Collection Title: Miller-Dickey Family Papers
Collection Number: 142
Dates of Collection: 1786-1992
Repository: Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, PA
Language: English
Project Archivist: Dana Byrd
John Miller and his wife, Margaret, emigrated from Scotland to Pennsylvania with their young daughter, Jane, in 1786. Miller, who was trained as a stone cutter in Scotland, developed a thriving marble business in Philadelphia; he also owned a farm in Great Valley, Pennsylvania. John was active in the Philadelphia community; he was an early member of the Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society, and a supporter of the Magdalene and Missionary Societies. John Miller was an elder of the Scots (Associate Reformed) Presbyterian Church; it is probably through the Miller family’s association with the Church that they encountered the young Reverend Ebenezer Dickey. Dickey, and Miller daughter, Jane, were married in 1805. Jane’s sisters, Helen, Margaret and Julia, eventually all married Presbyterian ministers: Helen married Charles McLean, Julia married George Junkin, and Margaret married William Finney.
Ebenezer and Jane Miller Dickey settled in Oxford, Pennsylvania and had six children: John Miller, Mary Jackson (later Cross), Margaret Irvine (later Cross), Helen, Samuel (4th), and Ebenezer Verner. Ebenezer and Jane Miller Dickey were passionate supporters of the Chester County Bible Society, which placed bibles in the county prison and poor house in the hopes of converting the recipients. As pastor of the Oxford Presbyterian Church, Reverend Dickey rose to prominence in the area. He published several essays on the importance of educating children and the temperance movement. Dickey, a former slave owner, also was a charter member of the local colonization society. Plagued with a chronic stomach ailment, Dickey went to Europe in search of a cure. Although he achieved a modicum of relief at a spa in the Pyrenees, Dickey was uncomfortable with the Catholicism in southern Europe and returned home after eleven months. The letters he wrote to his family and congregation were later published as Travels in Europe for Health, in 1820, by an American Clergyman, in the Christian Advocate, a Philadelphia periodical. In addition to his service as pastor, Dickey owned and operated a two hundred acre farm, and served as a silent partner in his brother Samuel’s cotton factory in Hopewell. After Dickey’s death in 1831, his wife, Jane, was left to raise their five minor children, and care for her mother, Margaret Irvine Miller.
Jane Dickey oversaw the formidable operation of the Oxford farm, as well as the Philadelphia property she had inherited after her father’s death. Dickey also continued to support various civic organizations including the Oxford Sewing Society and the Poor Widows’ Society of Baltimore. In 1832, her daughter Mary married Richard I. Cross, a Baltimore lumber merchant, and in 1836, her daughter Margaret married Reverend Andrew B. Cross, a Presbyterian minister, author and publisher. Helen, the youngest daughter, did not marry and lived at home with her mother. After training first at Dickinson, then at Princeton Theological Seminary, John Miller Dickey the eldest son of Ebenezer and Jane took his father’s place as pastor of Oxford Presbyterian Church. He established a private school for girls, the Oxford Female Seminary, and later helped found the Ashmun Institute which became Lincoln University after the Civil War. He married Sarah Emlen Cresson and had four children. Samuel Dickey, the second son of Ebenezer and Jane Miller Dickey became a Presbyterian minister after first attending LafayetteCollege then enrolling in Princeton Theological Seminary. He later served as the President of the Octoraro Bank. The third Dickey son, Ebenezer Verner, attended LafayetteCollege and medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. Unable to get by on the proceeds of his medical practice, Ebenezer also owned a large dairy farm, was a member of the faculty of the Oxford Female Seminary and was the president of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad and the Octoraro Bank until his early death in 1857.
Sources for above: The Miller-Dickey Family Papers, Chester County Historical Society Clipping Files, John Miller Dickey, DD His Life and Times by George B. Carr, The Dickey Family and the Growth of Oxford and Hopewell by John Bradley.
This collection consists of papers of the Cross, Dickey, and Miller families of Chester County, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland.
Includes correspondence on a range of subjects including religion, relationships between women, health, marble cutting business, agricultural matters and travel.
