PA State Archives - MG-147 - Scope and Content Note

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MG 147
JOHN ANDERSON PAPERS
1684-1904
14 cu. ft.

Correspondence and land papers of Dr. John Anderson (b. 1770, d. 1840) and various family members. Dr. Anderson was a graduate of Dickinson College, 1789, and of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, 1791. At various times, Anderson was the prothonotary, register, recorder, commissioner, and deputy surveyor of Bedford County; president of the Juniata Coal Company and of the Allegheny Bank of Pennsylvania, Bedford; and an owner of vast acreage, some of which provided a right-of-way for the Chambersburg and Bedford Turnpike Company. The latter business operation was one of Anderson's most ambitious projects. Dr. Anderson devoted himself in the latter part of his life to the development of the famed Bedford Mineral Springs, records of which are included. His wife, Mary Espy Anderson (b. 1779, d. 1815), was a granddaughter of Colonel George Woods, who settled in Bedford in 1751, and a daughter of Colonel David Espy, an officer of the Revolutionary War and a delegate to the provincial convention held at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, 1775. Papers of George Woods, David Espy, Espy L. Anderson (son of John Anderson), and Major William Watson Anderson (son of Espy L. Anderson), are also included, as are papers of other members of the marriage-related Espy, Woods, and Watson families. Also contained in the papers are Bedford County Militia records, 1775-1794, and a considerable number of Civil War letters.

Correspondence of Dr. John Anderson, 1785-1809:

Andrew Allen	Espy L. Anderson	J. P. Anderson
Thomas Astley	Robert H. Awl	Richard Bache
Hugh Barclay	John Y. Barclay	William Barton
William J. Bell	Horace Binney	James Blaine
Samuel Breck	Enos Bronson	Edward Burd
Pierce Butler	Thomas Cadwalader	George Campbell
William Cathcart	Richard Caton	John Reynolds Coates
Robert H. Coleman	Charles Coxe	John Coxe
Richard Coxe	Tench Coxe	William Coxe
Henry Drinker, Jr.	James Dunlop	Peter Stephen DuPonceau
Joseph Joshua Dyster	James Eakin	Isaac Eaton
David Espy	James Finley	James C. Fisher
Samuel W. Fisher	George D. Foulke	Hyman Gratz
Simon Gratz	Robert Hambleton	James Hamilton
William Hartley	Isaac Hazlehurst	William Hodgson
John Holliday	Henry Hollingsworth	Thomas Jones
John Kidd	Abraham Kintzing	George Latimer
James Latimer	David Lenox	George A. Madeira
John F. Mifflin	William Orbison	Jeremiah Parker
William Parker	Isaac Parrish	Robert Patterson
Richard Peters	William Phillips	John Pickering
Octavius Pickering	Samuel Pleasants	William Proctor, Jr.
James Ross	Dr. Benjamin Rush	Alexander Scott
James Searight	George Sheaff	George W. Smith
Joseph Smith	Richard Smith	William Peters Smith
William Steel	Thomas Stewardson	Samuel Stillman
William W. Taylor	John Tod	William H. Tod
George Vaux	Duncan S. Walker	Jonathan H. Walker
William Waln	Henry Wertz, Jr.	Joseph Warton
Samuel Wharton	Rev. William White	Jacob C. Wikoff
Jasper Yeates

Land Papers, 1684-1838

Miscellaneous papers, 2 cu. ft.

General Accounts, 1761-1840

Accounts, 2.5 cu. ft., including day books, 1811-1823, 5 vols., of Dr. John Anderson; as well as miscellaneous accounts of the Bedford County Court House and Prison; of the Bedford Academy; of the Chambersburg and Bedford Turnpike Company; of the Allegheny Bank of Pennsylvania, Bedford; and of the Bedford and Stoystown Turnpike Company.

Bedford Mineral Springs Records, 1762-1904

Included are 1.3 cu. ft. of accounts, 1796-1887; broadsides, 1832-1840; land papers, 1762-1817; legal papers, 1854-1882; pamphlets, 1825-1904; and photographs, 1817-1898. Also found is correspondence, 1832-1887, with the following individuals:

Robert H. Awl	Thomas R. Bird	James Boyd
John H. Briggs	Charles Brodhead	John H. Carroll
Thomas Carstairs	John Cessna	Mrs. S. S. Halderman Chickies
John Devereux	Henry A. Dreer	George Espy
William H. Hager	John H. Hampton	F. A. Kelker
George W. Lyon	Henry McCormick	Wistar Morris
H. B. Pennock	George Wharton Pepper	Edmund J. Plowden
M. S. Quay	Cadwalader Ringgold	Dr. Fairfax Schley
Joseph Swift	A. B. Warford

