These materials, compiled by Horace Wells Sellers, concern various members of the Sellers family, and include photographs and likenesses of individuals and properties.

These papers include correspondence, marriage settlements, legal papers, genealogical tables, and memoranda of William Montgomerie of Brigend, Scotland, who emigrated to East Jersey, ca. 1701. Also includes the pedigree of Alexander Forbes of Balogie; correspondence (to 1755) of John Burnet, who was a merchant of Edinburgh, London, and New York, and of John Burnet, Jr., of Perth Amboy, N.J., with Elizabeth Forbes; genealogy of the Montgomery family in the United States, prepared by Thomas H. Montgomery (1853); and a seventeenth-century copy of documents, accounts, and patents of East Jersey.

Jonathan Williams, a nephew of Benjamin Franklin, was chief of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, and first superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. The genealogical material was "compiled from family records and his own personal knowledge by his son," H.J. Williams.

This paper contains biographical accounts of Joseph Hiester, Frederick A. Muhlenberg, and Andrew Gregg, and includes genealogical tables.

Two volumes contain genealogical data on the Allen family. One volume is a scrapbook of miscellaneous material on Allen and his family, containing letters, newspaper clippings, etc. and much material pertaining to the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania. There are nine diplomas and certificates of membership in learned societies, military associations, etc.

This item was written by William Keen for his children and includes genealogy, glimpses of his boyhood in Philadelphia, and reflections on his education at Jefferson Medical College and his medical career. There are accounts of memorable events and surgical cases, including the operation on President Grover Cleveland's jaw. There are mentions of S. Weir Mitchell and other physicians, with historical recollections of such Philadelphia institutions as the College of Physicians.

These papers include letters, broadsides, and other documents pertaining to various branches of the Rittenhouse family, in particular, David Rittenhouse and his daughter Elizabeth "Betsey" Rittenhouse Sergeant. Included are references to Benjamin Smith Barton, and copies of documents concerning the Barton family, especially Thomas Barton, in Fanny Abbott's, "Family Records."

This collection of letters, diaries, and other types of documents (both original and copies) was assembled primarily by Mary Jane Peale, who copied, or had copied, many family documents. The bulk of the collection centers on Charles Willson Peale, James Burd Peale, and Mary Jane Peale.

Reel one contains account books, including Agness Minshall (1784-1810), Jacob Minshall (1773-1818), Enos Painter (1802-1863), Minshall Painter (1842-1873), and John J. Tyler (1890-1910). Reel two contains almanacs, receipts, and bank books of Jacob Minshall (1843-1877), Enos Painter (1852-1854), Minshall Painter (1840-1873), and John J. Tyler. Reel three contains day books for Minshall Painter and Jacob Minshall, Mathew Carey's "Account of the Yellow Fever Epidemic," Society of Friends burial records for the Middletown Friends' Meeting graveyard (1787-1859), and complaints against the Painter family (1699-1807), genealogies of the Dutton family, Painter family, Tyler family, Minshall family, and Gilpin family, and journals of travels of John J. Tyler (1841-1900). Reel four contains miscellaneous records on observations of the Liberal File (1853-1856) and a women's rights meeting (1851), an essay by Oran Hazard on slavery (1796), taxes for the Enos Painter estate (1864-1873), and travel guides of the United States and Canada (1844, 1874). Reels five and six contain the shelf list cards for the John J. Tyler Arboretum Library.

David Rittenhouse (1732-1796) was one of the most prominent American men of science of the 18th Century. A skilled instrument maker, Rittenhouse was the an astronomer, playing a major role in recording the 1769 Transit of Venus, among many accomplishments. Rittenhouse also conducted important survey work for the state of Pennsylvania, establishing the state's western border, as well as overseeing the completion of the Mason-Dixon survey. In addition to his scientific endeavors, Rittenhouse's work for American independence places him among the important founding fathers. Subordinating his scientific interests for the greater good of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution, Rittenhouse served as a member of both the Pennsylvania Assembly and the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, and held powerful positions on the Pennsylvania Council of Safety and the subsequent Committee on Safety. Rittenhouse also served as the first director of the United States' Mint, at the behest of President George Washington. Rittenhouse was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1768 and played a major role in placing the Society on the scientific map. He held many positions in the Society, including serving as its President from 1791 until his death in 1796. The Rittenhouse papers span 1774 to 1932, and consist of 61 items, over 0.25 linear feet. The collection is comprised mainly of correspondence, but also includes receipts, genealogies and broadsides.

This collection includes newspaper clippings, postal cards, typed copies of letters, photographs of portraits, reprints of articles, materials from the John Bartram Association (which preserves the Bartram house and garden in Philadelphia), typed notes from Bartram's letters and journals, and typed copies of letters in re Bartram. There is also a genealogy prepared by West, and a biography of George Washington Bartram by John Hines Pitman (typescript).

The collection consists of diaries, 1890-1938, containing brief records of professional work and family events (49 vols.); also autobiography entitled "Memories for my boys," 1930 (B D713m), referring to his childhood and to his professional career and mentioning Franz Boas, William Comstock, Livingston Farrand, William W. Keen, S. Weir Mitchell, Elihu Root, and W. T. Sedgewick and also APS, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, and Wistar Institute (1 vol.); also a few miscellaneous papers, 1869-1932, chiefly letters to and from members of his family, and also Poultney Bigelow, Simon Henry Gage, and W. B. Van Ingen; two essays ("The Days of Man" and "A Venetian Night"): genealogical data; verses dedicated to his wife; extracts of letters to supplement his diaries.

