Finding Aids

The Collection of Philadelphia merchants records comprises the papers of major and minor merchant houses in Philadelphia throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and primarily documents trade with major port cities in Western Europe and the West Indies. Included are the papers of merchants Andrew Clow & Co., Dutilh & Wachsmuth, Manuel Eyre, and George Louis de Stockar, along with records of other miscellaneous merchants from the Philadelphia area. The records include correspondence, accounts, bills, orders, invoices and other material that give insight into the rise of capitalism in the Early Republic.

By the time this manuscript was written in the late eighteenth century, the inclusion of fireworks at celebrations across Europe had been well-established for centuries. In the second half of the eighteenth century, commercial firework displays in particular rose in popularity among audiences across the social spectrum. This collection is comprised of a single manuscript volume with contemporary binding, quarter leather, with marbled paper over boards, all edges speckled in red, and silk endbands. Produced in England circa 1780, the volume consists of 13 leaves containing ink drawings of designs for artificial fireworks.

This diary's author is not given; however, many details indicate that the writer is likely Thomas R. Robinson (1889-1972), a thirty-two-year-old farmer mainly working as a coal miner, lumberman, and railroad worker. This item is a manuscript handwritten diary. The entries are dated February 20, 1922, through April 9, 1923; these include the weather, who the author worked beside each day, his duties and responsibilities, and other tasks he took upon himself to fulfill. This item will be of significant interest to labor historians wanting a view of daily life from the worker's point of view.

The author appears to have been a young man living on his mother's farm near Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania, who earned additional money by casual day labor. The diary is a standard pocket diary of the period with notations of work done and other daily activities, with a small cash book section at the rear.

Montchanin is an unincorporated community located near Greenville, Delaware. It is named for Anne Alexandrine de Montchanin (1720-1756), mother of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), who was a French political economist and diplomat who emigrated to Delaware with his sons. The plat depicts the area between Brandywine Creek, Barley Mill Road, and Kennett Pike and includes 85 buildings and residents' names.

This collection reflects material from a small amount of manufacturers operating in the Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey, largely in the early-to-mid 19th century. The records primarily include correspondence, bills, receipts, and accounts. There are also various legal papers and testimonies concerning suits involving land and water rights in Burlington County, New Jersey, with descriptions of miscellaneous dams, saw, grist, woolen, and fulling mills.

Route 1 is a major north-south U.S. highway extending from Florida to Maine. The plat depicts a small portion of Route 1 between Hamorton and the Anvil Inn, including P.S. du Pont's (1870-1952) Longwood Gardens.