Manuscript Group 8
PENNSYLVANIA COLLECTION (MISCELLANEOUS)
1626-1998
65 cu. ft.
Spanning the period from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, these are
miscellaneous papers on a large number of legal, political, military, business,
medical, educational, social, civic, and religious subjects, including--as
a few examples-- materials concerning Democratic, Know-Nothing, Republican
and Whig politics; the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812,
and Civil War; the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Pittsburgh and Western Railroad
Company, Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and various forges and furnaces;
colonial land policies; slavery; and the Society of Friends. Collection also
holds miscellaneous papers of several Pennsylvania
families.
Included is correspondence--usually one item in each case--of a number of
prominent individuals in the history of Pennsylvania
and the United States.
Several governors feature in the collection, as well as such notables as Thomas
Franklin, U.S. Grant, the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron von Steuben, Henry Knox,
Thomas Paine, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Other miscellaneous material--legal and land papers; political, military,
and business papers; etc. --concern many of the above and such additional
personalities as Jacob C. Bomberger, George W. Childs,
Jonathan Evans, Joseph Galloway, Joseph Haight,
John Harris, William Harris, Abraham Lincoln, Timothy Matlack,
Peter Muhlenberg, Violet Oakley, Richard Penn, William Penn, George Read,
Joseph Ritner, and Henry Wharton. The collection's
earliest dated item, 1564, is a German-language Bible in a Martin Luther translation.
Other sixteenth-century items include rubbings of the Buckinghamshire funerary
brasses of the Penn family, as well as several antique books on Penn and the
Quakers, and another on the royal acts of Charles II. Among remaining
items are various collections of family papers, minute and letter books of
various Pennsylvania
societies,
notebooks, scrapbooks, autograph albums and audio-visual records.
Family Papers:
- Engle Family Papers, 1854-1858, n.d., 3
vols. Relating to descendants of Ulrich Engle, residents of Dauphin and
Lancaster counties. Items include a diary, 1854-1858, with entries on farming,
weather conditions, etc., a copy of Morris M. Engle's History of The Engle
Family in America, 1754-1929, n. d., and a German language Bible with family
register.
- Flickinger Family Papers, 1834-1891, 12
items. Miscellaneous correspondence, church records, tax records, etc.,
of the Flickinger family of Perry County.
- Miller Family Papers, 1844-1849, 1862, 13
items. Correspondence, especially letters of Andrew Miller, Jr., as a student
at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, of the Miller family of Harrisburg
and Cumberland County.
- Ream Family Papers, 1750-1862, 1947, 1951,
23 items. Land papers, 1750-1862, and two printed copies of Historical Sketch
of Reamstown, Pennsylvania,
1947, 1951, of the Ream family, Reamstown, Cocalico
Township, Lancaster
County.
- Sloan-Gordon Family Papers, 1813-1934, n.
d., .5 cu. ft. Correspondence, genealogical information, newspaper clippings,
and photographs of the marriage-related Sloan and Gordon families of Monongahela,
Washington County.
- Printed copy of Governor Curtin's Inaugural Address delivered January
15, 1861, printed Harrisburg, PA by Boyd Hamilton, State Printer, 1861.
·
W. J. McCarty's "The Pools
of Towanda, Pa., A Mixed Blood Community," a manuscript history of the
Pool family, Towanda, n. d., 6 pp.
Minute Books, Letter Book, etc.:
- Franklin Literary Association, Annville
Academy: minute book, 1856-1860, 1 vol.
- Harrisburg Bible Society: minute book, 1866-1881,
1 vol.
- Samuel Hazard letter book: 1757-1758, 1
vol.
- Hummelstown Fire Company: minute book, 1816-1862,
1 vol.
- Know-Nothing Party, Guard of Liberty, Camp
#1: minute book, 1854-1855, 1 vol.
- Harrisburg lodge of the Native American
Party, which aided materially in the election of Governor James Pollock,
1855. Includes a membership roll.
- Mechanics Band of Canonsburg: treasurer's
books, 1833, 2 vols.
·
Pennsylvania Bookmen's League: minute book, 1927-1942, 1 vol.
Includes treasurer's reports, 1928-1942.
Notebooks, Scrapbooks, etc.:
- Alice E. Barker Scrapbooks, 1919-1936, 2
vols. Scrapbooks embracing programs for musical and dramatic performances
attended mainly in the Harrisburg area. They include programs of the Harrisburg
Symphony, Wednesday Club, Harrisburg Civic Opera, Schubert Club, concerts
and plays in local churches and high schools.
- George P. Donehoo Scrapbooks, 1916, 1920-1921,
3 vols. Scrapbooks of clippings regarding Donehoo, who was a member and
secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission, 1911-1921, and state
librarian, 1921-1924.
- R. Willis Fair Scrapbook, 1907-1922, 1 vol.
Volume contains information on prohibition and local option in Pennsylvania,
the history of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, and especially the Capitol Investigation
Commission which investigated the graft involved in the construction of
the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Fair, who served in the Pennsylvania House
of Representatives from Westmoreland County during the 1907 and 1909 sessions,
was a member of the Capitol Investigation Commission.
- Robert Proud Notebooks, ca. 1775-1800, 3
vols. Notebooks, in the handwriting of Robert Proud, historian, relating
to Pennsylvania's population, commerce, number of slaves, boundaries, etc.
Special notes pertaining to Philadelphia are included.
- George W. Woodward Notebook, 1859-1860, 1 vol. Notebook containing data
and comments on cases before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, prepared
by George W. Woodward (b. 1809, d. 1875), a judge on the Supreme Court,
1852-1857. Included are the names of cases for the period from October 1859
to June 1860, with personal comments, questions, and other notations relating
to particular cases. In addition, one page contains an account of a conversation
in 1860 between Judge Woodward and Judge William Strong regarding the presidential
election outlook for the Democratic Party.
- 2 Booklets: Penn Ways published by Pennsylvania Department of Highways
and published by Department of Instruction, January 1929; Pennsylvania
Day, published by Pennsylvania Department of Instruction, March 2, 1928.
- George P. Donehoo Scrapbook, 1906-1923. Donehoo was a member and secretary
of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission from 1911-1921, state librarion
from 1921-1924, and president of the Potter County Historical Society.
Autograph Albums:
- Signatures of members of the Constitutional
Convention of 1837-1838, 2 vols.
- Autographs of the governor, heads of departments,
members and officers of the legislature, 1849, 1 vol.
- Signatures of the governor, heads of departments,
and members of the House of Representatives, 1858-1861, 1 vol.
Audio-Visual Records:
- Dwight D. Eisenhower's Birthday Party and Stag Party, Hershey PA, 1953 and 1963 (2 film reels)
- Miscellaneous Pennsylvania Manuscripts, 1626-1998. (76 boxes and 94 volumes)
{#8m.1} [Holdings]