Restrictions

No copies may be made without permission from the Register of Wills office, Philadelphia.

Provenance

Deposited by the Register of Wills, City of Philadelphia, 1953; accessioned, 1954. See in-house index for additional accession information and accession numbers.

General physical description

11 items, ca. .25 linear feet.

Early American History Note

This collection consists of the wills of prominent Philadelphians, many of whom signed the Declaration of Independence, that the APS holds. Their content varies, and sometimes their content may be of interest beyond the antiquarian.

Benjamin Rush’s will contains a probate, thus listing the various items he owned at his death, which can provide insight into trade and cultural values.

Thomas Mifflin’s will contains an account of how Joseph Reed, former governor of Pennsylvania and executor of Mifflin’s estate, handled his outstanding financial obligations and disposed of his assets.

Benjamin Franklin Bache’s will makes reference to the Yellow Fever epidemic sweeping the city, a plague that would ultimately take his life a couple of months after he made the will.

Robert Morris’s will contains a short list of his few remaining goods and who should inherit what.

Corporate Name(s)

• United States. -- Declaration of Independence -- Signers.

Genre(s)

• Legal Records
• Wills.

Personal Name(s)

• Bache, Benjamin Franklin, 1769-1798
• Bache, Richard, 1794-1836
• Clymer, George, 1739-1813
• Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
• Hopkinson, Francis, 1737-1791
• Ingersoll, Jared, 1749-1822
• McKean, Thomas, 1734-1817
• Mifflin, Thomas, 1744-1800
• Morris, Robert
• Ross, George
• Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813

Subject(s)

• American Revolution
• Marriage and Family Life
• Philadelphia History