Legal Opinion of Roger B. Taney on Charles Ridgely's Will

Legal Opinion of Roger B. Taney on Charles Ridgely's Will
Date
October 7, 1828

Maryland Attorney General Roger Brooke Taney's writes this interpretation of Charles Ridgely' will in regard to the "land bought of Henry Darnall." Taney provides his opinion on this matter at the request of General Ridgely, who had inherited the

Location
I-SpahrB-1961-2
Time Period

Legal Document, Jonathan Levy et al. v. George Schnertzell

Legal Document, Jonathan Levy et al. v. George Schnertzell
Date
July 23, 1807

Roger Brooke Taney, who serves as the plaintiffs' attorney, writes this legal brief for the case Jonathan William Levy, Sarah Levy, John Leonard Levy, Maria Catharine Levy, and Anna Rebecca Charlotte Levy v. George Schnertzell.

Location
I-SpahrB-1971-1
Time Period

Legal Opinion of John Dickinson on George Churchman case

Legal Opinion of John Dickinson on George Churchman case
Date
June 16, 1770

Attorney John Dickinson writes this legal opinion regarding George Churchman's case, which is centered on a disagreement over land. "I have concluded ... that Churchman's title to the Land in Dispute, is good in Law," as Dickinson notes.

Location
I-SpahrB-1958-18
Time Period

Deed for Land Sold by John Dickinson to William Killen

Deed for Land Sold by John Dickinson to William Killen
Date
August 12, 1766

John Dickinson sells the tract of land, "Brothers Portion," near Dove, Kent County in Delaware to William Killen on August 12, 1766. Dickinson signs the deed with his personal seal and Caesar Rodney signs it as the Recorder.

Location
O-SpahrB-1965-3
Time Period

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate
Date
April 17, 1786
Benjamin Rush signs this affidavit that attests that Joseph Fletcher's payment certificate for service as a soldier is the property of Dickinson College. Fletcher's certificate, which is worth $80, is no. 77580 and dated July 1, 1784.
Location
I-SpahrB-1966-20
Time Period

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate
Date
April 17, 1786

Benjamin Rush signs this affidavit that attests that William Ford's payment certificate for service as a soldier is the property of Dickinson College. Ford's certificate, which is worth $80, is no. 77369 and dated July 1, 1784.

Location
I-Original-1786-1
Time Period

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate
Date
May 12, 1786

Benjamin Rush signs this affidavit that attests that Albion Guest's payment certificate for service as a soldier is the property of Dickinson College. Guest's certificate, which is worth $44, is no. 74942 and dated July 1, 1784.

Location
I-SpahrB-1940-3
Time Period

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate
Date
April 17, 1786

Benjamin Rush signs this affidavit that attests that Arthur [Gillas'?] payment certificate for service as a soldier is the property of Dickinson College. Arthur's certificate is no. 77395 and dated July 1, 1784.

Location
I-SpahrB-1951-6
Time Period

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate

Sworn Affidavit of Benjamin Rush about a Soldier's Pay Certificate
Date
April 17, 1786

Benjamin Rush signs this affidavit that attests that Christopher Finnigan's payment certificate for service as a soldier is the property of Dickinson College. Finnigan's certificate is no. 75525 and dated July 1, 1784.

Location
I-SpahrB-1960-7
Time Period

Josiah Albertson family papers

Day Book, 1839 (Box 1, folder 30)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1805-1855

The collection includes bills, receipts, letters, and account books of Josiah Albertson's lime and lumber business in Plymouth, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which he later held in partnership with his brothers, Jacob and Benjamin. Also included are papers relating to the Plymouth Railroad Company (1831-1844), the Gwynyd Friends Meeting, and family correspondence.

Location
MC 1999.14

Alexander Biddle family papers

Alexander Biddle Family Papers
Date Range
1793-1926

Alexander Biddle, the patriarch of the collection, was born on April 29, 1819 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas A. Biddle and Christine Williams Biddle. A member of a prominent and wealthy Philadelphia family, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1838 and became a successful lawyer—a profession that ran in his family and would continue in later generations. He married Julia Williams Rush in 1855—the granddaughter of Founding Father Benjamin Rush—which allows for both the Williams and Rush families to be well represented in this collection. It is Alexander, his wife Julia, and his seven children—Alexander, Henry, Julia, Wilmer, Louis, Marion, and Lynford, that make up a majority of this collection.

The Biddle Family Collection is housed in 11 document boxes. This collection consists primarily of correspondence between both friends and members of the Biddle Family as well as business associates. The collection is centered around Alexander Biddle (April 29, 1819—May 2, 1899), starting with him and progressing into an emphasis on his wife and children (Alexander, Henry, Julia, Wilmer, Louis, Marion, and Lynford) as well as other family members. The Rush family, via Alexander marrying into it, is also well represented.

These materials are arranged into the following 9 categories: Correspondence, Financial Materials, Legal Materials, Clubs/Societies, Invitations, Animal Business, Ephemera, Miscellaneous, and Photographs. This collection was generously donated by Samuel and Anna D. Moyerman.

Location
MC 2014.1

John Armstrong business papers

Survey map, June 1755 (Box 1, folder 10)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1755-1783

The collection contains papers related to John Armstrong's service as a surveyor in Cumberland County between 1755 and 1783. These papers include correspondence with the Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania and Delaware, John Lukens, complaints from his clients, and several survey maps drawn by Armstrong. Born in County Fermagh, Ireland in 1717, Armstrong emigrated to Pennsylvania with his wife, five brothers, and a sister. He established himself as a surveyor but in 1756 joined the militia as a captain during the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War). He led a victorious assault on the stronghold of Kittanning, earning forever the label "the Hero of Kittanning." After the war, Armstrong returned to surveying, being named deputy-surveyor in 1762. He later served several terms in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1788, and was a founding trustee of the Carlisle Grammar School and Dickinson College.

Location
MC 2001.4

Dr. Joseph Cullen Ayer family papers

Letter, Oct. 1859 (Box 1, folder 2)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1836-1918

The collection consists mainly of personal correspondence: fifty letters, most of which are from Carolyn Elizabeth Roberts Ayer to her husband Joseph Cullen Ayer (b. 1839) at various points in his life, beginning before their marriage (1861) when he was at Harvard; as a medical officer in the 18th Massachusetts Volunteers (1861-63); as a land speculator in Tennessee; and as a businessman in Boston. The collection also includes other family correspondence and legal materials, the latter comprised of family deeds and the settlement of Ayer's father's (Joseph Cullen Ayer, Sr. - 1846) and his mother's (Rachael Ellis Ayer-Washburn - c. 1888) estates. Miscellaneous materials include poetry and a medical thesis by Joseph Cullen Ayer, Sr.; printed materials contain three Civil War manuals.

Location
MC 1999.4

Charles Gilbert Beetem family papers

Account book, 1935-1936 (Box 5, folder 4)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1842-1968

The collection consists of the papers of Charles Gilbert Beetem, a Carlisle, PA rug manufacturer, local historian and genealogist, amateur artist, and omnivorous collector. Diaries, manuscripts, letters, advertisements, greeting cards, and extensive runs of Philadelphia and Carlisle turn-of-the-century theater programs are all included in the collection, as well as accounts of Carlisle and Cumberland County history. College memorabilia includes his own drawings for Dickinson's yearbook. The collection also contains the Conodoquinet Yacht Club Archives. Miscellaneous materials include journals and accounts for homes he designed and built as well as those for proposed real estate development in Carlisle. The correspondence reflects Beetem's longtime interest in U. S. island possessions, which is the subject of his large collection of publications and books housed in our library.

Location
MC 2002.7