A Coppe of the Plan of Cambridge New Meeting House which was excepted by the people, 1752

The floor plan details the proposed interior of the New Meeting House of the First Parish in Cambridge to be built near the College, in the present area of Lehman Hall. This land became Harvard property in 1833. The drawing includes space allotted for the pulpit, pews, and center aisle. The document is fragile.

Annotated almanac, 1758

Almanac containing calendar pages with sporadic annotations of measurements, a small number of notes including one about the prevalence of whooping cough (August), and a laid-in leaf. The laid-in leaf includes entries about the weather, deaths in the community, and a note of the number of deaths in the first Parish in Cambridge organized by age group.

Annotated almanac, 1758

Almanac containing sporadic annotations and entries in the hands of John and Hannah Winthrop on both the calendar pages and three additional leaves. Hannah Winthrop's entries include notes on the weather, deaths in the community, and amounts of "Island butter." An entry with burial statistics for the first parish in Cambridge appears to be the only entry in John Winthrop's hand.

Annotated almanac, 1759

Almanac with three notations scattered among the calendar pages and one laid-in leaf containing entries about the weather, a list of deaths in the community arranged by date and containing names, age, and cause, a measles outbreak (January 5), an earthquake (February 2), and a bill of mortality for the first parish of Cambridge. Most entries appear to be in the hand of Hannah Winthrop; part of the list of deaths in the community and the bill of mortality appear to be in John Winthrop's hand.

Annotated almanac, 1760

Almanac with one laid-in leaf. The calendar pages containing minimal annotations and three entries recording a distance measurement by John Winthrop (January 23), and unclear note about "Stoughton land" by Hannah Winthrop (January 31), and a note "Our long Jack weight is 53lb, & the round one 42 1/4" by John Winthrop (January). The laid-in leaf contains entries listing deaths in the community written by both Winthrops, the heights of Winthrop's son Jemmy and Scipio noted by John Winthrop, a note of food purchased "since the 14th of October" by Hannah Winthrop, and the bill of mortality for the first parish in Cambridge by John Winthrop.

Annotated almanac, 1773

Almanac containing two laid-in pages and calendar pages typically annotated with one or two notes at the bottom recording household activities in Hannah and John Winthrops' hands. Laid into the volume are two pieces of paper with a tabulation of butter in Hannah Winthrop's hand, and baptisms and deaths in the community, and a bill of mortality for 1773 in John Winthrop's hand, and a chart of burials and baptisms for the first parish in Cambridge for the years 1764-1771.

1794, Triennial catalogues annotated by William Winthrop, 1794-1812.

Leather and marbled hardcover binding. Substantially annotated. The volume consists of pages from the published catalogues pasted into a blank volume. The bulk of the volume is comprised of the printed list of graduate names found in the Triennial Catalogue accompanied by handwritten biographical information, usually a sentence in length. It begins with a handwritten section titled "Settled Ministers (in the first Parish in Cambridge)." The entries generally contain a residence, date of death (abbreviated ob), age of death (abbreviated ae), and professional information. While the 1794 Catalogue comprises the majority of the volume, names were added from Triennial Catalogues through the 1812 edition. An example of an entry, for John Hancock (Harvard AB 1754), reads “Rep. for Boston, Maj. Gen. Militia. Ob. Octo. 8. 1793 AE 57 Son of Rev. John of Brantree [sic]." A March 27, 1798 letter to Judge Richard Cranch (1726-1818) from Jeremy Belknap (1744-1798, Harvard AB 1762) pasted into the back of the volume. Written only two months before his death, Belknap describes his plan to "go thro’ the whole Catalogue of the graduates of Harvard College, & relate all that’s proper to be related." Four leaves of biographical notes for the classes of 1642-1686 towards the beginning of the volume are in a different hand with the note "Rev Dr. Holmes's handwriting."

Committee notebook, ca. 1798

Small paper notebook containing handwritten facts and figures documenting the benefits received by the town of Cambridge from the College. The notebook contains much of the same information in the Committee notebook (HUM 79 Box 1, Folder 55). Most entries list financial benefits such as the College's payments to local tradesman, the schoolmaster, and the first parish minister, as well as income received by local merchants and boarding houses from College students and officers. The cover is inscribed "Committee."

"P" notebook, 1799

Small paper notebook containing handwritten facts and figures documenting the benefits received by the town of Cambridge from the College. The notebook contains much of the same information in the Committee notebook (HUM 79 Box 1, Folder 52). Most entries list financial benefits such as the College's payments to local tradesman, the schoolmaster, and the first parish minister, as well as income received by local merchants and boarding houses from College students and officers. The cover is inscribed "P."

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."

College Book 7, 1750-1778

This volume contains a fair copy of minutes from Corporation meetings held from Sept. 17, 1750 through April 23, 1778. It begins with an alphabetical index and contains entries related to a wide range of topics, including the challenges of operating the Charlestown ferry (due to the river freezing, fear of smallpox, and other issues); increases in "pecuniary mulcts" (fines) for breaches of specific College laws; the establishment of the Dudleian lecture; the selection and financial support of missionaries to various Indian tribes; honorary degrees awarded to Benjamin Franklin and George Washington; gifts to the library as it was rebuilt in the wake of the fire of 1764 (many entries provide the title and author of books donated); the management of land and property belonging to Harvard; Treasurers' reports and other financial accounts; changes in the College laws; gifts to the College, ranging from two Egyptian mummies to a solar microscope; the construction of the First Parish Meeting House in Cambridge and the use of adjacent College property by parishoners; rules of endowed professorships; salaries and appointments; closures due to the threat of smallpox; rules governing Commons and the College Library; reports of various Visiting Committees; class schedules, according to subject; student disorders; the establishment of a designated museum space to display "Curiosities"; the effects of the Revolutionary War on Harvard, including repeated requests to the General Court after the war for compensation for damage to College buildings; the cost of various foods and changes in what was served at Commons; and the danger of the chapel's roof, built of too-heavy slate, falling in. Also of interest are minutes from a May 5, 1761 meeting, which note that the General Court voted to pay for Hollis Professor John Winthrop to travel to Newfoundland to observe the transit of Venus "over the Suns disc."

Certification of payment from Oliver Prescott, 1747 September 23

Handwritten certificate of payment for a new red and plaid gown purchased by Harvard sophomore Oliver Prescott in 1747. The certificate is witnessed by upperclassmen Artemas Ward, Jacob Cushing, and Timothy Pond.

Student compositions of Washington Allston, 1799

Handwritten essay about procrastination and a poem celebrating spring composed by Washington Allston while he was an undergraduate at Harvard. The essay uses a story about a young Italian named Bernardo to discuss the consequences of procrastination. The essay is labeled “Allston Novem. ’99" and is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem "The Complaint," “Procrastination is Theif [sic] of time.” Allston’s poem celebrates spring and incorporates Phillida and Corydon, two characters from Nicholas Breton’s poem “Phillida and Cordion.” The poem is titled with the verses, “Chief, lovely spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes, / The smiling God is seen” from James Thompson's poem “Spring.” The poem is labeled "Allston July 10, 1799."