The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE 19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Creator: Sellers, William, 1824-1905

Title: Records

Dates: 1845-1859, 1875

Call No.: Col. 510

Acc. No.: 77x586

Quantity: 171 items (3 folders)

Location: 34 K 4

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

William Sellers, a member of the illustrious Sellers family of inventors and machinists and one of America's leading mechanical engineers, was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, on September 19, 1824, and died on January 1, 1905.

Sellers attended a private school run by his family, and between the ages of 14 and 21 served his apprenticeship in the Wilmington, Delaware, machine shop of his uncle, J. Morton Poole. In 1845, he took charge of the shops of Bancroft, Nightingale & Co. in Providence, Rhode Island. Sellers returned to Philadelphia and set up his own machine shop in 1847. A year later he was joined by Edward Bancroft as Bancroft & Sellers. Upon Bancroft's death in 1855, the firm was reorganized as William Sellers & Co., including his brother, John Sellers, Jr., and his cousin, Coleman Sellers. The Sellers firm was one of the foremost American machine shops. Sellers himself obtained over 90 patents, covering machine tools and including the spiral geared planer, rifling machines, and injectors for steam locomotives and boilers. Besides his machine shop, Sellers organized the Edge Moor Iron Company in 1868. It became a major producer of structural steel and ironwork, providing materials for the Centennial Exposition and the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1873, he reorganized the William Butcher Steel Works in Nicetown into the Midvale Steel Company, turning it into one of the leading producers of heavy steel forgings, ordnance, and armor plate. The Sellers firm was incorporated in 1886. It continued to function until April 9, 1947, when the machine tool division was sold to the consolidated Machine Tool Corporation and relocated to Rochester, New York.

Sellers served as president of the Franklin Institute in 1864-67. It was here that he delivered his influential paper urging the adoption of a standard system of screw threads, an essential ingredient of interchangeable parts. His proposed system was adopted by the U.S. Government in 1868 and the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1869, leading to its quick, universal acceptance. Sellers was also a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania from 1868 until his death and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and other professional societies.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This collection contains bills and receipts for personal expenses accrued by William Sellers between 1845-1859. Most items mentioned are clothing, including overcoats, vests, pants, silk gloves, shoes, and boots. Dry goods and laundry services are also noted. Food mentioned includes sugar, salt, molasses, vinegar, rice, coffee, ham, milk, corn oil, and fruit. Other items of note include a chandelier, bolsters, towels, comforters, a silver watch, a silver doorplate, heating pipes, a refrigerator, books, soap, cigars, a bathtub, stable rent, room rent, property tax, magazine subscriptions, wood, coal, and flowers. Some of the billheads are illustrated.

ORGANIZATION

The items are in chronological and accession number order.

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

The materials are in English.

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.

PROVENANCE

Purchased from Harold R. Nestler.

ACCESS POINTS

Topics:

Bancroft and Sellers (Philadelphia, Pa.).

William Sellers & Company, Inc.

William Sellers & Co. (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Religious literature - 19th century.

Refrigerators.

Dwellings - Maintenance and repair.

Clothing and dress - Prices.

Dry-goods.

Food prices.

Plumbing.

Rent charges.

Finance, Personal - Pennsylvania - 19th century.

Household linens.

Mechanical engineers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location: 34 K 4

Folder 1: Bills, 1845-1849 (acc. 76x586.1-.46a-b)

Mostly from Philadelphia merchants; among the items purchased were a silver watch, textile fabrics, comforters, bolsters, clothing, food, boots, a range, pipes for a bath, a silver door plate, ice, coal, etc. As well, there are bills for boarding in Kensington; statements of Sellers’ account with Bancroft & Sellers; and a bill for work on a house.

Folder 2: Bills, 1850-1857 (acc. 76x586.47-.112)

Mostly from Philadelphia merchants; among the items purchased were shoes, clothing, ice, food, a refrigerator, coal, carpeting, garden hose, cigars, tea and coffee, etc. As well, there is a bill from a dentist for gold fillings; a receipt for payment of life membership in the Franklin Institute; a receipt for a magazine subscription; medical bills; and a bill for painting an arbor and a bathtub. Also included is a statement of Sellers’ account with Bancroft & Sellers and a list of credits for Fair View Farm.

