The Cliveden series offers a history of the mansion that Benjamin Chew built in Germantown, which the Chew family used as a summer home, and to escape the epidemics of yellow fever in the city. Deeds and accounts comprise the majority of the documents in the series; almost the entire history of the mansion is covered, from estimates of construction costs in the 1760's to transfers of property titles in the 1930's. Included are deeds and papers related to the sale of the Cliveden estate by Benjamin Chew to Blair McClenachan after the end of the Revolutionary War, as well as documents pertaining to Benjamin Chew's repurchase of the property. Other deeds describe the selling or leasing of Cliveden lots after the family finances took a bad turn around the 1850's. Since Cliveden was also a farm, a portion of the account papers detail different aspects of harvest operations (potatoes, rye, oat, wheat), including information on wages paid to laborers and bills and receipts for services, repairs, and goods needed at the farm. Other accounts are related to Anne Sophia Penn Chew's role as administrator of William White Chew's and Anthony B. Chew's estates, and financial documents produced by John Keyser and A.D. Cash, attorney and agent, respectively, for Henry B. Chew and Samuel Chew, executors of Benjamin Chew's estate. he correspondence describes two main aspects of the development of Cliveden: daily administration affairs and estate administration. Most details about ordinary daily events at Cliveden are found in Anne Sophia Penn Chew's letters. Topics discussed in letters range from money matters, repairs, and her own difficulties restoring and maintaining the house, to her role in selling and leasing some of the Cliveden lots when the estate endured financial trouble in the second half of the nineteenth century. Letters between Henry B. Chew, James M .Mason and A.D. Cash deal almost exclusively with decisions about Cliveden in the context of their job as executors or administrators of Benjamin Chew's estate. Broadsides include not only advertisements for public sale of ground lots but also examples of notices published by Benjamin Chew III against the executors when he was disputing their right to administer Benjamin Chew Jr.'s estate. Miscellaneous documents in the series include lists and inventories of Cliveden furnishings, and papers related to repairs made to the building throughout the years. There is also a folder with photographs of Benjamin Chew's coaches, and letters from representatives of organizations, Ford Company among others, interested in such vehicles. Another interesting side of the development of Cliveden can be seen through the many surveys, ground plans, architectural designs and floor plans featured in the series. These depict the mansion in various forms: Cliveden with its surrounding streets, divided in lots owned or leased by different people, designs for the house rooms, and proposals for doors and windows.
