Diaries of Edward Holyoke, 1742-1747.

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Diaries of Edward Holyoke, 1742-1747.

Five interleaved almanacs for the years 1742, 1743, 1744, 1746, and 1747 written mainly while Holyoke was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The diaries are handwritten in English with occasional use of undeciphered shorthand. Holyoke also includes symbols for the weather and indicating days of class recitations. There are two references to the Holyoke family's slave Juba. The 1742 diary is interleaved in Nathaniel Ames' An astronomical diary, or, An almanack for the year of our Lord Christ, 1742. Each page, representing one month, is divided into three columns with a section for the weather, the direction of the wind, and finally notes on the day and Holyoke's undeciphered shorthand. The diary begins before Holyoke's admittance to Harvard and concludes in his freshman year. The earlier months have more entries, and by later months there are no records of the weather and only sporadic entries. Holyoke notes travel events, community news, and interactions with Harvard faculty. The diary includes a chart titled "The signification of the characters used for the weather" that provides a key for roughly sixty different symbols Holyoke used to describe the weather. On the last page, Holyoke provides "An account of our examination the 13 day of July 1742: viz: [Daniel] Foxcroft [Joseph] Green myself and [James] Putnam. The 1743 diary is interleaved in Nathaniel Ames' An Astronomical Diary, or, An almanack for the year of our Lord Christ, 1743. The pages of the diary are separated into two columns: the first to display symbols indicating when class recitations occurred. Entries include information about student life and occasional references to community deaths and illness. The 1744 diary is interleaved in Poor Richard, 1744, An almanack for the year of Christ 1744. The entries are focused on Holyoke's life as a college student with mention of his professors and daily events. The months of May, July, October, November, and December have no entries. The 1746 diary is interleaved in Poor Richard, 1746, An almanack for the year of Christ 1746. More consistently filled out, the diary continues information about Holyoke's senior year at Harvard, and his appointment as a schoolteacher in Lexington, Massachusetts. The September and October entries reference local military movements of King George's war. The 1747 diary contains brief records (usually one or two a month) written in a small booklet of blank pages. The entries focus on local deaths and community news. The November page recounts the Boston Knowles Riot.

.03 cubic foot (5 volumes).

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7772980

Harvard University Archives.

Related Entities

There are 9 Entities related to this resource.

Harvard University

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64n9x97 (person)

Harvard College was founded by a vote of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts on October 28, 1636 that allocated “400£ towards a schoale or colledge.” Subsequent legislative acts established the Board of Overseers, but it was the Charter of 1650 that created the Harvard Corporation as the College's primary governing board and defined its composition and authority. The College Charter became a contentious target for College officials, the Massachusetts Governor and General C...

Putnam, James, 1726-1789.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62n5njx (person)

Holyoke, Edward Augustus, 1728-1829

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r5084g (person)

Edward Augustus Holyoke was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts on August 1, 1728. He attended Harvard College during his father Edward Holyoke's tenure as President and graduated in 1746. After graduation he worked for a short time as a schoolmaster before beginning to study medicine and became a doctor in Salem, Massachusetts. An active researcher, he was the first president of the Massachusetts Medical Society; he was also one of the founding members and president of the American Academy of Art...

Green, Joseph, 1727-1768.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69g8bw8 (person)

Holyoke family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j486wb (family)

Foxcroft, Daniel, 1726-1756.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v7270n (person)

Ward, Joshua Holyoke, 1808-1848

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60g40tx (person)

Flynt, Henry, 1675-1760

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69p32pf (person)

Flynt was tutor and served as Fellow and Secretary of the Board of Overseers at Harvard. From the description of Papers of Henry Flynt, 1707-1760 (inclusive), 1707-1747 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 17267210 Henry Flynt (1675-1760; Harvard AB 1693) served as a Harvard College Tutor from 1699 to 1754, as a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation from 1700 to 1760, as Secretary to the Board of Overseers from 1712 to 1758, and as acting President from...

Gay, Frederick Lewis, 1856-1916

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65444qb (person)