Letters, patent applications, marriage and membership certificates, railroad and stage coach passes, and family financial records of Charles R. McCrea, iron moulder and foundry foreman. The letters include references for McCrea to future employers written in 1835 and 1863 by officials of the Pennsylvania Railroad, including Andrew Carnegie, J. Edgar McCaster, and Thomas Scott. Several documents submitted with patent applications in 1838 and 1849-50 describe processes for making railroad car wheels with cast iron. Also included are two letters to McCrea from C.T. Parry of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia concerning industrial processes at the company in 1863. McCrea family finances are shown in a trustees' account for the will of McCrea's in-law, Samuel Crawford, in tax bills and receipts, and in invoices for household furnishings. Five letters from D.M. Bowen to Mrs. Mary Ann McCrea discuss accounts, investments, and power of attorney. Also one carte de visite photograph of three unidentified men.
