Francis Adrian Van der Kemp was a Dutch scholar, patriot, and preacher who emigrated to the United States in 1788.

Letters from John Adams which convey his appraisal of political events; his reaction to the French Revolution; comments on American foreign policy and European affairs during the Napoleonic Wars and the period of the Holy Alliance; discussions of political philosophy, and of philosophical and religious questions; a vivid account of Adams' confrontation with Pennsylvania Quaker leaders, 1774; scientific speculations. The letters also contain Adams' comments on noted men (French philosophes, British political thinkers and historians, and leaders of the American Revolution and the early national period), on books, on the power of the press. Included are letters, 1826-1829, from John Quincy Adams to Van der Kemp; a letter of Marquis de Lafayette, [1788], to Benjamin Franklin introducing Van der Kemp; a letter of George Washington, 1788, welcoming Van der Kemp to America; letters of Abigail Adams; a letter of Van der Kemp; a certificate of membership in the American Philosophical Society to Van der Kemp, signed by Thomas Jefferson and others; and several miscellaneous items.

Washington letter manuscript copy.

William Alexander was a Revolutionary War officer and district surveyor in Carlisle, Cumberland County.

A small collection of the official papers of William Alexander including receipts, warrants, and memoranda on the surveying of military bonus lands in Cumberland County. Also included are correspondence and reports concerning the construction of turnpikes and canals in central Pennsylvania.

Deeds, mortgages, and other title papers for lands in Middletown, Northampton, and Bristol townships, the borough of Bristol, and the village of Attleborough (now Langhorne) in Bucks County. Also included are a copy of Jeremiah Langhorne's will; a transcript of a Quaker tract, 1762, by William Motte, on Christian pilgrimage; the constitution of the Middletown School Association, 1834; a survey plan of Washington Village, Bucks County.

George Allen, quondam lawyer and Episcopal minister in St. Albans, Vt., taught languages at Delaware College in Newark, Del., 1837-1845, and subsequently was professor of ancient languages at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1863, he published the Life of Philidor, a book about chess.

Included in this collection are his "Book of Extracts," begun in 1828, mostly literary; "Literary Commonplace Book," containing some notes on chess; Index Rerum, 1843 et postea.

The diary of James Allen, Philadelphia lawyer, contains information on the social, political, and cultural history of the colonial and Revolutionary periods in Philadelphia, with comments on military affairs, battles, and generals and other prominent persons.

A satirical poem in the classical manner on student life at Oxford University.

Annual diary for 1863 of John W. Alloway, private soldier in Cooper's Battalion of the 1st Pennsylvania Artillery during the Civil War records incidents of camp life and campaigns along the Rappahannock and Radipan rivers in northern Virginia during the Chancellorsville campaign, the Gettysburg campaign, and the dispatch of troops to quell draft riots in New York City.

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.

Included are minutes of the society, 1897-1904; incoming correspondence and drafts, 1897-1905; membership lists [1897] and 1904; bills and receipts, 1900-1904; and land accession books.

Among the materials collected by the society and presented by Leon Gardiner, Philadelphia printer, are the records of several civic and philanthropic organizations: Banneker Institute, minutes kept by Jacob C. White, Jr., 1854-1859, roll books, 1854-1872, first begun as the roll of the Alexandrian Institute, receipts, 1855-1868, check book, 1867-1872, and record of lectures and debates, 1859-1861, some of which dealt with the place of the black in American society; Benezet Joint Stock Association of Philadelphia, a mutual beneficial society, minutes, 1854-1885, share records, 1871-1889, and payment orders, 1871-1885; Agricultural and Mechanics Association of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, constitution, 1839, continued as stock transfer book, 1840-1846, and stock certificate book, 1840-1844; Cultural, Social and Statistical Association of the Colored People of Philadelphia, constitution, by-laws, roll and minutes, 1860-1867, and payment orders, 1860-1867; Lebanon Cemetery, Philadelphia, letter books, Jacob C. White, Jr., secretary, 1874-1886, accounts, 1849-1867, burial vouchers, 1855-1901; Benjamin Lundy Philanthropic Society, roll book, 1830-1842; Daughters of Africa, beneficial society, minutes, 1822-1838, and payment order book, 1821-1829; Pennsylvania State Equal Rights League, executive board minutes, 1864-1872; and Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital (Philadelphia), records, 1895-1901.

Also included are the records of several schools and churches: First African Presbyterian Church, miscellaneous correspondence and accounts, 1832-1846; Second African Presbyterian Church, correspondence, bills and receipts about its Sabbath School, 1832-1838; Zoar Sabbath School, catalogue of the library, 1844, continued as circulation record; records of the Roberts Vaux Consolidated School, 1870-1901.

Also included are correspondence and schedules of the Philadelphia Pythians, a black baseball club, 1867-1870; miscellaneous correspondence and broadsides of such organizations as the Philadelphia Library Company and the Colored People's Union League Association, and several letters and speeches of Isaiah C. Wears, 1856-1901, and Jacob C. White, Sr. and Jacob C. White, Jr., 1832-1899, some autograph material of Benjamin Banneker, 1790-1891, and Frederick Douglass, 1870-1875.

A small collection of scientific papers written or copied by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Antill while a paroled prisoner of war at Flat Bush, Long Island (New York, N.Y.) Subjects include "The principles of geology and astronomy," "elements of chronology," "elements of all the syllables within the English language," "a table of the sun's declination from 1764 to 1795," and a table showing the number of miles to each degree of longitude and latitude.

Charles Calistus Burleigh was an abolitionist and reformer associated with the Garrisonian wing of the anti-slavery movement. He was editor of the Unionists, 1835-1837, wrote for the Liberator, edited the Pennsylvania Freeman after 1844, and served as the secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society and editor of its annual reports.

