Cuffe Lawton (b. 1789) was a free black man who was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His son, Francis Lawton (1822-1885) was born in New Bedford and became a whale man, who eventually rose to the rank of mate and traveled to Hawaii. By the 1850s Francis was married ...
The trappings of an American Christmas have become as familiar as one’s own family—lights and trees, Santa Claus and reindeer, food and good cheer. That hasn’t always been the case, of course. The Puritans, for one, simply banned Christmas in the New World. Stemming from pagan celebrations of the harvest and the winter solstice, the ...
Kathy Major has been volunteering in the Manuscripts Department at AAS for several years and just recently found a small collection of uncataloged Richard Henry Lee letters, which she writes about below. Kathy worked at AAS from 1976 to 1984 and was Keeper of Manuscripts for a portion of that time. After leaving the Society ...
Earlier this year the American Antiquarian Society acquired an important archive of manuscripts and drawings related to American missionary activity in Western Africa. The collection tells the story of a couple, Emily Griswold (1838-1906) and her eventual husband, Benjamin Hartley (1838-1912). Emily was the daughter of the poet and publisher Rufus Wilmot Griswold, who edited anthologies, ...
We recently announced a new web resource consisting of four journals kept by Edmund Quincy Sewall Jr. between 1837 and 1840, when Sewall was between nine and twelve years old. Of particular interest is a journal kept in March and April 1840, when the boy was a student at John and Henry David Thoreau’s Concord Academy ...
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 ...
With AAS’s annual Adopt-A-Book event right around the corner (read about last year’s event here), I thought I'd share another collection that will be up for adoption in April. The Sawyer brothers lived in Manchester, New Hampshire in the mid 19th century. Brothers Joseph and Henry enjoyed life in the bustling city, and loved sharing their ...
On this day 150 years ago, Martha LeBaron Goddard (1829-1888) wrote the letter transcribed below to her friend Mary Ware Allen Johnson. Her letters, composed over the years of the Civil War (of which the AAS has about 30), describe one woman’s response and ways of intersecting with the world (and war) around her. This letter ...
Over the past few months, we’ve been following our Civil War soldier Henry Joslin while his company was on picket duty on the banks of the Potomac. Last we heard Henry and his Company were involved in a skirmish in late October. Now in the New Year, 150 years ago, Henry is writing home to ...
Last week I shared some letters from the Curwen Family Papers showcasing the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. The colonies officially made the change in 1752, yet some letters in the Curwen Family Papers exhibited the switch previous to the official change. Why the early appearance of these dates? The change was ...
The Curwen Family Papers represents one of the earliest collections in the manuscript department. This collection, which includes material from 1637 through 1808, provides an insightful look into pre-revolutionary America. Samuel Curwen, the main player in this collection, was a Harvard graduate, class of 1735, a trader in Salem, Massachusetts, and a Tory. When his ...
AAS intern Katrina Ireland (Simmons College GSLIS program) recently came across a wonderful letter as she was processing our collection of Isaac Shepard Papers. Shepard (1816-1889) was a Harvard graduate and a commander of the 52nd US Infantry during the Civil War. In addition to his military life, Shepard was also a poet, author, and a ...
Last week, Henry left us, and his mother, hanging. His regiment encountered a skirmish, and although he was not harmed, Henry could not share the details until a few days later. On Sunday, October 27th, he tells his mother about the encounter, and his swim to safety. Below are some highlights. You can read the ...
A few weeks ago, I shared a letter from Henry Joslin, a Civil War Corporal from Fitchburg, Massachusetts. On October 20th, 1861, Henry was again writing home to his mother. Below are some excerpts from the letter. You can read the full transcription here. I suppose that before you get this you will have received the ...
And now for some concluding thoughts from Jeanne McDougall about her encounter with Hannah Weld. If you've missed the previous two posts about Hannah and her mother Mary, click here to get caught up. What can you say after experiencing such an extraordinary epistle? My reading for the day came to a full stop; any day ...
