Abigail Adams, Investor

By Jeremy Dibbell

Historian (and 2003-04 MHS research fellow) Woody Holton had an essay in Sunday’s Washington Post, “On Money, a Founding Mother Knows Best.” He writes “If you were to hire Abigail Adams as your financial adviser, here’s the advice that the Massachusetts matriarch would offer,” and provides ten pieces of financial wisdom drawn from Adams’ experiences and correspondence. I think my favorite might be the eighth, which Holton describes as “Prevent your spouse from keeping a close eye on you. One of Abigail’s favorite techniques was the cover letter. Since John had no compunction about opening his wife’s incoming mail but considered letters received by Abigail Junior to be sacrosanct, Abigail sometimes asked her correspondents to enclose their messages for her inside letters to her daughter.”

Holton is the author of “Abigail Adams, Bond Speculator” in the October 2007 William & Mary Quarterly, and his biography of Abigail Adams (Abigail Adams: A Life) will be published by Free Press in November 2009.

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On the Fourth of July

By Jeremy Dibbell

Happy Independence Day! To mark the occasion, a few digital highlights from our collections.

– The Dunlap Broadside: The first printing of the Declaration of Independence, created overnight on 4 July 1776. Copies of this broadside were read to announce independence in New York on 9 July and in Boston on 18 July. Only 26 copies of this broadside are known to exist (the 26th was recently discovered in the collections of the British National Archives). This is one of many important Declaration of Independence broadsides in the MHS collections.

– John Adams’ Draft Copy of the Declaration of Independence: At some point during the drafting process, John Adams made this handwritten copy of the early Declaration of Independence (he may even have sent this copy home to Abigail). It shows the text at a middle stage, before the full Continental Congress had its way with the draft. In the Adams Family Papers.

– Thomas Jefferson’s Manuscript Copy of the Declaration of Independence: A partial copy of an early version of the Declaration of Independence, in Jefferson’s hand. Given to the MHS by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur C. Washburn in 1893.

– John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776: In this letter, Adams predicts the great celebrations which would mark future Independence Days (but he suggests it will be 2 July, not 4 July, which would be so honored): “But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” Congress voted for independence on 2 July, and approved the text of the Declaration two days later.

– Abigail Adams to John Adams, 21-22 July 1776: Here, Abigail describes hearing the Declaration read for the first time in Boston, on 18 July: “Last Thursday after hearing a very Good Sermon I went with the Multitude into Kings Street to hear the proclamation for independance read and proclamed. Some Field peices with the Train were brought there, the troops appeard under Arms and all the inhabitants assembled there (the small pox prevented many thousand from the Country). When Col. Crafts read from the Belcona of the State House the Proclamation, great attention was given to every word. As soon as he ended, the cry from the Belcona, was God Save our American States and then 3 cheers which rended the air, the Bells rang, the privateers fired, the forts and Batteries, the cannon were discharged, the platoons followed and every face appeard joyfull.Mr. Bowdoin then gave a  [illegible]  Sentiment, Stability and perpetuity to American independance. After dinner the kings arms were taken down from the State House and every vestage of him from every place in which it appeard and burnt in King Street. Thus ends royall Authority in this State, and all the people shall say Amen.”

Posted in From Our Collections

“with renewed enthusiasm”: Celebrating the Fourth

By Jeremy Dibbell

By tradition, our July Object of the Month highlight tends to be related in some way to the Fourth of July. This year’s is no exception: it’s a broadside issued by the Foxborough Fourth of July Committee, informing the town’s residents that the Fourth of July celebrations will go forward as planned. In fact, the Committee suggests that “the observance of INDEPENDENCE DAY be carried out with renewed enthusiasm because the attempt to our PRESIDENT has so far been unsuccessful and will, it is hoped, undoubtedly fail.”

President James A. Garfield had been shot by Charles Guiteau just two days earlier at a Washington train station, where he was preparing to board a train for Massachusetts (he was to give a speech at his 25th college reunion at Williams College). The president clung to life for eighty days, suffering through various attempts by doctors to find and remove a bullet lodged near his spine. He died on 19 September, the second murdered president in two decades.

You can read more about the Foxborough broadside, Garfield, and Guiteau here.

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Visiting Monticello Vicariously

By Jeremy Dibbell

Maira Kalman’s New York Times blog is called And the Pursuit of Happiness, and her most recent post is particularly apt, given the title. In “Time Wastes Too Fast,” Ms. Kalman recounts a recent visit to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home near Charlottesville, VA. It’s a very nice piece, and even features several images from the MHS’ collection of Jefferson manuscripts, including a photo from his Farm Book.

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Surgeon’s Kit on Display

By Anne Bentley

A fitted case containing surgeon’s instruments belonging to William Swift, M.D., United States Navy, in the War of 1812 is on display in the USS Constitution Museum’s newest exhibition: “All Hands on Deck: A Sailor’s Life in 1812.”  