Note: Letters by women are filed under both married and maiden names.
The papers in this collection consist primarily of personal correspondence, business records, genealogical notes, diaries, and family photographs, of the Cross, Dickey and Miller families. The collection is arranged into five major sections: correspondence, organized alphabetically by writer, then chronologically, bound manuscripts, organized alphabetically by writer, then chronologically, printed volumes, organized alphabetically by title, miscellaneous items, organized by related family, and chronologically and oversized items arranged chronologically. The collection is particularly strong on the following topics: relationships between women, family health, Presbyterian church, the history of Oxford, Pennsylvania, marble cutting business, and the genealogy of the Miller, Dickey, and Cross families.
The Miller-Dickey Family Collection includes four photograph albums, two photographs and a stereograph of members of the Dickey and Cross families which have been transferred to photo archives.
See “Dickey” in the Chester County Historical Society Library card catalog, especially: Ms 1011-12 related to the Ashmun Institute.
Box 1
Folder 1, Letters, Baynton through Cresson 1802-1807, 4 items
Letters to Jane Miller Dickey from C. Baynton regarding boarding school in Philadelphia and from Sarah Cresson regarding gift, to Helen Dickey from M.A. Bele regarding flowers, to Margaret Finney from William Broade regarding his mother’s death and impending visit
Folder 2, “Country Letters” of Dickeys and Crosses 1823 – ca. 1850, 23 items
Correspondence in the form of “country letters.” These are letters with multiple authors of the same family written to single or multiple family members. Correspondents include Jane Miller Dickey, Margaret I. Cross (née Dickey), and Mary J. Cross (née Dickey), John Miller Dickey and Reverend Ebenezer Dickey. The correspondence pertains to family affairs, including births, deaths, marriage and general health.
Folder 3, Letters of Reverend A.B. Cross and Margaret I. Cross undated, 6 items
Letters by Margaret I. Cross (née Dickey) to her husband Reverend Andrew Boyd Cross, and her mother, Jane Miller Dickey, regarding family matters including health and children, one envelope addressed to Helen Dickey from Reverend A.B. Cross
Folder 4, Letters of Margaret I. Cross (née Dickey), 1835-1847, 24 items
Letters by Margaret I. Cross (née Dickey) to Reverend Andrew Boyd Cross, Mary J. Cross, Helen Dickey, Jane Miller Dickey, regarding family matters including health, marriage, and children. See also Folder 20
Folder 5, Letters of Margaret I. Cross (née Dickey), 1848- 73, 24 items
Letters by Margaret I. Cross (née Dickey) to Reverend Andrew Boyd Cross, Mary J. Cross, Helen Dickey, Jane Miller Dickey, Jane Cross, regarding family matters including health, marriage, and children. These letters cover the period in which one of the author’s children, Mary J. Cross and two her children died from an illness contracted while they were in Oxford, Pa.
Folder 6, Letters of Mary J. Cross (née Dickey),1823-1849, 9 items
Letters by Mary J. Cross (née Dickey) to her mother Jane Miller Dickey, her brothers Samuel Dickey and Ebenezer V. Dickey, and her sister Helen Dickey. These letters primarily address family matters, health, marriage and children, and the founding of the Oxford Female Seminary.
Folder 7, Letters of Ebenezer Dickey 1801-1810, 22 items
Letters by Reverend Ebenezer Dickey to Jane Miller (later Dickey) before and during their marriage.
Folder 8, Letters of Ebenezer Dickey, 1811- April, 1820, 22 items
Letters by Reverend Ebenezer Dickey to his wife Jane Miller Dickey and his daughter, Margaret I. Dickey (later Cross), also included is a single letter to Dickey’s Oxford Presbyterian Church congregation. The letters address family life and also cover the early period of Dickey’s trip to Europe for health reasons.
Folder 9, Letters of Ebenezer Dickey, December, 1819- March, 1820, 23 items
Typed transcripts of Reverend Ebenezer Dickey’s correspondence to his wife Jane Miller Dickey while on a European trip for health reasons.
