Resources in Early American History
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Abenaki language (1)
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American loyalists. (3)
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Animal magnetism. (1)
Anishinaabe (1)
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Apprentices -- Pennsylvania. (1)
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Bank of the United States (1816-1836) (1)
Bankruptcy -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. (1)
Banks and banking -- Pennsylvania (1)
Barometers. (1)
Bartram's Garden (Philadelphia, Pa.) (1)
Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company (1)
Bible - Criticism, interpretation, etc. (1)
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Bible. O.T. Psalms, II, 1 -- Sermons (1)
Biology. (1)
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Birds -- North America (1)
Birds -- Pictorial works (1)
 Author:  Bache, A.D. (Alexander Dallas), 1806-1867Requires cookie*
 Title:  A. D. Bache Collection     
 Dates:  1833-1873 
 Abstract:  This collection consists of a wide-range of general correspondence to and from Alexander Dallas Bache from 1833-1865. The correspondence includes letters to many prominent scientists, such as Louis Agassiz, Maria Mitchell, and Charles Babbage. The content reflects the wide range of Bache's scientific activity and his extensive contacts. Topics range from cartography to lighthouses to education reform to phrenology.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.B123 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Antebellum Politics | Early National Politics | Science and technology 
 Genre:  General Correspondence | Official Government Documents and Records | Scientific Correspondence 
 Subjects:  Cooper Union | Education | Geological Survey of the State of New Jersey | Geology | Girard College | Lighthouses | National Academy of Sciences | Natural history | United States Coast Survey 
 Author:  Braddock, Edward, 1695-1755Requires cookie*
 Title:  Manuscripts on Indian affairs, 1755-1792, [n.d.]     
 Dates:  1755-1792 
 Abstract:  These volumes contain an assortment of documents relating to colonial Pennsylvania's relations with Indian groups. Most notably, the collection contains journals and treaty minutes from the Seven Years' War, including a journal by Conrad Weiser, a manuscript version of Charles Thomson's "Enquiry into the Alienation," and official government records from the war. There are other documents that do not bear directly on Indian affairs. Most notably, there is a manuscript essay by Lewis Evans on German immigration that details the often brutal experience of immigrants' journey to Pennsylvania and proposes a series of reforms. There is also a printed essay in the back of the volume that opposes capital punishment and was printed in Philadelphia in 1792.

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 Call #:  Mss.970.4.M415 
 Extent:  2 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Diplomatic History | Law | Native America | Pennsylvania History | Seven Years' War | Social Life and Custom | Travel 
 Genre:  Diplomatic Material | Manuscript Essays | Official Government Documents and Records | Printed Material | Travel Narratives and Journals 
 Subjects:  Braddock's Campaign, 1755. | Delaware Indians | Indians of North America -- Pennsylvania | Indians of North America -- Treaties | Pennsylvania -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 | Shawnee Indians 
 Author:  Breck, Samuel, 1771-1862Requires cookie*
 Title:  Historical Sketch of the Continental Bills of Credit, from 1775 to 1781, with Specimens thereof     
 Dates:  1840, 1862 
 Abstract:  The Samuel Breck Collection consists of two bound volumes. The first is a long manuscript essay on Continental Bills of credit from 1775 – 1781, which reflects Breck's interest in historical matters. The second volume is a handwritten account of Breck at 92 years old reminiscing on prominent APS members he had met.

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 Call #:  Mss.332.5.B74h 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Business and Skilled Trades | Early National Politics 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Diplomats | Paper money -- United States -- Forgeries | Paper money -- United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 | Physicians | Presidents | Scholars | Statesmen 
 Author:  Brice, JamesRequires cookie*
 Title:  Materials on revenue from the distilling and retailing of liquors, 1794-1803     
 Dates:  1794-1803 
 Abstract:  This collection contains a number of tax lists for the collection of revenue on spirits. It begins in 1794, the year of the Whiskey Rebellion, and continues to 1803. The lists appear to be for sellers of "wine and foreign distilled spirits," meaning that this was not the tax Whiskey rebels found odious. Although the documents are not uniform, most lists contain the distiller's name, place of operation, and amount of tax paid.

