Journal of College Disorders, 1788-1797

This journal contains entries about various student "disorders" which occurred during Eliphalet Pearson’s tenure at Harvard. Daily entries describe a wide range of students’ rebellious conduct, which included: hissing at speakers in chapel, throwing snowballs and stones at College buildings and people (including tutors and then-President Joseph Willard), disrupting lectures by scraping chairs and feet, breaking windows, intoxication, moving and breaking furniture, stealing firewood, firing pistols, building bonfires, stealing supplies (food, cider and candles), throwing food and utensils during meals, stealing Bibles, wearing hats indoors, filling door locks with stones, drawing on lecture room walls with gravel, and silencing the morning chapel bell by filling it with molten pewter plates (stolen from the kitchen). There are also entries pertaining to more malicious offenses, including the drowning of a dog in a well. Several entries describe meetings of the College government to determine the appropriate punishments for each offense. Students were often fined, expelled, or suspended ("rusticated") for their unruly behavior.

Memorial of the President and Fellows of Harvard College to the General Court for the enlargement of their power to hold real estate. Copy, [1797 July 15]

Four folio-sized leaves containing a handwritten copy of a petition to the Massachusetts General Court from the Harvard Corporation requesting the College's amount of tax exempt real estate be enlarged.

Repairs of Houses in Cambridge from June 1797 to 1799, [1799 June 1]

Fragment of one leaf with handwritten accounting figures for the costs of repairs on Cambridge houses to June 1, 1799. The total sum on the document is included as a note at the bottom of the Treasurer's account.

Method of preventing disorders at chapel, church &c., 1797 November 25

Three-page draft of a report presented to the "executive government" of Harvard College by the "committee appointed to prepare a plan for the suppression of certain disorders during the public services in the chapel & in the meeting house."

Exhortation read to 27 of the Sophomore class, 1797 July 1

9-page handwritten copy of an address by Eliphalet Pearson read to twenty-seven members of the sophomore class after an incident on June 27, 1797 in which "in direct violation of College law a majority of the sophomore class repaired to the house of Richard Boardman in this town; that they did then & there indulge to a free use of wine" that incited them to drunkenly parade through town and disturb the evening church services of the College.

Nathan Prince's pledge of indemnity towards Henry Prentice and Mary Prentice, ca. 1742

Although the context of this document is not entirely clear, it appears that the Prentices were responsible for storing Prince's belongings – recently removed from his Harvard chamber – until he could claim them. These included his "wearing linnen," "wearing cloathe & five or six papers," and "five or six books."

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.

Lists of Phi Beta Kappa's new members, 1790, 1793, and 1797

Shapleigh served as Secretary of Harvard's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1797.

Opinions filed by the commissioners acting under the VII. article of the Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and the United States of America : manuscript, 1797-1799

Opinions concerning the 7th article of the treaty.

Letter from Stephen Longfellow to Jabez Kimball, 1797 December 10

Stephen Longfellow wrote this letter to his friend Jabez Kimball on December 10, 1797. The letter was addressed to Kimball in London-Derry, where he was studying law. The letter is lighthearted, and Longfellow recounts various happenings at Harvard since Kimball's graduation the year before. Longfellow informs him of developments in Phi Beta Kappa, the Hasty Pudding Club, and his "attention to the ladies."

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.

Harvard College Lottery Book, 1794-1797

The long hardcover account book contains handwritten records of the Harvard College Lottery in the hand of College Treasurer Ebenezer Storer. The volume begins with a transcription of the Massachusetts General Court June 13, 1794 legislation sanctioning the lottery, and a note that the managers of the lottery gave security bonds to the Corporation. The bulk of the volume records the activities of the four classes of the lottery including lists of the individual tickets returned by the managers Benjamin Austin Jr., George R. Minot, Henry Warren, and John Kneeland, and the accounts of prizes drawn and tickets returned. The volume has a table of contents and there is a note pasted onto the third page calculating the sum raised if all tickets had been sold.

Justice of the peace day book, 1797-1816

Contains records of summons and judgements in various court cases, and fines paid.

Docket and fees book / 1791-1797

Records of cases heard in the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas (Middlesex Co.) in Cambridge, Mass., and the New Hampshire Inferior Court of Common Pleas (Hillsborough Co.) in Amherst, N.H and matters brought before justices of the peace. Records identify the litigants, with some notes on fees and settlements; many of the cases concern debts. Justices of the peace include: Israel Atherton (Lancaster, Mass.); Samuel Dana (Amherst, N.H.); Joshua Longley (Shirley, Mass.); Nathaniel Paine (Worcester, Mass.); James Prescott (Westford, Mass.); Jeremiah Stiles (Keene, N.H.); William Swan (Groton, Mass.); Sampson Tuttle (Littleton, Mass.); and Henry Woods (Pepperell, Mass.).