Box 2
Folder 10, Letters of Ebenezer Dickey, April 1820-September, 1820 [transcription of travel letters], 12 items
Typed transcripts of letters written by Reverend Ebenezer Dickey to his wife Jane Miller Dickey and his daughter, Margaret I. Dickey (later Cross), while on a European trip for health reasons.
Folder 11, Travel Letters of Ebenezer Dickey, April 1820-1830, 21 items
Letters by Reverend Ebenezer Dickey to his wife Jane Miller Dickey, his daughters Helen Dickey and Margaret I. Dickey (later Cross), and his brother in law Reverend William Finney. Many of the letters address family life, his ministry and also cover the latter part of Dickey’s yearlong trip to Europe for health reasons.
Folder 12, Letters of Ebenezer Dickey, 1820-1831 (bound), 1 item
Letters by Reverend Ebenezer Dickey to his daughter, Mary J. Dickey, bound, regarding family matters, particularly health.
Folder 13, Letters of Ebenezer Verner Dickey, 1836-1840, 2 items
Letters by Ebenezer Verner Dickey to his mother Jane Miller Dickey from LafayetteCollege. The first discusses the burning of Pennsylvania Hall, and the second concerns his attempts to purchase furnishings for his dormitory room.
Folder 14, Letters of Helen Dickey ,undated, 9 items
Letters by Helen Dickey to her mother Jane Miller Dickey and her siblings, Margaret J. Cross, Mary I. Cross, and John Miller Dickey, and her niece Jane Cross. The correspondence is concerned with the health of various family members.
Folder 15, Letters of Helen Dickey, 1835-1851, 10 items
Letters by Helen Dickey to her mother Jane Miller Dickey and her siblings, Margaret J. Cross, Mary I. Cross, and John Miller Dickey, and her niece Jane Cross. The correspondence is concerned with the health of various family members, and the Oxford Female Seminary. Also included is a piece of cut-work fancy paper.
Folder 16, Letters of Jane Miller Dickey, 1822-1850, 19 items
Letters by Jane Miller Dickey to her children, John Miller Dickey, Helen Dickey, Margaret J. Cross, Mary I. Cross, her sister, Margaret Finney, her grandson Ebenezer D.Cross, and her son in law Reverend Andrew Boyd Cross. The correspondence is concerned with her son’s time at DickinsonCollege, Princeton Theological Seminary, and family matters including the death of her daughter Mary I. Cross, and several of her grandchildren. See also Folder 23
Folder 17, Letter of John Dickey (1809-1855), 1829, 1 item
One letter written by John H. Dickey (1809-1855) from Princeton Theological Seminary to his uncle, Reverend Ebenezer Dickey regarding an article in the Biblical Repertory.
Folder 18, Letters of John M. Dickey, 1969, 1 item
Letters by John M. Dickey to Janet C. Preston regarding their mutual interest in Miller and Dickey family history. Dickey makes reference to John Miller’s dealings with the du Pont family and speculates on the location of Miller’s GreatValley farm.
Folder 19, Letters of John Miller Dickey, 1808-1838, 9 items
Letters by John Miller Dickey to various family members, including his mother Jane Miller Dickey, father, Reverend Ebenezer Dickey, siblings Margaret J. Cross, Samuel Dickey, and Mary I. Cross. Dickey makes reference to the formation of the Oxford Female Seminary, his tenure as the head of a Dutch Reformed Congregation in New Castle, Delaware, a visit to Tybee Island, Georgia and his time at DickinsonCollege.
Folder 20, Letters of Margaret Dickey (later Cross), 1823-34, 12 items
Letters by Margaret J. Dickey (later Cross) to her family, including her siblings John Miller Dickey and Helen Dickey, and her mother Jane Miller Dickey. The letters are primarily concerned with family affairs and personal health. See also Folders 4 & 5.
