Special Collections

  • Special Collections
    Daniel Berkeley Updike, printer and publisher, worked for the Merrymount Press of Boston, Mass. He was a recognized authority on the history and use of print types, and he played an important role in the development and improvement of typography in…
  • Special Collections
    Edwin Francis Edgett (1867-1946) was an author, literary editor of the Boston Evening Transcript and a journalist. Thirteen letters (1918-1934) and published materials sent to Edwin Francis Edgett from various N.H. authors and educators, including Charles Townsend Copeland, Bertha…
  • Special Collections
    Minutes of the directors and officers of the failed Mt. Belknap Railroad Corporation comprise 26 pages of the volume. They pertain to the corporations financial matters, the election of officials, and the proceedings of annual meetings. There is no evidence that the railroad was ever built.
  • Special Collections
    The Society of the Cincinnati was founded in 1783 by George Washington, Baron von Steuben, Henry Knox, and other officers of the United States Army. It was a patriotic and charitable “society of friends,” which had a branch in each of the original…
  • Special Collections
    William H. Small (1854-1909) lived in Newmarket, N.H. and served in the fire department as the chief fire engineer. Two letters and a notebook kept by William H. Small. One letter, dated 1865, is from Small’s parents, while the other is from Cyrus A. Sulloway of the N.H. House of Representatives…
  • Special Collections
    Lewis Gaylord Clark (1808-1873), editor and publisher of the Knickerbocker magazine. Two letters written by Lewis Gaylord Clark of the Knickerbocker magazine to M.S. Beach inquiring about the possibility of publishing some accounts of the life of the…
  • Special Collections
    United States President Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921 Two page letter written Oct. 22, 1915 by President Woodrow Wilson to Winston Churchill, New Hampshire writer, in which Wilson thanks Churchill for all his “generous courtesies” in connection with the leasing of a house in Cornish, N.H.
  • Special Collections
    American author best known for her depictions of frontier life on the Great Plains in such novels as O Pioneers, My Antonia and The Song of the Lark. A May 2, 1922 letter to George N. Whipple of Boston, MA, which describes some of Cather’s travels and views on lecturing.
  • Special Collections
    Frederic Ogden Nash, 1902-1971 was an American Poet well known for his humorous poetry. He was born in Rye, N.Y. and lived most of his life in Baltimore but he spent summers with his family in a house at Little Boar's Head in North Hampton, N.H. and is buried in the town's East Side Cemetery. Three…
  • Special Collections
    Louis V. Ledoux, author and poet, was born in New York City in 1880. He wrote several books of poetry and prose and was a recognized authority on Japanese prints. Ledoux died in New York in 1948. Letter written Jan. 27, 1911 by Louis Ledoux which both…
  • Special Collections
    School register kept by Emily E. Tomlinson, a teacher in Newington, N.H., during the year 1872. New Hampshire school register: for the school in district no. 1 in the town of Newington, county of Rockingham. The register documents student attendance and the class curriculum for the year 1872.
  • Special Collections
    Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982) was an American poet, writer and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. Two letters written in 1970 by Archibald MacLeish from…
  • Special Collections
    Isaac Royall Jr. (1719-1781) of Medford MA was a sugar plantation owner, slaveholder, and early funder of the Harvard Law School. Dr. Simon Tufts Jr. (1726-1786) of Medford MA was one of a prominant family of doctors. Receipt given to Isaac Royall on August 6, 1777 by Simon Tufts for turning in…
  • Special Collections
    Harlan Fiske Stone, lawyer, professor, Attorney General of the United States, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in Chesterfield, NH in 1872. He was admitted to the bar in 1898, taught law at Columbia University, and later served as Dean of the University’s School of Law from 1910 to…
  • Special Collections
    D. W. Allen was a Dover, New Hampshire dentist. 1842 broadside advertising the visit of Dover, N.H.-based dentist D.W. Allen to Wentworth, N.H. in 1842. The broadside describes services offered by Dr. Allen, as well as providing the prices for some of his more routine operations.