Included in this small collection of published and unpublished manuscripts are: "Journal of the Little Things of Life," begun in 1844, including an index in another hand; the manuscript for Burleigh's Thoughts on the Death Penalty (1845); the texts for the Annual Reports of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1856-1859, in several hands edited by Burleigh; incoming correspondence, 1838, 1875.

Personal correspondence of Anna Margaretta Archambault, portrait painter, miniaturist, author, and educator, is included with sketches, photos, and correspondence on her work in miniatures. Also included are correspondence and notes for Guide Book of Art, Architecture, and Historic Interest in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1924), which she edited for the Art Committee of the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women, histories of the counties of Pennsylvania, and clippings and illustrations to accompany the histories.

A collection of biographical information gathered by Mary Anna Longstreth, Philadelphia educator, about Emma Dean Walker Armstrong, wife of Samuel Chapman Armstrong, founder of the Hampton (Va.) Normal and Agricultural Institute. The materials are assembled in letter form for the Armstrong children, Louise and Edith, and contain considerable information about the early history of the institute and the educational philosophy of its founder. Longstreth has included, as well, many letters from Emma Dean Walker Armstrong's female acquaintances, testifying to her exemplary character.

Three of the original four volumes survive in the collection.

Memoranda of historical events, and on literary and scientific subjects made by Thomas Armstrong while a student at the University of Pennsylvania.

Quartermaster accounts of Major William Armstrong include leaves from journal, 1776; receipt book, 1778; receipt book for construction work at Fort Mifflin, near Philadelphia, 1779.

William G. Armstrong was a Philadelphia banknote and line engraver and portrait painter.

The annual diaries contain comment on local and national politics (demonstrating racist and anti-Republican attitudes), and on cultural, professional, and social activities.

A collection of letters from envoys of Algiers, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, Turkey, expressing their government's appreciation and esteem to Colonel Myers Asch, secretary of the United States Centennial Exposition, and conferring upon him honors, titles, and decorations for his distinctive services rendered to their commissions at the Exposition.

Documents of colonial and Revolutionary periods belonging to Captain Jacob Ashmead, include: surveys and indentures, 1698-1752; indenture of apprenticeship, 1762; muster and payrolls, 1776-1779; diary of western expedition, Sept. 27, 1794 to Dec. 13, 1794; will, 1794.

Papers of the related Ashton and Roberts families of Bucks and Montgomery counties: business accounts, 1795-1810, of Robert Ashton and his daughter Margaret Ashton Roberts; commonplace book of Margaret Roberts and her son Guy Roberts, containing hymns, poems, and Quaker testimonies; inventory of the estate of Robert Ashton, 1821-1830; Quaker wedding certificate of Nathan Roberts and Margaret Ashton at Richland Friends' Meeting, 1791; the will of David Roberts, 1805; genealogical information on the Ashton, Roberts and Lancaster families of Pennsylvania.

This collection contains the papers of the John Ashhurst estate. Most of the papers, primarily correspondence and receipts, pertain to the business interests of Manuel Eyre and Manuel Eyre, Jr., Philadelphia merchants. The papers give information on commodity prices, insurance rates, and real estate, biographical sketches of friends and testimonials from various meetings, 1699-1763, information on property valuation for various wards of Philadelphia; lecture notes of John Ashhurst (son) 1855, later a noted physician.

In October 1774, Congress resolved to use non-importation as a political weapon against the British Government in an effort to coerce the British into the repeal of the Intolerable Acts. The agreement was ordered printed by William and Thomas Bradford certain of which were signed by the delegates and sent to the colonies as official copies.

This is Maryland's copy.

In April 1794 Robert Morris, John Nicholson, and others organized the Asylum Company to develop or sell lands that they had already acquired in Luzerne, Northampton, and Northumberland counties. French emigr,s, founders of Azilum on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, near present Towanda, were among their first customers. The company was reorganized twice: in 1795 Nicholson succeeded to Morris' interest, and in 1801 Nicholson's financial difficulties forced him to give up his interests. The company frequently came into conflict with Connecticut claimants, especially after 1801 when they expanded their operations to Bedford, Bradford, and Lycoming counties.

Included in the collection are: a draft map for lands in Bedford County, 1793; broadside notices concerning the organization of the company, 1794; correspondence, 1795-1799, of John Keating, agent for the company, concerning improvements on the properties at Asylum, monies due to the company, and title disputes with Connecticut claimants; deeds, 1797, for lands in Northumberland County; correspondence, accounts, receipts, and contracts of Samuel Baird, also agent for the company, 1802-1825; accounts with and correspondence with shareholders, 1823-1836; copies of memorials presented by John Astley, 1839, to the Pennsylvania Assembly for compensation for lands sold by the state but claimed by the company; miscellaneous letters, accounts, title papers, shares of stock in the company.

This collection is composed of single items, groups of letters, and miscellaneous documents acquired individually. The letters present autographs of prominent American and foreign persons.

Miscellaneous letters of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln.

Collected by Samuel Welsh.

Franklin Bache was a Philadelphia physician, professor of chemistry, and author.

The main body of these papers is contained in Bache's letterbook and incoming correspondence, both of which consist almost entirely of letters to and from Albert Dabadie, Bache's brother-in-law and an expatriate American in Europe. The correspondence relates to Dabadie's American investments, French spoliation claims, and his appointment as American consul in Italy, as well as European political and economic conditions and family matters.

There are some letters, 1850-1852, of Bache to his son, [Thomas] Hewson Bache, who was studying medicine in Europe, with fatherly advice to the son on studies, finances, and life, and reporting on activities back home. There are also notes and a committee draft report, 1841, on the origin of the American Philosophical Society, of which Bache was an officer, and a manuscript on chemistry.