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 Call #:  Mss.336.27.M414 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Business and Skilled Trades | Early National Politics | Government Affairs 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Liquor industry -- Pennsylvania. | Tariff on liquors -- Pennsylvania. 
 Author:  Burd, James, 1726-1793Requires cookie*
 Title:  Burd-Shippen Papers     
 Dates:  1708-1792 
 Abstract:  This collection is one of the largest early American collections the APS holds. Its breadth of sources provides insight into colonial Pennsylvania history, especially that of Lancaster County. Although largely material composed of material from James Burd, there are also significant documents relating to the Shippen family. Documents touch on matters financial, political, and social. While the collection is of wide ranging material, its strength lies in three main parts: the Seven Years' War and Pontiac's Rebellion in Pennsylvania, Burd's business records, and life in Lancaster County from 1754-1776.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.B892 
 Extent:  6.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Business and Skilled Trades | Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Land and Speculation | Military History | Native America | Pennsylvania History | Seven Years' War | Surveying and Maps | Trade 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Diaries | Family Correspondence | General Correspondence | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence | Travel Narratives and Journals 
 Subjects:  Court calendars -- Pennsylvania. | Fort Augusta (Pa.) | Fort Duquesne | Fort Granville (Pa.) | Fort Hunter | Fort Pitt (Pa.) | Fort William Henry (N.Y.) | Fortification -- Pennsylvania. | Iroquois Indians | Lancaster County (Pa.) -- History | Meteorology -- Pennsylvania -- Observations | Military supplies. | Pennsylvania -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 | Pennsylvania -- History -- French and Indian War, 1755-1763 | Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Commerce | Shippenburg Library Company | United States -- History -- French and Indian War, 1755-1763 | United States. Army. Supplies and stores 
 Author:  Burrough, MarmadukeRequires cookie*
 Title:  Marmaduke Burrough papers 1829-1847     
 Dates:  1829-1847 
 Abstract:  Marmaduke Burrough was a physician who served as U.S. Consul to Calcutta in 1828 and then Vera Cruz from 1835-1838. This collection contains a range of receipts relating to Burrough's expenses as consul in both Calcutta and Vera Cruz. The Calcutta receipts begin in 1829 and end in 1830. These loose leaf receipts capture a range of Burrough's activity, including bills from physicians, expenses for entertaining, and one for the passage of "a living rhinoceros" to Philadelphia onboard the Georgian. Burrough bought and then brought the second live rhinoceros to the United States in 1830. The animal was displayed in Philadelphia before being sold to a traveling exhibit.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.B946 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Americans Abroad | Diplomatic History 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Diplomatic Material | General Correspondence | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Consuls -- United States. | Diplomats -- United States. | Zoological specimens -- Collection and preservation. 
 Author:  Byrd, William, 1674-1744Requires cookie*
 Title:  The secret history of the line between Virginia and North Carolina, [1728]     
 Dates:  Circa 1728 
 Abstract:  The collection of William Byrd's writings consists of two leather bound, handwritten copies of Byrd's History of the Dividing Line Run in the Year 1728 (Mss.975.5.B99h) and A Secret History of the Dividing Line (Mss.975.5.B99s). The former was likely written for public audiences and contains the details of drawing the lines, interactions with Indians, observations of the flora and fauna of the area, the health and culture of settlers, and the official actions of the commissioners. Byrd regularly wrote Peter Collinson, an English scientist, about his journal and his hope that it would be of interest and benefit to a wide audience. The Secret History, on the other hand, contains a wealth of the more personal, private, and often humorous anecdotes of the trip. Neither manuscript was published in Byrd's lifetime, although both were eventually published.

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 Call #:  Mss.975.5.B99s 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colony and State Specific History | Exploration. | Land and Speculation | Natural history | Surveying and Maps 
 Genre:  Manuscript Essays | Maps and Surveys | Official Government Documents and Records | Travel Narratives and Journals 
 Subjects:  Boundaries, State. 
 Author:  Cassin, Charles Luke, 1846-1878Requires cookie*
 Title:  Charles Luke Cassin papers, 1745-1878     
 Dates:  1745-1878 
 Abstract:  The Cassin Collection is heavily focused on Charles Luke Cassin's correspondence in the late nineteenth century. Charles Cassin was a physician in the U.S. Navy in the late-nineteenth century. His family's roots date to the colonial era. There are approximately seven documents from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, however. This portion of the collection includes three legal documents from colonial Pennsylvania that were likely handed down through the family: one is a will for Aaron Thompson dated 1745, another is an indenture from 1758, and another is a copy of a court decision in Berks County in 1774. There are two letters from James Mullins to Eliza Cassin relating to their past affairs and children. Finally, there are official documents relating to Joseph Cassin, Charles Luke's father, including a commission in the U.S. Navy signed by James Madison.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.C274 
 Extent:  70 item(s) 
 Topics:  Marriage and Family Life | Military History 
 Genre:  Family Correspondence | Legal Records | Military Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Medicine -- United States. | Trust indentures. 
 Author:  Dawes, Elizabeth F.,collector.Requires cookie*
 Title:  Dawes Collection of Documents on American History     
 Dates:  1681-1921 
 Abstract:  This is a collection of miscellaneous documents from early America. The earliest documents come from the early 18th century and the latest from the Civil War era. The collection contains a few documents from the revolutionary period, most of which are official governments documents or deal with business transactions. There is one long letter from Robert McPherson, a member of the Pennsylvania Flying Camp, that describes his experience. Perhaps reflecting her ancestral home, the collection contains a small but notable collection of materials from South Carolina, including a very early letter from Francis Le Jau and letters from the Marquis de Lafayette about an expected trip to South Carolina. There are a significant number of documents from Pennsylvania, especially legal documents, from the early republic. The letters from Clement Biddle, a former revolutionary war soldier, also provide insight on early national Indian relations Finally, there are also some significant autographs collected, including a Massachusetts legal form with the signature of John Adams, a letter from James Madison to the Mississippi Territory around the time of the Louisiana Purchase, and letters from Civil War era figures like John Calhoun (a rich letter in which Calhoun discusses his views on tariffs and nullification), James Buchanan, and William Seward.

