Special Collections Research Center

Scope and Contents

Account book of A. J. Lawrence, a metal-worker from East Weymouth, Somerset, and Taunton, Massachusetts. Includes details of his hours, wages, what he produced, and his observations of labor unrest and strikes. He worked at Weymouth Iron Company, the Mt. Hope Iron Company, Reed and Barton, and A. Field and Co.

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Letter written by John S. Barry in Boston, Massachusetts to J.T. Buckingham asking why he has yet to review his book, "History of Massachusetts" after receiving a copy.  1857 August 7.

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Contains one ledger book of accounts kept by Martin Brimmer, a Boston merchant and apothecary. Listed in the account are names of loyalists later proscribed and banished. Some of the names listed in the ledger include Dr. Benjamin Church, Dr. William Paine, Dr. Charles Russel, Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, and Dr. John Jeffries. There are 89 pages filled with Brimmer's accounts, but the ledger also contains 24 pages of guest names for an unknown New York establishment in 1940.

Content Description

Two notebooks of Clarence W. Clapp's manuscripts poetry books. The first notebook's contains 20 poems discussing nature, local people, and religion. The second notebook's poems discuss men and women, the homeless population, and politicians.

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One letter from Hatty, a minister's wife and resident of West Newton, MA, to her mother during the mid-nineteenth century. The letter includes details about the health of Hatty and her husband and their trip to Washington to meet President John Tyler. The letter includes four standard pages of neat prose.

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Diary, 1847-1863, of John Davenport of Canton, Massachusetts. Davenport farmed, made and delivered shoes, cut and sold firewood, and sold posts and hoops. Entries include details about his day to day activities, his sale of goods, medical treatment and the death of his wife Hannah in 1855, his attendence of Unitarian services, reading, and visits by friends, among others.

Scope and Contents Photocopy of a 1836 handwritten copy of the undated memoir  of Rev. Samuel West (1738-1808)  of Massachusetts.  The handwritten copy was prepared by his grandsons Benjamin and Samuel West. Talks about his family's earliest history in the United States, gives descriptions of historic events  in Massachusetts during the 18th century (Boston Tea Party) and talks of religion and his changing views throughout the years. Also included is a photocopy of a transcription of an...

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Diary, 1794-1795, of Andrew Robinson Giddinge, a farmer from Beach Hill, Massachusetts. Concerns his planting of crops, including tobacco; his extensive lumber operations; his raising, purchase, and sale of cattle and sheep; his construction of his own house; and his attention to local religious observances. There is also information about sermons to which he listened, court sessions he attended, and places to which he travels.

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Letter to children about traveling from Massachusetts to visit family and observe the upcoming holidays.

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Logbooks and accounts, 1768-1787, of Captain Phillip Hamman of Ipswich, Mass., master of the schooner, Hopewell, and other vessels. Includes logbook, 20 March - 17 April 1768, of a voyage from St. Eustatius, Leeward Islands, West Indies to Ipswich; logbook Feb. 1768; ledger, 1768-1787, of labor and fish trade; logbook, 1769, with memorandum of crew and cargo; logbook, 1787, tallying cargo of corn; and accounts, 1771.

Scope and Contents Ledger of Keith and Packard (North Bridgewater, Massachusetts), a factory that specialized in shoemaking products, and particularly boot counters. Transactions recorded concern products such as counters, skiffs, necks, leather, and shavings. Also included are services rendered, such as heeling,and soling. The geographic area covered is most of the Northeast and includes Boston, Weymouth, Worcester, North Brookfield, South Braintree, South Abington, Milford, New Bedford, Georgetown,...

Scope and Contents The papers are a collection of letters written to Mary Ann Brigham Livermore and Stephen G. Livermore from friends and family members throughout the New England region. Stephen Livermore originated out of Marlboro, Mass.  Some of the papers are letters from him to Mary Ann before their marriage.  Many of the letters are from family that live in Massachusetts towns such as Worcester, Boston, Millbury, Marlboro, Harvard, and Holden.  Other locations include Dover, N.H., Wells River, Vt., and...

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Scrapbook, 1839-1860, of newspaper clippings and pamphlets concerning the Democratic Party. The volume includes speeches by Benjamin Franklin Hallett and proceedings of the Massachusetts State Democratic Conventions, 1839 and 1840.

Content Description

Business ledger from dealings in New Salem, Massachusetts between Paul Ellis and townspeople. Transactions in the ledger include the mending of clothes, shoes, and books, the use of saws, tools, and the selling of grains, foodstuffs, and cords of wood. The front of the ledger lists the births and deaths of Ellis family members including his first and second wife, many children, parents, and some extended family.

Scope and Contents Journal of Silas Howe of Marlboro, Massachusetts, listing accounts and transactions for both the sale of shoe making products (gum, buffers, sole leather, awls, thread, heels, pegs, lasts, etc.) and services rendered (trimming, making edges, lasting, whipping, pegging, buffing, heeling, etc.).Silas Howe was both a cobbler himself, and also operated a putting-out system by supplying material to other cobblers or workmen. Included are the names of customers of Howe's services as...

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Ledger, 1769-1811, of Seth Stowers of Hingham, Massachussetts. Includes entries for the sale of tobacco, fish, shoes, cloth, vineagar, and other household products. Also includes entries about the hiring out of day laborers, plowing, glazing, and making barrels. There are also entries of Elijah Stowers during the Revolutionary War, including for an ounce of tea in a hospital. Finally, there is one page of entries in a separate hand that date from 1808 to 1811.

Scope and Contents Diaries of Benjamin Franklin Walker of Bristol County, Massachusetts from 1870 - 1873 and 1875 - 1904. Includes Walker's income from all sources, including farm and shop labor, household work, as well as his expenses, such as food, clothing, musical instruments, concert tickets, and home furnishings. There are also daily entries, which include information about the weather, personal contact with a wide range of aquaintances, work done on the property, social events attended, music lessons...