A portion of the collection is made up of materials collected by Thomas Balch while he was writing Les FranĜais en Am,rique..., 1777-1783: original manuscripts of "Episodes de la Guerre maritime de l'Ind,pendence Am,ricaine," by Du Petit Thouars, and "M,moire du Marquis de Vaudreuil au Marquis de Duquesne," 1755; copies of "M,moires du Comte de Grasse sur le combat naval, le 12 avril 1782," "Relation du voyage du Prince de Broglie, 1782," "Depuis mon depart de France, 26 mars 1781 au 18 nov. de la m^me ann,e quand l'arm,e aux ordres de M. le Comte de Rochambeau est entr,e dans le quartier d'hiver" (probably written by Cromot du Bourg, one of Rochambeau's aides), "Correspondance de M. de Kalb avec le duc de Choiseul du 20 avril 1767 du 10 f,vrier 1796." A list of names of French and British officers in the American Revolution, 1779-1783, appears in the volume with the Du Petit Thouars manuscript.

The interest of Thomas Willing Balch in international law is represented by correspondence, 1892-1918, on the use of arbitration as an instrument of international policy; papers relative to the arbitration of the Alabama Claims, 1864-1872; material on Alaskan boundaries, January 14, 1854 to May 20, 1854.

With the exception of a few incidental items, the rest of the collection contains family papers and documents on the history of colonial Pennsylvania. These include: photostats of the will, inventories of the estate, and some of the correspondence of Thomas Willing, 1776-1820; miscellaneous correspondence, invitations, 1857-1923; a group of etchings of French and American officers of the Revolution; letters and documents, 1699-1805, on social, political, and religious affairs, to the French and Indian War, and grand jury charges, miscellaneous topics are letters and documents, 1717-1923: "Journal of occurrences while in Europe," July 10, 1815-July 10, 1816, signed by H.B. Wilson; "A Theme of Verbs," by Edward Shippen, 1768; Balch family correspondence with members of the Shippen and Swift families, 1752-1830; and Swift and Willing family correspondence, 1743-1882.

Will Photostatic copy.

"Log of the Wellman Arctic Expedition to Franz-Josef Land, 1898-99," by Evelyn B. Baldwin, second in command of the expedition and "Digest of papers relating to Pensioneers of the Revolutionary War, Baldwin Family." 1926.

Originals on deposit. Library of Congress--Manuscript Division. Library of Congress Annex. 2nd Street and Independence Avenue, S.E.; Washington, D.C. 20540.

Genealogical data on the Baldwin, Crampton, Scranton, Beers, Hicks, Ogden, and Trist or Twiss families, compiled by Baldwin, 1926; transferred to the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

Ledger and receipt book, kept primarily by Joshua Baldwin, Chester County, farmer and saddler, records business transactions and distribution of Baldwin's property. Also included are remarks to a Lyceum, not located; addresses to the Downingtown Temperance Society, n.d.; notes on scientific subjects, n.d.; genealogical notes, 1847, on the Clemson, Sharples, and Richardson families, all in an unknown later hand.

Formerly part of the Gilpin library.

This is a miscellaneous collection of papers of two contemporary Ball families of Philadelphia, sometimes confused because of common names and occupations.

The William Ball family papers: William Ball, Sr., and William Ball, Jr., were merchants who owned Hope Farm, in Northern Liberties Township (Shakamaxon): correspondence, accounts, surveys, and other papers, 1760-1771, relate to the Nova Scotia Land Company, a colonizing venture in Nova Scotia; Richmond Meadows Company account book, 1760-1762, continued with election returns book, 1763, 1766; Elizabeth Byles, wife of William Ball, Sr., letterbook, 1759-1783, and diary, 1757-1763; William Ball, Jr., rent and bond account book, 1782-1808; and miscellaneous other business, land and estate papers.

The Joseph Ball family papers: Joseph Ball was a Philadelphia merchant, industrialist, insurance executive, and bank director: business accounts and agreements for building, outfitting of several vessels including privateers, and related litigation; insurance policies; estate papers and genealogical depositions from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia, 1855-1860, gathered in the settlement of his vast estate.

John Ball, brother of Joseph Ball, was a resident merchant at St. Eustatius, St. Thomas and St. Croix for several years, and partner of William Waddrop and Daniel Jennings (Ball, Waddrop and Jennings) business papers and correspondence, 1779-1782, including letters to William Bingham.

Henry Banks was a merchant of Richmond, Va. His business papers and correspondence relate to commercial activities, land purchases, and privateering, including correspondence with his Kentucky partner in trade and land speculation, John Fowler. Bank's financial problems are revealed in legal papers on various suits and correspondence with Philadelphia lawyer, Daniel Brodhead, in Bank's bankruptcy trial and imprisonment with Robert Morris in 1798. Joseph Ball was a trustee of his bankrupt estate.

The collection also includes, from related Richards and Dupuy families, Lewis M. Walker and John Richards, receipt book, 1817-1821; extracts of Burlington, N.J., land surveys, 1741-1833; deeds and other items.

Of uncertain origin is an unidentified Philadelphia merchant's journal, 1733-1739. Also Thomas Wotherspoon, Philadelphia merchant, receipt book, 1796-1804.

Paul Balliet, an Alsatian Huguenot, settled in Whitehall Township, Northampton (now Lehigh) County. His son, Colonel Stephen Balliet, served as: Revolutionary War officer and state official; member of the Pennsylvania ratification convention, 1787; member of the Pennsylvania Assembly and House of Representatives, 1788-1797; and collector of the federal excise tax, 1797. He was also a local merchant.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, business, and official papers of Stephen Balliet. The business papers include: receipts, drafts, and other business papers, 1786-1815; records of distillers' licenses issued and revenue collected, 1799-1803; daybook, 1783; miscellaneous title papers.

