1764-2014
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of the records of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, including correspondence, financial records, membership and trustee records, committee reports, petitions for premiums, records of awards, 150th anniversary materials, records of charitable contributions, Middlesex Agricultural Society papers (1819-1873), and Middlesex Society of Husbandmen and Manufacturers papers (1819-1850).
Historical Sketch
The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture (MSPA), one of the earliest agricultural societies in the United States, was incorporated in 1792. Among the founding members were Samuel Adams (who hosted the first meeting), Charles Bulfinch, Timothy Pickering, Benjamin Lincoln, Christopher Gore, and Benjamin Guild. These were presently joined by the likes of John Adams (the MSPA president from 1805 to 1813), John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Artemas Ward, Josiah Quincy, and other national figures from Massachusetts.
The Society's raison d'etre as stated in their petition for incorporation was to join the ranks of the agricultural societies in Britain and America "whose particular business is to make experiments themselves and invite others thereto on the subject of agriculture...[and] to give handsome premiums to the men of enterprise who have by their inquiries made useful discoveries and communicated them to the public." Although the methods have differed somewhat over the years, the Society has never strayed from this original intention of encouraging agricultural pursuits and experiments designed to advance agricultural technology and disseminate information.
The first premiums (prizes) offered by the MSPA were $50 for "the most satisfactory account of the natural history of the canker-worm" and $100 for the cheapest and most effective method of eradicating it. Premiums were also offered for the cultivation of wheat and other grains; the improvement of land, including the reclamation of salt marshes; the raising of trees; the greatest stock maintained on the least land; the best vegetable food for wintering stock; the most and best wool from a given number of sheep; the best process for making cider, maple sugar, butter, cheese, flax, and salted provisions; and for the best farm journals, manures, tree plantations, advances in ploughs and ploughing techniques, and farms in general. In 1801, the Society voted to establish a professorship of natural history at Harvard, which served as the origin of the Botanical Garden at Cambridge. In 1813, the MSPA began publishing semi-annually the Massachusetts Agricultural Journal, which was discontinued in 1827 when the publication of various weekly farming journals supplanted the need for a semi-annual one.
The year 1816 marked the first Cattle Show sponsored by the Society on their grounds in Brighton designated for that purpose. The Cattle Shows, which ran until 1835, were accompanied by an MSPA annual dinner, at which it was the custom to propose numerous toasts to members and guests, to the delight and amusement of all present. Among the guests in 1832 were the renowned ornithologist John James Audubon and Johann G. Spurzheim, the co-founder of phrenology. The toasts were as follows: "Our scientific countryman, John James Audubon: The flight of the eagle is not beyond his reach, nor the tenants of the poultry yard beneath his notice"; and "Our honored guest, Dr. Spurzheim: He reveals to us the secret import of our 'bumps'; we greet him with a bumper."
After 1835, the Society directed more effort at introducing into America improved breeds of cattle, sheep, and horses. They also voted many scholarships and grants to the State Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts) and other educational institutions, funded research in animal diseases such as bovine tuberculosis, and supported the Cambridge Botanical Garden and the Arnold Arboretum among many such horticultural stations. At the same time, they continued to offer premiums for the finest examples of farm products and techniques, and became involved in the many county and local agricultural societies and fairs that formed in the nineteenth century, mainly through offering prizes and prize monies to them.
In the twentieth century, the MSPA became involved with the 4-H Club, offering premiums to children involved in that organization, as well as funding the 4-H headquarters at Amherst and the junior dairy and poultry departments at the annual Eastern States Exposition in Massachusetts. They continue to fund scientific research at various educational institutions.
Collection Description
The records of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture consist of correspondence with many individuals and organizations, financial records, membership and trustee records, committee reports, petitions for premiums (prizes), records of awards, 150th anniversary materials, papers concerning charitable contributions of the MSPA, Middlesex Agricultural Society papers (1819-1873), and Middlesex Society of Husbandmen and Manufacturers papers. The collection contains loose manuscripts, bound manuscript volumes, oversize loose manuscripts, oversize manuscript volumes, and photographs and engravings. The photographs and engravings (housed in one oversize box) are stored with the oversize manuscript material and are described in this guide to the collection.
Printed material has been removed from the collection and separately stored and cataloged. This material includes many broadsides advertising cattle shows and other fairs in Massachusetts, pamphlets on agricultural topics, and a variety of books. Papers of the Humane Society of Massachusetts, which had members in common with the MSPA, have also been removed and separately cataloged.
Acquisition Information
This collection was deposited by the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture in 1979. Additions were deposited in 2010 and 2017.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Drawer A, 1793-1940
The bulk of the material in this series relates to premiums awarded by the MSPA, including correspondence and petitions for premiums on butter and cheese, livestock, farm equipment, manures, and other items. The series also contains lists of MSPA members, trustees, and officers.
