David Seeger’s account of GSP expenses and income for 1820

A rare financial record reveals the Society’s priorities in 1820

We recently acquired a fascinating piece of German Society history that offers an unusually detailed glimpse into the workings of the Society in the early 19th century. This financial account from 1820 was compiled by David Seeger, a local confectioner and flour merchant who served as Treasurer of the German Society from 1810–1824.

Income

In 1820, the Society’s funds came from a variety of sources: member dues and fines (including one $4 fine imposed when a member recommended someone for membership who later declined to join), stock dividends, bank interest, and rental income from leasing out classroom space and the cellar of the Society’s 7th Street building. By this time—just three years after the library’s founding—the Society had already acquired 1,700 “choice” volumes in both German and English.

Expenses

The largest expenditure, in keeping with the Society’s mission, was the “relief of distressed Germans” ($485). The Society also funded tuition for two young men to study at the University of Pennsylvania. Other recorded expenses include building repairs, snow removal, payments to the Library Committee (presumably for new books), and wages for an employee tasked with “making fire for Librarian, candles & sand.”

The account also documents costs related to the case of an indentured servant girl, as well as printing expenses for advertising meetings in a local newspaper.



A Window into the Past

This remarkable document offers more detail about the Society’s early activities than many other surviving records. We are thrilled to add it to our archives, where it helps illuminate the day-to-day operations of the German Society and its ongoing mission to serve the German-American community.