For Paul Balliet there are legal documents and genealogical notes.

Some of the Paul Balliet materials are in German.

The recollections of Rhoda Barber, Lancaster County, spinster written in 1830, describing migration and settlement, economic and domestic life, trade with the Indians, 1726-1782. Also is a narrative of the massacre of the Conestoga Indians by the Paxton Boys in 1763, and some reminiscences of incidents of the Revolution.

Correspondence of John Barclay, Philadelphia politician and banker, with James Hamilton, judge at Carlisle, and trustee of Dickinson College, and with John B. Parker, also of Carlisle, on a tract of land involved in the settlement of an estate; letters of July 15 and July 31, 1804, discuss the Hamilton-Burr duel.

Docket books maintained by Joshua Barker, Bucks County justice of the peace, and continued by Lewis Swift, also a justice of the peace, beginning 1837, and includes "Account of orders granted for the relief of poor persons," 1836-1845.

Formerly part of the Gilpin Library.

These papers reflect Joshua Barney's activities as an American naval officer during the Revolution, commodore in the French navy from 1796 to 1802, privateer during the War of 1812, and commander of the Chesapeake flotilla defending Washington, D.C., in 1814. The largest group of papers relate to his service in the French navy and include official papers, accounts, log of La Tribune, and related material. Some papers, possibly saved by Barney from captured ships, consist of circular letters of British postmasters, instructions and documents for the mail packet Amelia, 1793-1812, with information on intelligence-gathering, as well as a few letters for British merchants, 1812. Also commissions, naval signals, testimonials, and more.

The Barton papers contain the correspondence of Benjamin Smith Barton, professor of medicine at the College of Philadelphia, with scholars and scientists, among them: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Joseph Priestley, John Drayton, L. Valentine, Frederick Rush, and others; notes and observations on natural phenomena.

Also there are journals, 1789-1803. The journal for 1789 contains an interesting description of Barton's voyage on the Apollo from Gravesend, England, to Philadelphia; he notes talks with John Pemberton, a fellow passenger and Quaker preacher, about the early settlements in Pennsylvania; he reviews the biographies of William Penn and of Benjamin West, the painter. The later journals, 1794-1803, describe his travels through the states; his research in the fields of botany, mineralogy, anthropology, and zoology; his observations on frontier settlements, Indian tribes, and the physician condition of the land. Ten diplomas, 1790-1812 , from the College of Philadelphia and various European universities are included.

Journal of Apollo voyage published in P.M.H.B., 9 (1885): 334-338.

Midshipman's journals kept by Charles Crillon Barton while off Brazil and Argentina aboard U.S.S. Vandalia and U.S.S. Hudson, 1828-1831, embellished by Barton's watercolors and wash drawings as well as his manuscript map of Brazil.

John and William Bartram were naturalists, both of whom undertook extensive botanizing expeditions to the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. John, in particular, corresponded with prominent scientists and political figures in Europe and America. John Fothergill secured for Bartram the appointment as Botanist to the King, 1765, and underwrote his expedition to the South in 1765. Moses and Isaac Bartram were Philadelphia merchants.

Included in the collection are "Journal through the Catskill mountains with Billy," 1753 by John Bartram; a portion of his observations made on his journey through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, 1765; the full text of the diary, 1765-1766, transcribed by William Darlington, "with illustrative notes from his correspondence;" portions of his "Travels through the Carolinas, Georgia and East and West Floridas, 1773-1777," by William Bartram, edited for later publication by Bartram; photostats of copies of a portion of that journal made for John Fothergill now in the British Library; "Answers to Benjamin Smith Barton's queries about Indians," copied by John Howard Payne, including copies of Bartram's illustrations; commonplace Book, 1797-1803; pharmacopeia, n.d.; letterbook, 1790-1814 of Isaac Bartram; miscellaneous title papers on Bartram's Gardens, 1721-1819; fragment of ledger index, 1791 of Moses Bartram.

The collection includes letters addressed to John and William Bartram from William Byrd, Alexander Calhoun, Mark Catesby, Benjamin Franklin, Fothergill,and others; and Anthony Purvis' translation of the Bible, London, 1764, presented to John Bartram by John Fothergill.

Transferred to the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

Rev. William Becket was a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at Lewes (Sussex County, Del.) 1721-1723.

His letter and commonplace book deals with the society, his work, the parish, baptismal statistics for whites and blacks, lists of contributors, the effects of George Whitefield's preaching, and description of, and population statistics for, Sussex County.

Journal, 1776-1777, is a narrative of Lewis Beebe's participation in the campaign against Canada during the Revolution, giving an account of the battles, troop movements, commanding officers, ravages of disease in camps, and the economic and social aspects of the period. Journals, 1799-1801, 1800-1801, contain notes of a journey from New England to Virginia, with details on facilities for travel, characteristics of the inhabitants of the states he traversed, their religious sentiments, education, sports, recreations, economic and social conditions. Also included is information on the political controversies agitating the period, particularly the election of Thomas Jefferson, and the contest between Democratic and Federalist factions.

Journal, 1776-1777, published in P.M.H.B., 59 (1935): 321-361.

