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Miers Fisher papers

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Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
0207
Repository:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Extent:
0.4 linear feet (; 1 box)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Miers Fisher papers (Collection 0207), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Date:
1789-1791 (bulk) and 1775-1814 (inclusive)
Creator:
Fisher, Miers, 1748-1819
Abstract:

Philadelphia lawyer and legislator, Miers Fisher played an active role in Philadelphia society during the Revolution and the Early Republic. Miers was born in 1748 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Quakers, Joshua and Sarah Rowland Fisher. He was involved in mercantile trade as his father was a proprietor of Joshua Fisher & Sons, a large mercantile firm begun in the 1750s. Miers was also trained as a lawyer and admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1769.

In 1774 Miers married Sarah Redwood and had sixteen children, only five of which survived him. During the Revolution, Miers was among a group of prominent Quaker merchants, including his brothers and father, who were temporarily exiled to Winchester Virginia, where they were detained for nearly nine months. After his confinement, Miers returned to Philadelphia and entered into a mercantile partnership with his brothers, Thomas and Samuel. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, 1791-1792; the first counselor of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society; a Philadelphia Common Council member, 1789-1791; and a director of the Bank of North America, 1792-1800.

In 1805, he retired to his country estate in Fox Chase, where he and his wife were known to entertain and host many of the most prominent figures of early America. Miers Fisher died in Philadelphia on March 12, 1819.

The Miers Fisher papers are housed in one box and are comprised of miscellaneous letters and documents chiefly about the city government of Philadelphia, 1789-1791. They include the first ordinances, laws, minutes, and regulations of the city; the plans for the accommodation of Congress and the President; and a few miscellaneous letters written by Benjamin Franklin, Edmund Randolph, Lord North, Elias Boudinot, Tobias Lear, and others. This collection does not contain documentation of his family or personal life.

Provenance unknown.

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

Fisher family. Papers, 1761-1889 (Collection 2094)

People
Subject

Publisher
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Sabrina Bocanegra.
Finding Aid Date
; 2015.
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Collection Inventory

6 letters and documents relating to a house in Philadelphia for the President, (1790-1791).
Box 1 Folder 1
Common Council of Philadelphia report on committee rules and printed copy, under Charter of 1789, (1789).
Box 1 Folder 2
Charter of Philadelphia and Amendment to Penal Laws of Pennsylvania; 3 ordinances, (1789).
Box 1 Folder 3
Letters of Edmund Randolph, Lord North, Benjamin Franklin, and Elias Boudinot, (1775-1814).
Box 1 Folder 4
Manuscript copy of ordinance, Council of Philadelphia, under new Charter; also printed copy as adopted, notes of Miers Fisher relating to same, (1789).
Box 1 Folder 5
Notice of appointment on committee to Miers Fisher; his arguments before Council on ordinance under new Charter of 1789, (1789).
Box 1 Folder 6
Action of Council of Philadelphia relative to the Charter of 1789, asking changes, etc.; also copy of rules under new Charter 1789, (1790-1791).
Box 1 Folder 7
Letter to Richard Varick of New York Common Council to Miers Fisher, attorney, Philadelphia, (1791).
Box 1 Folder 8
Plans, notes, drafts, etc. for ordinance, (1790-1791).
Box 1 Folder 9
Duplaine's observations on the Police of Philadelphia (in French language), (1790).
Box 1 Folder 10
Invitation from Order of Cincinnati to Miers Fisher, Member of Council, to attend 4th of July services, walk in procession, etc., (1790).
Box 1 Folder 11
7 documents and letters - ordinances in draft, etc. - Philadelphia Council under new Charter of 1789, (1789).
Box 1 Folder 12
Philadelphia Council (in regard to securing Philadelphia as the U.S. Capital), (1789-1790).
Box 1 Folder 13

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