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 Call #:  Mss.973.D32 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  American Revolution | Colony and State Specific History | Early National Politics | Native America | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | General Correspondence | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Publishers and publishing. 
 Author:  Dixon, JeremiahRequires cookie*
 Title:  Correspondence and accounts of the Mason and Dixon survey, 1758-1769     
 Dates:  1758-1769 
 Abstract:  The Mason and Dixon Survey Collection at the APS consists of 1.) two volumes relating to their work drawing a border between Pennsylvania and Maryland and 2.) a box of correspondence. The portion of the collection being described here consists of the correspondence. This part of the collection is a box of photostats, mostly from 1761 and 1769, that include field reports and other correspondence.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.M381 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Pennsylvania History | Science and technology | Surveying and Maps 
 Genre:  General Correspondence | Maps and Surveys | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Meteorology. | Surveys. | Transits. 
 Author:  Dixon, JeremiahRequires cookie*
 Title:  Minutes and papers of the Mason and Dixon survey, 1760-1768     
 Dates:  1760-1768 
 Abstract:  The Mason and Dixon Survey Collection consists of two volumes relating to their work drawing a border between Pennsylvania and Maryland and a box of correspondence. This entry describes the two volumes. One contains the Penn family's costs, which goes into specific details about items purchased and used for the venture. The second volume is a manuscript copy of the commissioners' minutes from 1760-1768. The commissioners were representatives of both Baltimore and Penn, and gave directions to Mason and Dixon. The minutes contain negotiations between the commissioners, which provide insight into surveying methods and the various disagreements between the two sides about boundaries, particularly as they relate to the Delmarva Peninsula. There are a few mentions of Indians and diplomacy, especially around 1767 when Mason and Dixon were extending the line into the Ohio Country.

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 Call #:  Mss.974.8.P383 
 Extent:  2 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Native America | Pennsylvania History | Surveying and Maps 
 Genre:  Maps and Surveys | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Surveys. 
 Author:  Feinstone, Sol,1888-1980,colleRequires cookie*
 Title:  The Sol Feinstone Collection of the American Revolution, ca. 1760s-1850s     
 Dates:  Circa 1760s-1850s 
 Abstract:  The Sol Feinstone Collection of the David Library contains a wide array of original documents relating especially to the American Revolution. The collection is particularly strong in military affairs and contains a variety of original letters from generals and prominent officers from both British and American forces. The collection has a notable number of items relating to George Washington and his family, including a deed from 1604 to Laurence Washington that contains an original seal from James I.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.F327 
 Extent:  27 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  American Revolution | Business and Skilled Trades | Colonial Politics | Colony and State Specific History | Diplomatic History | Early National Politics | Military History | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Family Correspondence | General Correspondence | Military Records | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence | Printed Material 
 Author:  Feinstone, Sol,1888-1980,colleRequires cookie*
 Title:  Sol Feinstone Slavery collection, 1773-1888     
 Dates:  1773-1888 
 Abstract:  The Feinstone Slavery Collection complements the much larger Sol Feinstone Collection of American Revolution. This smaller collection (one box) contains documents pertaining to slavery in the early republic. There are records of sale and emancipation along with some correspondence and other miscellaneous materials. Much of the material is from Virginia.

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 Call #:  Mss.326.F33 
 Extent:  0.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  African American | Early National Politics | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Abolition, emancipation, freedom | African Americans -- History -- To 1863 | Reconstruction | Slavery -- United States. | Slaves, slavery, slave trade 
 Author:  Fisher, Joshua Francis, 1807-1873Requires cookie*
 Title:  Catalogue of political tracts relating to the history of the colony of Pennsylvania from 1681 to 1770, 1838     
 Dates:  1838 
 Abstract:  This volume contains a series of manuscript essays compiled by Joshua Francis Fisher and presented to the APS in the early 19th Century. It is part of the APS collection of documents relationg to colonial Pennsylvania politics and governance. The first part of the volume has a bibliography made in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century that lists all of the printed pamphlets and other similar documents printed about Pennsylvania from 1681 to 1770. The remaining documents appear to involve the political career and rivalries of William Keith and Andrew Hamilton. The first is an essay "The Life and Character of a strange 'He Monster," that is purportedly written by William Keith about Andrew Hamilton. The second and third pamphlets "A Modest Apology" and "A Petition … against the Quakers" were written during Hamilton's life and involve political controversies he was involved in surrounding defensive measures. The final document is an obituary for Andrew Hamilton.