Copies of letters, 1785-1888, written by Baron de Beelen-Bertholff, Belgian agent to United States, to Count Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Brussels, on commercial and political affairs in the United States. They contribute information on Spain's attitude regarding United States navigation on the Mississippi, 1785; the military occupation of Forts Niagara, Oswego, and Detroit, by the British; peace treaties with the Indians negotiated at New York; John Adams' and Thomas Jefferson's diplomatic missions to France and England; Comte de Beaufort's proposal to Congress to bring 10,000 settlers to America; reports on commerce, shipping, and treaties with foreign nations; Annapolis Convention, 1786; Federal Convention in Philadelphia, 1787; and other subjects. The papers, 1873-1913, contain Joseph M. Gazzam's correspondence with John Jay and other diplomats, which relates to the diplomatic activities and ancestry of Baron de Beelen-Bertholff.

George de Benneville was born in England of a Huguenot family, became a convert to Universalism, studied medicine, and became an itinerant preacher among French Huguenots and in Germany and the Low Countries. He came to America in 1741, settling first in Germantown, then in Oley Valley, Berks County, where he practiced medicine and preached.

These manuscripts are incomplete and describe Dr. George de Benneville's life before coming to America and provide insight into enthusiastic religion in 18th century Europe.

Winchester, Elhanan. Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of Dr. George De Benneville. (Germantown, Pa.: Converse Clearves, Publisher) 1890.

Contemporary handwritten copy.

A manuscript poem with a pen sketch by George F. Bensell, a Philadelphia painter, dedicated to Mrs. Emma Seligman.

Abstract of title to twelve tracts of land in the McKean and Clearfield Counties, purchased by Benzinger from Thomas J. Stryker, cashier of the Trenton Banking Company, N.J., in 1844; the abstract recites the title from 1799 to 1844.

Miscellaneous papers on to local government: petitions, laws, rules, regulations, lists of names of freeholders, assessments. There are also some letters from prominent men of the times: Thomas Mifflin, Richard Peters, John Potts, Conrad Weiser, and others, on Indian controversies, land transactions, social and economic affairs of the colonial period.

Robert Beverly was a financier from Georgetown, D.C.

Accounts and receipts, 1763-1852, show the cost of education in 1820, prices of goods, value of slaves; also documents connected with the litigation arising out of the settling of the estate of George Washington.

A collection of genealogical records and correspondence on the families of Bevis, Draper, Brockley, and related families, of New Jersey.

Papers collected by Charles Biddle include: correspondence, 1763-1829, on politics, naval and military affairs, and the slave trade; letters of Aaron Burr, 1796-1807, including his controversy with Alexander Hamilton; letters of Benedict Arnold, 1736-1774; letter book, 1792-1806 of Charles Biddle; autobiography of Biddle, 1819.

Clement Biddle, merchant and officer during the Revolutionary War, held several governmental offices.

His earlier letterbook, 1769-1770, documents his trade in Maryland and Virginia wheat and his trading in slaves, and contains comment on the events leading to the end of non-importation in Philadelphia. His major correspondents are: Thomas Conte, Nottingham (Md.); Andrew Leitch, Blandensburgh (Md.); James Maccubin, Annapolis (Md.); Thomas Richardson, Georgetown (D.C.); and Thomas Robinson, Newport (R.I.)

The second letterbook, 1789-1792, relates chiefly to his activities as a securities broker and reports current prices of stocks, government securities, and scrip, and contains comments on the funding of the public debt, congressional activities, and the first Bank of the United States. Major correspondents include New Yorkers Robert Gilchrist, Tobias Lear, George Lewis, William Roger. Other correspondents are William Campbell, Annapolis (Md.); Michael Heathcote & Co., Petersburg (Va.); and others in Maryland and Virginia. There are also some letters on returns for the 1790 census, and troops and supplies for the defense of the frontier.

The papers of Clement Biddle, quartermaster general of the Pennsylvania Militia and United States marshal for Pennsylvania, are divided into two groups: one is made up of correspondence between Biddle and George Washington incident to Biddle's activities as commissary general of forage during the Revolution, and upon his subsequent business relations with Washington; the other section contains miscellaneous letters and documents from various famous men. The Washington-Biddle papers include: 9 general orders and warrants, 1778-1780, signed by Washington and issued in connection with the work of the commissary department in the Revolution; letters from Washington to Biddle, 1784-1799; letters from Tobias Lear, 1789-1791, and from Washington, 1785-1790; accounts of Washington with Biddle, 1789-1798.

The second group includes: letters and papers, 1780-1835, of John Quincy Adams, Aaron Burr, Nathanael Greene, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Timothy Pickering, and others; Gideon Cornell's commissions of appointment as judge, 1743-1748; some colonial paper money; samples of cloth.

Correspondence of Clement Biddle, 1778-1790 published in P.M.H.B., 32 (1908): 498-500; 52 (1928): 310-343; 42 (1918): 53-76, 143-162, 193-207.

A collection of business records and letterbooks of prominent mercantile, shipping, and banking firms of Philadelphia. They contribute valuable information on economic trends during the Revolution and the early national period. The record books, 1771-1786, contain accounts of provisions, military stores, equipment, supplied to the Revolutionary army; trade and shipping with England and other countries; privateering and distribution of prize money; goods imported and exported; current prices; financial and legal matters. The record books, 1787-1837, reflect the growth and extension of local and foreign trade; the organization of financial institutions, banks and insurance companies; accounts of municipal enterprises, erection of bridges, gas and water works; transactions in stocks and bonds.

Among the clients mentioned are Richard Bache, Horace Binney, Biddle and Wharton, John Cox, Manuel Eyre, John Keith, Edward Tilghman, John Sergeant, Taylor and Newbold, Robert Waln, Robert Willing, and others. The collection comprises: journals, 1781-1822; ledgers, 1785-1837; cashbooks, 1771-1817; daybooks, 1783-1814; blotters, 1799-1809; promissory notebook, 1798; debt book, 1785; ship book, 1784-1792; notary public registers, 1779-1786; stock book, 1817; checkbook, 1800-1801; letterbooks, 1783-1822; Upper Ferry Bridge Company, Philadelphia, minute book, 1811-1834.

