Notes on cases in Boston, 1784-1790

Notes on various cases, including cases of burglary, debt, fraud, libel, receiving stolen goods, and one case of attempted murder of an infant by his mother.

Epitaph for Henry Flynt : manuscript copy, 1760

Twenty-five line handwritten epitaph in Latin written by Professor Edward Wigglesworth for Henry Flynt. Begins, "Huic Tumulo mandantur Exuvia / Vin admodum venerabilis Henrici Flynt Armigeri."

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

Four letters written from Oaklands. One letter from Emma expressing her grief and shock over the death of their father was finished by her husband, who described hearing the news from a friend, and Emma’s subsequent reaction. In other letters, Gardiner offers advice on resolving the elder William Tudor’s debts by selling off assets such as shares in the Boston Athenaeum and in a pew at Trinity Church. In one letter, Gardiner also offers his opinion regarding the prospects of Henry James (Harry) Tudor’s law career.

Letter from Charles Stewart to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

This letter was written aboard the U.S.S. Franklin. Stewart writes in detail about William’s brother Henry James (Harry) Tudor, and concerns about his character, particularly his "natural indolence and indifference." He notes that like his wife, Delia, Harry spends money irresponsibly. Stewart also writes he tried to interest Harry in the pursership of the Franklin, and had hoped he would be appointed to the Consulate of Tripoli or Tunis.

Letters from Delia Jarvis Tudor to her son, William Tudor,

Five letters sent from Gardiner, Maine, Boston, and New York. In several, there are messages included from Emma and Robert Hallowell Gardiner. One letter includes anectdotes regarding the late William Tudor and the American Revolution. One letter written to Tudor while he was chargé d’affairs in Rio de Janeiro relates news that his brother, Henry James (Harry), was setting up a salt-making business; it also includes a message from Delia, anticipating his return to the United States. Two additional undated letters, addressed to Tudor in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, likely before Tudor’s father died in 1819, contain family news and local gossip.

Letter from Frederic Tudor to his brother, John Henry Tudor,

Letter facetiously addressed to "Juan."

Letter from William Porter to William Tudor,

One letter regarding communication enclosed from Tudor’s sister, Delia Tudor Stewart, and Secretary of State Henry Clay.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1784 June 18

Two folio-sized leaves containing a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley discussing "the disturbances & murders at the Southward," the disciplinary case of Charles Ferguson of Charleston, Carolina who entered with the Class of 1786, and criticism of a new, unidentified Harvard Corporation member, likely John Lowell (1743-1802; Harvard AB 1760) who was elected to the Corporation in April 1784.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1811 September 24

Two folio-sized leaves containing a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley comparing the travel accounts of James Bruce and Henry Salt (1780-1827).

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.