Compare Constellations

Peabody, Stephen, 1741-1819. Diaries, 1767-1814.

Title: Diaries, 1767-1814.

This collection consists of eleven diaries. One is a photocopy of the diary for the year 1767 (the original diary is at the Massachusetts Historical Society). The others range from 1777 to 1814, with an 1809 line-a-day diary interleaved in Curtis's Pocket Almanack and Register of New Hampshire, and a book of accounts listing Peabody's boarders. The 1767 diary records numerous aspects of Peabody's tempestuous student life. Included are accounts of his leadership and involvement in a student strike called against one of the tutors, Peabody's subsequent resignation, followed by controversy concerning his reinstatement in the college. The remaining diaries provide valuable information on the people and events in and around Atkinson, N.H. He made routine entries on the weather, local births, deaths, and marriages, in addition to recounting his sermon preparations, visits made and visitors received and his other ministerial activities. To supplement the minister's meager salary, Peabody also ran a farm. Records of his farm labors are contained in his diaries. Peabody's salary was generally paid to him in goods and the diaries describe his elaborate system of bartering (and begging) for his living supplies. Throughout the years, Peabody commented upon contemporary political and religious topics. The 1777-1778 diary contains observations on the Revolution, as seen from the parsonage and discussed in the papers and with neighbors. He faithfully read newspapers and supported the precepts of federalism. He opposed the proponents of paper money and Shays' Rebellion. Religiously, Peabody was an orthodox Calvinist. Strong condemnations of Arminians, Methodists, Baptists and Hopkinsians are scattered throuhout the diaries. In the field of education, Peabody apparently held more liberal views. He was a founder and devoted supporter of the Atkinson Academy, established in 1787. Scholars were boarded in the parsonage and, as a result of his daughter Polly's insistence, the Atkinson Academy is credited as being the first coeducational school of its kind. Peabody provides extensive details of the administration and numerous controversies revolving around the school. Also of note in the later diaries are Peabody's records of visits with former President John Adams and his wife Abigail. Peabody's account book records the financial arrangements of those scholars from the Academy who boarded with him. It covers the years 1792 to 1801 and 1807 to 1808. A note was added by William Smith Shaw Peabody (1818-1877) (Stephen's grandson) that he had examined and copied the names from the book in 1868. Similar accounts for the years 1804-1814 are contained in the 1804-1805 diary. Also contained in this collection are miscellaneous notes, newspaper clippings and short diary transcriptions. They are filed with the photocopy 1767 diary.

ArchivalResource: 12 v. ; octavo.1 folder (18 items)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/207163186 View

Peabody, Stephen, 1741-1819. Papers, 1765-1776.

Title: Papers, 1765-1776.

Two volumes kept by Stephen Peabody. The first is a diary kept while a student at Harvard College from 24 May 1767 to 23 May 1768. The second contains a manuscript copy of the Laws of Harvard College together with recollections of Peabody's settlement as the first minister of the First Congregational Church of Atkinson, N.H. and a controversy between newly elected deacons over land rights. The second volume also includes an account of gifts in kind and interest-bearing paper money received from parishioners.

ArchivalResource: 2 v. in a narrow box.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36811908 View

Cogswell, J. B. D. (John Bear Doane), 1829-1889. Papers, 1839-1897.

Title: Papers, 1839-1897.