Folder 21, Letters, Mary Wardow Dickey to Samuel E. Dickey, 1832-1917, 15 items
Letters by Mary Wardow Dickey, Samuel J. Dickey and Samuel E. Dickey. Samuel E. Dickey’s correspondence is concerned with retracing the history of the Dickey family. Mary Wardow Dickey and Samuel J. Dickey wrote about contemporary matters, including Dickey’s time at LafayetteCollege and Princeton Theological Seminary, recommendations on purchasing a fireboard, and comments on the death of Mary Cross. One letter is written on piece of Princeton Theological Seminary stationery.
Box 3
Folder 22, Letters, Dillingham through McIntire, 1803-1968, 23 items
Letters by William Dillingham, Thomas Goodwillie, David Gilchrist, Reverend Robert Graham, Anne Irvin, Thomas Irvin, Samuel Irvin, Thomas Irvin, William Irvine, George Junkin, David Kirkpatrick, John Knox, James Laurie, Samuel McIntire, “H.M” and transcripts of letters in the Ulster County Historical Society from Jeannie Forsyth and Ella Forsyth, The letters are on a range of subjects including a response to an inquiry letter regarding John Miller’s stone cutting business from the Hagley Foundation, pleas for money for impoverished Scottish relatives, notice of the death of relatives, inquiries about health, and family.
Folder 23, Letter of Jane Miller (later Dickey), 1804, 1 item
One letter from Jane Miller (later Dickey) to Ebenezer Dickey relaying the news of Mrs. Gray’s illness and regarding their courtship.
Folder 24, Letters of John Miller, n.d., 1801-1805, 27 items
Letters by John Miller to various family members, including his daughter, Jane Miller, his wife Margaret Miller, Miller addressing the marble cutting business, his health, his trip with his wife to Sulphur Springs for health reasons, the outbreak of yellow fever in New York and Philadelphia, a wife’s duty to her husband and his participation in the Synod and Presbytery, includes two undated letters.
Folder 25, Letters of John Miller, 1806-1808, 14 items
Letters by John Miller to various family members, including his daughter Jane Miller and son-in-law, Reverend Ebenezer Dickey, topics addressed include, Miller’s attempts to “wind up” the marble business, Samuel Dickey III’s development of a new stove, and family news.
Folder 26, Letters of John Miller, 1808-10, 1 item
Bound letters from John Miller to his friend and Register of the United States, Treasury, Joseph Nourse, his daughter Jane Miller Dickey, Charles Heath, Reverend M. Dick, and William Irvin, topics discussed include, difficult tenants, meetings of the Synod, family matters, impending war between Britain and the United States, purchase of land on the Potomac in Washington, DC.
Folder 27, Letters of John Miller, 1809-1814, 19 items
Letters by John Miller to Reverend Ebenezer Dickey and Jane Miller Dickey, topics discussed include grandson John Miller Dickey’s visit, family visit to Washington to see Joseph Nourse and his family, a visit to a cotton manufactory, Miller’s visit to the Magdalene Asylum.
Folder 28, Letters of National Portrait Gallery – Nourse, Joseph, 1801-1992, 15 items
Letters are primarily from A.M. Josepha Nourse to Jane Miller (later Dickey) and Joseph Nourse to John Miller and Reverend Ebenezer Dickey. Topics include silk purchases, gardening, settlement of the accounts of the Widow Fox, health, and the proceedings of the Synod. A single letter from the National Portrait Gallery regarding the Rembrandt Peale portrait of John Miller is also included.
Folder 29, Letters of Old Presbyterian Church-Purdon, Mary, 1802-1829, 14 items
Letters by Old Presbyterian Church, New Castle, DE soliciting John Miller Dickey to serve as their pastor, John Purdon to John Miller, including poems, and Mary Purdon to Jane Miller Dickey regarding health, her attempts to place her daughter in a school, the trials of moving into a new home, and the flu epidemic in Philadelphia.
Folder 30, Letters of Ralston-Wilson, 1814-1842, 4 items
Letters by Robert Ralston to Ebenezer Dickey regarding Christmas gifts, “Unkle Toby” to Mary Dickey regarding her unmarried status, William and Grace Squire to Jane Miller Dickey regarding supper invitation, Marguerite Wilson to Jane Miller regarding Wilson’s move to Pittsburgh (written in French).
