Meeting minutes maintained by the Secretary, April 21, 1812; May 4, 1812; and June 3, 1812

These minutes pertain to discussions of the General Court's "act to repeal an act" (also called "the Act to alter and amend the Constitution of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, and to regulate certain meetings of said Board") in February 1812, which repealed changes made in 1810 to the Constitution of the Board of Overseers. The Overseers present at these meetings doubted the act's legality and discussed ignoring and/or attempting to overturn the act.

A catalogue of books in the College library: [which Benjamin Welles wished to read], 1797

In this small paper-bound catalog, Benjamin Welles (1781-1860) listed books in the Harvard College Library which he wished to read. He presumably compiled the list by consulting the Library's 1790 printed catalog, as the works are categorized according to subjects outlined in that catalog (Antiquities, Astronomy, Ancient Authors, Biography, Sacred Criticism, Ethics, Geography, Geometry, History, Nature, Travels / Voyages, Natural Law, Logic, Metaphysics, Miscellaneous Works, Dramatic, Phililogy, Natural Philosophy, Poetry, Rhetoric, and Theology). The final pages of Welles' catalog, which he titles "Another Selection," list additional volumes he wished to read. These are listed alphabetically, A - G. Some titles throughout the catalog have been marked with a "+" perhaps to indicate that Welles had read them.

Receipts, 1798, 1799, 1809

Handwritten receipts for fees and debts collected.

A poem delivered at Harvard College, September 29th, 1789

Eight-page untitled handwritten poem attributed to Harvard student Benjamin Whitwell (Harvard AB 1790). The poem begins “The brow of age is soften’d into smiles” and contains classical and militaristic allusions. An annotation indicates that a set of stanzas beginning, “On thee, our common parent! Guardian! Friend! His mildest warmth, his brightest beams descend….” refers to Harvard President Joseph Willard. The text includes edits and annotations.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Deerfield, Massachusetts, to Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, March 4, 1811

Willard informs his mother that his wife was “safely delivered of another daughter” and the “infant which weighs seven pounds, appears be strong + healthy.” His postscript explains that although he has been within a three-hour riding distance of his brother Solomon for two months, he has yet to see him.

Letter from Lemuel Shaw to Susanna Shaw, January 3, 1797

This single page handwritten letter was sent from Lemuel Shaw to his mother, Susanna, during his freshman year at Harvard. In the letter, he requested that his mother wash and return his dirty laundry and send him clothes, including a pair of overalls, some neck-handkerchiefs, and a new hat. Shaw also asked for money to be sent to pay off his debt of $21.25 to Mr. Richard Hunnewell for board and rent, $18.93 for the previous quarter’s bill, and $1.15 for Mr. Timothy Alden, the College Butler.

Account books of William Aspinwall, 1776-1812 (inclusive)

Two account books containing entries noting patients visited, fees charged, and small accounts of Dr. William Aspinwall (1743-1823) in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts, from 1776 to 1812. He includes sections for "Women's Accounts" with charges generally rendered to their husbands or other male relatives. There is also an entry charging the town of Cambridge, Massachusetts, four dollars and fifty cents for medicines and attendance to a boy who contracted smallpox.

Massachusetts, 1797 Raster Image

This layer is a digitized geo-referenced raster image of a 1797 map of Massachusetts drawn by D.F. Sotzmann. These Sotzmann maps (10 maps of New England and Mid-Atlantic states) typically portray both natural and manmade features. They are highly detailed with symbols for churches, roads, court houses, distilleries, iron works, mills, academies, county lines, town lines, and more. Relief is usually indicated by hachures and country boundaries have also been drawn. Place names are shown in both German and English and each map usually includes an index to land grants. Prime meridians used for this series are Greenwich and Washington, D.C.