Papers of George Woods, 1762-1827

Papers of George Woods (d. 1795), a noted surveyor, who laid out the city of Pittsburgh, 1784; treasurer of Bedford County, 1773, 1774; member of the General Assembly, 1773; member of the Committee of Correspondence, Bedford County, 1774, 1775; colonel of the Second Battalion, Bedford County Militia from 1776 until the end of the Revolution; member of the Supreme Executive Council, 1777-1779; member of the State Board of Property, 1788, 1789; judge of Bedford County courts, 1790; and grandfather of Mary Espy Anderson. Included are land papers, 1762-1808; accounts, including the estate settlement, 1795-1827; and correspondence, with such correspondents as:

Thomas Astley	William Barton	Baynton, Wharton & Morgan
Frederick R. Beates	Mark John Biddle	Ephraim Blaine
Hugh Henry Brackenridge	James Bringhurst	David Brodhead
James Burnside	George Campbell	John Canan
Andrew Carson	Patrick Cassidy	John Cessna
George Chambers	Benjamin Chew	George Clymer
John R. Coates	Thomas Collins	Charles Coxe
James Coxe	John Coxe	William Coxe
Thomas Crossan	James Dickinson	Henry Drinker, Jr.
Thomas Duncan	George Elder	Samuel Finley
Alexander Fullerton	Robert Galbraith	Mary Gettys
Josiah W. Gibbs	Sebastian Graff	Reuben Haines
James Hamilton	Edward Hand	James Harris
John Heaton	Michael Hillegas	Levi Hollingsworth
R. L. Hooper, Jr.	James Hunter	Jared Ingersoll
William Irvine	Joseph Kirkbride	William Lane
George Latimer	Nathan Lufborough	John Lukens
William Lyons	John McKissick	John Marshall
Hugh Means	John F. Mifflin	William Montgomery
Benjamin R. Morgan	Israel Morris	Robert Morris
William Mott	Richard Neave, Jr.	John Nicholson
John Nixon	James Orbison	John Ormsby
Jeremiah Parker	William Parker	Richard Peters
Jonathan Potts	Samuel Powell	Augustus Prevost
James Purviance, Jr.	John H. Purviance	Robert Purviance
Samuel Rhoads	James Ross	Dr. Benjamin Rush
William Sheaff	Robert Sinclaire	John Skinner
John Smith	Thomas Smith	Samuel Stillman
Richard Tea	William H. Tod	Joseph Vickroy
John Wells	George Wescott	Joseph Wharton
John Woods	John Young

Papers of David Espy, 1771-1804

Papers of David Espy (b. 1730, d. 1795), lawyer; member of the Council of Public Safety, 1776; colonel of the Bedford County Militia, 1776; prothonotary of Bedford County, 1778-1790; and father of Mary Espy Anderson. Correspondents include James Armstrong, A. J. Dallas, Daniel Duncan, Benjamin Elliot, William Hartley, David Hoge, John Hubley, John Nicholson, John Ormsby, Thomas Smith, James Trimble, Samuel Waugh, John Woods and Paul Zantzinger. Also present are legal papers, 1771-1795, and accounts, including estate settlement, 1795-1804.

Papers of Espy L. Anderson, 1820-1872

Papers, 1.5 cu. ft., of Espy L. Anderson (b. 18 10, d. 1866), son of Dr. John Anderson and Mary Espy Anderson. Included are accounts, 1820-1872, and printed items, 1839-1858, including Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Transportation Department of the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad, 1858. Correspondents include:

Major William Watson Anderson (Civil War letters, 1861-1865)	Thomas R. Bird	James Blaine
Thomas S. Blair	James Boyd	John H. Briggs
Benjamin Chambers	George Chambers, Jr.	Samuel Chew
Andrew Gregg Curtin	John White Geary	Jacob M. Haldeman
Francis Jordan	Kelker & Brothers	J. H. McCauley
Henry McCormick	Charles B. Penrose	Rev. Alonzo Potter
James Ross	Casper Shunk	Richard Smith
Thomas Smith	Thaddeus Stevens	A. B. Taliaferro
S. Morris Waln	John Watson

Papers of William Watson Anderson, 1857-1866

Papers of William Watson Anderson (b. 1839, d. 1865), son of Espy L. Anderson; major, 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry; killed at Harpers Ferry, 1865. Papers contain Civil War letters, 1861-1865; correspondence with John Cessna, William Orbison, and A. S. Russell; accounts, 1860-1866; military papers, 1861-1865; and photographs, n. d.

