This collection consists of two manuscript diaries of engineer James Brindley (1745-1820). Brindley, nephew of the celebrated English canal engineer of the same name, worked on a number of canal projects in the United States, including the Potomac Canal in Maryland and the James River Canal in Virginia. The two diaries cover part of the time Brindley worked on the Susquehanna and Conewago Canal in 1794-1795 and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in 1803.

Robert Maskell Patterson (1787-1854, APS 1809) was a professor of chemistry and natural philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania (1812-1828) and professor of natural philosophy at the University of Virginia (1828-1835). He was director of the U.S. Mint from 1835 to 1851. His father, Robert Patterson, was a revolutionary soldier, professor of mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania (1779-1814), and director of the U.S. Mint (1805-1824).

The Thomas Jefferson papers contain a large number of correspondence both to and from Jefferson, as well as various other material related to American Revolutionary War and Early Republic. Includes correspondence with Patrick Henry, Charles Willson Peale, Richard Henry Lee, Horatio Gates, David Rittenhouse, Robert Patterson