William Swift (1779-1864), an 1812 graduate of the Harvard Medical School, served in the U.S. Navy from 1812 until his retirement in 1861. He sailed to the coast of Africa in the frigate Chesapeake, and was serving on her when she fought the British vessel Shannon in Boston Harbor, 1813. He later served as naval surgeon in the brig Syren.

The kit was given to the Society by Dr. Lucy H. Swift, 26 October 1991. The MHS also holds Dr. Swift’s papers (Ms. N-162): see the collection guide for more information.

Curators at the USS Constitution Museum have installed Swift’s surgeon’s kit in their “Aftermath” area that very effectively illustrates the realities of war at sea.  You can see it there through December 2010. The grand opening of the exhibit, featuring Boston mayor Tom Menino, will be held on 3 July at 11 a.m.

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Adams-Jefferson Conference Recap

By Jeremy Dibbell

Now that the Boston leg of the Adams-Jefferson Libraries conference has concluded (see my earlier post for the full story on the conference), I’d like to offer just a brief synopsis of the proceedings here, and some personal reflections on the meetings.

Following a really fascinating keynote address by Ted Widmer on Sunday evening (“People of the Book: Adams, Jefferson and the Koran”), we had two days of panel discussions (“Adams and Jefferson as Book Collectors” and “Libraries, Law, and Political Philosophy” on Monday; “Adams, Jefferson, and Nationalism” and “Libraries and the Enlightenment” on Tuesday). Most of the sessions were held at the Boston Public Library, with the exception of Monday afternoon’s panel, which we hosted here at the MHS. Conference-goers were also offered tours of the John Adams library at the BPL, the “Gluttons for Books” exhibit at MHS, and the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy.

Thanks to the kindness of my colleagues here I was able to slip away from my normal duties for a couple days and attend the panel discussions. The presentations and conversations were excellent, but even beyond that it was most interesting to be around a great group of folks interested not only in Adams and Jefferson but also in books and reading more generally. I was, as someone remarked to me, “in my element.” The days may have been long, (and rainy), but the stimulation of good discussions more than outweighed the exhaustion.

The conference attracted attendees from around the country and around the world (one woman came all the way from Perth, Australia!), so it was a real delight to be able to meet, talk and share meals with people whose books I’ve read (and I confess I added a number of new books to my ‘to-read’ list). Many of them expressed great appreciation for the MHS and our efforts to make our materials available not only here in the reading room but also via microfilm and digitally so that they can be accessed around the world.

Now the conference moves to Charlottesville for another three days of discussions and tours. I hope that they are as full of good discussions and provocative questions as the Boston portion was, and I look forward to continuing the conversations begun here this week.

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Meet & Greet: Publications

By Jeremy Dibbell

Another round of introductions today: the Publications department. Since its inception, the MHS has taken as one of its major missions the “dissemination” of materials of historical interest, and the Publications team is responsible for carrying out that vital task. The types of volumes published by the MHS include:

– Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. First published in 1792, and now numbering more than ninety volumes, these are documentary editions of materials from our collections. The most recent is Selected Journals of Caroline Healey Dall, Volume I (1838-1855), edited by Helen R. Deese.

– Thematic collections of essays on historical topics, Studies in American History and Culture.

– The Massachusetts Historical Review, an annual journal.

– Illustrated books highlighting materials and artifacts from MHS collections.

 

Click here for a full list of in-print MHS publications.

The Publications department staff include Ondine Le Blanc, Director of Publications, and Assistant Editors Suzanne Carroll and Jeanine Rees.

Complete contact information is available here.

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“Gluttons for Books”

By Jeremy Dibbell

Books and reading played a major role in the lives and careers of both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In a major conference, an exhibition, and a web presentation this summer, the MHS and other institutions around the country highlight the collections, reading habits, and literary legacies of these two men.

The conference, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson: Libraries, Leadership, and Legacy, is a joint effort sponsored by the MHS, the Boston Public Library, and the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello (and supported by several other institutions and benefactors). The full conference schedule is available here. It will begin in Boston on this coming Sunday, 21 June, with a keynote address by Dr. Ted Widmer, Director of the John Carter Brown Library (free and open to the public). Two days of panel discussions and other events in Boston will follow, and then the conference moves to Charlottesville, VA, for another keynote address by former U.S. Senator Gary Hart on Thursday 25 June. That will be followed by two concluding days of panel discussions at the University of Virginia. Information on registration, the conference schedule, and PDFs of the conference papers are available at the conference website.

To accompany the conference and extending through the summer, the MHS has mounted an exhibit, “‘Gluttons for Books: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Their Libraries.” The show includes the book catalogs of Jefferson and Adams, correspondence between members of the Adams family about books and reading, and selections from the retirement correspondence of Jefferson and Adams (which is, I think, one of the most fascinating exchanges of letters ever written). One case will highlight the recent discovery and verification of Jefferson’s inventory of the collection of books he received through the bequest of his friend and teacher George Wythe (an MHS-Monticello collaboration). A computer terminal will be available to access those portions of the exhibit which have been digitized (including Jefferson’s 1783 and 1789 catalogs, the BPL’s excellent John Adams Library site, the Wythe List, and online catalogs of the Jefferson and Adams libraries).

