Receipts, 1798, 1799, 1809

Handwritten receipts for fees and debts collected.

Letters and legal opinion, 1798-1823

Legal opinion on an equity case (1798). Four letters to an unnamed correspondent (1801) regarding a shipment of papers; Joseph Hopkinson, member of Congress (1817) regarding a judiciary bill; a note (1818) to the cashier of the Bank of Columbia; and to Charles T. Mercer (1823) regarding property in Loudoun County, Virginia. Folder also contains newspaper clippings (ca. 1830-1842) regarding Washington's life and career, including one taken from the Journal of Law.

Student lecture notes of Benjamin Peirce, 1797-1798

This collection contains approximately twenty-three handwritten lecture summaries on six leaves made by Harvard undergraduate Benjamin Peirce between September 1797 and November 22, 1798. The summaries generally provide a few sentences describing the topic covered and primarily pertain to lectures on English grammar delivered by Eliphalet Pearson, the Hollis Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages. There are also summaries for single lectures by David Tappan, the Hollis Professor Divinity; Samuel Webber, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; and John Snelling Popkin, the Greek Tutor from 1795 to 1798, and later the Eliot Professor of Greek Literature. There is also an undated summary of a lecture by Benjamin Waterhouse, the Hersey Professor of Theory and Practice of Physic.

Student essay attributed to William Ellery Channing, 1797 June 5

Three-page handwritten essay composed in English and attributed to Harvard undergraduate William Ellery Channing. The verso of the last page is inscribed "Channing 5 June 97." A quotation from Edward Young appears at the top of the first page: "A Competence is vital to content / Much wealth is corpulence, if not disease" and discusses the topic of affluence. The document includes edits and struck-through words.

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Three letters written from Tudor to his family from London. Among the subjects about which he writes include the fruit and vegetable bushes and seeds he is sending to Rockwood, the family estate, as well as his impressions of London society and weather. He also writes about political issues, including the Napoleonic Wars, unification in Ireland, and the challenges of being an American in trade in England.

Letter from William Tudor to his family,

Four letters written from Tudor to his family while he was traveling in France in 1800 and 1802. In two letters, he describes in detail his capture by a French privateer aboard the ship Minerva in the spring of 1800. He also discusses the business activities of "Mr. C" (John Codman), his employer. Tudor additionally describes the French countryside and the impact of the French Revolutionary Wars on the cities.

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Five letters written from St. Pierre, Martinique, include updates on Tudor’s attempts to secure exclusive commercial rights to import ice to the island, as well as his ideas for storing ice and methods of storing cargo onboard a ship.

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Two letters written from St. Pierre and Les Trois-Îlets, Martinique; in the latter Tudor discusses the recovery of his cousin and traveling companion James Savage, who had fallen ill. He also describes the conditions of slaves on several local estates and plantations

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Four letters written from St. Pierre, Martinique, Basseterre, Guadalupe, and St. Barts. In one letter written over a number of days, he describes extensively his travels in Antigua, and the various people he met, including Captain William Jarvis. He also details his meeting with Ralph Payne, 1st Baron Lavington, the governor of the Leeward Islands, regarding the prospects of importing ice.

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Four letters written from St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Santo Domingo, in which he indicates his petitions for privilege to import ice have been successful except at St. Croix with the Danish government. He also decribes the architecture and cultural diversity of St. Thomas, which had been rebuilt after a fire in 1805.

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Two letters written from Santo Domingo in which Tudor discusses his efforts to gain passage from there to Jamaica, as well as relays details about the island and its churches.

Letters from William Tudor to his sister, Emma Tudor Gardiner,

Two letters written from London. In one letter, written in French, Tudor inquires after Emma’s study of the piano and French. In a later letter, he describes to her the cottages he has seen in England, and advises her on the house she is planning to build in Gardiner, Maine, including two architectural sketches. Tudor also offers detailed descriptions of the shops in London, his impressions of Londoners’ rudeness and "blustering air," his impressions of the different classes in England and France, and fashions of the ladies.

Letters from Emma Tudor Gardiner to her brother, William Tudor,

Four letters written from Oaklands, the Gardiner family mansion. Emma details the family’s journey to Gardiner from Boston, and offers updates on her children’s activities and health. She also writes following the death of their father, William Tudor, expressing profound grief and reflecting on his character and good nature.

Letters from Emma Tudor Gardiner to her brother, William Tudor,

Four letters in which Emma further expresses grief over the loss of their father and gives a positive critique of a memoir of William Tudor that her brother had written. Other topics include literature, friends, and visitors to Oaklands, and various purchases her brother made on her behalf in Boston.

Letters from Emma Tudor Gardiner to her brother, William Tudor,

Four letters in which Emma writes instructions for Tudor to buy her a shawl and her children a tea-set. In one letter, she recommends changes to Tudor’s diet and exercise routine to improve his health.