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Papers relate primarily to Levi Merkel (b. 1803, d. ca. 1876) and his two sons, Jacob W. (b. 1831) and David R. (b. 1835), prominent farmers and businessmen in the Shiremanstown-Mechanicsburg-Carlisle area of Cumberland County. Along with their agricultural pursuits, the Merkels were involved in banking, acted as business consultants, executors of estates, managers of trust funds, guardians of minors, etc. The papers embrace business and personal correspondence; diaries, 39 vols., of David R. Merkel; notes on religion, music, literature, economics, civil affairs, and experimental farming; marriage and death records; records of crop returns; general business and farming accounts; legal papers; a notebook, 1862-1866, containing a list of subscribers for a fund to purchase equipment for the Shiremanstown Guards, accounts of that organization, and personal accounts of David R. Merkel; and military draft exemption papers of David R. Merkel, 1862-1863.

• General Files, 1818-1912. (23 boxes) {#88m.1}

• The container listings for this Manuscript Group are available for viewing and word-searching in PDF format:
  • [Holdings (part 1)]
  • [Holdings (part 2)]