Memorial of the President and Fellows of Harvard College to the General Court for the enlargement of their power to hold real estate. Copy, [1797 July 15]

Four folio-sized leaves containing a handwritten copy of a petition to the Massachusetts General Court from the Harvard Corporation requesting the College's amount of tax exempt real estate be enlarged.

[Letter regarding the taxing of Harvard College real estate] (incomplete draft), [1798]

Two leaves of a draft of a letter in Eliphalet Pearson's hand addressed to "Gentleman,"detailing the Committee of the town of Cambridge's attempts to tax real estate owned the College.

[Questions about real estate, 1799]

One leaf containing handwritten research questions regarding the holding of real estate and related tax exemptions, the College charters and temporary orders, and the tutors of the College.

No. 13 Statement of Col. purchases since last valuation--amount of Interest on all purchase monies within the last 10 years, & annual rent of all other rented real Estate belonging to College, [1799]

One octavo-sized leaf containing a short handwritten list of accounting figures.

Real estate list, fragment, undated

Small handwritten note listing four properties: farms in Amherst and Partridgefield, land in Rutland, and two lots in Otisfield.

Extract from legislation passed 1799 February 7

One fragment of a leaf containing a handwritten extract from unidentified legislation stipulating that a section of the bill "should not be so construed as to exempt" the real estate of the College or its officers from payment of local taxes beyond that exempted in the Charter of 1650 and the state Constitution. The text includes the note, "passed 7 Feb'y --99" and presumably refers to the bill referenced in President Willard's letter to Samuel Phillips that "passed the House, and is now before the Senate." The section did not become part of the tax law.

Sundry extracts on the subject of the taxation of College &c., ca. 1798-1801

Notebook with brown paper cover containing handwritten extracts from the charters and related legislation of New England academic, charitable, and commercial institutions regarding their ability to hold real estate and related tax exemptions. Most of the listed documents are dated in the 1780s and 1790s. The notebook also contains extracts from "Argument in the case of Poor's rate, charged on the College of Christ & Emmanuel in the University of Cambridge 1768." The item title is transcribed from a handwritten inscription on the back cover.

First Draught of substitute, [1799 February]

One folio-sized leaf containing a handwritten draft of the substitute clause providing Cambridge a year to provide evidence that Harvard exceeded £500 in real estate income. The clause was included in the annual tax act, approved on February 28, 1799 (Chapter 75).

New Draught of a Bill, [1799]

One folio-sized leaf containing a handwritten draft of a bill section regarding the College's amount of tax-exempt real estate income, with the income values left blank.

No. 1 Acct. of Estate belonging to Harvard College January 1799

Two folio-sized leaves containing a one-page handwritten list and description of the College real estate.

No. 4 Petition of the Committee [sic] of the Town of Cambridge, 1799 January

Two folio-sized leaves containing a handwritten copy of a petition to the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the Committee of the Town of Cambridge (comprised by James Winthrop, William Winthrop, and Ebenezer Stedman). The petition includes eight points related to the tax exemptions of Harvard real estate and the personal property of College administrators and faculty, and requests further tax legislation to remove any ambiguity that prevents the College and associated individuals "from paying a just & equitable proportion of Town and Parish Charges."

An inventory of all of the estate of Caleb Gannett late of Cambridge in the county of Middlesex, Esquire, deceased, appraised upon oath by us the subscribers, duly appointed to that service by the Hon. James Prescott Esq. Judge of Probate & wills, in said county of Middlesex, viz., 1818 May 21

Eight-page handwritten inventory and appraisal of Caleb Gannett's real estate and personal estate by William Hilliard, James R. Chaplin, and Royal Morse with an attached certification of the Middlesex County Court of Probate signed May 26, 1818.

Letters from Thomas Handasyd Perkins to William Tudor,

Five letters in which Perkins comments on the political landscape in the United States, the election of Andrew Jackson as president, Boston architectural and real estate developments, and the Granite Railway and granite quarries in Quincy.