| | Author: | Braddock, Edward, 1695-1755 | Requires 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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: | Burd, James, 1726-1793 | Requires 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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: | Byrd, William, 1674-1744 | Requires 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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, 1846-1878 | Requires 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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, Jeremiah | Requires 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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: | Fisher, Joshua Francis, 1807-1873 | Requires 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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: | Great Britain. Board of Trade | Requires 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.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | 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 | |
|