This collection includes the correspondence, 1836-1880, of William Bigler, governor of Pennsylvania and United States senator, 1856-1861; miscellaneous papers on the Tyrone Clearfield Railway Company, and the Centennial Exposition, 1839-1876; speeches, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings, 1853-1862. The items reflect political and social trends in Pennsylvania and the United States during the period of expansion. The slavery question, the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, efforts to maintain the Union, and economic conditions after the Civil War are mentioned; miscellaneous papers on the Tyrone, Clearfield Railway Company, and the Centennial Exposition, 1839-1876; speeches, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings, 1853-1862; family papers, letters, bills, accounts.

A collection of poetry dedicated to Mary G. Billmeyer by her friends.

William Bingham was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Old Congress, and a United States senator.

Letterpress copies of Bingham letters, 1791-1793, refer to many of the social, political, and financial events of the times and, incidentally, throw light on leading personalities in the political and financial affairs of the nation. The other volume, 1795-1803, contains photostats of letters and agreements about land enterprises in Maine in which William Bingham was financially interested.

A miscellaneous collection of papers of the descendants of William Birch. Included is a diary, 1809-1825, of his son George Birch, career Army officer from 1808 to his death in 1837, describing the British assault upon Sackett's Harbor, Lake Ontario, 1813; army operations, Indian relations, and the purchases of land and slaves in the Louisiana Territory, 1816-1823. Also included are George Birch's commissions and other memorabilia, as well as photographs and certificates of his grandsons Thomas Russell Birch and Carlton Birch while officers in the Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War.

Collection of correspondence, notes, portraits, and pamphlets of William Blackmore for a sketch of William Penn.

Late 19th-century transcriptions, possibly assembled by Brinton Coxe, of letters, 1688-1690, of Lieutenant Governor John Blackwell to William Penn. Also are Coxe's notes on the sale of these and other Penn items at auction.

Originals also located at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Ephraim Blaine was an officer during the French and Indian War; a member of the Committee of Correspondence for Cumberland County, 1774; and a Revolutionary officer, who became a Commissary-General for the Continental Army.

The receipt book comprises mainly receipts for court judgments and lawyer's fees collected by Blaine as sheriff before the Revolution and receipts for bonds and land sales after the war; contains signatures of leading Pennsylvania political figures including George Ross, James Smith, and James Wilson, signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Transferred to the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

Atherton Blight attended school in Philadelphia, was graduated from Harvard and admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, and spent much of his adult life in Newport, R.I., and in Europe.

His papers comprise a book of travel expenses, 1849, 1856-1858, and a travel diary, 1855-1856, of a Grand Tour to the Continent, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Crimea, and Greece. In Jerusalem, he visited Warder Cresson, a former Quaker from Philadelphia who had converted to Judaism and was an early Zionist. Blight also describes the battlefields and veterans of the Crimean War.

The bookselling firm of Boinod & Gaillard was composed of Daniel Boinod and Alexander Gaillard, who came to Philadelphia from the Netherlands in 1783.

The papers consist mainly of bills, receipts and other commercial paper for books bought and sold while in Leyden and later in Philadelphia. Also included are several bills for publication of their two short-lived newspapers in Philadelphia, the American Herald, published jointly with several other Philadelphia booksellers, and the Courier de l'Amerique, both 1784.

Some bills, receipts and other commercial papers in French and Dutch as well as English.

A commonplace book of Ann G. Boker including verse, historical and genealogical notes, biographical essays, and some original material.

A copy book of secular and sacred Moravian music compiled by Eliza Boller while a student at the Moravian Seminary for Women, Bethlehem, 1810-1813.

Business records of George Bollman, Pennsylvania merchant and ironmaster: letterbooks, 1795-1803; cashbook, 1784-1792; legal papers connected with a suit of attachment against a Spanish vessel, Teresa, in the harbor of Santiago, Cuba, 1803.

Receipt book, 1759-1810, of Phineas Bond, Philadelphia physician, and his wife, Williamina Moore Bond, for personal and household expenses.

Essays by Edward H. Bonsall on literary and philosophical subjects and poetry read and discussed before the Philadelphia Literary Association.

Jeremiah Boone and his son William R. Boone, were Philadelphia merchants and shippers. They traded in foodstuffs to the non-British West Indies with return cargoes of sugar, molasses, tobacco, leather, and hides. They owned several small ships and dealt extensively with south Jersey farmers to assemble their cargoes. To 1820 Jeremiah Boone was the principal, and afterwards William assumed that role. William Boone, in particular, entered into many partnership agreements, particularly with John B. Sartori of Trenton, N.J., yet the business never really prospered.

The collection contains correspondence, bills of lading, invoices and insurance policies relating to their trade, 1815-1833 as well as a smaller number of personal, legal, and estate papers, 1762-1831.

Poems by Deborah Borton mainly on death.

Elias Boudinot was a lawyer and commissary of prisoners during the Revolution.

Correspondence and documents on prisoners of war; notes on the "Exchange of Prisoners of War," 1778; and parole lists. Some personal and family papers, 1716-1828, with notes on social and political affairs.

Miscellaneous items published in the P.M.H.B., 15 (1891): 26-34; 16 (1892): 439-442; 34 (1900): 291-305, 453-466.

The diary of John Boyer, Philadelphia carpenter, contains business and personal accounts including repair work for Robert E. Peterson, bookseller and physician, and on Mary Longstreth's School.

The records of a lending library established in Philadelphia in 1769 by Thomas Bradford, printer, bookseller, and stationer, contains the names of subscribers and a list of books borrowed during the period.

Thomas Bradford served as commissary general of the Revolutionary army.

