A New Hampshireman and one of the most famous military figures in colonial America, Robert Rogers saw brief service in the militia during King George's War, but found fame as a commander of rangers during the Seven Years War. An efficient leader and crack woodsman, Rogers gained a hard driving reputation in leading his rangers against the Abnaki Indians at St. Francis Quebec, and for service at Quebec, Montreal, Fort Pitt, and Detroit. After voyaging to England in 1765 to advance his career, he was appointed to the command of Fort Michilimackinac at the tip of the southern peninsula of Michigan, but was recalled less than two years later for impropriety and suspected treason. He later offered his services to George Washington before serving in the Loyalist Queen's Rangers. As Commander of Fort Michilimackinac from 1766-1768, Rogers sat at the critical nexus of the British fur trade, the point connecting the vast interior of the western Great Lakes and northern plains to the trading centers at Montreal and elsewhere in the east. His "Estimate of the Fur and Peltry Trade in the District of Michilimackinac, according to the bounds and limits, assign'd to it by the French, when under their government: together with an account of the situation and names of the several out-posts" is, as the title suggests, an overview of this most important area of economic activity. Rogers gave this manuscript to Jonathan Carver (the man he has sent on an expedition to find the Northwest Passage), who relayed it to Thomas Barton of Lancaster, Pa., who, in turn, sent it to the American Philosophical Society. It was received at the APS and referred to the Committee on Trade and Commerce on December 20, 1768.

One of three manuscript copies in Hawkins' hand, the other two being in the Georgia Department of Archives and History. A listing of towns and villages of Muskhogee and especially Creek Indians together with a discussion of customs, the Busketau, and answers to queries proposed to an old Creek Indian. Addenda on war parties, 1813 and treaties, 1773-1796.

Catalogue and Tracts relating to Pennsylvania, 1681-1770, collected by Joshua Francis Fisher (presented to APS in 1839), contains: 1. "Catalogue of Printed Tracts relating to the Political History of . . . Pennsylvania, 1681-1770," with an introduction by Fisher (20 pp.); 2. (Sir William Keith), "The Life and character of a strange `He Monster' lately arrived in London from an English Colony in America, . . .," n.d. The "Monster" is identified as Andrew Hamilton by Walker Lewis, William and Mary Quarterly 38 (1981): 269-294; 3. A modest apology for the eight members. (3 pp.); 4. Petitions of merchants and others to the King for the safety of the Province and against the Quakers, n.d. (4 pp.).

This volume is the only known copy of a manuscript probably earlier than "The History of the Dividing Line Between Virginia and North Carolina." Contains fewer Indian references and lacks interpolated information, but describes contact with Saponi and Nottoway Indians in 1728.

The first volume includes extracts from the journals of Conrad Weiser and Christian Frederick Post (1757), Charles Thomson's "An Enquiry into the causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians from the British interest" (1759), and a printed version of Judge Bradford's "Statement of facts and observations respecting the penal laws" (1792). The second volume contains selected letters and documents in the Pennsylvania state records on Indian relations, including transcriptions of several treaties between the Province of Pennsylvania and the Delawares and other Indians (1755-1758); the French and Indian War; and Braddock's campaign. Some manuscripts are written by Deborah Norris Logan and Charles Thomson.

A Sachem and Civil War adjutant to Ulysses Grant, Ely Samuel Parker was an important figure in the Seneca Indian nation during the first half of the nineteenth century. Trained as an engineer, Parker was deeply involved in the Senecas' land disputes with the Ogden Land Company and he played an important role in interpreting Seneca culture for a white audience, most notably as a consultant for Lewis Henry Morgan. Collected by Arthur C. Parker, the Ely Samuel Parker Papers include correspondence, manuscripts, and printed materials relating primarily to Seneca affairs, history, language, and culture, as well as politics, education, engineering, and the Civil War. Among Parker's correspondents were Henry Clay, Millard Fillmore, Henry M. Flagler, Lewis Henry Morgan, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Daniel Webster, and Asher Wright. Several letters relate to Parker's service as engineer of public buildings in Galena, Illinois, and to his Masonic activities. Among the noteworthy items in the collection are several essays on Seneca history and culture, a fragment of Parker's diary, 1847, and a significant quantity of material on the Seneca language assembled by Asher Wright.