Certification of payment from Oliver Prescott, 1747 September 23

Handwritten certificate of payment for a new red and plaid gown purchased by Harvard sophomore Oliver Prescott in 1747. The certificate is witnessed by upperclassmen Artemas Ward, Jacob Cushing, and Timothy Pond.

Title supplied by cataloger.

This item was donated to Houghton Library on July 27, 1994 by Boston antiquarian bookseller George Goodspeed (1903-1997; Harvard AB 1925) and transferred to the Harvard University Archives in 1999 as part of George Goodspeed's collection of Harvardiana.

The item was originally cataloged as part of HUA 734.

A 1929 letter from S. E. Morison to George Goodspeed containing Morison's theories regarding the meaning of the receipt is available in the control file for this collection.

Oliver Prescott (1731-1804) received an AB from Harvard in 1750 and received an honorary degree in 1791. Prescott practiced medicine in Groton, Mass. and served as a Judge of Probate for Middlesex County from 1774 until his death in 1804.

Artemas Ward (1727-1800) received an AB from Harvard in 1748. Ward served as a commander in the American Revolutionary War, and later served in the Continental Congress and as a Massachusetts and United States Congressional Representative.

Jacob Cushing (1730-1809) received an AB from Harvard in 1748 and received an honorary degree in 1807. Cushing became a minister of the First Congregational Parish of Waltham, Mass. in 1752.

Timothy Pond (d. 1804) received an AB from Harvard in 1749. Pond became a farmer and surveyor first in Dedham and later Wrentham, Mass.