Bound Manuscript Volumes
Dates: 1798-ca. 1930
Quantity: 31 Folders
Arrangement: Alphabetical by creator, then chronological
Content Descriptions: Includes notes on family history, ledgers from John Miller’s marble cutting business, household account books owned by Margaret Miller and Jane Miller Dickey, Reverend Ebenezer Dickey’s travel diaries from his European trip.
Box 4
Folder 31, Diary with genealogical information, Unknown author, ca. 1887, 1 item
Bound, twill fabric covered, The Standard Diary, 1887, filled with genealogical information including notes on Miller, Dickey, Irvine and Hopkins families, no author.
Folder 32, Ledger, Oxford Presbyterian Church, 1807-1811, 1 item
Ledger book with pew rents for Oxford Presbyterian Church recorded within, names include: Samuel Dickey, John Watt, William Michael and William Ross.
Folder 33, Travel Diary, ca. 1884, 1 item
Travel Diary, unidentified author, notes on visit to Europe, entries on author’s time at Stratford upon Avon, Holy Trinity Church, York Cathedral, Warrick, Cullenden, Glasgow, Inverness, Haarlem, Hague, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, and Luzerne.
Folder 34, Travel Diary Photographs, ca. 1884, 5 items
Albumen photographs collected on trip to Europe depicting interior and exterior of a church in Cologne, and several castles in Warwick.
Folder 35, Diary of Margaret I. Cross, 1877-78, 1 item
Diary of Margaret I. Cross (née Dickey) detailing her daily activities visiting friends and family.
Folder 36, Notes on Genealogy by Margaret I. Cross, 1879, 1 item
Small bound volume of genealogical notes including birth and death information on members of the Dickey family.
Folder 37, Recipe Book with Clippings, ca. 1831-32, 1 item
Recipe Book includes handwritten recipes for making foods including currant wine and Bolognese sausage, and handwritten and pasted newspaper clippings of home remedies, including lock jaw and constipation, unknown compiler
Folder 38, Recipe Book, ca. 1880-1915, 1 item
Recipe Book on lined paper, recipes are handwritten and clipped from newspapers, they are primarily recipes for cakes and cookies and include recipes for Sally Lunn cake and chocolate soufflé, unknown compiler.
Folder 39, Recipe Book, ca. 1880-1930, 1 item
Recipe Book on lined paper with mostly handwritten recipes for a range of foods including: caramels, veal orgnettes, rolls and corn fritters, some clippings from newspapers.
Box 5
Folder 40, Travel Diary, Ebenezer Dickey, 1803, 1 item
Ebenezer Dickey’s bound diary of his travels with John and Margaret Miller to Sulphur Springs. Dickey writes of the stops along the way, including Lancaster, Oxford, Columbia, Chambersburg, and Bethlehem, his encounters with Samuel Dickey, the congregation at Upper Octoraro Presbyterian Church, Dr. Campbellan. The second half of the journal deals with Dickey’s travels to Albany, NY for a Presbytery meeting.
Folder 41, Travel Diary, Ebenezer Dickey, 1803 [typed transcription], 1 item
Typed transcription of Ebenezer Dickey’s 1803 diary.
Folder 42, Travel Diary, Ebenezer Dickey, 1815, 1 item
Ebenezer Dickey’s travel diary detailing a trip to Western Pennsylvania. Includes interesting description of taverns along the way.
Folder 43, Travel Diary, Ebenezer Dickey, 1819, 1 item
Volume I of Ebenezer Dickey’s travel diary, details his European trip for health reasons. Dickey comments on goat milk, fellow passengers, language barrier and long on ship quarantine, and notes the varying levels of religion, food and government while in Gibraltar, Messina, Genoa, Nice and Montpelier.
Folder 44, Travel Diary, Ebenezer Dickey, 1819 [typed transcription], 1 item
Typed transcription of Volume I of Ebenezer Dickey’s travel diary.
Folder 45, Travel Diary, Ebenezer Dickey, 1820, 1 item
Volume II of Ebenezer Dickey’s travel diary, details his European trip for health reasons, Dickey visits Toulouse, Paris, Bagniers, Bordeaux and London. He is unimpressed with the TuileriesGardens and London. He also comments on the manufactures of France.
