Collections

The Binney family papers, compiled by Boston real estate agent Amos Binney in the late 1800s, contain correspondence, documents, newspapers, and photographs related to his ancestors John Binney, Amos Binney, and Horace Binney, Jr. John and Amos Binney served in the War of 1812, and Horace was a lawyer in Philadelphia. The collection also includes a published copy of Genealogy of the Binney Family in the United States, with manuscript annotations and enclosures.

Amos Binney, a Boston real estate agent, compiled the Binney papers (57 items) in the late 1800s. They include correspondence, documents, newspapers, and photographs related to his ancestors John Binney, Amos Binney, and Horace Binney, Jr.

The Correspondence and Documents series, originally housed in a red leather file folder, consists of several thematically distinct groups of material. The first is a series of six letters that Captain John Binney wrote to his brother Amos between 1809 and 1811, about his military service near Wiscasset, Maine. He defended his honor against recent defamations, discussed supplies for the forts under his command, and commented on the international tension immediately preceding the War of 1812. This group also includes an indenture for land Binney purchased in Plymouth County, Massachusetts (October 18, 1813).

The next group of items is a pair of legal documents concerning Horace Binney, Jr., and a transaction involving land in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The documents list payments made between 1844 and 1852. The third group is a set of three letters between the younger Amos Binney and the United States auditor of the treasury concerning the Binney family genealogy. Binney requested information about Amos and John, his ancestors (particularly their military service), and received responses from Samuel Blackwell (August 18, 1894) and F. M. Ramsay (September 5, 1894). The series also holds an undated letter written by John A. Binney and a map showing property bordered by North, East, Bridge, and Short Streets in an unknown town.

• Nonconsecutive issues of the Boston Castigator, bound together (August 7, 1822-October 2, 1822)
• The Independent Bostonian (October 5, 1822)
• American Statesman and Evening Advertiser, with several additional clippings pertaining to Amos Binney's service as navy agent in Boston (November 18, 1822)
• Bostonian & Mechanics' Journal (November 23, 1822)
• Boston Patriot & Daily Mercantile Advertiser (November 25, 1824)

The third series is a printed, annotated copy of Genealogy of the Binney Family in the United States , which includes enclosures compiled by the younger Amos Binney in the 1890s. Several entries, such as those on Amos and John Binney, have margin notes. The annotations and loose items provide additional information on the family's history, and include family trees, letters between the younger Amos Binney and his uncle, and photographs of Binney family residences and graves.

The Pennsylvania legal record book contains indentures, wills, and other documents from the early 18th century. Most items pertain to property ownership in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

The Pennsylvania legal record book (463 pages) contains copies of indentures, wills, and other documents dating from the early 1700s to around 1760. The majority of entries are indentures between individuals for land in Pennsylvania, often in or around Philadelphia. The Penn family and other prominent Pennsylvania residents are represented, as are some residents of Rhode Island. Manuscript property maps accompany some of the documents. Pages 151-168 have a group of wills related to the Wanton family; William Wanton's will mentions two male slaves (p. 159). Quit rent and other topics are also addressed.

This collection contains legal and financial documents related to Robert Caldwell and his son Washington, both of Penn Township, Pennsylvania. Material includes indentures and court documents related to Robert Caldwell's land holdings, as well as receipts and court records reflecting Washington's career as a carpenter and, later, his service as a justice of the peace for Allegheny County.

This collection contains legal and financial documents related to Robert Caldwell and his son Washington, of Penn Township, Pennsylvania. The first item is an indenture between Samuel and Margaret Caldwell of Salem, Pennsylvania, and Robert Caldwell, related to the estate of the recently deceased Joseph Harvey (January 24, 1823). The bulk of the material dates from 1840 to 1901, and documents the property interests of Robert Caldwell, as well as the financial and legal affairs of his son. Early items (1840-1872) consist of indentures, court records, and other documents, primarily pertaining to land in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Also included are several early bonds (late 1840s), as well as testimonies from several court cases, including Caldwell's disputes with William and Sophia Whitfield, John P. Schuster et al., George Miller, and Robert M. Callen. A survey map that Caldwell commissioned from E. H. Heastings, shows land along Plum Creek, near Millersville (December 28, 1854).

Later material pertains to the financial and legal affairs of Washington Caldwell, beginning with his assumption of administrative powers over his father's estate (March 25, 1873). Several receipts dated throughout the late 1800s relate to the purchase of carpentry supplies, and a series of court documents from 1899-1900 concern legal cases he presided over while a justice of the peace for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, particularly wage disputes against Daniel Moore. Other material includes insurance policies from various companies, covering Washington Caldwell's property in Verona, Pennsylvania (1886-1892).

Two broadsides document Robert Caldwell's efforts to arrest a burglar (December 21, 1843), and Washington Caldwell's sale of his deceased father's "Frame Grist and Saw Mill" (January 23, 1875).

The Samuel and Joseph Mechlin collection is made up of 10 legal documents, at least 9 of which pertain to the financial affairs of Samuel Mechlin of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and his nephew, Joseph Mechlin of Colebrookdale Township, Pennsylvania. The documents concern property in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and payments to the children and other heirs of Mathias Tuttrow of Colebrookdale, Pennsylvania.

The first 2 items, in German, are dated December 12, 1692, and 1755. The first document pertains to Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the second is signed by Jacob Mechlin. A group of 3 indentures between Samuel Mechlin and Daniel Endt, Catherine Zacharias Endt (daughter of John Zacharias), and Baltas Reser (exector of John Zacharias's estate) pertain to Mechlin's purchase of property in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1764.

A later series of documents releases Jacob Mechlin from financial obligations to Matthias Roth (also referred to as Matthias Roads), guardian of Maria "Esshenboch" [Eschenbach?] (1 item, August 10, 1771), and to the children of the late Mathias Tuttrow (also referred to as Mathias Tudrow) (3 items, January 12, 1778-December 1782). Mechlin held a sum of money in trust for Tuttrow, and distributed money to Tuttrow's children and other named heirs, including Phillip Tuttrow, Andrew Fetzer, and Solomon Tuttrow.

The final item is a mortgage between Samuel Mechlin and George Schneider of Bristol, Pennsylvania, pertaining to property that Mechlin purchased from the heirs and executors of John Zacharias (March 22, 1784). The mortgage specifies the method of payment as "Spanish milled Silver Dollars," therein described.