This correspondence is principally concerned with business between Pershouse and his brother James in England, with comments on conditions and events in the United States, including anti-British feeling, Thomas Paine's return to America, Jefferson's administration, and immigration. The papers include Pershouse's journal (1800-1838), which includes accounts of travels in England, France, and the United States, letterbooks (1836-1862) of Henry Pershouse, nephew of John, chiefly on business matters, and two volumes of Pershouse genealogical data, compiled by B.M. Pershouse Bayley (1899).

The family correspondence of Richard and Sarah Franklin Bache on a variety of topics including references to Benjamin Franklin and his estate. There is also a family genealogy.

The collection includes letters between Hutchinson and his uncle Israel Pemberton, written while Hutchinson was a student of medicine in London. There are also 12 tickets of admission to medical lectures in Philadelphia and London, including one given by William Hunter, and 3 unused cards of admission to Hutchinson's own lectures. Miscellaneous items include Hutchinson's marriage certificate; genealogical data on the Hutchinson, Hare, and Pemberton families; and stock certificates, 1857-1872, of the McKean and Elk Land and Improvement Company. Materials dated post-1793 are to and from Hutchinson family members.

The Peale family is best known as a family of artists; however, family interests and activities were much more wide-ranging. The best known Peale is Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827, APS 1786), who produced more than one thousand paintings, including hundreds of portraits of leading Americans during the colonial and early national periods. Peale was married three times, to Rachel Brewster (1744-1790), Elizabeth de Peyster (1765-1804), and Hannah More (1755-1821). He had eighteen children, eleven of whom reached adulthood. Three of Charles Willson Peale's sons became artists: Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825), Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), and Rubens Peale (1784-1865). A fourth son, Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885, APS 1833), was a naturalist (who made drawings on the exploring expeditions he accompanied) and pioneer in photography, and another son, Benjamin Franklin Peale (1795-1870), became a naturalist and paleontologist. Peale's daughter Sophonisba Angusciola was married to Coleman Sellers (1781-1834), an inventor and manufacturer of machinery, including locomotives. Two of their sons, George Escol Sellers (1808-1899) and Coleman Sellers (1827-1907, APS 1872), were inventors and engineers. The latter served as director of the construction of the hydro-electric power development at Niagara Falls. He was married to Cornelia Wells Sellers (1831-1909). One of their grandsons was Charles Coleman Sellers (1903-1980, APS 1979), a librarian and historian and the author of several studies of the Peale family, including a Charles Willson Peale biography.

The Scaliger Family Papers, when taken together, trace the history of a noble family that was originally from Italy but lived primarily in Agen, France from the mid-1500s through the mid-1800s. Beginning with the patriarch, Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484-1558), a celebrated Italian scholar and physician, the members of the Scaliger family upheld an illustrious reputation over the centuries as scholars, military leaders, and noblemen. Throughout their family's history, the Scaligers maintained that they were descended from the Della Scallas, Princes of Verona. It is as a result of the necessity to defend this claim as well as later attempts to prove their ties to their noble heritage that this collection of documents has remained so well intact. The Scaliger Family Papers is a collection that encompasses several different kinds of documents that span from 1539 to 1862 including letters, genealogical material, works by members of the Scaliger family, as well as military, legal, and financial documents.

The manuscripts of father William Mitchell and daughter Maria Mitchell are not easily separated, and are treated here together. The collection includes William Mitchell's autobiography, his memoir of Judge Walter Folger of Nantucket, astronomical and meteorological observations, lectures, family and other correspondence.

An extensive family collection, the Vaux Family Papers center around the lives of George Vaux V (1721-1803), George Vaux VII (1779-1836), and George Vaux VIII (1832-1915), their business partners, siblings, wives, and children, and encompasses the extended Vaux family of Warders, Sansoms, Heads, Graffs, Morrises, Cressons, and Mayberrys. The collection includes correspondence, financial accounts, receipts, business records, journals, diaries, photographs, and legal documents.

Ernst Krackowizer (1821-1875), father-in-law to the anthropologist Franz Boas (APS 1903), was an Austrian born surgeon who fled Vienna to New York following his involvement as captain of the Academic Legion during the Revolution of 1848. Krackowizer was an active member of New York medical community, helping to found the German Dispensary and Hospital, later renamed Lenox Hill Hospital. During the Civil War, Krackowizer assisted the Union Army as a volunteer surgeon and inspector of military hospitals. Krackowizer is claimed to have been the first on whom the anesthetic effects of chloroform were tested in Vienna and the first to use a laryngoscope in the United States. This collection is comprised of the personal papers of Ernst Krackowizer including diplomas, certificates, correspondence, diaries, and photographs, which document his life and medical career. Krackowizer's experience in the Revolution of 1848 and subsequent flight from Vienna trough Germany to the United States is well detailed in his correspondence to his fiancée and later wife, Emilie Forster, and in his diaries, which make up a significant portion of this collection. Krackowizer firsthand description of the early use of chloroform and the laryngoscope are included, as well as materials documenting his involvement as a volunteer surgeon and hospital inspector during the Civil War. Additionally, the Krackowizer Papers contain material written by others reference the life and work of Ernst Krackowizer.