Farmer's almanac by Robert B. Thomas (Boston: Printed for West and Richardson), 1818
Membership lists, trustee and officer lists, acceptances and resignation letters, and some miscellaneous correspondence
Correspondence, memoranda, and petitions for premiums on farms and crops, 1793-1844
Petitions for premiums on manures, 1793-1865
Note: The journal has been moved to printed material. The letter has been moved to general papers.
Inscription: "Check Book of H. Codman Treasurer of the Mass. Society for Promoting Agriculture. Worcester Oct. 10, 1844. For payment of Premiums Gratuities & Travel at the Cattle Show & Exhibition of Farming Implements."
Inscription on inside cover: "Property of Francis H. Appleton 23 Court St."
II. Drawer B, 1800-1961
Most of the material in this series is correspondence, first arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by subject. Subjects include agricultural societies, clubs, awards, fairs, and expositions, as well as various agricultural schools and professional associations. Among the individuals represented in the correspondence are James R. Reynolds and George S. West. This series also contains records relating to the MSPA's 150th anniversary in 1942.
Alphabetical correspondence and material relating to:
Printed booklet completed in ms.
MSPA 150th anniversary banquet
III. Drawer C, 1786-1929
This series consists of correspondence, reports, accounts, receipts, premium lists, and other miscellaneous material on a variety of subjects, including crops and livestock. Other topics addressed in this series include agricultural societies, cattle shows, gifts and other financial matters, trustees' votes, and the MSPA's bovine tuberculosis experiment, 1906-1912.
Agricultural societies
Note: Broadsides have been moved to printed material.
Note: Broadsides have been moved to printed material.
Cambridge Botanic Gardens, professorship of natural history at Harvard
Cambridge Botanic Garden
Brighton Cattle Show
Cattle shows
Receipts, 1909-1928
Trustees' votes, 1898-1922
IV. Drawer D, 1764-1907
This series contains general correspondence, as well as correspondence relating to domestic manufactures, farm products, MSPA publications, and other subjects. Notable individuals represented in the letters include John Quincy Adams, Edward Everett, Josiah Quincy, and Daniel Webster. The series also contains reports on crops, livestock, farm machinery, etc.; records of premiums paid; the papers of the Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1820-1873; and the papers of the Middlesex Society of Husbandmen and Manufacturers, 1819-1850.
General correspondence, 1790-1907
Middlesex Agricultural Society papers, 1820-1873
V. Financial papers, 1793-1957
This series consists of treasurer's reports, auditor's reports, reports to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, information on investments and insurance, and records relating to the Michaux Legacy.
Investments, 1807-1927
VI. General papers, 1799-1963
This series contains miscellaneous loose manuscripts not originally filed in Drawers A-D, including correspondence, reports, bills, receipts, records of experiments, and notes on the history of the MSPA.
Bills, receipts, memoranda, reports, and correspondence, 1817-1951
VII. Volumes, 1792-2014digital content
This series consists of miscellaneous bound volumes, including meeting minutes, lists, contest books, account books, and some records of the MSPA secretary.
A. Minutes of trustee meetings, 1792-2014digital content
Note: Most of the minutes dated 1975-2009 came to the MHS in three-ring binders, which have since been discarded.
Note: Loose items are stored (physically) in a separate folder, but presented (digitally) within the sequence of the volume at their original location(s).
This volume is the first record book of the MSPA.
Note: Loose items are stored (physically) in a separate folder, but presented (digitally) within the sequence of the volume at their original location(s).
Note: Loose items are stored (physically) in a separate folder, but presented (digitally) within the sequence of the volume at their original location(s).
Note: Loose items are stored (physically) in a separate folder, but presented (digitally) within the sequence of the volume at their original location(s).
Note: Loose items are stored (physically) in a separate folder, but presented (digitally) within the sequence of the volume at their original location(s).
Note: Loose items are stored (physically) in a separate folder, but presented (digitally) within the sequence of the volume at their original location(s).
B. Secretary's records and other volumes, 1792-1958digital content
Note: Loose items are stored (physically) in a separate folder, but presented (digitally) within the sequence of the volume at their original location(s).
Soft-bound volume, four folios tied together.
Entries in fairs and cattle shows
Six soft-bound volumes.
Printed, soft-bound volume completed in ms. by J.J. Erwin, Wayland, Mass.
Printed entry forms completed in ms.
Copy of Vol. 27 in a different hand.
C. Financial records, 1793-1939
VIII. Oversize material, 1792-1952digital content
This series contains both oversize manuscripts and oversize volumes, including land plans, blueprints, drawings, awards, and financial reports of the MSPA to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Soft-bound volume.
Hard-bound volume.
Soft-bound volume.
Soft-bound volume.
Printed form completed in ms.
Printed form completed in ms. Financial report to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Printed form completed in ms. Financial report to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Printed form completed in ms. Financial report to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
IX. Photographs and engravings, [183-]-1956
This series consists of individual and group photographs, engravings, and seals. Individuals represented in the images include William C. Endicott, Robert C. Winthrop, Caleb Strong, and others.
Preferred Citation
Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture records, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.