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The Alexander McMichael account book contains copies of the Pennsylvania merchant's receipts, dated 1770-1800. McMichael purchased rum, molasses, and other goods and services. Some receipts reflect rent payments and estate finances.

The Alexander McMichael account book contains copies of the Pennsylvania merchant's receipts, dated November 23, 1770-January 20, 1800. The accounts, written in multiple hands, pertain to McMichael's purchases of food and services. The volume documents 4 rent payments collected by John Oldden and William Zane on behalf of Mary Zane (July 20, 1782-April 21, 1783), as well as a collection made on behalf of her estate (February 10, 1783). Other individuals who held accounts with McMichael included Philadelphia banker Cadwalader Morris (1741-1795), Caleb and Amos Foulke, Daniel Benezet (1723-1797), and Joseph Whelan.

Between January 1851 and April 1852 David Barrows of Nicetown, Pennsylvania, kept these two paper-bound, stab-sewn diaries, which he labeled on their covers as "log books." He recorded his experiences working in his family's hosiery manufacturing business, providing many details of working with his siblings and mother on mitts, hose, stockings, and other products. Barrows frequently wrote about family dynamics, including content reflecting a troubled and abusive relationship with his father, who lapsed into bouts of drunkenness, verbal abuse, and absenteeism. In addition to these confrontations with his father, Barrows wrote other entries reflecting his efforts to secure his independent economic future and his struggling efforts to court Annie Rusby.

Between January 1851 and April 1852 David Barrows of Nicetown, Pennsylvania, kept these two paper-bound, stab-sewn diaries, which he labeled on their covers as "log books." He recorded his experiences working in his family's hosiery manufacturing business, providing many details of working with his siblings and mother on mitts, hose, stockings, and other products. He wrote about maintaining the ledger and dealing with bank accounts, receiving orders, repairing and sourcing tools, tracking wool prices, washing and tying stockings up, purchasing and getting yarn dyed various colors, contracting out the spinning of wool into yarn, working with the frame and loom, and other related business activities, providing insight into family-run manufacturing operations. Several entries reflect the broader economic environment, including a robbery of yarn from the family's shop (February 23, 1851) and a meeting of local stocking weavers to address some men "working under price" (March 10, 1851; March 12, 1851).

Barrows frequently wrote about family dynamics, including how he spearheaded business affairs during his father's trip to England, how his parents had to sleep in the front room due to stockings being hung in their chamber (April 1, 1852), working alongside his brothers and sisters on manufacturing tasks, and making fun of a young sibling whose fingers bled while winding yarn (March 11, 1852).

The diaries include content reflecting a troubled and abusive relationship with Barrows' father, who lapsed into bouts of drunkenness, verbal abuse, and absenteeism. Barrows wrote extensively about one particular episode where he and his mother followed his father, who responded with rage, saying, "he was not going to be watched & dictated to by a Prentice boy (he meant me)... & then he began to Dam us & said he would make the blood fly when he began & then he wished us all in hell & said he should do has he liked & he'd be Damed if any body should stop him he then said he would make a man of me... Oh! Lord I comit it all into thy care & keeping this might be with my Dear Mother keep her from being hurt or kiled by my Father..." (March 13, 1852). He recounted confronting his father about the episode, his father's apologetic response, and his retort "it was his actions that I took notice of more than his word" (March 15, 1852). In addition to these confrontations with his father, Barrows wrote other entries reflecting his efforts to secure his independent economic future. On March 11, 1852, he noted his idea to start his own manufacturing operation producing "some kind of goods, that Father did not make, and then let him sell them for me to his customers."

The desire to establish his own business was likely spurred by his struggling courtship with Annie Rusby, which Barrows wrote about throughout the two volumes. He recorded when he wrote and received letters, and one entry documents her efforts to break their betrothal, "she said a great deal to me about my poor situation in life," and his bristling at being "hen pecked by a person that I intend to have for my wife" (February 27, 1852). His mother approached him about a rumor circulating that he had been secretly wed, which he denied (March 28, 1851), providing further insights into a young adult's romantic pursuits and his interpersonal dynamics while entangled in a family business.

The George Steiner papers consist of correspondence and financial records documenting Steiner's business in the wheat and flour trade in central Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s. The collection reflects the relationship between the prices of wheat, flour, and other dry foodstuffs in England and in the United States.

The George Steiner papers consist of correspondence and financial records documenting Steiner's storekeeping and involvement in the wheat and flour trade in central Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s. The collection holds 242 items, of which 224 are incoming letters to Steiner, primarily business correspondence, and 18 receipts and financial accounts. The Correspondence series pertains mainly to Steiner's business affairs in Water Street, Pennsylvania, and includes correspondence with associates throughout central Pennsylvania, as well as in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Several agents from Philadelphia regularly reported the fluctuating prices of flour and wheat, which changed with the arrival of transatlantic steamers from Liverpool and other European ports. Though most of the material relates to the trade of wheat, flour, rye, cornmeal, and similar products, one letter regards Steiner's receipt of "India Cholagogue" (September 3, 1849), and another concerns a request by M. T. Wallace & Company, a Brooklyn-based supplier of medical tonics, for Steiner's to act as their agent for central Pennsylvania (June 2, 1849). One partially printed letter is a report of recent losses sustained by the Lycoming County Mutual Insurance Company, and a request for an assessment fee (January 21, 1851). Financial documents consist primarily of accounts for wheat, rye, clover seed, and similar products, reflecting the differing prices between England and the United States.