III. Sermon notes, 1746-1747

This paper notebook contains abstracts of sermons attended between January 12, 1745/6 and November 15, 1747 in Kingston, Massachusetts, presumably by William Sever. The notebook lists the minister by last name, the location ("King." for Kingston), the date the sermon was delivered, the biblical passage used, and one-to-two-page entries on the sermon containing numbered notes and a section titled "Improvements and Applications." From the front of the volume, the pages contain entries for sermons attended between January 12 1745/6 through November 30, 1746, and there are no entries for June-September 1746. Sermon entries for December 7, 1746 to November 15, 1747 are written tête-bêche from the other end of the volume, and there are no entries for February-July 1747. Almost all of the sermons were delivered by Rev. William Rand, but there are sporadic sermons by additional ministers, who based on the last name are presumed to be John Angier (1701-1787; Harvard AB 1720), Ebenezer Gay (1696-1787; Harvard AB 1714), Nathaniel Eells (1678-1750; Harvard AB 1699), Josiah Torrey (1720-1783; Harvard AB 1741) and Daniel Shute (1722-1802; Harvard AB 1743).

Catalogue of freshmen, 1746

List of the matriculating members of the Harvard Class of 1750.

Annotated almanac, 1746

Almanac containing calendar pages with sporadic annotations of unidentified measurements and interleaved pages with short handwritten entries about Winthrop's daily activities, and astronomical and meteorological observations. The entries include personal notes about travel, the weather, and deaths in the community including hangings for piracy (July 24). There is an entry listing the burials and baptisms in Boston for the year and a chart of deaths according to age ranges.

The Summary of a Course of Experimental Philosophical Lectures, 1746-1747

Leather hardcover notebook containing a handwritten copy of John Winthrop's course of experimental and philosophical lectures presented between March 10, 1746 and June 16, 1746. The first one-hundred pages of the volume are divided into twenty chapters which were presented in thirty-three lectures. The chapters contain text and diagrams on mechanical powers, the lever, the pulley, the axis in peritrochio, the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, compound engines, the laws of motion, gravity, attraction of cohesion, the power of repulsion, magnetism, fluids, electricity, opticks, and astronomy. There is a five-page addenda to the course summary added in 1747, and a sixty-page text titled "The Method of Astronomical calculations" containing thirteen problems related to calculating distances with a list of astronomical characters, and followed with charts related to the eclipse of Jupiter's satellites.

Interleaved almanac, 1746

The 1746 diary is interleaved in Poor Richard's, An almanack for the year of Christ 1746. The thin paper-covered book holds brief notes about Holyoke’s daily life, written on blank pages bound with the almanac. More consistently filled out, the diary continues information about Holyoke’s senior year at Harvard, and his appointment as a schoolteacher in Lexington, Massachusetts. The September and October entries reference local military movements of King George’s War. The diary includes regular entries on individuals who preached and lectured at Harvard. Holyoke mentions an earthquake in February, and in March he notes that Harvard Professor John Winthrop "had a lecture: Solving ye Aurora Bor[ealis]."

Quitclaim, 1746 April 5

Handwritten quitclaim by David Wadsworth as beneficiary of the estate of Benjamin Wadsworth, acknowledging payment by Andrew Bordman.

Quitclaim, 1746 April 10

Handwritten quitclaim by Bryant Parrot as beneficiary of the estate of Benjamin Wadsworth, acknowledging payment by Andrew Bordman.

Quitclaim, 1746 April 10

Handwritten quitclaim by Sarah Wadsworth, widow of George Wadsworth, as beneficiary of the estate of Benjamin Wadsworth, acknowledging payment by Andrew Bordman.