Subseries E. Admittatur to Harvard College, 1785

This document, dated Sept. 9, 1785 and signed by Harvard's President, Joseph Willard, and its Steward, Caleb Gannett, granted Shapleigh admission to Harvard College.

[Calculation of student exercises by class, 1790]

One leaf containing unidentified handwritten calculations arranged by class, and for the senior class noting differences in quarters according to "vote" or "regulation." Presumably the calculations reflect the number of academic exercises required of each class.

A statement of the monies which have been paid, & of the debts which are still due to Thomas Adams formerly College Butler. 15 April 1794

Statement with list of creditors paid with cash from the student accounts.

L.B.'s letter respecting excuse to president of College, 1797 August 31

Brief handwritten note to Loammi Baldwin from his son requesting a written excuse to be sent to the Harvard President for his absence on election day.

Receipts from College Butler, 1800

Two receipts to Loammi Baldwin for payment made to Harvard College Butler Joseph Chickering (Harvard AB 1799) on May 30, 1800 and June 21, 1800.

College Book 7, 1750-1778

This volume contains a fair copy of minutes from Corporation meetings held from Sept. 17, 1750 through April 23, 1778. It begins with an alphabetical index and contains entries related to a wide range of topics, including the challenges of operating the Charlestown ferry (due to the river freezing, fear of smallpox, and other issues); increases in "pecuniary mulcts" (fines) for breaches of specific College laws; the establishment of the Dudleian lecture; the selection and financial support of missionaries to various Indian tribes; honorary degrees awarded to Benjamin Franklin and George Washington; gifts to the library as it was rebuilt in the wake of the fire of 1764 (many entries provide the title and author of books donated); the management of land and property belonging to Harvard; Treasurers' reports and other financial accounts; changes in the College laws; gifts to the College, ranging from two Egyptian mummies to a solar microscope; the construction of the First Parish Meeting House in Cambridge and the use of adjacent College property by parishoners; rules of endowed professorships; salaries and appointments; closures due to the threat of smallpox; rules governing Commons and the College Library; reports of various Visiting Committees; class schedules, according to subject; student disorders; the establishment of a designated museum space to display "Curiosities"; the effects of the Revolutionary War on Harvard, including repeated requests to the General Court after the war for compensation for damage to College buildings; the cost of various foods and changes in what was served at Commons; and the danger of the chapel's roof, built of too-heavy slate, falling in. Also of interest are minutes from a May 5, 1761 meeting, which note that the General Court voted to pay for Hollis Professor John Winthrop to travel to Newfoundland to observe the transit of Venus "over the Suns disc."

College Book 8, 1778-1803

This volume contains a fair copy of minutes from Corporation meetings held from May 5, 1778 through October 14, 1803. It begins with an alphabetical index and contains entries related to a wide range of topics, including changes in the College laws; lists of Harvard graduates; historical information about the College and its governance; memorials to the Massachusetts General Court about currency concerns, the West Boston Bridge, and other matters; the establishment of medical professorships and selection of professors to fill them; land and property belonging to Harvard; the settlement of accounts with former College Treasurer John Hancock; support of missionaries to several Indian tribes; the establishment of a student dress code; the Charlestown Ferry, and its revenue troubles following the construction of the West Boston Bridge; the purchase of a wooden sloop for transporting students' "fuel" (presumably firewood); the creation and distribution of library catalogs; the commission of a lucernal microscope for the College Apparatus; Oneida Indian Isaac Solegwaston and Harvard's financial support of his studies at the Hamilton Oneida Academy; transcriptions of a letter (October 23, 1789) from the Corporation to President George Washington and of Washington's response; a petition to the General Court for the establishment of a public infirmary to serve the indigent; individuals who were granted permission to instruct Harvard students in the French language outside the established curriculum; and Thomas Welsh's excused absence from his Harvard graduation, granted June 14, 1798, because of his imminent departure for Berlin to serve as Secretary to John Quincy Adams, then Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin.

A. Bond to the College, 1796 August 15

This subseries contains one printed bond for Loammi Baldwin and Joseph Bartlett of Woburn County in the sun of two-hundred ounces of silver to the Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College.

F. List of items carried to College, 1799 September 16

This subseries contains one short handwritten list of dishware, cutlery, and a set of money scales and weights brought to Harvard College by Loammi Baldwin on September 16, 1799.

Subseries E. Admittatur to Harvard College, 1785

This document, dated Sept. 9, 1785 and signed by Harvard's President, Joseph Willard, and its Steward, Caleb Gannett, granted Shapleigh admission to Harvard College.

Letter from Artemas Ward to Benjamin Stone, 1787 July 18

Artemas Ward wrote this letter to Benjamin Stone on July 18, 1787, expressing his concern about the expense of his son, Henry Dana Ward's, imminent studies at Harvard. Ward complains to Stone about his own debts and the failure of the government to honor their financial obligations to him, and he also expresses hope that the President of Harvard will allow his son to spend part of his time "keeping a school" during his freshman and sophomore years, thus earning an income sufficient to pay for his studies. Ward also suggests that it might be preferable that his son board with a respectable family, rather than live at the College.

To Mary Ann [passages copied from several poems, written by an unknown student on November 21, 1790]

The creator of this document is unknown, though he was presumably a student at Harvard College, as the name of the college appears on the document twice. Both sides of the document are filled with passages of poetry, including one from Tobias George Smollett's "The Adventures of Roderick Random" and another from John Tapner's "A New Collection of Fables in Verse." The creator seems to have intended the document for someone named Mary Ann.

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.

An account of my quarter bills, charges &c from July 11th 1743 to July 13th 1748 at Harvard College

Handwritten account book kept while Storer was a student at Harvard College. The well-organized volume is arranged by expense type and then date and was updated periodically, usually quarterly. The information offers a glimpse at the expenses of a Harvard student and provides information about the larger community that supported student life. The precise entries indicate the lifelong habits of Storer as a careful and methodical financial manager that would prove so valuable when he served as Harvard's treasurer more than thirty years later. Storer documents accounts with the steward, butler, sweeper, glazier, barber, and lists these individuals by name. The volume also includes notes on expenses for boarding, transportation, wood, and pocket expenses. While most entries do not list specific purchases, Storer provides details on the cost of a Harvard Commencement in 1747 (including the cost of a diploma, money to the President, hiring a house, a boat, a woman, and "2 Negroes"), and a specific accounting of the different food purchased for the event; Storer also lists expenses for an 1748 "supper for the graduates."

List of members of the Harvard College Class of 1797, created 1794 July 2

This document lists all the members of the Harvard College Class of 1797, including those who did not graduate. The list is roughly alphabetical, and each student's home town is listed alongside his name. There are also brief notes about one member of the class's nine-month suspension and several others' "taking up connections." The creator of this list is unknown.