The Fell family papers consist of business and personal papers documenting the manufacturing business, C.J. Fell & Bro. Franklin Fell (1814-1875) and his son William Jenks Fell (1839-1903) papers form the bulk of the collection.

The papers are arranged into seven series: Early papers, C.J. Fell & Bro. papers, Courtland J. Fell (1803-1848) papers, Jonathan Fell (1816-1868) papers, Franklin Fell (1814-1875) papers, William Jenks Fell papers, and Various papers.

Series I. Early papers series consists of the personal papers of Jonathan Fell (1771-1829), agreements, bonds, receipts, and related items concerning the acquisition of the mill property at Faulkland, and his daughters, Eliza Fell (1810-1891), Emily Fell (1811-1847), Mary Fell (1808-1864), and Rebecca A. Fell (1807-1880). Materials date from 1798 to 1899.             Series II. C.J. Fell & Bro. papers are comprised of incoming correspondence, bills and receipted bills, account books, and special papers. The account books include a variety of types of financial records, such as cash books, time books, ledgers, day books, customer listings, receipt books, and notebooks. The special papers consist of agreements and partnerships, act to incorporate C.J. Fell & Bro., lease, royalty agreement, legal papers, licenses to sell, act for the protection of mill property, inventories of stock, surveys and specifications, valuations and appraisal, insurance policies, patents, orders, prices current lists, drawings and specifications for machinery, and notices to stockholders. The materials date from 1833 to 1902.

Series III. Courtland J. Fell (1803-1848) papers series consist of correspondence, bills, receipts, and legal papers and correspondence of his wife Mary S. Fell (1807-1883). These materials date from 1838 to 1883.

Series VI. Jonathan Fell (1816-1868) papers include correspondence, bills receipts, legal papers concerning the estate of William Foulk and Fell as trustee for his sister Mary (Fell) Fenimore. These materials date from 1846 to 1872.

Series V. Franklin Fell (1814-1875) papers include correspondence, bills and receipts, and legal papers. The business interests and investment papers concern Seamen’s Savings Fund Society of Philadelphia (of which he was president from 1868 to 1871), Wilmington & Western Rail Road Co., Carbon Run Coal Car Co., Buck Mountain Coal Co., and others. The real estate papers concern the acquisition of the Faulkland property, Brandywine Springs, Maryland real estate, and Philadelphia properties. The church interest material includes correspondence, Sunday School reports, tracts, and related data. Various papers include tax data and accounts. There are also the papers of his wife, Susan W. Fell (1812-1857). The materials date from 1816 to 1897.

Series VI. William Jenks Fell (1839-1903) papers consist of personal and business correspondence with his father, his wife Hallie (Troutman) Fell, lawyers Victor Guillou, Anthony Higgins and Edward Barry, Episcopal clergymen Alfred Lee, Charles Breck, W. Marshall, and T. Gardiner Littell and oil and gas companies, collieries, coal and mining engineers, bankers, insurance companies, lessees of Faulkland property, and others. There are financial records, such as bills, receipts, tax records, legal fees, freight charges, notes, and check stub books. The legal papers include wills, lawsuits (Smith Metallic Paint & Ochre Co., Cunningham & McNichol, Greenmount Cemetery Co., Joseph E. Taylor, M. Thomas & Sons, and others), correspondence with lawyers, memoranda, and related items. The business interests and investment materials relate to the Eureka Lawn Mower Manufacturing Co., Fidelity Mutual Aid Association, Peninsular Trust, Safe Deposit & Insurance Co., and railway and transportation companies. The real estate papers concern the Enterprise Real Estate Improvement Co. of Philadelphia, including endowment contracts, agreements, bonds, warrants, deeds, prospectuses, sales contracts, searches, abstracts, briefs of title, letters of attorney, releases of judgment, ground rents and indentures. The Church interest materials concern St. James Church of Newport, Delaware, meetings, conventions, and correspondence with bell foundries. There is genealogical data which includes correspondence with members of the British clergy. Various papers consist of accounts, information on Fell’s removal from the Society of Friends, recipes, correspondence of his wife with her father, and bills. These materials date from 1838 to 1902.

Series VII. Various papers series include accounts; school notebooks programs; news items; and unidentified correspondence. These materials date from 1842 to 1876.