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.

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.

Payment order for Samuel Adams on behalf of John Rice, 1772 July 1

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds to Samuel Adams for use by student John Rice (Harvard AB 1774), signed by Charles Chauncey, Thomas Waite, Jonathan Williams, and Daniel Marsh.

Payment order for Joseph Belknap on behalf of Samuel Sewall, 1773 July 1

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds Joseph Belknap for use by student Samuel Sewall (Harvard AB 1776), signed by Charles Chauncey, Thomas Waite, Jonathan Williams, and Daniel Marsh.

Payment order for Joseph Belknap on behalf of Samuel Sewall, 1774 July 1

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds to Joseph Belknap for use by student Samuel Sewall (Harvard AB 1776), signed by Charles Chauncey, Thomas Waite, Jonathan Williams, and Daniel Marsh. The student's name is spelled "Samuel Sewal" in the document.

Payment order for Joseph Belknap on behalf of Samuel Sewall, 1776 July 1

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds to Joseph Belknap for use by student Samuel Sewall (Harvard AB 1776), signed by Charles Chauncey, Jonathan Williams, and Daniel Marsh. The student's name is spelled "Samuel Sewal" in the document.

[Grants of the General Court for 1737 and 1750 to President Holyoke], undated

One folio-sized leaf containing a handwritten list of grants received by President Holyoke from the Massachusetts General Court between 1737 and 1750, presumably copied from a record book cited as "M.S. No. II," pages 26-56.

Samuel Phillips donation (printed circular), 1794

Two-leaf printed circular regarding the distribution of religious books according to the bequest of the estate of Samuel Phillips. The circular lists Eliphalet Pearson as a member of the Committee for distributing books. There is a struck-through handwritten note about the distribution of Dr. Watt's Divine Songs. The circular has the inscription: "Papers of 1794. College Papers."

Letter from Samuel Webber to Eliphalet Pearson, 1806 June 2

One leaf containing a letter from Samuel Webber to Pearson that accompanied a copy of the vote of the Corporation relative to compensation for Pearson's service to Harvard.

Letters from Samuel Davis to William Tudor,

Three letters regarding Tudor’s literary works.

Letters from Samuel Gilman to William Tudor,

Four letters on topics including Gilman’s literary work, his upcoming move to Charleston, South Carolina, to become pastor of a Unitarian church, and his impressions of the city once there, as well as subscriptions for Tudor’s work on James Otis.

Letter from Samuel Jackson to William Tudor,

One letter requesting information on the state of national agriculture, manufacturing, and industry on behalf of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of National Industry.