  • Special Collections
    Although the specific creator of this scrapbook is not known, individuals whose work appears in it include Nathaniael Appleton Haven (1790-1826) and Oliver William Bourn Peabody (1799-1848). Scrapbook pertaining to exercises held in Portsmouth, NH on May 21, 1823, “the two hundredth anniversary of…
  • Special Collections
    Thomas Bailey Aldrich was a New Hampshire-born author, poet and editor. His most noteable works are The Story of a Bad Boy and An Old Town By The Sea. Four letters written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich to his good friend and his wife’s obstetrician, Dr…
  • Special Collections
    Levi Woodbury (1789-1851) was born in Francestown, NH. He was was Secretary of the U.S. Treasury 1834-1841. His political career included: Governor of NH 1823-24, Speaker of the NH House of Representatives 1825, U.S. Senator 1825-31, U.S. Secretary of Navy 1831-34, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury…
  • Special Collections
    An unidentified artist. Two notebooks of sketches done in pencil by an unidentified artist. The sketches, some of which are identified, primarily detail scenes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
  • Special Collections
    Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, 1926-1948. Scrapbook kept by John Thomson Dallas during his trip to Japan May 27 to June 20, 1936. It documents Bishop Dallas’s travels and activities in Japan and includes photographs, postcards, telegrams, and letters, as well as programs from events staged in…
  • Special Collections
    Eight page typed pamphlet and original minutes documenting the proceedings of the New Hampshire Christian Conference held at Durham, May 25, 1832. Also included is an 1839 resolution of the Conference to establish “an Academy of a strictly literary character” in Durham.
  • Special Collections
    Henry Wilson, author, United States Senator and Vice-President was born in Farmington, NH in 1812. In 1855 he was elected to the United States Senate, and in 1872 he was nominated for Vice-President on the Republican ticket – a position he held until his death in 1875. Wilson devoted his career to…
  • Special Collections
    Benjamin Abbot (1762-1849) headmaster of Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, N.H.) Three page letter written by Benjamin Abbot to his brother, the Reverend Abiel Abbot. In the letter Benjamin Abbot disagrees with his brother’s opposition to capital punishment.
  • Special Collections
    The 4th NH was organized in Manchester on Sept. 18, 1861. Length of service was four years. Order of exercises: for the celebration of the 86th anniversary of American independence at St. Augustine, Fla., 1862 July 4. Humorous broadside listing the 4th New Hampshire Regiment’s July 4th activities.…
  • Special Collections
    Harvard graduate (1746) and minister. Letter written by James Hobbs Nov. 11, 1751 accepting an invitation to settle as a minister in the town of Pelham, N.H.
  • Special Collections
    Timothy H. Lewis operated a small pail factory in the Westport section of Swanzey, N.H. and had as many as eight employees under his supervision, most of whom were paid for light finishing work. He married Martha in 1867 and they had one son, Earl.…
  • Special Collections
    Walter Williams (1711-) was a mariner and owner of a coasting vessel from Hampton Falls, N.H. He married Mary Hilyard in 1747. This Subpoena was served to Walter Williams June 3, 1748 by Justice of the Peace John Paige that requires him to provide testimony.
  • Special Collections
    President Andrew Johnson was impeached by House of Representatives in February 1868. Ticket of admission to the proceedings for the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.
  • Special Collections
    Surry is a New Hampshire town in Cheshire county with a 15.9 square mile area, incorporated in 1769. Contains town meeting notices, highway tax lists, receipts, treasury reports, and school accounts.
  • Special Collections
    Reverend John Lowell, 1704-1767, was the first pastor of Newburyport, Mass. A one page letter from Reverend Lowell to Joshua Brackett of Portsmouth New Hampshire. In the letter of March 13, 1758 Reverend Lowell describes the late arrival of spring and rumors concerning British troop movements…
  • Special Collections
    Roger Deering (b. 1624 England d. 1718 Kittery, Territory of Maine). Son of Roger Deering and Joan Palmer. Spouse Mary____?. Ebenezer More (b. 1706 York, Territory of Maine, d. 1748 Territory of Maine). Son of John More and Sarah Cutts. Thomas Allen (b. 1700 Maryland, m. Mary Couch 1712 Kittery…
  • Special Collections
    University of New Hampshire graduate (1942) and elementary school teacher. Twelve-page story written by Teresa Foley of Dover, N.H. about some of her childhood school experiences which appeared in Harper's, Dec. 1956
  • Special Collections
    John Follett was a cousin of the Follett family of Durham, N.H. He was probably John Follett Jr. of Kittery, 1681-1719. A letter written between 1706 and 1722 by John Follett to James Bunker, regarding the settlement of the estate of William Follett, John Follett’s uncle.