Folder 46, Travel Diary, Ebenezer Dickey, 1820 [typed transcription], 1 item
Typed transcription of Volume II of Ebenezer Dickey’s travel diary.
Folder 47, Account Book, Jane Miller Dickey, 1836-1839, 1 item
Household account book kept by Jane Miller Dickey, includes notes on the daily activities at the farm, attendance records for workers, expenses, and farm productivity.
Folder 48, Recipe Book, Jane Miller Dickey, undated, 1 item
Undated recipe book owned by Jane Miller Dickey, recipes include plum pound cake, macaroons, malt wine, chicken salad and boiled ham.
Folder 49, Cipher Book, Jane Miller (later Dickey), 1798, 1 item
Cipher book used by Jane Miller (later Dickey), includes notes and practice problems from lessons on numeration, avoirdupois, currency exchange, time and the rule of three.
Folder 50, Cipher Book, Jane Miller (later Dickey), 1803, 1 item
Cipher book used by Jane Miller (later Dickey), includes notes and practice problems from lessons on tare and trett, interest, loss and gain, and bartering.
Stored on shelf
Folder 51, Account Book, John Miller, 1805-1814, 1 item
Account Book used by John Miller, primarily business records related to his marble cutting business and GreatValley farm, includes payments to workers and purchases of books.
Box #6
Folder 52, Diary, John Miller, 1809, 1 item
Diary used by John Miller; Miller notes his affection for family, describes his trip to the Synod meeting in November and the proceedings, also discusses his attendance at the Hindeman trial.
Folder 53, Diary/Farm Journal, John Miller, 1810, 1 item
Diary used by John Miller, 1810, daily Miller notes the weather, and the state of the fields at his Great Valley farm, he also comments on service at a Baptist church, the last pages of the book contain memoranda on agriculture, including the proper harvesting of manure, and the proper way to harrow a field.
Folder 54, Diary, John Miller, 1811, 1 item
Diary used by John Miller, 1811, notes on his trip to Yellow Springs, Cape May and his GreatValley farm, Miller also includes memoranda for farm, i.e. “pay particular attention to the water at the meadows,” and home remedies for curing ailments.
Folder 55, Diary, John Miller, ca. 1813, 1 item
Diary used by John Miller, labeled on inside back cover, “John Miller, marble cutter,” includes notes on the Bible and thoughts on the duty of man.
Folder 56, Ledger, John Miller, 1798-1850, 1 item
Ledger book, used by John Miller to record debits and credits for his marble cutting business, the first seventy-four pages of the book have been pasted over with newspaper clippings of poems from the Presbyterian and Temperance Herald. Many of the poems were penned by Margaret Junkin a relative of the Miller and Dickey families. A handwritten copy of Reverend Ebenezer Dickey’s obituary has also been bound into the book. The ledger book features entries revealing Miller’s workers as well as the houses for which he provided stone work.
Box 7
Folder 57, Ledger, John Miller, 1807-1811, 1 item
Ledger book, used by John Miller, the charges reflected are primarily related to the GreatValley farm, entries include payment from Samuel Dickey and Levi Miller.
Folder 58, Ledger, John Miller, 1804-1814,, 1 item
Ledger book, “F,” used by John Miller to record debits and credits related to his marble cutting business, significant entries related to his business with Thomas Cadwalader, Rembrandt Peale, Dr. Benjamin Rush, the Abolition Society of Pennsylvania, the Missionary Society, and the Black School.
Folder 59, Letters, John Miller, 1802-1806, 1 item
Letter book, used by John Miller, contains copies of letters penned by John Miller, addressees include Thomas Irvin, Reverend James Laurie, Joseph Nourse, and merchants in New Castle, Delaware and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Folder 60, Notes, John Miller, n.d., 1 item
Notes penned by John Miller on the nature of Christian duty, the necessity of perseverance and civility.
Folder 61, Ledger, Margaret P. Miller, 1816-1820, undated, 1 item
Account book maintained by Margaret P. Miller, records rents, dividends and notes payable to the Estate of John Miller.
