Papers of William Merchant Richardson, 1797-1806

The collection contains a four-page handwritten poem titled "Invention" composed by graduate William Richardson for the 1797 Harvard College Commencement, and an 1806 letter of introduction written by Richardson. The rhyming poem begins, “Long had creations anthem peal been rung…” and contains classical references, and mentions scientists and philosophers including Voltaire, Franklin and Newton. The poem is accompanied by a one-page handwritten letter of introduction for lawyer Benjamin Ames (Harvard AB 1803) written by William M. Richardson to Reverend William Jenks (Harvard AB 1797). The letter is dated November 10, 1806.

Title supplied by cataloger. Received in the Harvard College Library on March 12, 1941 with Sheldon Funds.

William Merchant Richardson (1774-1838), Chief Justice of New Hampshire, was born in Pelham, NH on January 4, 1774. He received an AB from Harvard in 1797 and an LLD from Dartmouth in 1827. Richardson began practicing law in Groton, Mass., and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1811 to 1814. In 1814 Richardson moved to Portsmouth, NH and in 1816 was appointed Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court. Richardson died on March 15, 1838.

Benjamin Ames (1778-1835), a Maine lawyer and politician, was born on October 30, 1778 in Andover, Mass. He received an AB from Harvard in 1803 and studied law in Groton, Mass. before moving to Bath, Maine. He served as President of the Maine Senate in 1824, and as a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Ames died in 1835.

William Jenks (1778-1866), a New England minister, was born in Newton, Mass. on November 25, 1778. He received an AB from Harvard in 1797, an AM in 1800, and a DD in 1842. In 1805, Jenks was ordained as the minister of the Congregational church in Bath, Maine. Jenks moved to Boston, Mass. in 1818 and held a pastorate at the Green Street Church from 1825 until 1845. He died on November 13, 1866.