Letter from Samuel Willard, Lancaster, Massachusetts, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, October 14, 1800

Willard apologizes for and describes disciplinary action taken against him by Harvard’s government, and explains that he has been sent to study under Reverend Thayer in Lancaster.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, April 4, 1801

Willard informs his parents of the death of Deacon Fairbank. He assures them that on his return to Cambridge, he was “received with great apparent cordiality both by the government + the president’s family.” He also reports on the health of President Willard, whose health has improved. Willard concludes the letter by asking for money to pay his expenses.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Groton, Massachusetts, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, January 19, 1803

Willard discusses his potential future professional plans in either divinity or law. He asks his parents for their advice, compares and contrasts the benefits and disadvantages of each potential profession, and seems to be leaning towards law: “On the other hand my nearsightedness pleads against the profession of divinity. That a clergyman may be useful, he should possess a high degree of sociability, the most winning manners, and an accommodating disposition. In these every one knows me deficient.”

Letter from Samuel Willard, Brunswick, Maine, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, May 13, 1804

Willard complains about his eyesight, discusses upcoming plans to visit Penobscot, and describes river boat accident in which four of his neighbors drowned.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Exeter, New Hampshire, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, June 1, 1804

Willard discusses his brother Ephraim Willard’s death.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Brunswick, Maine, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, July 31, 1804

Willard complains about not hearing from his family often enough: “I have been expecting a letter from Petersham by every mail for six weeks and have been grievously disappointed eighteen times.” He also mentions that his eyesight is not doing well.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Brunswick, Maine, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, October 17, 1804

Willard describes his tutoring job at Bowdoin College, explains his contract and salary, terms and conditions, and describes President Joseph McKeen, as well as the town of Brunswick. He mentions that he saw his Aunt Chadwick, and that she discussed the death of her brother. He also describes his aunt’s house, and mentions the death of another close relation.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Exeter, New Hampshire, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, November 25, 1805

Willard describes his usual daily routines relating to teaching at Philips Academy and his plans to leave Exeter.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Deerfield, Massachusetts, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, June 5, 1807

Willard says that the town of Deerfield voted to keep him as a preacher at their church, and explains that it will probably be a generous salary, although he does not know if he will accept. He also describes the duties he will be expected to perform and the expectations the congregation will have of him.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Deerfield, Massachusetts, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, March 11, 1810

Willard mentions that he has been anxious because he has heard that “there was such a dreadful sickness in…Petersham, but I have not been able to learn many particulars about it,” and asks for news. He also comments on the weather and lack of snow throughout the past winter.

Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, By His Excellency the Governor, you are by and with advice and consent of His Majesty's Council, ordered and directed to pay unto

Not in Evans or Ford.

Mathematical notebook, and commonplace book, circa 1689-1769

Manuscript notebook, possibly kept by Harvard students, containing 17th century English transcriptions of arithmetic and geometry texts, one of which is dated 1689-1690; 18th century transcriptions from John Ward’s “The Young Mathematician’s Guide”; and notes on physics lectures delivered by John Winthrop, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard from 1738 to 1779. The notebook also contains 18th century reading notes on Henry VIII, Tudor succession, and English history from Daniel Neal’s “The History of the Puritans” and David Hume’s “History of England,” and notes on Ancient history, taken mainly from Charles Rollin’s “The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Grecians.” Additionally included are an excerpt from Plutarch’s “Lives” and transcriptions of three articles from “The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle,” published in 1769: “A Critique on the Works of Ovid”; a book review of “A New Voyage to the West-Indies”; and “Genuine Anecdotes of Celebrated Writers, &.” The flyleaf contains the inscription “Semper boni aliquid operis facito ut diabolus te semper inveniat occupatum,” a variation on a quote of Saint Jerome that translates approximately as “Always good to do some work so that the devil may always find you occupied.” In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Harvard College undergraduates often copied academic texts and lecture notes into personal notebooks in place of printed textbooks. Winthrop used Ward’s textbook in his class, while the books of Hume, Neal, and Rollin were used in history courses taught at Harvard in the 18th century.