Collection of Harvard College admission form letter and bills sent to Charles Walker and his son Charles Walker, Jr., 1785-1816

This collection consists primarily of quarter bills and butler's bills from Charles Walker and Charles Walker, Jr.'s years as students at Harvard College, from 1785 to 1789 and from 1815-1816. It includes the following materials from Charles Walker: a form of admission (a printed form letter with manuscript annotations and signatures) from August 1785, quarter bills and butler's bills from 1785 to 1789, and occasional receipts of payment. The documents from Charles Walker, Jr. are less numerous, consisting solely of quarter bills from 1815 and 1816. The bills for father and son include annotations explaining the basis of additional or unusual charges, including fines for absence from lectures and prayers. The form used for the son's quarter bills, issued in 1815 and 1816, separate the amounts owed into the following categories: Steward and Commons, Sizings, Study and Cellar Rent, Instruction, Librarian, Natural History, Episcopal Church, Books, Catalogue and Commencement Dinner, Repairs, Sweepers, Assessments for delinquency in payment of Quarter Bills, Wood, and Fines. All of the bills are printed forms which were then filled out by hand, by either the steward or the butler, and issued to the students. Caleb Gannett was the College steward during both father and son's era. Joshua Paine, William Harris, and Thomas Adams served, successively, as butler during the father's era. Some of the butler's bills are signed by Roger Vose, a student who appears to have been employed by the butler in 1786 and 1787.

These materials are assembled in a scrapbook. The admission form letter (1785) is very fragile due to the manner in which it was tipped into the volume, and handling may be restricted.

Gift of Joseph B. Walker, March 6, 1908.

Title supplied by cataloguer.

Charles Walker, son of Judge Timothy Walker, was born on September 25, 1765 in Concord, New Hampshire. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1789 and an A.M in 1792. He practiced law in Concord and was president of the Upper Concord Bank for several years. He died in Concord on July 29, 1834.

Charles Walker, Jr. was born on March 31, 1798 in Concord, New Hampshire. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1818. He practiced law in New York but was later forced to move to Key West and Puerto Rico for health reasons. He died in Concord on October 1, 1843.