Business records

The Archives of Georgetown, Delaware, businesses is the gift of Milt Chaski, Jr., who acquired the material in one "odd lot" at an auction sale. The collection consists primarily of materials related to three prominent businesses that were active in Georgetown, Delaware, at the turn of and into the mid-twentieth century: J.W. Blizzard, Layton & Layton, and the Georgetown Gas Company.

The Biddle family papers preserve over one-hundred-and-fifty years of material related to this prominent Philadelphia, Pennsylvania family and detail extensively their professional lineage as attorneys, notary publics, and bankers during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Black Stone Press records includes correspondence, galleys, negatives, broadsides, books, six issues of Montana Gothic (a literary journal), ephemera and job files, and business records from the letterpress operated by Peter Koch in Missoula, Montana, 1974-1984.

Born in 1938, Armistead Willis Browning, Jr., was a landscape architect, environmentalist and teacher who dedicated his life to environmental preservation and education. The papers chronicle Browning's experience at three architectural firms, two main centers of education, and with numerous independent projects, symposia, and workshops.

The Burd Family Papers concern the business, legal, and personal affairs of the Burd family, prominent lawyers and landowners from Philadelphia from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, as well as the legal and business affairs of other branches of the extended family, including the Shippens and Coxes.

The Conard-Pyle Company of West Grove, Pennsylvania, was a large horticultural enterprise that specialized in the cultivation and hybridization of roses, best known for its famed Star Roses. The papers chronicle Conard-Pyle's evolution from a small-scale retail business to an influential wholesaler, as well as the financial, legal, and marketing concerns of a major nursery company.

The Conard-Pyle Company records supplement includes substantial additions to the series in the original collection, as well as records which constitute three new series related to the Atlantic Coast Nurseries, Inc., printed material, and Robert Pyle's professional papers.

The insurance records of Newark, Delaware, realtor, insurance agent, and notary Samuel Mathewson (S.M.) Donnell provide information about Newark property holders and building structures related to Donnell's job as agent for two insurance companies: Fire Association of Philadelphia and Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool, England.

The Graff family papers primarily depict the business lives of three generations of merchants and tradesmen in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Philadelphia. The majority of the receipts, letters, and contracts with dates spanning 1750-1856 represent the business affairs of Jacob Graff, his son Jacob, and his grandsons Frederick and Charles Graff.

John Wood Hall (1817-1892) was a merchant shipowner and Governor of Delaware. The Hall papers contain approximately five hundred records from John W. Hall's merchant and shipping businesses.

The L. Lee Layton, Jr., papers include personal and business papers of this well known Sussex countian and Dover-area businessman. Files relate to his business Layton & Company, and landholdings in Layton Farms and Cypress Farms. Mr. Layton maintained topical files on various political and social issues, as well as correspondence and publications related to his opinions. Additional papers belong to Mr. Layton's wife, Marianne Layton.

The Maulsby family papers include the business, legal and personal correspondence and other papers of businessman Samuel Maulsby (1792-1838)and his coal and lumber business. Papers relate to his coal and lumber business in general and more specifically to Thomas and Maulsby and Maulsby and Moore Lumber Companies.

The James R. Maxwell papers consist of the personal, professional, and family papers of James Maxwell, a resident of Newark, Delaware, and a civil engineer who worked for significant railroads in the American West and South America in the late 19th century.

Peter Owen publishing records is the publisher’s archive (1950s-1995) of an independent British firm renowned for its international list of major authors and avant garde works. The bulk of the collection consists of the production files of selected works, primarily from the 1980s and 1990s, including edited typescripts, proofs, and other materials documenting the process of turning an author’s manuscript into a finished book.

The Townsend family (of Delaware) papers consists of letters, accounts, and other business records, spanning the years 1809-1920, with the majority of the material falling between 1834 and 1894. The collection mainly consists of business letters sent to Samuel and John Townsend, political and personal letters sent to Samuel Townsend, and family correspondence, including twenty letters written by Edmund Townsend during the Civil War.