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Start Over Repository Historical Society of Pennsylvania Year 1810 to 1814

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Morris family papers, 1676-1930 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.2 linear feet (; 6 boxes)
Abstract:
The Morris family papers (Collection 2000E) contain the genealogical and estate records of the Morris family of Philadelphia, prominent Quaker businessmen, brewers, and later iron manufacturers, who were also active in the political and civic life of the city. The collection follows several generations beginning with Anthony Morris (1654-1721) and his descendants through Anthony Saunders Morris (1803-1885) and Henry Morris (1802-1881). Included are early original documents pertaining to Anthony Morris and his immediate descendants, including marriage certificates, deeds, wills, and various business and personal papers. The collection also contains significant genealogical correspondence and documentation, including a manuscript of the Morris family history.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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William Redwood Wright family papers, 1752-1928

Extent:
14.0 linear feet (; 37 boxes)
Abstract:
This collection contains correspondence and financial papers predominantly from William Redwood Wright (1846-1914) that were collected and retained by the Wright family of Jamestown, Rhode Island. Through decent and marriage, the family became connected with the Fisher and Logan families of Philadelphia. The papers are arranged into seven series that are arranged chronologically by generation.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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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]

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Historical Society of Pennsylvania cartoons and caricatures collection, (1754-1975, undated; bulk 1860-1880)

Extent:
3.6 linear feet (; 12 boxes, 2 flat files)
Abstract:
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania's cartoons and caricatures collection spans almost two hundred years of imagery mostly lampooning local, national, and international political issues. Comprising the collection are reproductions of eighteenth century cartoons, prints and clippings of nineteenth and twentieth century cartoons, and a number of original drawings of cartoons that appears in newspapers during the mid 1930s. The collection is particularly strong in Civil War cartoons from 1861 to 1862 and 1864 and cartoons from the 1868 presidential campaign.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Harold E. Cox transportation collection, 1858-1960 (bulk) 1803-1967 (inclusive)

Extent:
199.5 linear feet (160 boxes, 624 volumes, 38 rolled items)
Abstract:
Prior to the 1870s, Philadelphia's public transportation system consisted of dozens of independently owned and operated horse drawn streetcar lines. In the 1880s and 1890s steps were taken toward electrification and unification, a goal finally achieved in 1902 with the founding of Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT). PRT constructed subway and elevated train lines, and managed public transportation until 1940, when the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) was established, absorbing PRT and all of its functions. The Dr. Harold E. Cox transportation collection is composed primarily of records from PTC and PRT, as well as PRT's subsidiary and predecessor rail lines. This collection dates from 1803 to 1967, with the bulk of materials ranging from 1858 to 1960. It consists of financial records, legal records, correspondence, administrative records, ephemera, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, atlases, and route maps and diagrams. The collection documents the growth and...(see more)

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Belfield papers, 1697-1977 (inclusive)

Extent:
106.0 linear feet (235 boxes and 99 volumes)
Abstract:
The Belfield papers include materials from families who lived in the Belfield mansion in Germantown, Pennsylvania from 1826 until 1984; however, the papers span the years 1679 to 1977. Featured individuals include William and Sarah Logan Fisher Wister, their son John Wister and his wife, Sarah Tyler Boas Wister, their granddaughter Sarah Logan Wister Starr and her husband, James Starr, and their great-granddaughter S. Logan Starr Blain and her husband, Dr. Daniel Blain. The collection also houses papers from related individuals in the Emlen, Fisher, Hall, Lindley, Logan, Meigs, Wister, and other families. This collection includes correspondence, financial records, ephemera, photographs, scrapbooks, pamphlets, periodicals, and other items. Topics that are particularly well documented in the Belfield papers include: Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania; Colonial Dames of America; the Sesquicentennial Exposition; stamp collecting; world travel during the Great Depression;...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Francis Daniel Pastorius records, 1689-1910 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.6 linear feet (; 2 volumes)
Abstract:
This collection contains the Grund und Lager Buch begun by Francis Daniel Pastorius to document the founding of the Germantown area of Philadelphia and its settlement. This volume includes "Rules and regulations for settlers" (1689-1697) and a copy of the charter for Germantown granted to Pastorius. This collection also contains an English translation of the German and Latin entries in the Grund und Lager Buch made by Marion Dexter Learned for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1910.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., genealogical research materials, 1807-1980

