This 108-page scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, letters, and ephemera related to the "Inter-County Historical Meeting" of representatives from Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties in Pennsylvania. At the July 17, 1894, meeting, held in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, seven speakers addressed historical topics related to local history, the American Revolution, and the use and study of history. William Watts Hart Davis of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, compiled the scrapbook in the fall of 1894.
The "Proceedings of Inter-County Historical Meeting at Hatboro, Montgomery County, Pa. July 17, 1894," begin with a handwritten introduction and a brief history of Hatboro, composed by Brevet Brigadier General William Watts Hart Davis. A printed program and series of newspaper clippings describe the event and provide a reprint of each speaker's presentation The speakers discussed Robert Morris, the Valley Forge battlefield, and the Battle of the Crooked Billet (which took place in Hatboro), among other topics. The clippings are accompanied by a printed portrait or photograph of each contributor, an original watercolor painting of the Crooked Billet Inn, an ink drawing titled "General Lacey's headquarters, Crooked Billet, May 1, 1778," and printed images of Hatboro buildings, streets, and monuments.
Other material pasted or laid into the volume includes additional clippings about the meeting, W. H. H. Davis's calling card, an admission ticket to "A Red Letter Night" (held February 2, 1895), and correspondence. Among the letters is one to Davis from John Wanamaker, March 5, 1895; and one from Davis to Helen Wotherspoon, March 14, 1902, concerning his forthcoming book on the history of Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
List of Speeches:
- Opening Address, Harmon Yerkes
- "Bibliography of Chester County," H. Rush Kervey (read by Gilbert Cope)
- "Philosophic View of Ancestry," Gilbert Cope
- "Valley Forge," Samuel Gordon Smyth
- "The Uses of History," Jacob A. Strassburger
- "Robert Morris, the Financier of the Revolution," Douglas K. Turner
- "Battle of the Crooked Billet," W. W. H. Davis
