Joseph Wilson Papers

The Joseph Wilson Papers includes financial and personal records of Wilson and his immediate family. It begins in 1820 when he was a young man in Whitehaven, England, recording routine grocery and household accounts. Entries for payments for weaving and warping indicate that Wilson may have been involved in the textile industry in England. It appears that Wilson immigrated to the U.S. in 1827. After 1838 the account book indicates that Wilson and his family were regularly employed by the Stephens family of Chester, PA. W.B. Stephens and A. Stephens are identified, as is A. Stephens and Company, the Henry Clay Factory, and Stephens and Manderson's Henry Clay Factory. Wilson has regular accounts for weaving and related services from the late 1830's onward. Mixed with these accounts are notations for individuals boarded, rents paid, and medical expenses.