Sarah Franklin Bache (1743-1808), a Revolutionary War patriot and daughter of Benjamin Franklin, led an active public life according to the standards of womanhood in the late eighteenth century. As the daughter of Benjamin Franklin she had an unusual access, for a woman, to the political life in revolutionary Philadelphia. Although her primary role was of caretaker of her family and home, Bache played an active role in the Revolution through her relief work and as her father's political hostess. The Sarah Franklin Bache papers consist of incoming and outgoing correspondence ranging from 1768 to 1807 mostly of a personal nature to and from friends and relatives. The correspondence of her relatives includes her nephew William Temple Franklin, her brother William Franklin and her children.

This item is a daily record of professional visits and prescriptions. Some of Shippen's patients were eminent Philadelphians and visitors to the city.

Jacob Hiltzheimer, farmer and assemblyman, emigrated from Germany to Philadelphia in 1748 and lead a moderately active political and social life. He was a successful farmer and raised select livestock in the city of Philadelphia. He also boarded horses including those of John Penn and George Washington. He served in the Pennsylvania Assembly for 11 consecutive years beginning in 1786. He was an active contributor in civil affairs and took a remarkable enthusiastic interest in events, in persons, and in every day life all of which he wrote down in his diary. As a result of his Revolutionary War and political acquaintances his contacts were numerous. Hiltzheimer's record of social affairs are for the most part routine daily events such as buying and trading horses, attending barbecues and funerals, and drinking punch. However it is his every day accounts that also records significant events such as the Revolutionary War, transactions of the Pennsylvania Assembly, and Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemics, as well as the dealings of significant people including George Washington, Thomas Mifflin, and John Hancock.