  • Special Collections
    Elizabeth F. Ellet, (1818-1877), the first American historian of women, was born in upstate New York in October 1818. She became well-known for her collective biographies of women, most notably The Women of the American Revolution (1848). A two page…
  • Special Collections
    Francis Wainwright (1687-1772) was the son of Col. John Wainwright and Elizabeth Norton, born in Essex MA. He married Mary Dudley in 1713 and died in Boston in 1772. Letter written by Francis Wainwright of Portsmouth, NH to his brother. In the letter, Wainwright notes that he is uneasy about the…
  • Special Collections
    Edith Nelson was born in Malden, Mass. in 1894. An experienced secretary, Nelson became a field clerk in the U.S. Army Intelligence Section during World War I. She was charged with investigating German nationals and subversives in the Boston area. She…
  • Special Collections
    Nancy Doe (1798-1880) was a resident of Durham, N.H. Letter written by Nancy Doe April 29, 1825 to the Congregational church in Durham. In the letter, Doe confesses that she had “criminal connexions with the man who is since my husband” and she asks for the forgiveness of the church. Also included…
  • Special Collections
    Alvin A. Gove enlisted at age 21 in Seabrook, N. H. on Dec. 6, 1861 into the 6th New Hampshire Regiment. On Oct. 15 1862 in Washington D.C. Alvin mustered out with a disability. A two page letter from eighteen year-old Alvin Gove, a private in the 6th New Hampshire Regiment sent from Camp Stanton…
  • Special Collections
    Horace Greeley, 1811-1872, was an American editor, writer and politician, and he was also a Presidential candidate. One page letter in which Greeley explains his stance on the question of women’s suffrage. It is dated 4 Nov. 1867.
  • Special Collections
    On Nov. 28, 1863, in Nashua, N.H., 20 year old William B. Green enlisted as a private in Company G (New Hampshire), Second Regiment, United States Volunteer Sharpshooters. Near Petersburg, Va. William deserted on July 9, 1864. From Brady Station, Va, William wrote a four page letter to his mother…
  • Special Collections
    Robert Simpson, a Deerfield, NH native, lived from 1764-1844. In ca. 1818 he moved west to the area of Rutland, Ohio, where he lived until his death. A letter written Jan. 7, 1818 by Robert Simpson, a Deerfield, NH native to his brother, John Simpson, a long-time resident of Nottingham, NH. It…
  • Special Collections
    Howard M. Hanson (1835-1909) was born in Lebanon, Maine. A resident of Somersworth, New Hampshire, Hanson joined the Ninth New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment on June 28, 1862. Hanson was mustered in as a commissary sergeant on August 6, 1862. Following…
  • Special Collections
    Reverend Curtis Coe was born in Middleton, CT in 1750. He graduated from Brown University in 1776 and began preaching in Durham, NH in 1779. He was ordained and installed as Durham minister on November 1, 1780 and served until 1806. Three manuscript sermons written in 1787, 1797, and 1800 by the…
  • Special Collections
    John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States A four page letter to Sarah Orne Jewett, London, England, July 3, 1882 in which Whittier expresses delight at the fact that…
  • Special Collections
    Eunice Fowler was a single woman and spinster of Kingston, N.H Deposition of Eunice Fowler taken Nov. 26, 1777 by Josiah Bartlett. Fowler stated that Edward Brown, yeoman of Exeter, N.H., “by wheedlings and promises of great kindness” had “carnal knowledge of her body whereby she is now pregnant…
  • Special Collections
    Frederick Smyth (1819-1899), thirty-second governor of New Hampshire, was born in Candia, NH. In 1839, he moved to Manchester, N.H., where he worked for ten years, first as a clerk and then as proprietor of a store. He became Manchester city clerk in 1849 and later served four terms as mayor of the…
  • Special Collections
    The Congregational Church in Hampton, N.H. was established in 1638. The first minister was Rev. Stephen Bachiler. Contains the minutes of a meeting in which the Congregational Church of Hampton, N.H. decided to invite Ebenezer Thayer to settle. Also includes a petition and statement by members of…
  • Special Collections
    Levi Bartlett (1793-1885) was a tanner and farmer of Warner, New Hampshire. In the 1830s, Bartlett sold off his tannery and struggled to cultivate his family’s farm. From his experience in reclaiming this nutrient-exhausted land, Bartlett became a…
  • Special Collections
    John Sullivan (1740-1795) was a Revolutionary War general, Statesman, and President of New Hampshire 1786-1789. A one page letter dated May 4, 1790 to Nicholas Gilman, [Exeter, N.H.?] in which John Sullivan, governor of New Hampshire, supports the assumption of state debts by the federal government…
  • Special Collections
    Nothing more is known of John A. Lane, or of how successful his exploits in the Gold Rush were, beyond this letter. Letter written by John A. Lane from Willow Springs, California, to A. J. Sanborn of Hampton or Seabrook, NH. April 9, 1855 describing conditions in California during the gold rush.