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Manuscript Group 68
HARRIS-FISHER FAMILY COLLECTION
1749-1880
7 cu. ft.


Personal and business correspondence, legal papers, and accounts, of Harrisburg founder John Harris II (b. 1727, d. 1791), his sons David (b. 1754, d. 1809) and Robert (b. 1768, d. 1851), and grandson George Washington Harris (b. 1798, d. 1882). The Fisher family is represented through a copy of will of George Fisher (b. 1732, d. 1771), founder of Middletown on the Susquehanna; papers of his son George Fisher II (b. 1765, d. 1853), an attorney at Harrisburg; the latter's sons Robert J. (b. 1806, d. 1888) and John A. (b. 1798, d. 1864); of the latter's son George Fisher III (b. 1838, d. 1875); and of General Alexander L. Russell (b. 1813, d.1885), brother-in-law of George Fisher III, veteran of the Civil War, and president of the Macedon Silver Mining Company of Nevada.

A partial listing of the papers would include 2 receipt books of John Harris II, 1749-69, 1760-91; correspondence of John Harris with John Nicholson, 1788-89; a copy of John Harris' last will and testament, 1790; letters to Robert Harris from James Bayard, Thomas Forster, Charles M. Reed, Thomas Sill, and others, 1810-44, embracing items connected with the Harrisburg and Presque Isle Land Company; a journal, 1811, of Robert Harris' tour of the northern route of a contemplated Harrisburg to Pittsburgh turnpike; Robert Harris' receipt book, 1809-13, as executor for William Kelso; agreements, 1852, between the heirs of Robert Harris; business correspondence, 1821-80, of George Washington Harris with Ephraim Banks, James Bayard, Chester Butler, Simon Cameron, W. Wallace Cook, James D. Dunlop, Amos Ellmaker, Samuel Ewing, John Findlay, John A. Fisher, John Fox, Reah Frazer, John Gardner, Jacob M. Haldeman, Robert Harris, Alexander Jordan, John Lyon, Edward McPherson, Edward P. Pearson, William W. Potter, James Sill, Thomas H. Sill, Jasper Slaymaker, Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Huston Sturdervant, John Sturdervant, and C. S. Todd.

Also featured are business letters, 1801-48, addressed to George Fisher II from Thomas Elder, Cadwalader Evans, and Robert Evans; letters, 1839-51, between John Adams Fisher and his father, George Fisher II; letters, 1839-45, between John Adams Fisher and his brother, Robert J. Fisher; a letter, 1840, from William Henry Harrison to John Adams Fisher; letters, 1862, between John Adams Fisher and David Wilmot; letters relating to George Fisher III's stay at the Collegiate Institute, Northampton, Massachusetts, 1854-55, his experiences at Yale College, 1855-58, and his service in the Civil War as a member of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 1861-62; and letters from E. M. Biddle, Joseph Casey, James H. Paine, and others, 1861-69, to General Alexander L. Russell pertaining to the Macedon Silver Mining Company of Nevada.

PA State Archives Hours, Directions, & Fees Research Topics Finding Aids for Collections Land Records