Printed Volumes
Dates: 1792-1853
Quantity: 30 Folders
Arrangement: Alphabetical by title
Content Descriptions: Includes books owned by members of the Cross, Dickey and Miller families, two family bibles with detailed genealogical information.
Box 8
Folder 62, A Collection of Tables, 1792, 1 item
A Collection of Tables, Calculated by Joseph Lippincott, 1792, inscribed “J.Miller.”
Folder 63, An Antidote to the Miseries of Human Life, 1809, 1 item
An Antidote to the Miseries of Human Life in the History of the Widow Placid and Her Daughter Rachel, Sidney’s Press, 1809, Inscribed “Helen Dickey, February 11, 1835, from S.E C. Dickey,” and “Sarah E. Cresson, Jr., 9 mo, 1st, 1824.”
Folder 64, Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands Unto God, 1853, 1 item
Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands Unto God, Outlines of a Discourse Delivered in the Presbyterian Church in Oxford, Pennsylvania, Reverend John M. Dickey.
Folder 65, From the Correspondence of the American Bible Society, 1840, 1 item
From the Correspondence of the American Bible Society, 1840.
Folder 66, Holy Bible, 1847, 1 item,
Holy Bible, New York Bible Society, embossed on the cover, “Jane M. Dickey,” Inscribed “Given at the request of my dear daughter Mary J. Cross on her death bed, Oct. 11, 1849”, contains some records, births, deaths and marriages of the Millers, Dickeys and Crosses.
Folder 67, Pronouncing Bible, 1825, 1 item
Pronouncing Bible contains some records, births, deaths and marriages of the Millers, Dickeys and Crosses.
Folder 68, Questions on the Shorter Catechism, 1838, 1 item
Questions on the Shorter Catechism, Inscribed “To: Jane M. Dickey From: Her Nephew John Dickey.”
Folder 69, Resolution and Address, 1827, 1 item
Resolution and Address, Bible Society of ChesterCounty, 1827.
Folder 70, Reverend J.M. Dickey’s Address 1836, 1 item
Reverend J.M. Dickey’s Address, John Dickey, Inscribed: “Mary J. Cross.”
Miscellaneous
Dates: 1759-1853
Quantity: 17 Folders
Arrangement: Alphabetical by subject
Content Descriptions: Includes family history notes, legal documents, and obituaries for Jane Miller Dickey and Reverend Ebenezer Dickey, citizenship papers for John Miller and business records for the Miller and Dickey families.
Box 9
Folder 71, Advertisement for BelleAirFemaleAcademy, 1836, 1 item
Printed broadside advertising the BelleAirFemaleAcademy, newly opened April 1, 1836.
Folder 72, Business Records, Dickey Family, 1818-1860, 3 items
Chart reflecting yearly payments, notice of a public sale placed by Ebenezer Dickey, Indenture of Sophia E. Glascow to Helen Dickey.
Folder 73, Business Records, Dickey and Miller Families (Receipts) 1792-1882, 29 items
Receipts for various items and services including, certificate of membership, payment on account by Dr. Benjamin Rush, payment for lots in OxfordCemetery, set of power millstones, payment for stock in the Pennsylvania Slate Company and Schuylkill Bank Stock, transfer of indentured servant.
Folder 74, Business Records, John Miller, 1797-1814, 7 items
Memorandum of money owed John Miller by G. Cottriger, copy of Finley McGrew’s will, document enumerating the terms under which Francis Lyle acquired a portion of John Miller’s Great Valley plantation, two notes reflecting transaction between John Miller and Doctor A. Fannon, accounts of dividends and rents due and received by John Miller, copy of the settlement of the estate of Margaret Duncan, executor, John Miller.
