Captain William Scott (b.1752) was a company commander in the British 17th Regiment of Foot. He participated in many battles and campaigns during the American Revolutionary War, including the Philadelphia campaign. This three-page memorandum describes the events leading up to, and the conduct of, the Battle of Germantown, on October 4, 1777.

These papers include a catalog of his library (1 v., 67 p.); Narative of the difference between Dr. Alison, vice provost of the college of Philadelphia & Robert Strettell Jones late student in the senior class of the said College; Hugh Williamson to Isaac Jones, dated May 7, 1763; An abridgement of metaphysicks, written March 20,1761 & A system of rhetoric wrote Nov. & Dec. 1762, by Robert Strettell Jones; Depositions in re indictment for high treason against Robert Strettell Jones, Sept. 28, 1779; Certificate naming R.S. Jones as one of the Corporation of Contributors to the Pennsylvania Hospital, dated Dec. 3, 1773; and a copy of the will of his aunt Ann Strettell, Aug. 6, 1767.

This collection of letters, while tiny, is actually quite rich in content. Cadwalader wrote to Samuel Meredith, a politician and fellow Revolutionary War soldier, concerning the war, his real estate holdings in Philadelphia, and the local political climate. The seven items are dated from October 5, 1779 to March 9, 1798, during which Cadwalader served in the military, reentered politics, got married, and then retired from public service.

This group includes wills for Benjamin Franklin Bache (B/B122.w), Richard Bache (B/B121.w), George Clymer (B/C625.w), Benjamin Franklin (B/F85.w), Francis Hopkinson (B/H768.w), Jared Ingersoll (Misc. Ms. Coll.), Thomas McKean (B/M195.w), Thomas Mifflin (B/M586.w), Robert Morris (B/M835.w), George Ross (B/R735.w), and Benjamin Rush (B/R89.w).

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.

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.

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.

Major John André (1750-1780) was a British officer during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known in America for his attempt to facilitate Benedict Arnold's surrender of West Point to the British in 1780, but was known in his time as a capable, cosmopolitan officer, who served an interesting and varied career until his death in 1780. A participant in many of the Revolutionary War's most famous battles, André was twice captured by the American army, and served well enough to earn two promotions and numerous important assignments during the conflict. This eight-page letter chronicles the Philadelphia campaign of 1777 and includes descriptions of the Battles of Brandywine, Paoli and Germantown.

Lieutenant William Keugh (b. 1732) was an Irish-born officer in the British army during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. Serving as Adjutant for the 44th Regiment of Foot, Keugh wrote Report of British Officer to His Majesty from Camp at German Town 28th of Setptemr. 1777, which chronicles the Philadelphia campaign of 1777, including descriptions of the Battles of Brandywine, Paoli and Germantown.

This collection contains minutes of the Society, 1781-1975; minutes of the directors of the Corporation, 1929-1947; membership book (with signatures of early members), 1785; and names of later members. There are also deeds to the meeting house and burying ground; treasurers' accounts; reports of officers and committees; bills and receipts for constructing, maintaining, and repairing the meeting house; cancelled checks; and letters to the Society and its officers, especially Samuel Wetherill, 1883-1884.

From the Sugar Act of 1764 through the Tea Act of 1773, the British Parliament imposed a variety of taxes upon their American colonies in an effort to raise revenue to offset the enormous debts incurred during the Seven Years' (French and Indian) War. Far more efficiently than raising revenue, these duties raised the indignation of the colonits, contributing more than their share to the alienation that fueled the independence movement The two volumes that comprise the Pennsylvania Stamp Act and Non-Importation Resolutions Collection contain 34 manuscript and printed items relating to the political crisis over taxation on goods imported into the American colonies between 1765 and 1773, with a focus on Philadelphia. The first volume is concerned exclusively with agitation over the Stamp Act of 1765 and its repeal, while the second volume relates more specifically to the Non-Importation agreements of the 1760s, the Townshend Duties, and the Tea Act of 1773. Among these are letters of Governor John Penn, correspondence between the Sons of Liberty at Philadelphia and those of New York, 1766, an address of the committee of Boston merchants to a committee of Philadelphia merchants, 11 August 1768. Among the more dramatic letters are those from John Hughes, the would-be Stamp Officer for Pennsylvania who resigned bis commission in the face of public protest, and a seies of threatening letters addressed to James and Drinker, consignees for the sale of tea in Pennsylvania in 1773.

This autobiography relates Rush's experiences in college and medical school; his meetings with notable doctors; his life in Scotland, England, and France; his medical views; the military and politics during the Revolutionary War; and brief sketches of personalities of that period.

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.

This small but rich collection of letters and documents concern the Shippen family of Pennsylvania. The subjects of the letters are varied and include domestic details, military affairs of the Revolution and the Pennsylvania frontier, politics, trade, and business.

This volume contains short sketches of prominent American and European scholars, diplomats, and statesmen. "These short memoirs were composed in the heat of the summer of 1862; and the concluding page written on the 15th of August of that year, when I was about one month advanced in my ninety second year; my birthday being July 17th, 1771." Signed Saml. Breck. Persons discussed include Talleyrand Perigord; M. Volney; Rochefoucauld Liancourt; Louis Philippe, King of the French; Joel Barlow; William Bingham; Robert Morris; Alexander Hamilton; General Henry Knox; Doctor Benjamin Rush; Doctor Rush and William Cobbett.

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.

These letters and papers include ten small volumes of letterbooks (1752-1781), and ca. 100 pieces of correspondence with Joseph Shippen (1750-1778). Topics discussed are business in Philadelphia and Lancaster, provincial politics, army supply in the French and Indian War, land purchases and speculation, housebuilding, and family affairs.

In addition to family and business correspondence, the Charles Nicoll Bancker Family Papers contains various documents, such as a furniture inventory volume (30pp.); a Daybook, 1795-1800 (120pp.); and a very interesting journal (unidentified, but by one of the Banckers, and filed under "Description of a trip..."), from New York to Albany and back, between July 20-Aug. 15, 1793 (1 vol., 31 pp.). It contains detailed observations of the Hudson River and the towns along the way. Bancker was involved in business and trade prior to 1826, and in insurance after that date, so there is material relating to those topics in this collection. He owned a substantial library of the period, which was used by Charles Wilkes's Expedition after 1837 (see Reynell Coates to Bancker). This library, along with Bancker's notable scientific instrument collection, was sold after his death and there are published auction catalogues in the collection. There is much family correspondence from: Anne E. Bancker, Charles Gerard Bancker, Evert Bancker, Sarah U. Bancker, Violetta Bancker Talbot, Elizabeth Bancker Teackle, and John Teackle.