Family Papers, 1762-1900

Included are papers of the following family members:

Ann Jane Anderson (b. 1811, d. 1818), daughter of Dr. John Anderson: correspondence, n. d.
Edward Harrison Anderson (b. 1855, d. 1893), son of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1869-1888; accounts, 1851-1893.
Espy L. Anderson Heirs: correspondence, 1858-1887; accounts, 1853-1896.
George Espy Anderson (b. 1843, d. 1885), son of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1861-1872; accounts, 1860-1877.
Dr. George Woods Anderson (b. 1808, d. 1877), son of Dr. John Anderson: correspondence, 1829-1877; accounts, 1818-1877.
Dr. James Ross Anderson (b. 1841, d. 1873), son of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1857-1871; accounts, 1852-1872.
John Anderson (b. 1837, d. 1900), son of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1856-1900; accounts, 1862-1896.
Louisa Harrison Anderson (b. 1850, d. 1924), daughter of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1862-1866.
Louisa H. Watson Anderson (b. 1817, d. 1884), daughter of Dr. William Watson and wife of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1834-1874 (Civil War letters, 1861-1865); accounts, 1866-1884.
Mary Espy Anderson (b. 1846, d. 1890), daughter of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1862, 1863 (Civil War letters); photographs, n. d.
Thomas Anderson (b. 1734, d. 1799), father of Dr. John Anderson: miscellaneous Bedford County papers, 1776-1800.
Eliza Watson Anderson Beatty (b. 1848, d. 1904), daughter of Espy L. Anderson and wife of Irvin Beatty, Harrisburg: correspondence, 1863-1873; photographs, 1869-1900.
David Espy, Jr. (b. 1777, d. 1824), captain of Bedford County Militia, brother of Mary Espy Anderson: business accounts, 1805-1824; military papers, 1812-1819.
George Espy (b. 1785, d. 1854), brother of Mary Espy Anderson: correspondence, 1812-1851; business acounts, 1785-1854.
Mary Woods Anderson Johnston (b. 1813, d. 1872), daughter of Dr. John Anderson and wife of Frank Johnston, Pittsburgh: correspondence, 1850.
Ann Woods Ross (b. 1771, d. 1805), daughter of George Woods and wife of James Ross: accounts, 1798.
James Ross, Jr. (b. 1799, d. 1851): correspondence, 1821-1848; accounts, 1817-1849; photographs, n. d.
John Watson (b. 1813, d. 1862), brother-in-law of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1837-1862; accounts, 1817-1862.
Dr. William Watson (b. 1778, d. 1835), father-in-law of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1802-1835.
Dr. William Hartley Watson (b. 1812, d. 1868), brother-in-law of Espy L. Anderson: correspondence, 1824-1868; accounts, 1839-1891.
Henry Woods (b. 1755, d. 1826), son of George Woods: correspondence, 1806-1821; accounts, 1794-1837.
John Woods (d. 1817), son of George Woods: correspondence, 1787-1800; accounts, 1766-1812.
Thomas Woods (b. 1743, d. 1793), brother of George Woods; deputy sheriff, Bedford County; Indian trader: correspondence, 1771-1793; accounts, 1762-1801.

DR. JOHN ANDERSON

General Correspondence, 1785-1839. (4 boxes) {#147m.1}
Land Papers, 1684, 1708-1838, undated. (4 boxes) {#147m.2}
Maps, undated. (2 items) {#147m.3}
General Accounts, 1761-1840, undated. (5 boxes) {#147m.4}

BEDFORD MINERAL SPRINGS

General Correspondence, 1832-1887, undated. (6 folders) {#147m.5}
General Accounts, 1796-1887, undated. (23 folders) {#147m.6}
Photographs, 1817-1898. (12 items) {#147m.7}
Family Papers, 1762-1900. (10 boxes and 6 folders) {#147m.8}
Bedford County and Miscellaneous Items, 1745-1871. (6 folders and 22 items) {#147m.9}
Bedford County Militia Records, 1775-1794. (1 box) {#147m.10}

The container listings for this Manuscript Group are available for viewing and word-searching in PDF format: [Holdings]

PA State Archives Hours, Directions, & Fees Research Topics Online Catalog Land Records