Folder 3: Bills, 1859, 1875, n.d. (acc. 76x586.113-.171)

Mostly from Philadelphia merchants; among the items purchased were shoes, milk, food, horses, clothing, salt, hay, cord wood, flowers (the bill lists the kinds purchased), a picture frame, etc. As well, there are several bills for stable rent, a bill for medical services, and a tax bill. Several bills are from William Sellers & Co. A bill from the Ocean House at Cape Island includes a charge for a subscription to a lifeboat. The document from 1875 is headed “Balance Year 1875,” and lists assets and their values, such as real estate, a house, a dam, fencing, a boat, furniture, tools, roads, harness, and many others.

Index to Col. 510 (acc. 77x586.1-.171)

Altender, Theodore .53

Art Journal .126

Bancroft & Sellers .9, .22, .46

Bancroft, John, Jr., & Son .85

Berens, Joseph .45

Berger, Julia (Mrs.) .12

Bird, Thomas .8, .19, .40, .56, .65

Bowman, Jas. K. .89

Brown, Geo. W. .68

Brown, Joseph R. .7

Bruder, Geo. .18, .41, .48 .57

Buist, R. .39

Bumm, William .140

Canby & Brother .96

Canby, C. H., & Sons .27

Clark, John H. .4, .6

Cooper, D. B. .109

Cornelius & Co. .25

Coulter, John .98, .102, .104, .106, .107

Cowperthwait, De Silver & Butler .70

De Haven, Sophia .142

Dohan, M. I. .101

Dovan, Chas. .44

Earle, James S., & Son .167

Elton, Margaret .82

Evans, Oliver

Fair View Farm .108a-b

Farmers Hay & Straw Market Hay Scales .11

Ferris, Edwd. B. .1

Ferris, T. M. .100

Flood, John .118

Franklin Institute [no number listed]

Garrett, Ellwood .103

Gaskill, Benj. .79

Ginnings, Hester .13, .14, .15, .17

Haddock, Wm. L. .73

Hamilton, Turner .55

Hance, David E. .43

Hance, S. E. .80

Harpers Magazine Agency .69

Henszey, C. & E. .16

Hering, C. .127

Hooven, B. E. .152

Hoven, B. E. .125

Howard, Danl. .137, .115, .121

Jones, E. & Co. .83

Kershow, D. B. & Co. .49

Kirk, Mahlon .86

Kolbe (of Kuemerle & Kolbe) .128

Kolbe, D. W.

Kuemerle & Kolbe .128

Lamasure, John .51

Lippincott & Parry .10

Lovering, Joseph S., & Co. .54, .77, .100

Maddock, Wm. .89, .99, .122

Mattson, Saml. H. .60, .67, .78 .88, .166

McDonald, James .134, .138

McGavey & Hogan .32

McMohlen, Hugh .111

Moulton, Martin & Co. .2, .5

Neall, Paul .47

Oat, Joseph, & Son .155

Okie, J. B. Esq. .113, .114, .120

Parry (of Lippincott & Parry) .10

Paul, David B. .112

Pennington, John .63, .71

Rhoads & Sons .86

Richardson & Stell .105

Rockhill & Lamasan .11

Rodgers, Peter .38

Rowland, Hance .66

Ryan, Saac .108

Sellers, J. D., & Co. .84

Sellers, Wm., & Co,

Simmons, James E. .123

Smith, Joseph .33, .64

Smith, Robert .130

Smyth & Peterson .29

Stackhouse, I. .108

Stackhouse, P. .81

Street, Thomas .72

Sutter & Shries .119

Taggart, J. .154

Thomas, M., & Sons

Townsend, Sam. [no number given]

Walker, W. & J. .42

Weaver & Volkmar .24, .91

Wilson, Ellwood .76, .97

Williams, C. C. .52

Zem, George .28

Zieber, W. B. .69

Index to occupations

Blacksmith .108a

Bricklayer .152, .125

Carpenter .108

Carpet manufacturer .82

Casting iron .46b

Clockmaker .1, .7

Clothier .16

Dentist .47

Doctor .45, .76, .97, .127

Farmer .108

Framer .167

Gardener .134, .138

Grocer .68, .74, .130, .142

Importer .10, .167

Instrument maker .53, .128

Mason, .108

Millwright .108, .125

Painting (verb) .46a, .105

Plumber .96, .4

Print seller .116

Shoemaker .18, .32, .57, .72, .98, .102, 104, .106, .107, 115, .120, .131, .153

Tailor .8, .21, .40, .51, .56, .60, .65, .67, .78, .88, .124, .166,

Tallow Chandler .85

Turning .46b

Watchmaker .1, .7

Wheelwright .108a

Wire maker .84