MSS 0098. Delaware Miscellaneous Historical Manuscripts

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Autograph letter from Delaware lawyer John Fisher to Continental Congressman from Delaware and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Caesar Rodney, regarding a libel case against the ship, Superior, on October 6, 1812. John Fisher also served as Delaware politician and United States District Court Judge.

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Thirteen letters from five Confederate soldiers imprisoned at Fort Delaware. The names of the soldiers are: Sam Spengler, Abraham Shillingburg, Joseph G. [Sager], Edward [Sheets], and Albert Snead. All were soldiers from the 10th Virginia Infantry, the 7th Virginia Cavalry, or the 23rd Virginia Infantry. Letters are written to Mrs. Nannie Sellman, or Mr. H. F. Hebb. Also included is one letter from a mother of one of the prisoners and one letter from a father of a prisoner.

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Billk Frank's collection of information and clippings regarding Delaware Senators and U. S. Representatives, particularly James A. Bayard and Thomas McKean. Also included is a letter from Jeffrey Welsh, the Press Secretary for the office of the Governor, concerning Buena Vista, a home that once served as the Governor's mansion.

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Clippings, articles, press releases, photographs, and other ephemera concerning the career of U.S. Senator John J. Williams, apparently gathered by Delaware journalist Bill Frank.

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Delaware papermaker Robert Gilmour's handwritten and signed letter to Philadelphia printer William Young documents the birth of a Delaware paper mill in 1794.

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Eighteenth-century land indenture between Hugh and Ann Glasford and Robert Ferguson for 223 acres in the White Clay Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, dated February 21, 1780.

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Handwritten court document detailing a suit brought by Sussex County, Delaware, resident Richard Goodwright against Thomas Thrustout for Peter Marsh's unlawful entry of Goodright's rented land and subsequent ejection of Goodwright as the tenant before the end of his rental term. The document includes the signature of William Peery, a member of the United States Continental Congress from Delaware and a Revolutionary War commander for a Lewes, Delaware, militia.

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Written copy of speech delivered by Deputy Governor of Colonial Pennsylvania, Charles Gookin, to the Delaware Assembly, on March 27, 1716, together with the response from the Assembly's Speaker, Jasper Yeates. Also included is a written copy of a speech delivered by Gookin to the Assembly on May 2, 1716. The speeches and the response concern difficulties between Gookin and the Assembly.

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The Granite Mansion Fund, Inc., papers include materials relating to the formation of the organization and its fundraising efforts to save the historic Granite Mansion structure from demolition in 1986.

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Small handwritten notes from Newark, Delaware, resident Elizabeth Gray to the village storekeeper requesting refills of a laudanum (opium-based painkiller) bottle.

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Delaware historian and journalist A. O. H. Grier (1867-1953) wrote to thank Wilmington native Blanche J. Swayne for her note congratulating him on the publication of his 1945 book, "This was Wilmington : a veteran journalist’s recollections of the 'good old days.'"

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Land indenture signed by John Hall of Wilmington, Delaware, attributed as being the first bookbinder in Delaware, to Alexander [Porver], dated December 26, 1772. This is possibly the only example of Hall's autograph.

Abstract Consists of three handwritten letters from Williard Hall, U.S. Representative (R-Delaware), lawyer, and judge from Delaware. The earliest of the three letters is a letter of recommendation for a resident of Delaware wishing for a clerkship in the Navy department. The second is a letter to Delaware Governor Charles Thomas on whether or not one could serve as a Governor and Speaker of the Senate at the same time. The third letter is addressed to Abraham Staats, Auditor of Accounts for the...

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One photocopy of Minerva Spencer Handy's biographical book, "Through the years with aunt Clara," based on correspondence and conversations between Clarissa Gordon Dilworth and the author from 1928 to 1938.

Abstract Eleven handwritten accident reports, eye witness accounts, and court declaration make up this small collection documenting an accident involving a horse-drawn wagon, driven by Robert Marshall Hannum, and Wilmington City Railroad Co. trolley car no. 15, on February 22, 1901 . Also included is the subsequent lawsuit brought by Mr. Hannum. Documentation includes accident reports completed by the conductor of the car, Adolph Edwards, and by the car’s motorman, William Anseaume, as well as the...

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Petition for divorce between Thomas Harris and M___ Harris, including a summary and testimony of the case.

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Typescript of a speech delivered by former U. S. Senator Daniel Hastings (R-Delaware) to the Wilmington Club at its one hundred and eighth annual meeting, celebrating the life of attorney William S. Hilles.

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Diploma granted to Caroline Virginia Hieskell by the Wesleyan Female Collegiate Institute in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 17, 1850.

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Letter from Robert A. Houston to Thomas Stockton, future governor of the state of Delaware, regarding the controversial appointment of Houston to an unnamed office in Delaware.

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One handwritten letter from tanner and currier Arthur Howell to Clement Laws about the falling sales and prices of finished leather in the Delaware Valley region.

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Land indenture from 1777 between Ebenezer Howell and his wife Sarah, from Cumberland County, New Jersey, to William Armstrong of Newark, Delaware.

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This group of twenty-four lengthy autograph letters, 1825-1845, from John C. Hull at various locations in Maryland, (West) Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, are addressed to his father-in-law John Thomson in Newark, Delaware, and are full of business and family news. (Three letters from Jane Thomson Hull to her father are also included in this small collection.)

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One photocopy of a biographical essay titled, "S. Marston Fox: 20th Century Civic Leader, Communist Lobbyist and Architect of Parkland and Historical Preservation," as well as a collection of documents relating to Fox, written shortly after his death, in 1984.

Abstract The papers contain three items related to William R. Jones. Includes is a handwritten will (amendment?) for Jones, which provides for the emancipation of his slaves after his death. Also included is a letter from Captain Daniel Woodall to Mrs. Jones, outlining the movements of the Delaware First Regiment from the time they left Norfolk, Virgina, through the Battle of Antietam, and descrbied the type of conditions the troops endured on the march and in battle. A letter from Jones to his wife...

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Letter from E. L. Kimball to Julian Janvier about the publication of Janvier's book on "the game" (draughts or checkers).