Extent:
7.0 linear feet (7 linear feet, 10 boxes, )
Abstract:
Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., was the Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. The collection consists of genealogical research files on the Richardson family and allied families. There is also a significant amount of research on the Netherlands Antilles and family members who settled there. Materials include: photocopies of newspapers articles, correspondence regarding the research (and some personal correspondence), printed materials, family charts, photocopies of 18th and 19th century documents, calling cards and invitations from the 19th century, photographs, and a very detailed card file of information on various family members. Two significant older items are "Richardson's journal, 1807," which has been photocopied and transcribed, and a notebook titled "Records" that describes family-related events in the 18th and 19th centuries. There is a separate card file documenting the chronology of the Netherlands Antilles, as well...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Leon Gardiner collection of American Negro Historical Society records, 1860-1890 (bulk) 1715-1962, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
8.5 linear feet (, 15 boxes, 35 volumes)
Abstract:
The American Negro Historical Society was founded in 1897 by a group of Philadelphia blacks to study and preserve materials documenting the American black experience. Among the founders and early members were Robert Adger, W.M. Dorsey and Jacob C. White, Jr., who donated materials to the society, some of which are present in the collection. The collection is composed of administrative records of the society and materials collected by some of its members, including correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, membership lists, records of lectures and debates, library catalogues, baseball lineup and scorecards, speeches, printed matter, and portraits of distinguished black leaders and abolitionists.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Asylum Company papers, 1794-1820 (bulk) 1773-1851, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
0.8 linear feet (; 2 boxes (350 items))
Abstract:
Robert Morris, John Nicholson, and others organized the Asylum Company in April 1794 to develop and sell land in several unsettled areas of Pennsylvania. The land speculation venture was ultimately a failure and dissolved partially circa 1820 and fully in the 1830s. The Asylum Company papers include administrative and financial records as well as correspondence, title papers, shares of the company’s stock, and published material from 1773-1851.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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John Rutter Brooke papers, 1861-1902 (bulk) 1767-1918, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
13.9 linear feet (; 27 boxes, 37 volumes, 6 flat files)
Abstract:
The papers of John Rutter Brooke include correspondence, accounts, regimental reports, military orders, and pamphlets that primarily pertain to his career in the United States Army, 1861-1902. Brooke’s military papers document the activities of the 53rd Pennsylvania volunteer regiment during the Civil War; the 3rd Infantry division and 7th Cavalry during the Indian Wars; the 1st Corps of the Army during the Spanish-American War; and Brooke’s service as military governor of Puerto Rico and Cuba, as well as his service in the Departments of the Missouri, the Platte, the Gulf, and the East. The collection is particularly rich in its documentation of the United States Army’s “Sioux Campaign” during 1890-1891, containing extensive correspondence during the height of the Ghost Dance on the Standing Rock and Pine Ridge reservations, and the ensuing military build-up, which escalated into the massacre at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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James Buchanan papers, 1815-1868 (bulk) 1783-1895, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
35.0 linear feet (74 boxes, 25 volumes)
Abstract:
The James Buchanan papers span the entirety of Buchanan's legal, political and diplomatic career, including his service as Pennsylvania assemblyman, U.S. representative, minister to Russia, U.S. senator, secretary of state, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain, and president of the United States. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, but also includes speeches, notes, business papers, legal papers, manuscript drafts, pamphlets, books, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks. The most significant groups of materials in this collection are related to Buchanan's time as secretary of state, 1845-1849; minister to Great Britain, 1854-1856; and the growing differences between the North and South before the Civil War, 1857-1861.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Lewis S. Coryell papers, 1806-1872, undated

Extent:
1.0 linear feet (; 5 boxes)
Abstract:
The papers of Lewis S. Coryell, lumber dealer and political leader in Pennsylvania consist mostly of correspondence related to state and national politics. There are also some letters related to Coryell's lumber business at New Hope, Pennsylvania, as well as on the construction of canals, railroads, and roads.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Simon Gratz autograph collection, 1343-1928

Extent:
190.0 linear feet (; 633 boxes (18 volumes in boxes))
Abstract:
The collection was assembled by Simon Gratz, Philadelphia lawyer, school board member, and trustee of the Free Library. He began collecting at age 17 and, by the time he died, amassed about 175,000 manuscripts and portrait engravings and lithographs. Many of the latter he personally commissioned. In 1916 he became a vice-president of the Historical Society. Gratz continued until the end of his life to deal with such notable American collectors as George Brinley, Louis J. Cist, Adrien Joline, Charles J. Jones, E.H. Leffingwell, and Joseph J. Mickley. The dealers with whom he dealt included Charavay in Paris, Naylor and Maggs in London, Cohn in Berlin, Benjamin in New York, and A.S.W. Rosenbach in Philadelphia. The records of his transactions survive from 1861 to 1925 in his "Autograph Journals." On January 1, 1925, Gratz noted that his collection had, because of astute sales and exchanges, "cost less than nothing." Gratz acquired his collection by exchange with and purchase from a...(see more)

