This series consists of three boxes and fifteen volumes and primarily covers three aspects of David Sands Brown Chew's life: business interests, life in the military, and political involvement with the Republican Party in Philadelphia. A smaller group of materials document David's personal life, which include journals, genealogical research, school papers, scrapbooks, printed materials, and newspaper clippings. The accounts records contain documents related to David Sands Brown Chew's involvement with some of his grandfather's companies (Gloucester Iron Works, Ancona Printing, and Gingham Mills). David's business papers pertain to Radnor Realty, a real estate company he ran out of the Commercial Trust Building in Philadelphia. Papers related to his interests in the development of the Delaware River wharves can be found in Box 645, Folder 5 (Business papers-dredging). The majority of his papers related to business matters are in the volumes, which include journals, minutes, record books, transfer books, checkbooks, stock reports, and ledgers related to the Radnor Realty Company. Correspondence during the years 1870 to 1889 is mostly between David Sands Brown Chew and family members (his mother Mary Johnson Brown, sister Anne Sophia Penn Chew, and brother Samuel Chew). Letters from years 1890 to 1899 describe business matters and issues related to the Chew estate. The military files depict in detail various duties performed by Major Chew while serving as ordinance officer, chairman of military transportation, quartermaster, and acting inspector of rifle practice (First Brigade, National Guard, Philadelphia). The political files contain documents related to David Sands Brown Chew's political activism; materials in this group document his membership in Philadelphia's 8th Ward Republican Party and his role as financial officer for Republican senator Boies Penrose. There are also letters related to his service as both a councilman for the city of Philadelphia and as a member of the State House of Representatives in Harrisburg.
