Independence Historic Resource Study

Suggestions for Further Research

Joshua and Caleb Cresson, the key property owners on the northern half of the block, deserve further research. This research did not include the large Cresson family collection at Haverford College, within the Morris-Wistar Wood Collection, 1718-1979. A diary written by Caleb Cresson in 1791-92 turned up late in the research phase. [193] Caleb Cresson's grandson published the diary with a family history written in 1793 by Caleb Cresson. Caleb recorded that his grandfather, Solomon Cresson, was French and his wife, Anna Watson, German or Low-Dutch. Other Cresson family papers are in the Morris Wistar Wood Collection at Haverford College. The strong representation of families of German descent and Quaker faith within the Cresson real estate invites further research at the German Historical Society and in the Quaker collections at Swarthmore and Haverford Colleges. Likewise, the Carpenters Company library and other repositories in the city might turn up added information on the numerous carpenters (at least 12 in 1787), bricklayers, and other building trade individuals from the middling ranks.

The interconnectedness of the white and black communities on the Cresson section north of Cherry Street suggests many possibilities for future research. What was the relationship between these African families and their white neighbors? Did this community bind together to resist the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 passed by Congress and signed by President Washington here in Philadelphia? If so, did their quiet stand strengthen the roots for the 19^th Century Underground Railroad? This small pocket of interracial residents appears to have been an exception to most other blocks studied by this writer. Was this an experiment in eighteenth century living? Further analysis will be needed to assess its importance in the city's history.

Further research in the tax records (particularly the 1798 federal tax), city probate, deed and court records, as well as city council and street commissioners' records and African American sources might reveal more the demographics on Block Three.

For the Arch Street lots additional deed research would be useful for creating a more concise composite of how the Arch Street lots evolved. This deed search could proceed with the names of Arch Street property owners listed on city tax records and on city street surveys.

Further research in on-line databases might prove useful. This writer heavily relied on the Accessible Archives to search topics in the Pennsylvania Gazette to 1800. Other Internet sites, like ancestry.com, might shed light on key or longstanding residents of the block. Unfortunately during part of the research time for this report, the Department of Interior's Internet was inoperable.