Letter from M.D. [Dickason?] to Emma Tudor Gardiner,

Letter written in French from "M.D.," presumably the same "M.D." who signs an earlier letter to Delia.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to William Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, February 28, 1802

Willard describes his trip back to Harvard from Petersham, reports that President Willard and family were doing well, although “he has had an ill turn since, but has recovered,” and concludes the letter by asking for more money.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Catherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, July 14, 1802

Willard explains that he is very busy and discusses the poor health of his brother Ephraim Willard, and asks for more information about his current condition.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Solomon Willard, Petersham, September 8, 1802

Willard reports that President Willard “has so far recovered,” and explains that he has changed his vacation plans from Lancaster to Cambridge “as it is excellent weather for studying.” He complains about shoes that were sent to him and also about having a lack of money, and requests that he be sent his woolen coats. He also informs his brother that he has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and asks for money to pay the dues.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to William Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, November 30, 1802

Willard discusses President Willard’s son Sheafe, who he has been tutoring, explains his education and argues for well-rounded studies. He also mentions that Doctor Aaron Dexter, a lecturer on chemistry, gave him a recipe for paint “which I enclose [separately] in this letter,” as well as a recipe for mortar. He explains that his vacation plans are to teach at a school in Groton for eighteen dollars a month, and asks for a loan from his parents to pay a bill.

Letters from Benjamin Welles to John Henry Tudor, 1799-1801

Benjamin Welles wrote these six letters to his friend and classmate, John Henry Tudor, between 1799 and 1801. Four of the letters are dated, and the dates of the other two can be deduced from their contents. Welles wrote Tudor four times in September 1799, at the onset of their senior year at Harvard, in an attempt to clear up hurt feelings and false rumors that he believed had caused a chill in their friendship. The cause of the rift is never fully explained, though Welles alludes to "a viper" and "villainous hypocrite" who apparently spread rumors and fueled discord between the two friends. In one letter, Welles asserts that "College is a rascal's Elysium - or the feeling man's hell." In another he writes: "College, Tudor, is a furnace to the phlegmatic, & a Greenland to thee feeling man; it has an atmosphere which breathes contagion to the soul [...] Villains fatten here. College is the embryo of hell." Whatever their discord, the wounds were apparently eventually healed; in a letter written June 26, 1800, Welles writes to ask Tudor about his impending speech at Commencement exercises. In an October 29, 1801 letter, Welles writes to Tudor in Philadelphia (where he appears to have traveled in attempts to recover his failing health) and expresses strong wishes for his friend's recovery and return to Boston. This letter also contains news of their classmate Washington Allston's meeting with painters Henry Fuseli and Benjamin West.

Accounting notes related to rent and the Middle Street School, 1798-1802

One leaf containing handwritten financial notes related to the closing of the Middle Street School and subsequent rent payments.

Diary entries (fragment), 1815 September

One leaf containing a fragment of a description of an incident between Croswell and neighborhood boys.

Quarter bill book for the Classes of 1798-1815, 1798-1812

Leather hardcover bound volume containing quarter bill tallies for the Classes of 1798-1815 arranged alphabetically and beginning with the bill period ending on February 22, 1798 through the period ending April 2, 1812. After each quarter's tallies, an additional section lists students delinquent in payment, and provides the totals for all students in each of the categories.