Search

Start Over Online Content Not Available Year 1650 to 1699

Main content

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]

Main content

Pierre Eugène du Simitière collection, 1492-1784 (inclusive)

Extent:
3.8 linear feet and 12 containers, 4 volumes
Abstract:
Pierre Eugène Du Simitière (1737-1784) was a collector, artist, and historian, who opened the first public museum, the American Museum, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the American Musuem, Du Simitière presented his many materials collected during his travels and from his collections. The Library Company of Philadelphia purchased many of the manuscript materials at an auction in 1785 following Du Simitière’s death and the closing of the American Museum. The following collection is Du Simitière’s manuscript collection purchased at this auction. The collection reflects his interests and his lifestyle and includes poetry, sketches, watercolors, newspaper excerpts and clippings, treatise, correspondence, lists of nature, historical chronologies, bibliographies, and copies and originals of historical documents. The collection includes compiled information on places such as the West Indies, Pennsylvania, New England, New York, and the Carolinas in the form of historical chronologies,...(see more)

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

Main content

Stackhouse-Matlack family papers, 1686-1943 (inclusive) 1800-1900 (bulk)

Extent:
3.25 linear ft. (7 boxes)
Abstract:
The collection contains Quaker and other family records of the Stackhouse, Matlack, Roberts, Coles, Collins and related families. It includes some older documents collected by the Stackhouse family of New Jersey and extensive genealogical research.

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

Main content

Malin Family Papers, 1685-1881 (inclusive)

Extent:
1 linear ft. (2 boxes)
Abstract:
The collection is largely composed of financial, legal and real estate documents relating to the Malin property in Upper Providence, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Randall Malin of Cheshire, England, purchased 250 acres from William Penn in 1681. The bulk of the papers are related to the tenure of his grandson William Malin (1727-1803). His son Abner Malin (1752-1848) married Rachel Ogden in 1803 and was disowned by Chester Monthly Meeting in 1805. Other papers concern their son Stephen O. Malin (1806-1892) who continued to farm the property, family estate papers, and a small number of letters received by Rachel Ogden Malin.

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

Main content

Carpenter Family Papers, 1780-1870 (bulk) 1695-1915, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
5.3 linear feet (; 5 boxes, 18 volumes, 1 flat file)
Abstract:
The Carpenter family papers include Brigadier General Louis Henry Carpenter's military papers and Civil War-era correspondence, as well as more than 200 years of correspondence, genealogical material, and other papers related to the Carpenter family of New Jersey. The Carpenter family was among the first settlers of the Philadelphia area and established several towns in Salem and Gloucester counties, New Jersey. They also had ties to numerous prominent families in the Philadelphia and Mid-Atlantic region during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The collection offers insights into a variety of topics, including the Revolutionary War in the Philadelphia region; the early history of Haddon Township, N.J.; medicine in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; and life as a Union soldier during the Civil War.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Ferdinand J. Dreer autograph collection, 1492-1925 (inclusive)

Extent:
105.0 linear feet (; 330 boxes, 133 volumes, 2 flat files)
Abstract:
Ferdinand Julian Dreer’s chief hobby was collecting autographs. He started with two documents and over time he was able to amass more than 15,000 items from some of the world’s most prominent and intriguing public figures. Owing to this interest, Dreer became acquainted with many people in the world of arts and letters, politics, education, clergy, business, and international affairs. As he was aware of such a collection’s potential impact on scholarship and society, Dreer donated all of his holdings to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, with which he had been associated for many years as the institution’s vice president.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Penn family papers, 1629-1834 (bulk) 1592-1960 (bulk 1629-1834) (inclusive)

Extent:
56.0 linear feet (51 boxes; 222 volumes)
Abstract:
The British colony of Pennsylvania was given to William Penn (1644-1718) in 1681 by Charles II of England in repayment of a debt owed his father, Sir Admiral William Penn (1621-1670). Under Penn's directive, Pennsylvania was settled by Quakers escaping religious torment in England and other European nations. Three generations of Penn descendents held proprietorship of the colony until the American Revolution, when the family was stripped of all but its privately held shares of land. The Penn family papers house the personal and governmental records of William Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, and his family. This collection, which dates from 1592 to 1960 (bulk of materials dating 1629 to 1834), consists primarily of correspondence, legal records, governmental records, surveys, deeds, grants, receipts, and account books; there are also 19th and 20th century auction catalogs and other secondary materials. This collection documents the creation of the Pennsylvania colony through...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Richard Peters papers, 1730-1820 (bulk) 1697-1871 (inclusive)

Extent:
7.0 linear feet (; 2 boxes, 49 volumes )
Abstract:
Reverend Richard Peters (1704-1776), in addition to serving in various capacities with Christ Church, also held two important colonial offices: secretary of the Land Office and secretary and clerk of the Provincial Council. In these roles, Peters helped manage the growing government of the colony of Pennsylvania through the access he had to members of the Penn family. He also worked closely with notable statesmen such as Benjamin Franklin and James Logan. Peters was appointed a Council member in 1749; he also served as a state commissioner to the 1754 Albany Congress. This collection is comprised of letters and documents from Reverend Richard Peters (1704-1776), with a few folders of papers from Peters's nephew, Judge Richard Peters (1743/4-1828), and his son, attorney Richard Peters (1780-1848). The papers primarily relate to Peters's public work rather than his private life (the same is true of the papers from the other two Richard Peters.) and they especially highlight early...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Bank of North America records, 1782-1929 (bulk) 1694-1939 (inclusive)

Extent:
145.8 linear feet (; 29 boxes, 672 volumes)
Abstract:
The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, created by the Second Continental Congress in 1781. It was established primarily to aid Congress in providing supplies and money for the continuation of the Revolutionary War. In 1916 the bank bought the assets of the National Bank of the Northern Liberties; in 1923 it merged with the Commercial Trust Company to form the Bank of North America and Trust Company; six years later the merged institution was itself absorbed by the Pennsylvania Company. The minute books are a complete run from the very beginning of the bank until its merger with the Commercial Trust Company in 1923, with brief records of meetings of the Board of Directors and some of meetings of stockholders. The loose documents (housed in boxes, as opposed to bound in volumes) include formal bank communications, memoranda, announcements, and copies of letters, financial statements, and the like. One of the most interesting documents is a long...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Main content

Abraham H. Cassel collection, 1680-1893 (inclusive)

Extent:
4.75 linear feet (48 volumes)
Abstract:
This collection contains printed material from the library of Abraham Harley Cassel, a book collector and historian who acquired over 50,000 books, pamphlets, and documents about early Pennsylvania history. Cassel was a member of the Dunkard Brethren who wrote about and collected books on early Pennsylvania German religious history. His library attracted scholars and historians of Pennsylvania and German American history, and at his death was divided among archives, libraries, and private collectors. The portion of Cassel’s collection that is housed at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania contains forty-seven items which range in date from 1680 to 1893. Items are arranged in alphabetical order, with volumes relating to the Ephrata religious community and the Schwenkfelder Church grouped together. This collection includes hymn books, religious tracts and catechism, diaries, letters, genealogical records, and examples of Pennsylvania German folk art and fraktur.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

Limit your search

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

more »

Current results range from 1198 to 2023

View larger »