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These two volumes contain records of job seekers that hired the Keystone Employment Bureau of Philadelphia to connect them with opportunities. Proprietor Charles Bradley kept this documentation. Each entry contains one or more of the following types of information: source of the client, address or contact information, age, rudimentary physical description, personality, impression, job experience, type of requested work, type of work not wanted by individuals, desired wage, race, ethnicity, nationality, Christian affiliation, desired geographical location of the job, whether or not the client paid, and other remarks.

These two volumes contain records of job seekers that hired the Keystone Employment Bureau of Philadelphia to connect them with opportunities. Proprietor Charles Bradley kept this documentation. Each entry contains one or more of the following types of information: source of the client, address or contact information, age, rudimentary physical description, personality, impression, job experience, type of requested work, type of work not wanted by individuals, desired wage, race, ethnicity, nationality, Christian affiliation, desired geographical location of the job, whether or not the client paid, and other remarks.

Source of Client: Rarely, Bradley would note the names of persons or institutions (like the Christian Association) who referred the job seeker to him or whether they saw his advertising. Some women appear to have been homeless and others specifically noted that they came from foster homes. Each entry includes an address or means of contacting the client.

Women's Age, Physical Descriptions, Personality/Impressions: Terms used by Bradley include young, not young, middle age, oldish, steady, splendid, nice looking, fair haired, tall, settled, green horn, experienced, competent, reliable, willing, good, extra good, affable, strong, stout, neat, tidy, and more.

Men's Age, Physical Descriptions, Personality/Impressions: Terms used by Bradley include young, neat, strong, tall, athletic, willing, honest looking, smooth faced, and others.

Job Experience: Bradley would add "exper" (experienced) to many entries, but occasionally specified the individual's type of work background. Some examples include florist, farmer, cook, "can cook anything that ever was cooked," hotel, dressmaker, gardener, horse tending, mill worker, "handy with tools," cafe, one "Fresco Painter," and others. At times, he also noted if the job seeker had references.

Women's Types of Work Requested: "G.H.W." (general housework), cook, kitchen helper, waitress, chambermaid, "anything useful," "work of any kind," "Institution work," child's nurse or attendant, renting rooms, hotel, linen rooms, laundry, washing, ironing, milk dealer employee, restaurant, "1st class place," "housekeeping for a widower," shoe store, and others.

Men's Types of Work Requested: Bartender, "waiterman," "elevator," coachman, watchman, and gate tender.

Types of Work Not Wanted by Individuals: Examples include "no washing," "not too heavy work," "housework where there is no washing or ironing," "anything but head cook," and "anything except waiterman cooking or milking."

Wages: Rarely, applicants stated the wages they hoped to receive. For women, the ranges mentioned were between $2.00 and $5.00 per week; for men, the ranges were $7.00 to $10.00 per week.

Race, Ethnicity, Nationality: Terms used by Bradley include colored/col'd, German, Pennsylvania Dutch, Irish, Swedish, Polish, Scotch, English, and "American."

Christian Affiliation: Bradley frequently noted "Prot" (Protestant) or "Cath" (Catholic) as part of the descriptions of persons seeking employment.

Desired Geographical Situations: The various locations desired by clients included country, city, seashore, mountains, Atlantic City, "prefer city," "would go out on a farm," "no objection to country," "small farm," "not out of town," and others.

Additional Notes: Other qualifications, desires, and remarks include notes such as "speaks good English," "speaks German," wants to be able to go home at night, wants Sunday's off, "has sore finger," "deaf" (May 27, 1898), wants to work for "American women," marital status, child dependents, one married woman with her husband out of work, and more.

The Suckley family papers provide documentation of family life, mercantile business, and the Methodist Church in antebellum New York City.

This Suckley collection is only a small residuum of a much larger collection, yet what remains provides important documentation of several aspects of nineteenth century life, particularly relating to commercial life in antebellum New York City and the Methodist Church.

Boxes 1 and 2 consists primarily of in-coming correspondence dated between 1791 and 1839, centering on the personal and professional life of George Suckley, with the earliest material originating in the family of his first wife, Miss Lang, in England. The letters contain some information on English Methodism (1:1-6, 16-18). Of particular interest are the letters of the Methodist missionary, Francis Asbury (1:10-11) and of the wife of Richard Reece, who began his itinerant ministry in 1787 (The Christian Advocate and Journal, May 13, 1846, contains a brief sketch of Reece's life). The letters of Catherine Rutsen Suckley and Joseph Holdich include discussions of the Methodist Church in America, and the missionary Freeborn Garretson, is discussed in several letters (1:21-23,25,26,32).

George Suckley's business correspondence includes dealings with the English firm of Holy, Newbould and Suckley (1:33-42,47) and two sets of letters from agents who Suckley retained to manage his vast land holdings, John Reed in upstate New York and John Rangeley in Maine. Among the personal correspondence are several letters from Philadelphia lawyer(?) Cornelius Comegys and letters from three of George Suckley's sons. John Lang Suckley wrote frequently to request money to pay his servants; Rutsen Suckley assisted in managing his father's properties, and Thomas Holy Suckley was a college student.

Box 3 contains family correspondence written after George's death in 1846. Among the family members represented are George's children Rusten, Mary, and Thomas Holy Suckley, and his grandson Dr. George Suckley (1830-1869). George's letters are the most intrinsically interesting, as they were written during a period in the 1850s when he was practicing in Oregon and Washington Territory and considering land investments in California. During this same period, Dr. Suckley was the recipient of several letters from David and Jack Green (apparently cousins of some sort). One item (3:39) relates to George's Civil War service. The later correspondence heavily concerns New York charities. One interesting letter (3:52) is a stableman's apology for drunkenness on Christmas.

Boxes 5 through 9 are arranged in folders by subject. Of particularly interest are materials that document the various New York City rental properties owned by Rutsen Suckley, recording rents collected and upkeep expenses between the 1840s and 1870s. The cost of living in New York can be calculated from bills and receipts for a wide range of products and services.