Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission
Bureau of Archives and History
Pennsylvania State Archives
MG-96
SEQUESTERED JOHN NICHOLSON PAPERS
Series Descriptions
General Correspondence,
1772-1819.
(28 boxes) [Holdings]
{series #96m.1}
microfilm rolls #
Included is a letter book, 1779-1793; correspondence of John Nicholson, 1772-1819;
correspondence of T. B. Freeman, 1794-1799; and correspondence of William Moulder,
Jr., 1794-1800. Freeman and Moulder were business partners of Nicholson. The
correspondence covers a broad range of economic, political, and social developments,
both state and national, and includes letters from many of the leaders of the
period from nearly every part of the country.
Legal Papers,
1765-1800.
(5 boxes) [Holdings]
{series #96m.2}
Included are articles of agreement, 1768-1800; bond book, 1794, 1795; bonds,
1787-1795; contracts, 1793-1797; conveyances, 1785-1795; deed polls, 1784-1794;
deeds, 1765-1796; letters patent, 1795; mortgages, 1795-1797; powers of attorney,
1790-1800; proposals, 1784-1798; protest notes, 1790-1800; quit claims, 1793-1795;
subpoenas, 1795-1798; summonses, 1794-1799; and general legal papers, 1784-1800.
Many of these documents relate to estates which Nicholson settled; others bear
upon the settlement of his own estate.
General Business Accounts,
1776-1800.
(16 boxes) [Holdings]
{series #96m.3}
These include index of accounts, 1797; accounts of notes, 1794-1797; bill
books, 1793-1796; calculation books, 1790; cash or waste books, 1778-1790; catalogue
(persons and families supported by Nicholson), undated; common place book, 1800;
diaries and indexes, 1785-1797; journals, 1789-1795; ledgers, 1785-1796; memoranda
books, 1780-1790; promissory notes, 1785-1800; road notes (construction), 1792;
stock books, 1792-1794; and vouchers and receipts, 1776-1800.
Individual Business Accounts,
1787-1800.
(4 boxes) [Holdings]
{series #96m.4}
Located here are business accounts for the following companies:
- Asylum Company Accounts: articles of agreement, 1794; journal, 1794,1795;
list of lands, undated; maintenance orders, 1794; and vouchers and receipts,
1794, 1795
- Bank Accounts: bank books, 1787-1794, 2 volumes, and check book, 1795-1798,
with the Bank of North America; bank books, 1793-1795, 3 volumes, and check
books, 1793-1796, 2 volumes, with the Bank of Pennsylvania; bank books, 1792-1795,
2 volumes, and check books, 1791-1796, 3 volumes, with the Bank of the United
States);
- John Bower Time Book, 1794, 1795
- Button Works Accounts: day book, 1794-1797; invoice book, 1796-1797; ledger,
1795, 1796; and receipt book, 1795, 1796
- Delaware and Schuylkill Navigation Canal Company Accounts: work receipts,
1792-1795 and waste books 1793-96, 2 volumes
- Henry Elouis Account Book: 1794-97
- Thomas Flood Account Book, 1795
- Frankford Creek, Ditchers Account Book, 1795
- T. B. Freeman and Company Accounts: index of accounts, undated; bill book,
1797; cash books, 1796, 1797, 3 volumes; memoranda books, 1796, 1797, 3 volumes;
petty ledger, 1797; sales on commissions, 1797; stock book, 1797; and vouchers
and receipts, 1797
- Glass Works Accounts: payroll books, 1794-1797, 2 volumes and petty expense
book, 1795-1797
- Matthias Hollenback Account Book, 1788, 1789
- William Moulder, Jr., Accounts: cash books, 1793, 1796, 3 volumes and vouchers
and receipts, 1797
- John Nicholson, Personal Accounts: account book, 1789; house construction
account book, 1790-1792; real estate improvement account book, 1787-1791;
and team to Wyoming account book, 1790
- Samuel Nicholson Account Book, 1789
- Robert Smock Estate Account Book, undated
- The Supporter or Daily Repast Accounts: articles of agreement, 1799,
1800; book of advertisers, 1799, 1800; index, undated; ledger, 1799, 1800;
subject matter books, undated, 2 volumes; and vouchers and receipts, 1799,
1800
- Washington, D.C., Development Accounts: accounts of commissioners' certificates,
1797-1800; accounts of squares in Washington, undated; legal papers, 1793-1800;
and second selection lots book, 1796-98).
Impeachment Papers,
1777-1794.
(4 boxes) [Holdings]
{series #96m.5}
These records have been arranged into two subseries. The first, State Financial
Accounts, 1777-1794, includes Account of Continental Army Certificates, 1792,
1793; Accounts in Continental Certificates: Errors Rectified, n. d.; Account of
My Negotiations for the State between Paper Money of the Emission of 1785 and
Specie by Order of Council, 1787, 1788; Accounts of Receipts and Expenditures
of the United States for the year 1794; Calculations of Certificates Received
and Exchanged, Book B, 1790; Certificates and State Money, 1788-1790, 2 volumes;
Checks of Continental Certificates Assigned for Pennsylvania, 1791-1793; and general
accounts, 1777-1794. The second series, Impeachment File, 1779-1794, contains
the articles of impeachment; copies of correspondence, chiefly from Alexander
Hamilton and Governor Mifflin, provided Nicholson in preparing for his defense;
notes on the articles of impeachment; transcripts of testimony; drafts of Nicholson's
defense statements; and copies of the legislative proceedings.
Estate Settlement Papers,
1783-1852.
(3 boxes)
{#96m.6} [Holdings]
Included are articles of agreement, 1807-1843; bonds, 1807-1843; deeds, 1800-1842;
and an Estate Settlement File, 1783-1852, containing correspondence, legal documents,
and reports of the several state commissioners involved and of the Nicholson Court
of Pleas.
For additional information on this collection, see: Guide to the Microfilm
of the John Nicholson Papers (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
Commission, 1967).