John Warren's copy of votes from a meeting of the Boston Medical Society, 1784 May 3

This document lists the eleven votes cast at a meeting of the Boston Medical Society on May 3, 1784. It was authorized as a "true coppy" by Thomas Kast, the Secretary of the Society. The following members of the Society were present at the meeting, all of them doctors: James Pecker, James Lloyd, Joseph Gardner, Samuel Danforth, Isaac Rand, Jr., Charles Jarvis, Thomas Kast, Benjamin Curtis, Thomas Welsh, Nathaniel Walker Appleton, and doctors whose last names were Adams, Townsend, Eustis, Homans, and Whitwell. The document indicates that a meeting had been held the previous evening, as well (May 2, 1784), at which the topics on which votes were taken had been discussed. The votes, eleven in total, were all related to the doctors' concerns about John Warren and his involvement with the emerging medical school (now Harvard Medical School), that school's relation to almshouses, the medical care of the poor, and other related matters. The tone and content of these votes reveals anger on the part of the members of the Boston Medical Society towards Warren. This anger appears to have stemmed from the perceived threat of Warren to their own practices, exacerbated by a vote of the Harvard Corporation on April 19, 1784. This vote authorized Warren to apply to the Overseers of the Poor for the town of Boston, requesting that students in the newly-established Harvard medical program, where Warren was Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, be allowed to visit the hospital of the almshouse with their professors for the purpose of clinical instruction. Although Warren believed that the students would learn far more from these visits, in regards to surgical experience, than they could possibly learn in Cambridge, the proposal provoked great distrust from the members of the Boston Medical Society, who accused Warren of an "attempt to direct the public medical business from its usual channels" for his own financial and professional gain.

Notes on cases in Boston, 1784-1790

Notes on various cases, including cases of burglary, debt, fraud, libel, receiving stolen goods, and one case of attempted murder of an infant by his mother.

Diploma of Cornelius Coolidge, AB, 1798

Handwritten diploma with the Harvard University seal conferring a bachelor's degree on Cornelius Coolidge and signed by the members of the Harvard Corporation: President Joseph Willard; Fellows Oliver Wendell, John Lowell, James Bowdoin, Simeon Howard, and John Lathrop; and Treasurer Ebenezer Storer.

[Letter presenting Judge Lowell's Eulogy of Governor Bowdoin, 1791]

One leaf containing an unsigned draft of a letter presenting John Lowell's published eulogy of Governor James Bowdoin to the recipient by the order of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The eulogy had been delivered by John Lowell on January 26, 1791.

Letter from James Otis, Jr. to James Otis, Sr., and portrait print of James Otis Jr., 1743 June 17

Letter from Otis in Boston to his father, James Otis Sr. on June 17, 1743. In the short, half-page letter, Otis asks his father for money to pay for expenses relating to Commencement including the printing of theses, shoes, buckles, and any entertainment. He mentions that he will share entertainment expenses with his classmate Lothrop Russell.

Guarantee of financial support for student James Savage, signed by William Tudor and John Cooper, 1799 July 25

This legal agreement, a guarantee of financial support for entering student James Savage (A.B. 1803), was signed on July 25, 1799 by his two guarantors, William Tudor and John Cooper. The document was also signed by two witnesses, William Tudor's sons John Henry Tudor and Frederic Tudor. The agreement specifies that, in the event of Savage's failure to settle all financial obligations to the President and Fellows of Harvard College during the course of his studies, the two guarantors would be responsible for a payment of two hundred ounces of silver. It seems that the Tudors and Cooper were relatives of Savage, thus explaining their desire to assure his entry to Harvard by entering into this financial obligation.

Letter from Daniel Upton to James Savage, 1799 September 29

Daniel Upton wrote this letter from Machias, Maine on September 29, 1799; it is addressed to James Savage, who was then a freshman at Harvard College. In the letter, Upton advises Savage to study ardently, avoiding the temptation to procrastinate. He thanks Savage for having sent him a copy of "Mr. Lowell's oration" and sends greetings to a Mr. Holbrook and Mr. Jones. He also passes along the fond wishes of those in Machias who know Savage, including John Cooper and his wife, Phineas Bruce and his wife, and Hannah Bruce (Upton's future wife). Upton explains that he is writing the letter in a hurry because he is sending it on board with Captain Merryman, who is about to set sail, presumably for Boston.

Letters from Henry James Tudor to his brother, William Tudor,

One letter written to Tudor from Ligorno, Italy, criticizes the contents his correspondence as containing a "dull, vapid succession of sentences"; it also contains a message to their mother regarding his extensive travels in Europe. One letter written from New Orleans addresses their brother Frederic’s health, and his ice business in Cuba and the West Indies.

James Otis research materials,

Includes copies of correspondence from James Otis, and copies of historical summaries of the Stamp Act and extracts from the annual register, circa 1760s.

James Otis research materials,

Includes extracts from Benjamin Franklin’s works.

James Otis research materials,

Includes notes on activities of the Stamp Act Congress in 1765.

James Otis research materials,

Includes copies of correspondence from James Otis, notes on the American Revolution, and an extract from the Journal of Congress, approximately 1760s-1780s.

James Otis research materials,

Draft of Tudor’s manuscript, interfiled with loose notes and extracts from John Reeves’ work on English law, and a copy of Otis’ supposed work, "An Appeal to the World, or, a Vindication of the Town of Boston," approximately 1760s-1820s.

James Otis research materials,

Draft of Tudor's manuscript, interfiled with loose notes and copies of various documents regarding the Boston Tea Party and the Charter Oak tree.

James Otis research materials,

Notes for a chapter that included the history of two pieces of artillery, the "Adams" and the "Hancock," used in Revolutionary War; epitaph in Latin on William Bollan, and agent for the province of Massachusetts, and Governor William Shirley; clippings regarding the death of General James Warren.