William H. Bryant, Letter, 1858. This entertaining letter between friends was written from Boston by William H. Bryant to his friend Nathaniel in 1858. The letter is self-confessed by the author to be of little significance: “As I have a little spare time I thought I would improve it by writing you. Do be sure news ...
Burnell, Barker. School Exercise Book, 1813. Barker Burnell (1798-1843) lived in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1821-1822, and as a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1823, 1825-1833, and 1838. This schoolbook was kept by Burnell in 1813 when he was fifteen years old. The book opens ...
Curtis House Inn (South Woodbury, Connecticut). Daybook, 1814-1815. The Curtis House Inn, in the prosperous town of South Woodbury, Connecticut, was built in 1735 by Anthony Stoddard, and is still in operation today. The business changed ownership within the family many times, and was sold outside of the family in 1799. When this daybook was recorded ...
Keeler Tavern (Ridgefield, Connecticut) , Daybook, 1807-1808. The Keeler Tavern was built as a residence by Benjamin Hoyt in 1713, and was converted into an inn and tavern by Hoyt’s grandson, Timothy Keeler, in 1772. The Tavern itself has a very interesting history, having been fired upon by the British during the Revolution when they learned ...
Although we’re not often thought of as a legal repository, we do have a few famous firsts to claim in the realm of legal research. In our manuscript collection lives the notebook of Thomas Lechford, 1638-1641, the first lawyer in Boston. AAS was also the first government documents repository. In 1814, in an effort to ...
Connecticut Indictments, 1742-1781. These five indictments from Connecticut are illustrative of the colony and state’s strict laws. The indictments, which describe the incidents and are signed by witnesses, show a variety of transgressions taking place in Norwich and Durham, Connecticut, starting in the mid-eighteenth century. Among the offenses are consuming alcohol, the use of profanity, fighting, playing ...
Newell Family Papers, 1817-1925. Robert Ralsten Newell (1843 – 1883) left Harvard College in 1863 to join the Union Army as second lieutenant for the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first northern regiment of African American soldiers. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, then captain. He was discharged in 1865, returned to Harvard ...
Cowdin, Elliot. Letterpress Copy Book, 1861-1869. Elliot C. Cowdin (1819-1880) was a well-known merchant in New York. As a young man he was greatly involved with the Mercantile Library Association, where he learned much about his trade. Later in life he became involved in politics, especially during the Civil War. This letterpress copy book contains copies ...
Barton, Samuel Dickinson. Lecture Notes (Amherst College), 1827 and undated. Samuel Dickinson Barton was a student in the class of 1831 at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. These two volumes contain notes written by Barton while attending lectures at Amherst. One is dated 1827, the other is undated. The lectures he attended cover a variety of ...
AAS is excited to announce the launch of an important new digital resource. In partnership with the Worcester Historical Museum, AAS has digitized both the Worcester Historical Museum’s and our own collection of Abby Kelley Foster Papers. Foster was a noted mid-nineteenth-century reformer, involved in both the anti-slavery and women’s rights movements. Both AAS and ...
Small Family Papers, 1820-1905. The Small family resided in the town of Hiram, Maine. According to the 1850 census, the Small household was anything but. The head of the house, Daniel Small (1800-1877), is listed as a cooper. According to correspondence in the collection, he also served as an agent of the Hiram school district. He ...
Horoscope, Philadelphia, March 1850. A rare find for the manuscripts department is this hand written horoscope, or “nativitie,” The four page document features a chart mapping out alignments of planets and the moon. The astrologer gives the twenty-three year old subject details about his character, general fortune on specific days and months, and children – “you ...
Ever since we’ve been recording information, we’ve been trying to find ways to keep it out of the wrong hands. This need often times comes to the forefront during times of war and conflict when information is at its most valuable. Codes, ciphers, even invisible ink, have been employed quite successfully and famously in the ...
For those that are sad to see the holiday pass, here's one last dose of Halloween for you. Today we are featuring a letter found by one of our volunteers while processing a new manuscript collection, the White Family Papers. John White, the patriarch of the wealthy West Boylston family, was a pioneer in textile ...
Holmes, Moses B., Excelsior Writing Book. Moses B. Holmes (1837-1894) lived in Campton, New Hampshire. He married Ann M. Bartlett (1839-1914) and the couple had two children, Willie B. Holmes and Lewis Holmes. Moses was young when he began writing in this writing book, which was manufactured by Norton and Crawford in Concord, New Hampshire; some ...