The exhibition will remain on display at the Historical Society from Tuesday, 23 June through Friday, 4 September. The MHS is open to the public Monday-Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00 a.m. -4:45 p.m.; Thursday, 9:00 a.m.-7:45 p.m.; and Saturday, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. The Society will be closed on Friday, 3 July and Saturday, 4 July. As the MHS hosts many programs for school teachers and other visitors during the summer months, please call the front desk (617-646-0500) for specific exhibition hours.

Finally, June’s Object of the Month highlights one of the letters from our collections relating to the Wythe library: it’s a 22 July 1806 letter from Thomas Jefferson’s cousin and agent George Jefferson, notifying him that the Wythe books have been packed up in Richmond and are ready for shipment to Monticello.

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Collection Profile: Robert Keayne’s Sermon Notebooks

By Jeremy Dibbell

I’ve been reading the new collection of Edmund S. Morgan’s essays, American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women who Shaped Early America (W.W. Norton, 2009), and one of the people he profiles is Anna Keayne (later Lane), the granddaughter of early Boston merchant Robert Keayne (1595-1656). Anna’s story is absolutely fascinating in its own right, but seeing Robert Keayne’s name reminded me that we hold several collections of his notebooks:

– Robert Keayne sermon notes, 1627-1628. This volume contains notes taken by Keayne in London prior to his 1635 removal to Boston. Among the ministers represented are John Cotton, Hugh Peters, John Wilson and John Davenport. Extracts were published in the MHS Proceedings, Vol. 50 (March 1917), pp. 204-207.

– Robert Keayne sermon notes, 1639-1642. This volume contains notes of sermons preached at Boston’s First Church by John Cotton. Keayne also includes minutes of the 1640-41 ecclestical trials of Sgt. Richard Wait and Ann Hibbins (the latter was executed for witchcraft in 1656). This notebook, which was given to the MHS as early as 1791 (possibly by founder Jeremy Belknap), was discussed at length by MHS Librarian Samuel Abbot Green at the March 1889 meeting of the Society. You can read an off-print of his paper here via the Internet Archive, or from the MHS Proceedings here via Google Books.

– Robert Keayne sermon notes, 1643-1646. This volume contains notes of sermons preached at Boston’s First Church by John Cotton, John Wilson and Thomas Cobbet. Following Green’s remarks about the earlier volume at the 1889 meeting, Amos Perry of the Rhode Island Historical Society wrote to Green to inform him that this volume was then in the collections of RIHS, having been presented to them in 1851 by a Mr. Cooke. “People must have been smart in that early period to read such writing,” Perry wrote. The MHS purchased this third volume of sermon notes in 1969.

All three of the Keayne notebooks are available for consultation on microfilm, P-85.

Robert Keayne cut quite the figure in early Boston. He was the first commander of the town’s Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and also served in various official capacities. His early success in business proved nettlesome to his neighbors; in 1639 he was tried before the General Court and fined for charging too much for his merchandise, and was later admonished by church authorities for this nefarious crime (also considered a grave sin). He issued a formal apology. He was later involved in a lengthy legal battle after being accused of stealing Mrs. Sherman’s sow (see Darren Staloff, The Making of an American Thinking Class. Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 83-85).

Keayne’s sermons notes are interesting, but they are not his most remarkable legacy. That distinction must go to his will, one of the longest known to exist from the American colonial period. The document runs to more than 158 pages and 50,000 words, and contains lengthy justifications of his life and conduct, as well as instructions for the disposition of his complicated and extensive estate.

Among his gifts were £300 for the creation of a granary, plus a town-house to house meeting rooms, a library, a gallery and an armory. He ordered that several books of his own authorship (biblical commentaries) to given to the library, plus any books from his own library not desired by his son Benjamin or his widow. As a contingency plan, if the town did not create his desired library, Keayne specified that his books were to go to the library of Harvard College. The town did use Keayne’s legacy to partially fund the construction of the first town-house, which included the library (the first “public library” in Boston). The books were mostly saved from the 1711 fire which destroyed the building, but did not survive a second blaze in 1747.

For more on Keayne’s will, and an edited version of the text, see Bernard Bailyn, ed. “The Apologia of Robert Keayne”, Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Vol. 42 (1964), pp. 243-341.

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Today @ MHS: Mann Brown-Bag

By Jeremy Dibbell

Join us today (Wednesday) at 12 noon in the Dowse Library for a brown-bag lunch with Allison Mann of the University of New Hampshire and research fellow at MHS. Mann will discuss her current project: “Slavery Exacts an Impossible Price: John Quincy Adams and the Dorcas Allen Case, 1837.”

This event is free and open to the public.

Posted in This Week @MHS