family of Pennsylvania descended from Joseph and Lydia (Lewis) Sharpless). It contains correspondence between extended Sharpless family relations including Sharpless, Hunn, Jones, Drinker families and journals of Joshua Sharpless, a Quaker minister who worked with Native Americans and visited Quaker meetings in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Canada. Correspondence covers various topics including the travels of women ministers, yellow fever, and contemporary events. The second series contains primarily nineteenth century correspondence of the extended family of Townsend and Mary Brinton (Jones) Sharpless. It includes letters written by Henry H. G. Sharpless during his European tour and extensive correspondence received by Ezekiel Hunn who served briefly in the Union Army during the Civil War.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

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Collection of Bringhurst Family Correspondence, 1780-1811 (bulk) 1780-1941 (inclusive)

Extent:
6 linear ft.
Abstract:
Contains the collected correspondence of the Bringhurst family, largely compiled by C. Marshall Taylor. It includes correspondence, 1780-1806, of Philadelphia Quaker businessman James Bringhurst and his letters received from John Murray of New York City. Bringhurst corresponded with family and prominent friends including John Dickinson, Job Scott, Nathan Hunt, James Pemberton, Jesse Kersey, Lindley Murray and Moses Brown. Of particular interest are descriptions of life in Philadelphia and the conditions of free blacks, as well as Quaker religious and social concerns and visits from traveling ministers. A second group of letters contains primarily letters from Joseph Bringhurst, the brother of James, to his niece, Elizabeth Foulke while she was traveling in the ministry.

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

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Waln family papers, 1759-1888 (inclusive)

Extent:
5.6 linear feet (; 14 boxes)
Abstract:
The Walns were a family of prominent Quaker merchants in Philadelphia. In 1774, Richard Waln, moved the family to Crosswicks, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, where he purchased "Walnford" and established a flour mill. The Waln family papers document primarily the family's business activities. Richard Waln (1737-1808) who was engaged in the milling business in Walnford, New Jersey, also was involved with financial concerns in Philadelphia. His nephew Robert (1765-1836) was the director of the Philadelphia Insurance Company from 1804 to 1813. Robert a successful merchant, joined into a partnership with his cousin Jesse, and traded with England and the West Indies, and later with East India and China. The collection consists largely of correspondence and financial records.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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German Society of Pennsylvania institutional records, 1764-1968 (bulk) 1764-1998 (inclusive)

Extent:
27.4 linear feet
Abstract:
The German Society of Pennsylvania, founded in Philadelphia in 1764, directed its early efforts to assisting new German immigrants, especially those forced into indentured servitude when they were unable to pay their sea fare. Throughout the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Society was very visible in the thriving German-American community in Philadelphia, boasting just over one thousand members at the peak of its growth, in the late 1870s. In the 20th century, the Society’s scope and prominence was affected by the two World Wars, which created suspicion and criticism of Germanic culture. That suspicion and government scrutiny played a role in the dwindling membership of the Society. In the post-World War II era the Society channeled its overseas relief activities through a Quaker-based aid society. In the second half of the century, the neighborhood was also changing, as it became predominantly African-American, rather than German, and more impoverished. But the Society pressed...(see more)

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

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Joshua Cresson diary, 1793, undated

Extent:
0.06 linear ft. (1 volume, 1 folder)
Abstract:
The volume provides an account of the Philadelphia Yellow Fever epidemic in 1793, and is largely religious in nature. Entries describe the illness, as well as the death and burial of many members of Cresson's community. The volume includes a note signed by Mary Cresson, Cresson's wife, which she addressed to their children, so that they would understand the circumstances of their father's death.

Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]

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Awbury Arboretum Association Cope family collection, 1791-2011 (inclusive)

Extent:
5.3 linear feet
Abstract:
Henry Cope purchased 40 acres of land in East Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1852 where he built a home for his growing family. Over the next 70 years, his descendants build 24 houses representing a variety of architectural styles. A portion of this land, now known as the Awbury Arboretum, was left to the City Parks Association in 1916 to protect it from development. The Awbury Arboretum Association Cope family collection, 1791-2011, encompasses several small collections donated by various descendants of the Cope family. It includes correspondence, deeds, financial records, journals, and photographs.

Held at: Awbury Arboretum [Contact Us]

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African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas records, 1790-2019 (inclusive)

Extent:
50.0 linear feet
Abstract:
Established in 1792 by and for persons of African descent, the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the first African American Episcopal Church in the United States. St. Thomas' founder and first rector was Absalom Jones (1746-1818), the first African American ordained in the Episcopal Church. The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas records, 1790-2019, consist mainly of original church records, as well as some accumulated secondary-source materials. The collection also contains photographs, audio-visual materials, printed materials, and objects.

Held at: African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas [Contact Us]

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