III. Harvard College Papers, 1st series, Volume 3, 1785-1796

The third volume of the College Papers contains original documents dating from 1785 to 1796, spanning the tenures of president Joseph Willard and treasurer Ebenezer Storer. The series chiefly consists of incoming correspondence for Storer.

Records of the Geographical Society, ca. 1796

This small blue-covered paper notebook contains four leaves with the handwritten records of the Geographical Society, an undergraduate organization at Harvard in the late 1790s. The records consist of ten handwritten "Laws of the Geographical Society" and a short list of fines dispensed on October 7th. A list of six student surnames is written on a scrap of paper and attached with pins to the notebook's inside front cover. The surnames likely correspond to six members of the Harvard Class of 1798: John Abbot (1777-1854), Isaac Adams (d. 1807), Francis Brigham (d. November 14, 1796), Humphrey Devereux (1779-1867), Joseph Emerson (1777-1833), and Artemas Sawyer (d. 1826). The notebook is undated but was presumably kept in 1795 or 1796 around the time of Brigham's death on November 14, 1796. While Brigham's surname appears in the list of fines, it is crossed out on the inside front cover.

Letters to George Simpson, 1796, 1806

Two letters to the cashier of the Bank of the United States requesting that funds be transferred to Andrew Bayard in Philadelphia, so that Paterson could receive his salary as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyer's case book containing notes of cases adjudged and determined in the courts of Delaware, 1793-1796

Lawyer's case book containing notes on cases before the Delaware Supreme Court and Delaware Court of Common Pleas. Contains information on the cases and judgements.

Letter to Samuel Dexter, 13 November 1796

Letter regarding a bankruptcy case, later heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1797 (3 Dallas 369; Emory v. Greenough) and the upcoming national election.

Lawyer's account book, 1796-1829

Contains entries regarding accounts describing a wide variety of legal services and fees performed for individuals and especially for several towns (Dartmouth, Taunton, New Bedford, and Mashpee). These services include probating wills, drawing wills, prosecutions, depositions, warrants, writs, and bankruptcy.

Records of cases before the Mayor's Court of Albany, 1786-1796

Contains a summary of cases before the court beginning with the litigants and the damages sought, the legal action, names of counsel, actions taken, and the final disposition of the case. Most actions taken relate to debt, assault and battery, and slander and libel. At the back of the manuscript are "an account of law books by me purchased in the year 1784 & 1785" [p. 120], and"a list miscellanious books bought in the year 1784 & 1785" [p. 132].

Valedictory poem delivered in the Chapel of Harvard University on the 21 June 1796: in the presence of the President Proffers & Tutors & the four classes of understudents at the request of the class who completed their college studies on that day

Handwritten draft of the Charles P. Sumner’s valedictory poem to the Harvard class of 1796, in a 19th century hardcover binding beginning “The youth by adverse fortune forced to roam…”. The poem mentions John Russell, a member of the Class of 1796 who died in November 1795. The copy includes edits and struck-out words.