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NOTES AND DOCUMENTS
Newly Available and Processed Collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
What Follows are Descriptions of some of the collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania that have either been acquired within the past year or more fully processed and are therefore more available and accessible to researchers. Full finding aids for these processed collections, and many others, can be found online at http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=35.
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Recently Processed Collections
Presbyterian Ministers' Fund Records, 1718–1962, n.d.
(bulk 1798–1899)
1 box, 42 volumes, 1 flat file
Collection 3101
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Shortly after its establishment around 1716, the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia created the "Fund for Pious Uses." This charitable organization was intended to assist local Presbyterian ministers. In 1759, the organization became The Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers. In 1888, it became the Presbyterian Ministers' Fund (PMF), and it is recognized as the oldest life insurance company in America. PMF provided insurance policies to Protestant evangelical ministers and their families, and the corporation remained in existence for over two hundred years, until it was bought out in the early 1990s. This collection, which spans 225 years, contains cashbooks, daybooks, journals, and ledgers. It also consists of sample policies, policy receipts, a scrapbook, and a book of meeting minutes pertaining to the purchase of an organ for the Old Pine Street Church in Philadelphia. It includes four volumes that relate to the Methodist Ministers Relief Association and the Ministers Life Insurance Company of Boston, Massachusetts.
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Daniel Parker Papers, ca. 1792–1848 (bulk 1802–1843)
26 boxes
Collection 466
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Daniel Parker served as chief clerk of the United States War Department during the early 1800s. In 1814, the Senate nominated and appointed him to the office of adjutant and inspector general for the War Department, a position he held until he became paymaster general of the army in 1821. The Parker collection is comprised largely of War Department correspondence from the first half of the nineteenth century. It includes letters from Secretary of War William Eustis, Major General Andrew Jackson, Colonel Henry Leavenworth, and Major Sylvanus Thayer. The Parker Papers also contain incoming and outgoing correspondence from several presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and William Henry Harrison. Other correspondents are prominent military figures such as General Winfield Scott. Many of Jefferson's letters concern Native American tribes and their actions for or against American soldiers and settlers. There are several reports from Meriwether Lewis on his survey of Louisiana and the western territories. Other materials focus on war agitation, embargoes, and military preparedness, Aaron Burr as a conspirator and traitor, and raising the defenses of the port city of New Orleans. The collection contains numerous letters pertaining to the War of 1812, including information on battles, troop movements, military campaigns, and mobilization plans. Other miscellaneous documents concern Parker's personal correspondence with his brother, as well as various military papers, printed materials, and maps.
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