Valedictory address of Stephen Hooper, 1761

Unattributed and undated handwritten Latin valedictory oration likely composed by graduate Stephen Hooper for the 1761 Harvard College Commencement. In the oration, Hooper praises Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard, Thomas Hutchinson, Professor Edward Wigglesworth, and Tutor Belcher Hancock. The oration mentions classmate John Chipman (1745-1761) who died of illness on April 15, 1761.

A plan of Cambridge Green, 1780 September 14

Small pen-and-ink and watercolor drawing of Cambridge Green created by Harvard senior John Davis, presumably as part of his undergraduate mathematical coursework. The map surveys Cambridge Commons and includes a few rough outlines of College buildings and the Episcopal church, and notes the burying ground, and the roads to Charlestown, Menotomy, the pond, Watertown, and the bridge. The original handwritten text is faded and was annotated with additional text by Davis including the note "[taken in my Senior year at H. College Septr 1780] Surveyed in concert with classmates, Atkins, Hall 1st, Howard, Payne, &c.- J. Davis." There is a note that "Atkins afterwards took the name of Tying." Davis refers to Dudley Atkins Tyng, Joseph Hall, Bezaleel Howard, and Elijah Paine, all members of the Harvard Class of 1781.

Small Pocks, 1775-1779 (inclusive)

Ledger containing accounts of smallpox inoculation by Dr. John Jeffries (1745-1819) at Rainsford Island Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, from June to July 1775; at a West Boston smallpox hospital in July 1775; and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, between 1776 and 1779. The accounts include dates, names, ages and physical condition of patients, and details regarding the method of delivery. Among the patients he inoculated was his son, John, at Rainsford Island Hospital on 14 June 1775.

Kine Pox, 1775-1802 (inclusive)

Ledger containing lists and charts of smallpox inoculation cases and patient case histories of Boston physician John Jeffries (1745-1819), recorded from November 1775 to June 1802. Descriptions include patients’ names, ages, and physical condition, method of inoculation and symptoms. The entries dated 1800-1802 are not in chronological order.

The Death of John the Baptist, [ca. 1761]

Four-page handwritten English composition containing a sketch of the death of John the Baptist beginning "John was imprisoned in the Castle of Machaerus..."

Payment order for Daniel Marsh, 1761 February 16

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds to Deacon Daniel Marsh, signed by Thomas Foxcroft and Charles Chauncey

Payment order for Nathan Stone on behalf of his son, 1761 August 26

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds to Nathan Stone on behalf of his son Nathan Stone (Harvard AB 1762), signed by Thomas Foxcroft, Charles Chauncey, Thomas Waite, and Daniel Marsh.

Receipt signed by Nathan Stone, 1761 September 21

Handwritten receipt signed by Nathan Stone (Harvard AB 1762), on behalf of his father, acknowledging payment by John Sale Jr. of scholarship funds.

Annotated almanac, 1745

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, deaths in the community, notes of public fasts for the Louisbourg expedition (February 28) and the "Indian war" (September 19), and a note of the surrender of Louisbourg (June 17). There is an entry listing the burials and baptisms in Boston by month, with the deaths subdivided for white and black individuals, and notes of "French prisoners" for July and "Fever & flux" for September.

Annotated almanac, 1761

Almanac with one laid-in leaf. The calendar pages contain minimal annotations and two entries by John Winthrop: "John Rhodes came to talk about Stoughton land" (May 31) and a note about walnuts. The laid-in leaf contains entries by both Winthrops listing deaths in the community, a bill of mortality by John Winthrop, an entry about an earthquake (November 1), and a few entries by Hannah Winthrop about the weather, a northern light, and a short list of the "wine of Dr. Kneeland" (December 29).

Diary of John Page, 1757-1781

Manuscript volume. The first thirty-nine pages include diary entries from Page's years as an undergraduate student at Harvard College. Dated July 1757 through March 1761, entries includes short notes about daily activities. Topics covered include expenses, academics, clothing, and travel to and from Cambridge. Twenty-two pages covering 1764 through 1781 contain brief listings of items, generally foodstuffs, received from male and female Danville parishioners identified by name in Danville. The final twenty-six pages contain notes listing area deaths, as well as his own thoughts on topics such as "of light" and "jealousy." The concluding pages include rules "Concerning Grammar."

John Winthrop's proposal respecting electrical globes and jars, ca. 1758

In this proposal, John Winthrop explains the need to replace damaged "electric globes" used in the College's collection of scientific apparatus. He states that Benjamin Franklin, at the time residing in London, was willing to seek replacement globes for the College's collection. Winthrop then proceeds to assert that the College should acquire "square bottles, of a moderate size, fitted in a wooden box, like what they call case bottles for spirits" instead of the large jars included in the scientific apparatus, because those jars cracked frequently.