Montague, Abigale, autographed letter signed to John Winthrop; Hadley, Mass., 1 side (2 pages), 1663 July 19

Correspondence about her seven-year-old daughter, who was suffering from inflammation and discharge from her eye, in which Montague requests Winthrop's advice on whether sarsaparilla root or English barley boiled with herbs would be an effective treatment. Montague adds a postscript about her own health, writing she has a "thick rotten fleame rising out of my stomach" but no cough.

Montague, Abigale, autographed letter signed to [ ] Barnerd, 1 side (2 pages), circa 1663 July

Correspondence entreating "Sister Barnerd" in Hartford, Connecticut, to speak to John Winthrop about an eye infection that afflicted Montague's daughter.

Odell, Richard, 2 autographed letters signed to John Winthrop; Southampton, Long Island, 1652 November 16-1653

Correspondence concerning an illness, which Odell believed was palsy or the King's evil (scrofula), that afflicted his five-year-old daughter. Odell writes that her symptoms included loss of speech and feeling in her right side, and a throat blockage, and he requests advice from Winthrop on the course of treatment the family should pursue. Odell writes again in 1653 thanking Winthrop for the ointment and electuary he had prescribed for the child. Her symptoms had persisted, however, and he requested further advice. Odell adds several lines regarding rumors of an insurrection of a Native American tribe, inquiring if Winthrop has any information regarding "how matters stand & between the Dutch & the English."

Winthrop, John, 1606-1676, autographed letter signed (copy) to Richard Odell; Pequot, Conn., 1 side (4 pages), 1652 November 27

Copy of correspondence responding to a November 16, 1652, letter from Odell regarding his daughter's illness, which Winthrop speculates is hemiplegia. According to Winthrop, "The cure depends upon the knowledge of the right cause, and not only that but the constand and due aplication of such things as may conduce them thereto, which is difficult to doe at a distance." Winthrop further writes that he did not at present have medicine to send for her condition, but recommends "some general things that might be helpfull." These included keeping the child warm with fox or rabbit furs, an ointment consisting of herbs, wax, castor oil, worm grease, fox grease, or an ointment of balsam. Winthrop writes he has sent an ointment, but does not specify its ingredients. His other suggestions for treatment include cupping without scarification, and an decoction containing sarsaparilla, guaiacum, and spirit of rosemary.

Pynchon, John, 1621-1703, autographed letter signed to John Winthrop; Springfield, Mass., 1 side (2 pages), 1663 July 24

Correspondence seeking Winthrop's advice regarding treatment of his daughter, who had been vomiting and suffering insomnia and dry mouth for several days

Smyth, Richard, autographed letter signed to John Winthrop; Wethersfeild [sic], Conn., 1 side (2 pages), 1652 February 21

Correspondence requesting advice on treatment and medicine for his daughter-in-law, who was ill with pain, vomiting, and a cough.

Letters from Benjamin Welles to John Henry Tudor, 1799-1801

Benjamin Welles wrote these six letters to his friend and classmate, John Henry Tudor, between 1799 and 1801. Four of the letters are dated, and the dates of the other two can be deduced from their contents. Welles wrote Tudor four times in September 1799, at the onset of their senior year at Harvard, in an attempt to clear up hurt feelings and false rumors that he believed had caused a chill in their friendship. The cause of the rift is never fully explained, though Welles alludes to "a viper" and "villainous hypocrite" who apparently spread rumors and fueled discord between the two friends. In one letter, Welles asserts that "College is a rascal's Elysium - or the feeling man's hell." In another he writes: "College, Tudor, is a furnace to the phlegmatic, & a Greenland to thee feeling man; it has an atmosphere which breathes contagion to the soul [...] Villains fatten here. College is the embryo of hell." Whatever their discord, the wounds were apparently eventually healed; in a letter written June 26, 1800, Welles writes to ask Tudor about his impending speech at Commencement exercises. In an October 29, 1801 letter, Welles writes to Tudor in Philadelphia (where he appears to have traveled in attempts to recover his failing health) and expresses strong wishes for his friend's recovery and return to Boston. This letter also contains news of their classmate Washington Allston's meeting with painters Henry Fuseli and Benjamin West.

Rubbing of the gravestone of Harvard librarian Nathaniel Ward made by David S. Ferriero, October 15, 1972

Large rubbing of the gravestone of Nathaniel Ward, librarian of Harvard college for one week in 1768. The rubbing was made by David S. Ferriero, and is signed and dated October 15, 1972 in the lower right corner.

Letter from Benjamin Colman to Edward Wigglesworth about John Leverett, 1728 March 4

Benjamin Colman wrote this letter to Edward Wigglesworth on March 4, 1728; it was sent from Colman, in Boston, to Wigglesworth, in Cambridge. The letter concerns their mutual friend, John Leverett, who had died several years before. It appears that Wigglesworth was charged with writing an epitaph for Leverett and had solicited input from Colman. Colman writes of his great admiration for Leverett, praising his "virtue & piety, wisdom & gravity [...] majesty & authority [...] eye & voice, goodness & courtesie."

Deed of feoffment for property in Cambridge, Massachusetts: from Thomas Sweetman to Michael Spencer, 1677 December 10

In this deed of feoffment, written on Dec. 10, 1677, Thomas Sweetman agreed to sell his dwelling house, barn, and orchard to his son-in-law, Michael Spencer, for the cost of eighty pounds sterling. The property was located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on what was then the northwest corner of the grounds of Harvard College, and was sold "together with the wood lot upon the rocks and cow commons belonging to it." The deed specifies that both Sweetman and his wife Isabel were to be allowed to occupy the property until their deaths, and further explains that Spencer and his family were already living in the dwelling house, occupying three rooms. The document was signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of Daniel Gookin, Jr. and John Bridgham. It was also signed by Thomas Sweetman.

Collection of Mary Gardner Marshall, 1795-1957 (inclusive)

Collection consists mainly of correspondence among family members and includes courtship correspondence of J. Doddridge to Julia, 1868-1875, and of Elsa and her future husband, Courtenay Hemenway, 1908-1912. Also included are photographs, genealogical material, a diary, commonplace and wedding books.