Letter from Stephen Longfellow to Jabez Kimball, 1797 December 10

Stephen Longfellow wrote this letter to his friend Jabez Kimball on December 10, 1797. The letter was addressed to Kimball in London-Derry, where he was studying law. The letter is lighthearted, and Longfellow recounts various happenings at Harvard since Kimball's graduation the year before. Longfellow informs him of developments in Phi Beta Kappa, the Hasty Pudding Club, and his "attention to the ladies."

Letter from Daniel White to his preceptor at Atkinson Academy, July 13, 1793

The name of Jabez Kimball is written on the verso, though it seems unlikely that he was White's preceptor, as they graduated in the same class from Harvard College.

Letter from Stephen Longfellow to Daniel Appleton White, 1799 May 29

Stephen Longfellow wrote this letter in Portland, Maine on May 29, 1799; it was sent to his friend, Daniel Appleton White, in Medford, Massachusetts. In the letter, Longfellow describes the Election Day festivities among the "plebeans" in Portland, which he apparently found both amusing and upsetting. He compares the horses pulling their sleds to Don Quixote's horse, Rocinante. He also writes about mutual friends, including John Henry Tudor and Jabez Kimball, and bemoans the behavior of the current members of Phi Beta Kappa among the Harvard College undergraduates, whom he insists have sunk the society below its former "exalted station."

Harvard College Master of Arts diploma of Samuel Mather, 1701 July 3

This diploma was awarded to Samuel Mather on July 3, 1701, when he received an A.M. from Harvard College. It is signed by Increase Mather (then-President of Harvard), Samuel Willard, Henry Flynt, Jabez Fitch, and Nathaniel Saltonstall.

Dominium temporale non fundatur in gratia (Commencement Quaestiones), 1697 July 7

Small paper notebook of John Ballantine with the handwritten Latin quaestiones performed by Ballantine, Eliphalet Adams, Adam Winthrop, and Jabez Fitch as candidates for the Master’s degree during the July 7, 1697 Harvard Commencement ceremony. The Quaestiones begin with Ballantine’s “Dominum temporal non fundatur in gratia,” and follow with “An Jesuitae possint esse boni subditi? Neg Resp. Dom. Winthrop,” "An Ethnicae virtutes sint verae virtutes?" Neg. Resp. Dom. Adams,” and “An detur omnibus an sufficiens ad salutem? Neg. Resp. Dom. Fitch.” The title page bears the inscription: “Jno Ballantine’s Book” and the first page has been torn out.