This collection consists of correspondence, articles, addresses, essays, notes, and documents. The correspondence includes letters, for the period 1852 to 1889, to and from John Ordronaux (1830-1908), of New York City, and letters and newsclippings, for the period 1887 to 1889, from Alfred Russell (1830-1906), of Detroit, Mich., as well as photographs of Mrs. Russell and her two daughters. There is also miscellaneous correspondence for the period 1864 to 1889. The documents in this collection include papers, for the period 1853 to 1866, concerning Cogswell's legal career; applications for membership into the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution by Mary Louisa Trumbull Cogswell Roberts, c. 1897; and biographical information on Cogswell, as well as information on 6 Massachusetts Avenue in Worcester (the former courthouse and Trumbull Mansion). In 1871, Cogswell compiled five notebooks of "Testimony taken before the [Congressional] Committee to inquire into the condition of affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States." This material concerns the activities of the Ku Klux Klan by citing specific cases and victims in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, although there are references to the origin, causes, and political significance of the Klan. There are also notes that serve as an index to the five notebooks with some related material. The addresses, articles, and essays include "A Bundle of Old Letters" (n.d.); "Which was the greater general, Napoleon or Wellington?" (n.d.); "The Relation of the Sexes" (1869); "The Woman's Movement, historically considered" (1869); "Timothy Ruggles" (1879?); "Did Mr. Webster preface the 7th of March [1850] Speech with bad faith and personal deception?" (1882); "Hints towards the history of the 7th of March [1850] Speech" (1882?); and "Senator Hoar's Antecedents" (1889). There is also a manuscript entitled "Diary of a New Hampshire Parson" and what appears to be drafts of introductions to and transcriptions of the diary (1786-1787 and 1789) of Rev. Stephen Peabody (1741-1819), who served as minister to the First Congregational Church in Atkinson, N.H., from 1772 to 1819. There are portions of the Salem Gazette for 24 April 1885 with references to Daniel Webster (1782-1852) and Rufus Choate (1799-1859). There are also notes on Choate, two drafts of an essay entitled "Ipswich, a cradle of famous. Rufus Choate, its most gifted son," and an essay "Choate and Chebacco." The collection also contains newspapers articles that appeared in the Boston Sunday Herald. The first, entitled "Daniel Webster's Desk. What a Search Among Its Pigeon Holes Revealed" (two copies), appeared in the 15 January 1882 issue. The second, entitled "Daniel Webster's Desk. Another Batch of the Statemen's Correspondence" (three copies), appeared in the 29 January 1882 issue. One of the octavo volumes is a scrapbook that contains articles clipped from a variety of newspapers regarding the "Southern Question," c. 1876.

ArchivalResource: 1 box.5 v. ; octavo.1 folder (8 items) ; oversize.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/207125688 View

Blake, James, 1750-1771. James Blake diary, 1769-1771.

Title: James Blake diary, 1769-1771.

Diary of teacher and minister James Blake, kept in Weymouth, Mass., from 5 Aug. 1769 - 6 Nov. 1771. Blake taught school in Weymouth while studying for the ministry with Rev. William Smith, minister of the First Congregational Church of Weymouth (and father of Abigail Adams). Blake's entries note keeping school in Weymouth, ministerial duties, and visits with family members and friends, both at home and in neighboring towns. Occasional entries note local news, the ordination of local clergy, and commencement ceremonies at Harvard College.

ArchivalResource: 1 v. in a box.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50397902 View

Atkinson Academy (Atkinson, N.H.). Record book, 1803-1945.

Title: Record book, 1803-1945.

The folio volume contains the "Records of the Proceedings of the Board of Trustees Atkinson Academy." The volume begins on 28 January 1803 with a "Copy of original proceedings to Nathaniel Peabody, Esq. one of the Board of Trustees of Atkinson Academy, in the state of New Hampshire," consisting of a letter, signed by Stephen Peabody, William Cogswell, and Peter Clement (1740-1815), requesting Nathaniel Peabody call a meeting of the Board of Trustees so as "... to vote & act upon the several matters ..." including making rules, regulations, and ordinances; electing and appointing all officers; establishing a method for calling meetings; electing and appointing members to the board to fill vacancies; and discussing the construction and completion of a building to be used by the academy. A notification and request for a meeting was made by Nathaniel Peabody to the members of the board on 3 February 1803. Adopted during the 20 June 1815 meeting was a constitution for the board and bylaws for the academy. The four articles of the constitution concerned the annual meeting, the principle instructor, vacations, and rules and regulations to be observed by the students of the academy (e.g., attendance, morality and religion, bylaws of the preceptors). The meetings usually consisted of mundane matters (e.g., elections of officers, appointments of committees, resignations, elections of new members, appointments of preceptors, etc.). Toward the end of the volume is a "List of Apparatus" (1 p.), of mostly scientific items, and a "Catalogue of Books contained in the Atkinson Academy Library" (15 p.). The volume also includes lists of books donated to the library by such people as Rev. Dr. Joseph Barlow Felt (1789-1869), Daniel Appleton White (1776-1861), Robert Sharp Davis (1811-1874), and William Smith Peabody (1818-1877). The back flyleaf and inside back cover contains a list of "Preceptors of Atkinson Academy, as ascertained from the records, and other sources." This list contains the names of the preceptors and the dates each held the position, for the period 1803 to 1917. The folder contains miscellaneous items, including a newspaper clipping, several sets of meeting notes, a typewritten description of some of the land surrounding the Academy, a rental agreement, and a letter.

ArchivalResource: 1 v. ; folio.1 folder (8 items)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191259122 View