The papers include: documents on British prisoners, including correspondence on prisoners from the British army and navy, 1777-1783; British prisoners' paroles, 1778-1782; a list of British prisoners, from both services, 1778-1782; returns of provisions for British prisoners, 1778-1783; American naval prisoners' paroles and bonds for their delivery, 1778-1783; miscellaneous correspondence and accounts, 1760-1862.

These papers relate to the Bradford family and to Colonel William Bradford's activities in the Revolution. There are: miscellaneous correspondence, wills, receipts, documents, and papers on shipping, law, religion, publications, and politics; memoranda of Bradford, 1757-1773; diary of Bradford, 1775; register of Bradford, 1776; letterbook and notes of Bradford, 1773-1775; account books of Bradford, 1742-1760, 1780-1791, 1780-1792; journal of John Kidd and Bradford, 1768-1774; maritime insurance of John Kidd and Bradford, 1762; invoice book of William T. Bradford, 1767-1769; receipt book of Thomas Bradford, 1781; purchase of lottery tickets, 1753-1757; bibliography of William Bradford, 1685-1740; bibliography of Andrew Bradford, 1710-1737; list of subscribers to the Pennsylvania Journal, 1764-1778; list of subscribers to the American Magazine, 1757; newspaper and postage accounts, 1742-1775; orations at Princeton College by John Bradford Wallace, 1791-1794; Valley Forge muster roll, 1778.

Papers collected by Carter Braxton, Virginia politician and Revolutionary leader, relate to litigation in the courts of Virginia, arising from a joint venture of Braxton & Willing, Morris and Company of Philadelphia to purchase military stores at Curaçao. There are letters, accounts, lengthy arguments and counter arguments, minutes and reports of the court-appointed auditors.

Entry cancelled; see collection #1887.

Transferred to the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

A compendium compiled after 1811 of spiritual diaries of members of the Bringhurst family: an account of the death of Anna Pole Bringhurst by her husband, James Bringhurst, Philadelphia Quaker merchant, 1777; diary of the last months of Hannah Peters Bringhurst, Bringhurst's second wife, 1781-1782; diary, 1808-1810, of Elizabeth Almy of Portsmouth, R.I. recounting Bringhurst's last illness and death.

This is an artificial collection of papers of various Philadelphians. John M. Hood, Philadelphia grocer, is represented by custom house papers. Hood's son, Washington Hood, served with the United States Infantry, and Jefferson Barracks ordnance-stores requisitions and receipts, 1828-1829, are here together with a few military documents, 1839-1840, relating to his later duty as an Army topographical engineer surveying Indian boundaries. There are also Isaac H. Whyte, gentleman, personal and business correspondence and bills, 18840-1870; William Bramwell estate, letters and legal papers, 1827; miscellaneous legal papers.

The papers of John Rutter Brooke includes correspondence, documents, military orders, and pamphlets that primarily pertain to his career in the United States Army, 1861-1892: official reports of the battle of Fair Oaks, 1862; Civil War orders, 1862; war maps of Indian territory in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Shenandoah Valley; material on suppression of mob violence in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.; records of Brooke's activities as commanding general in the Indian territories of Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, 1892-1898; list of names of outlaws, 1892; correspondence from military departments of La Platte, Dakota, Missouri, Omaha, Governors' Island, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota; material on military expedition in Puerto Rico, 1898-1902; appointment as peace commissioner and Governor of Puerto Rico; accounts of several expeditions in Cuba, military hospitals, barracks, railroads, governor's palace, post office; letterbooks, 1888-1898; index books to correspondence; printed military regulations, 1863-1899; commissions signed by Grover Cleveland, Rutherford B. Hayes, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Elihu Root; letters of Major William Brooke on military affairs in the Philippines, 1901-1902.

Transferred to the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

Patent for 1,500 acres of land, "Brook Crosse," Baltimore County, Md., granted to Rodger Brooke of Calvert County, Md.

A small collection of autographed sentiments collected by Alexander P. Brown, from foreign and American public figures.

The letters were written by Andrew Brown, sergeant in the Union army, to his family during the Civil War; they describe life in camp and his participation in battles.

Botanical and horticultural material, including copies of and notes from original manuscripts about John Bartram, 1699-1777; correspondence about mosses, 1909-1918. There are also journals and notes containing material on World War I.

These papers of Charles Brockden Brown, early American professional man of letters, reflect the cultural trends of the period in the United States. Among the items: manuscript of "Alcuin," 1797; his miscellaneous writings, 1793-1808, on religion, morals, ethics, poetry, politics, economics.

The collection also includes: Elijah Brown journals, 1811, 1816, 1820, 1827, written while he was traveling in Europe and the United States, which describe scenes, natural phenomena, the construction of canals and dams, and philosophical and scientific subjects; Maurice Lisle memorandum books and journals, 1715-1717, which describe domestic and commercial affairs in Philadelphia; bankbook, 1823-1824, and an obituary record, 1804-1811.

Speeches and extracts delivered in court on public occasions by David Paul Brown, with an account of tribute presented to Brown at Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, including remarks by Robert Purvis.

Speeches in The Forensic Speeches of David Paul Brown, Robert Eden Brown, ed. (Philadelphia : King & Baird) 1873.

Diaries, 1801, 1804-1805, of voyages from Philadelphia to Havana, Cuba and New Orleans, La., probably as supercargo, of Elijah Brown, Jr., later a commission merchant in Philadelphia; notes on personal expenses; list and values of cargoes; comparison of agricultural productivity of Pennsylvania and Louisiana; copybook notes.

Letters of John Brown in which Albert Gallatin, Stephen Girard, and David Parrish are mentioned in connection with a loan made to the United States, and an account of a fire in the Treasury building in Washington, D.C.

