No. 169, 1808 June 16

This collection consists primarily of records from the construction of St. John’s Lutheran Church, dedicated in Philadelphia in June of 1809. These records date from 1807 to 1812. They are receipted bills for materials and labor that document the prices of craftsmen at this historical moment as well as the work that went into the construction of this building. A small number of photocopied documents from later dates as well as a mounted image are also included in this collection.

The receipted bills make up the first series. They are largely organized according to numbers that were assigned for the church’s record-keeping. This numbering system generally puts them in a loose chronological order. The numbered documents are kept in the first subseries while those that lack numbers form the second subseries. These unnumbered records are arranged by date. The date by which a bill is filed is the latest one marked on it. Within this subseries, the final folder holds those documents that are without a date. Some documents were mounted for exhibition purposes and are housed in a separate box. To preserve the intellectual organization of the papers, these have nonetheless been entered into the numbered and dated ordering of the first series.

All other documents are in the second series. Its first folder contains photocopies of documents that date from 1901-1956. They are church publications, reports and bulletins. The second folder in this series contains a mounted image of the church vestry room.