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 Call #:  Mss.016.9748.C28 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Manuscript Essays | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Society of Friends. 
 Author:  Franklin, William, 1731-1813Requires cookie*
 Title:  William Franklin Papers     
 Dates:  1757-1813 
 Abstract:  This is a small but rich collection of William Franklin papers, most of which were written during the imperial crisis and American Revolution when Franklin served variously as royal governor of New Jersey and governor of occupied New York. The collection is a mix of official documents issued by William Franklin as governor and private correspondence with other prominent political officials, such as Joseph Galloway, speaker of colonial Pennsylvania's Assembly and a fellow loyalist. Among his private correspondence is a series of letters written to Thomas Wharton that touch upon the Franklin family's dealings in land speculation in Western Pennsylvania. William was involved in the New Jersey-based Burlington Land Company. There are also a few family letters William wrote to his son William Temple Franklin and Sarah Franklin Bache.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.F861 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  American Revolution | Americans Abroad | Colonial Politics | Colony and State Specific History | International Affairs | Marriage and Family Life 
 Genre:  Family Correspondence | General Correspondence | Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence 
 Subjects:  American loyalists. | Land speculation 
 Author:  Gauld, George.Requires cookie*
 Title:  A general description of the sea-coasts, harbours, lakes, rivers, etc. of the province of West Florida, 1769     
 Dates:  1769 
 Abstract:  George Gauld served as a surveyor in the British Army. Stationed in Florida after the Seven Years' War, this collection contains his general observations of the recently acquired territory. Its MOLE entry is very detailed. There are two other general features that should be mentioned. First, Gauld's essay contains smatterings of references to Native Americans and occasionally local Native American names for geographic features. The second is that this document captures part of the imperial consolidation Great Britain began in the wake of the Seven Years' War.

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 Call #:  Mss.917.59.G23 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Exploration. | Government Affairs | Science and technology | Surveying and Maps 
 Genre:  Maps and Surveys | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Hydrographic surveying -- Florida. | Rivers -- Florida. 
 Author:  George -- I, -- King of Great BritaRequires cookie*
 Title:  Charter, 1724, for Newcastle, Delaware     
 Dates:  1724 
 Abstract:  This small volume is a manuscript copy of the royal charter for New Castle, Delaware issued in 1724 that belonged to Sir William Keith, then the provincial governor of Pennsylvania.

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 Call #:  Mss.975.1.G79 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Government Affairs 
 Genre:  Official Government Documents and Records 
 Author:  George II, King of Great Britain, 1683-1760Requires cookie*
 Title:  Act of incorporation, 1742, for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, [n.d.]     
 Dates:  n.d. 
 Abstract:  Dated 1742, this document appears to be the draft or, possibly, a manuscript copy of a deed incorporating Lancaster as a town. The deed contains the signature of King George II.

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 Call #:  Mss.974.815.L223 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Government Affairs | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Incorporation -- Pennsylvania -- Lancaster. 
 Author:  Georgia. GovernorRequires cookie*
 Title:  Grant no 115 to Patrick Crookshanks for 1,000 acres of land.     
 Dates:  1773 
 Abstract:  This collection contains a grant for 1000 acres that Georgia's governor made to Patrick Crookshank in 1773.

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 Call #:  Mss.975.8.G294 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colony and State Specific History | Land and Speculation | Surveying and Maps 
 Genre:  Maps and Surveys | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Author:  Great Britain. Board of TradeRequires cookie*
 Title:  Papers on the West Indies, 1707-1709     
 Dates:  1707-1709 
 Abstract:  This Collection is a series of letters written during Queen Anne's War/The War of Spanish Succession between 1707 and 1709 involving military, political, and trade issues in the British Caribbean. Documents include a petition from merchants in Barbados to the Crown, orders from imperial ministers in Whitehall to governors, and reports from governors in the Caribbean. The documents often relate to events surrounding the war then engulfing Europe. One of the documents, for instance, is a finding of the Board of Trade that rejects a petition that would allow merchants to ship flour from North American colonies to Portugal, a member of the "Grand Alliance," finding that such trade would hurt the "Sugar Islands" too much.

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 Call #:  Mss.972.9.G81 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | International Affairs | Military History 
 Genre:  Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence 
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