Tickets of lotteries operated to secure funds for several national and local institutions in the United States; included is a memorandum book of Francis Gurney, 1790-1792, which records sales of City Hall and Dickinson College lottery tickets.

Letters about William Hardcastle Browne's pamphlet, Divorce and Alimony.

The bulk of this collection is legal opinions rendered by George Bryan, judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which reflect judicial history in the colonial period. Among these items is his opinion in the case of John Fitch vs. James Rumsey, which involved claims over the introduction of steam-propelled vessels, 1789. Other papers relate to taxes, finance, shipping, sale of lands, incorporation of the city of Philadelphia in 1786, slavery, penal laws, Connecticut claims, the Constitutional Convention, Pennsylvania politics, gubernatorial nomination in 1823, election controversies, social and civic reform movements. The collection includes family correspondence.

James Buchanan graduated from Dickinson College in 1809. He moved to Lancaster where he studied law and entered into practice in 1813. After the tragic death of his fiancee, Ann Coleman, in 1819, he left law and Lancaster for a political career in Washington, D.C. He was elected to five terms as congressman, 1821-1831, running first as a Federalist but switching to the Jacksonian party in 1824. Buchanan served as minister to Russia, 1832-1833; United States senator, 1834-1845; and secretary of state for President Polk, 1845-1849 before retiring from politics in 1849. In 1853 he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain. Upon his return from Great Britain, 1856, he was named Democratic nominee for President and in November was elected President of the United States. He retired to his estate, Wheatland, in 1861 and remained there until his death in 1868.

These papers touch nearly every phase of Buchanan's career, legal, political, and diplomatic. They contain: autograph letters and drafts, 1813-1868; letters, reports, and documents of Buchanan's ministry to Russia, 1832-1833; material on his ministry to England, 1854-1856; correspondence while Secretary of State, 1845-1849; papers and correspondence relating to the growing differences between the North and South before the Civil War, 1857-1861; notes and articles written by Buchanan on his Administration and other topics, 1860; speeches and notes, 1827-1858; miscellaneous correspondence, 1783-1868, including letters from Simon Cameron, John W. Forney, John Slidell, Benjamin H. Brewster, Jeremiah Black, Nahum Capen, William B. Reed, John Meredith Read, Stephen Pleasonton and others; legal correspondence, 1775-1855, relating to Buchanan's early activity as a lawyer, including papers of the Koenigmacher case and the impeachment of Judge Franklin; business letters, 1828-1867, on personal investments and business transactions, including bills, receipts.

Also included: papers on the Democratic Convention, 1856; papers on the Post Office blank printing controversy, 1857-1860; biographical notes and papers on the life of Buchanan; invitations to dinners and public affairs, 1833-1868; pamphlets, 1814-1866, including speeches made in Congress, Presidential messages, pamphlets on the jubilee of the Constitution, Eve of Rebellion, trial of Judge Peck, controversy with General Winfield Scott, a scrap book, obituary notices, notes and memoranda; newspapers and clippings.

Microfilm available through inter-library loan.

Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the James Buchanan Papers at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Lucy West, ed. (Philadelphia) 1974.

Family miscellany includes: Harriet Buchanan (James Buchanan's sister, later Mrs. Robert Henry) accounts, 1826-1832; and her son James Buchanan Henry, incoming letters, 1849-1914, on John Basset Moore's The Works of James Buchanan and other matters.

Accounts, lists of subscribers, and amounts pledged and paid to a fund raised to promote the nomination of James Buchanan as presidential candidate for the election of 1848.

General Daniel Roberdeau, merchant and Revolutionary soldier, letter book, 1764-1771; receipt book, 1761-1767, relates chiefly to his shipping interests and contains names of clients such as Henry Drinker, Benjamin Franklin, the Rev. Joseph Reed, John Rodgers, John Witherspoon, and others; Colonel Isaac Roberdeau, United States Army topographical engineer, journal of tours from George Washington with John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, 1820-1830; Mary E. Roberdeau, poetry album, 1829-1831, contains poems written by John Quincy Adams, 1829, and another signed Abigail Adams.

Reminiscences of Charles N. Buck, Philadelphia merchant, consul general of Hamburg to the United States, contain records of commercial life in Philadelphia, the trade in cotton, linen, tobacco, sugar, rice, and other commodities, between the United States and Germany, and a view of the political and economic conditions of the period.

Jacob E. Buck was a Nockamixon Township, Bucks County, tavernkeeper. His business daybook, 1834-1836, mainly records the sale of spirits. The receipt book, 1832-1840, is for his administration of the estates of Ludwig (Lewis) Afflerbach, Durham Township, Bucks County, and John Kressler (Cressler), Nockamixon Township.

Copies, in an unknown hand, presumably after 1723, of two of Buckingham's works: "Some Account of the Revolution," and "A Feast of the Gods in Imitation of the Cesars [sic] of the Emperor Julian written in the Year 1708."

Both works had been removed from Alexander Pope's posthumous edition of Buckingham Works (London, 1723), but were included in the 1726 edition. A previous owner has attributed the hand to Buckingham, but clearly it is not.

Contains writs, summonses, pleas, jury returns, and other legal and governmental papers. Much of the early material originated with Phineas Pemberton, Bucks County judge, recorders of deeds, and member of the provincial assembly. There are also legal papers, 1764-1772 on litigation between James Logan, Jr., and the heirs of John Strieper over land in Bucks County, Philadelphia and Germantown. The business papers of Richard Backhouse, Bucks County ironmaster, complete the collection.

Volumes indexed.

Verse dedicated to Lee H. Buffington, Philadelphia gentlemen's furnishings businessman, by his friends.