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Simon Gratz autograph collection, 1517-1925 (inclusive)

Extent:
130.4 linear feet (; 326 boxes)
Abstract:
This autograph collection was created by Simon Gratz, starting in his late teens. A myriad of documents are included and represent Gratz’s philosophy of collecting and the many relationships he formed with other collectors in the United States and abroad. Contained here are autographed letters, legal documents, and artifacts from many prominent and well known figures and personalities in the arts, religion, government, education, and military. While there are some non-substantive letters written to Gratz much of the collection includes correspondence between prominent women and men across classes, professions, and nationalities. The collection dates from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century. Besides date range, this collection differs slightly from the Simon Gratz collection (#250A) in its alphabetical arrangement, compared to the arrangement by categories/subjects (Case) in #250A. One other distinction in this collection are the personal letters and papers of Simon...(see more)

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Henry Family papers, 1759-1914

Extent:
1.25 linear feet (; 9 volumes)
Abstract:
William Henry (1729-1786) was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but lived most of his life in Lancaster County, where he raised a family and led successful business and military ventures. Before the Revolutionary War, he ran a hardware business from 1759 to 1773, and he was a dealer in supplies to Indian traders. During the war, Henry was a strong proponent of independence and was appointed to many public offices. He served on the board of war, was named the superintendent of arms and accoutrements, and held the office of assistant commissary general to the Continental Army to help supply arms. In Lancaster, he was also the fiscal agent of Pennsylvania and the United States and later served nine years as county treasurer. After his death in 1786, his wife, Ann Wood Henry took over in his position as Lancaster County treasurer, making her the first woman in the state of Pennsylvania to hold public office. The Henry family papers contain correspondence and other documents...(see more)

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Andrew Atkinson Humphreys papers, 1850-1879 (bulk) 1708-1930, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
69.0 linear feet (120 boxes, 76 volumes, 15 flat files)
Abstract:
The papers of Andrew Atkinson Humphreys span the course of Humphreys's career, including his service in the Second Seminole War, his work as a civil engineer on surveys along the U.S. coast and the Mississippi River, as chief of staff for General George Meade; and as head of the United States Corps of Topographical Engineers. The collection consists of correspondence, orders, reports, payment vouchers, ephemera, maps, survey data, drafts and published works. The most significant groups of materials in this collection are documents from the Civil War, including muster rolls, reports, orders, and payment vouchers, which may have been collected when Humphreys served in the Army of the Potomac; and papers related to the survey of the Mississippi River in the 1850s and 1860s. Also of interest are Humphreys's later reflections on the Civil War in his notes and manuscripts for Gettysburg to the Rapidan and The Virginia Campaign. Also included in this...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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George G. Meade collection, 1845-1872 (bulk) 1811-1897, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
9.0 linear feet (11 boxes, 36 volumes, 29 flat files)
Abstract:
George G. Meade's career in the military began during his student years at West Point, where he studied topographical engineering. He served in the Mexican-American War and went on to become a celebrated Union general in the Civil War, where his son George served under his command. This collection covers all aspects of Meade's career, including his student work, his work as a cartographer while working for the U.S. coastal survey and during the Civil War, and his service as commander of the Army of the Potomac. In addition to his military papers, there are a significant group of letters to Meade's wife Margaretta and their children, which document his family relationships and his feelings about his military service during the Mexican-American and Civil wars. Also included in this collection are letters compiled by Meade's son George while he was writing a biography of his father, titled The Life and Letters of General Meade. The manuscripts for this work make up...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Peale family papers, 1794-1858, undated

Extent:
1.2 linear feet (; 2 boxes, 7 volumes, 1 flat file)
Abstract:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was a well-known Philadelphia artist, educator, and polymath in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is best known for his portraits of George Washington and other revolutionary figures, and for establishing the Philadelphia Museum, a natural history and art museum. He outlived three wives and many of his children. Several of his sons followed in their father’s footsteps, becoming artists and scientists and taking various roles in the family’s museum. Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was a respected portrait artist, best known for his “Porthole Portrait” of George Washington. Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885), the youngest of Peale’s sons, was a scientific illustrator, naturalist, and explorer who participated in many expeditions, including the U. S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842. Established in 1786, the Philadelphia museum displayed portraits and exhibits related to science and natural history, including a mastodon skeleton. The museum...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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