Folder 75, Church Certificate and US Naturalization, Miller 1789-1798, 2 items
Document from the elders of the Associated Church Hawick, Scotland attesting to the good character of Margaret Irvine and John Miller, John Miller’s Citizenship certificate signed by Judge Burd of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Folder 76, Estate Records of John Miller (1759-1814), 13 items
Two copies of John Miller’s will, probate inventory of items on Miller’s Chester County farm and Philadelphia town house, record of receipt of money from sale of shares of United States Bank Certificates, account of payment of John Miller’s bills by executor in 1815, document signed by John Miller’s heirs relinquishing their claim to the Miller’s Chester County farm, three copies of document relinquishing claim.
Folder 77, Genealogy, Miller, Cross and Dickey, Death Related, 1814-1860, 12 items
Transcription of John Miller’s headstone, copies of the wills of Reverend Ebenezer Dickey, Jane Miller Dickey, Helen Dickey, account of Mary Jackson Cross’s death by her sister, Margaret Cross, draft of obituaries of Reverend Ebenezer Dickey and Mary Jackson Cross, Poem written in honor of the Friends of Mary J. Cross by Margaret Junkin, obituaries of John Miller, Martha Young, Samuel Dickey, and Helen Cross, two printed copies of the address given at Jane Miller Dickey’s funeral.
Folder 78, 1893-1977, 3 items
Mimeographed Record of the Miller, Jackson, Irvin, Dickey, Cross, Boyd, Finney, Junkin, McLean, Kelso (in part), Craighead, Young and Webster Families, William S. Cross, 1893, Typed document on the History of the Irvine Family, Bound treatise on the Account Book of Jane Miller Dickey, by Thomas A. Urbine, Jr.
Folder 79, Genealogy, Record of Miller, Cross, Irvine and Dickey Families, ca. 1873-1975, 2 items
Notes on members of the Miller, Dickey, Boyd and Cross families in the hand of Helen Dickey.
Folder 80, Genealogy, Notes by Janet Preston, ca. 1970-1995, 156 items
Notes on the documents contained in this collection, as well as genealogical notes on members of the Miller, Dickey, Boyd, Cross, Irvin, Finney, Junkin and McLean families
Folder 81, Genealogy, Photograph of Unidentified Man, ca. 1926, 1 item
Bacharach Studio silver gelatin photograph of an unidentified man.
Folder 82, Land Records, John Miller, 1813, 2 items
Land related bond of indemnity and articles of agreement between Henry Whiteman and John Miller.
Folder 83, Membership Certificates, 1840, 2 items
Membership Certificates to the American Bible Society, Margaret I. Cross and Jane M. Dickey.
Folder 84, Poems, 1804- ca. 1840, 3 items
Poem on the raising of John Miller’s House, “Farewell,” by Sarah E. Wilson, poem written by Mary Cross while ill in bed.
Folder 85, Prose, n.d., 5 items
Essays and notes on religious subjects.
Folder 86, Recipes, 1813-1900, 5 items
Recipes for chicken croquettes, Oil Mangoes, chocolate cake, gingerbread and herbal purgative.
Oversized Items
Dates: 1765-1882
Quantity: 3 Folders
Arrangement: Chronological
Content Description: Includes deeds and mortgage agreement related to the Miller and Dickey families.
Box 10
Folder 87, Miller-Dickey Land records, 1765-1820, 5 items
Land records include a 1765 survey of land in ChesterCounty by George Churchman (earliest portion dates to 1733), Deed for land between Garrett Cottringer
and John Miller (1799), land deed between Margaret Miller and Frederick Kohne (unsigned, 1820) and mortgage agreement between Henry Whiteman and John Miller (1813).
Folder 88, Dickey Land Records, 1845-1882, 6 items
Land records include deeds between Reverend John M. Dickey and wife and Jane M. Dickey (1835, 1845), the Heirs of Reverend Ebenezer Dickey and Jane M. Dickey (1845), Samuel Stockton and Helen Dickey (1860), Reverend Clement C. Dickey and Helen Dickey, (1882) Helen Dickey to Jane M. Cross (1882).
Folder 89, Maryland Temperance Herald, 1849, 1 item
Maryland Temperance Herald, Baltimore, September, 1849, published by Reverend Andrew B. Cross, Corresponding Secretary for the Maryland Temperance Society.
225 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 | 610-692-4800
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