1637-1891; bulk: 1758-1799
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of Jeremy Belknap, Congregational clergyman, historian, and one of the founders of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Biographical Timeline
4 June 1744 |
Born in Boston, Mass. |
1762 |
Graduated from Harvard College. |
1762-1766 |
Taught school in Milton, Mass., and Greenland, N.H. |
1766 |
Ordained to the ministry of the Congregational Church. |
1767 |
Began writing The History of New Hampshire. |
15 June 1767 |
Married Ruth Eliot. |
1767-1786 |
Pastor, Congregational Church, Dover, N.H. |
1773 |
A Sermon on Military Duty published. |
1775 |
Chaplain to American troops, Cambridge, Mass. |
1784 |
Volume 1 of The History of New Hampshire
published. |
1787-1798 |
Pastor, Federal Street Church, Boston, Mass. |
1791 |
Volume 2 of The History of New Hampshire
published. |
24 Jan. 1791 |
Founding of the Massachusetts Historical Society. |
1792 |
The Foresters published.
Volume 3 of The History of New Hampshire
published.
A Discourse, Intended to Commemorate the Discovery of America by
Christopher Columbus published.
|
1794 |
Volume 1 of American Biography published. |
1795 |
Dissertations on the Character, Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Christ, and the Evidence of His Gospel published. |
1798 |
Volume 2 of American Biography published
posthumously. |
20 June 1798 |
Died in Boston. |
Sources
Additional detailed information on the life of Jeremy Belknap can be found in Clio's Consort: Jeremy Belknap and the Founding of the Massachusetts Historical Society, written by Louis L. Tucker, director of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and published by the MHS, 1990.
Collection Description
The Jeremy Belknap papers include both his personal papers and historical documents collected for his research and writing.
The correspondent most heavily represented in the collection is Belknap's friend and bookseller, Ebenezer Hazard. Other Belknap correspondents include Abigail Adams, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Smith Barton, Joseph Stevens Buckminster, John Eliot, William Ellery, Benjamin Franklin, Gideon Hawley, David Howell, John Jay, James Madison, Samuel Miller, William Dandridge Peck, Timothy Pickering, John Pintard, Benjamin Rush, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Earl of Warwick, George Washington, Josiah Waters, Noah Webster, John Wentworth, and Paine Wingate.
Names represented in the historical documents collected by Belknap include Jonathan Belcher, Joseph Dudley, Jeremiah Dummer, Henry Newman, Samuel Penhallow, William Pepperrell, William Shirley, Peter Warren, and John Winthrop.
Belknap's other papers include diaries, sermons, notes, drafts and manuscripts of his writings, correspondence with publishers, commonplace-books, memoranda books, genealogical and meteorological records, notes and journals of his study of the Oneida Nation, and materials related to his service as a minister and the founding of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Also included is a small collection of papers of Mary Hartford, a Black woman who resided with the family since childhood.
Arrangement
The main body of the collection remains arranged by an early classification system used by the Massachusetts Historical Society. The collection has not been rearranged because most of the items are individually cataloged in the MHS manuscript catalog. Many items in this collection have also previously been cited in publications by this old classification system. The arrangement is somewhat arbitrary and does not represent any systematic, chronological, or thematic arrangement of the materials. (Two exceptions to this arrangement are the letters between Belknap and Ebenezer Hazard, which constitute 161.E, 161.F, and 161.M, and the historical documents relating to the Louisbourg Expedition during the French and Indian War, which can be found in 61.B and 61.C.)
There are several sets of old call numbers by which the collection is arranged: 61.A-C; 161.A-M; 013.9; A.1, A.2, and A.3. The main body of the collection falls into the volumes numbered 161 and 61, and for this reason, these have been placed first in the collection. Items with the remaining call numbers have been arranged by format and then by subject or date with an awareness of the old call numbers. In many cases, items in the collection have had more than one number over time due to changes in the cataloging and storing of the manuscript collections. Where known, these numbers are all listed.
While much of the collection remains tipped into volumes, some parts have been disbound and stored in acid-free folders and boxes. These boxed materials remain in their sequential numbered series despite being physically arranged in a different format. 61 and 161 contain the bulk of the loose manuscripts, but are not necessarily arranged in chronological order and overlap in dates among the several volumes. Historical documents can often be found in the same volume or box as Belknap's contemporary materials.
161.G is the John Davis papers. The location of 161.H is unknown.
Acquisition Information
The majority of the papers were donated by Elizabeth Belknap, daughter of Jeremy Belknap, in 1858. Many of these items contain book plates and notes indicating this donation.
The volumes of tipped-in papers known as 61.A-C were donated by Jeremy Belknap, presumably at the time of the founding of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Folders 161.K and 161.L were donated by Mrs. Jules Marcou in 1886 and 1887, as well as some of the loose manuscripts (including genealogical material), which can be found in Box 5.
Philippe Marcou donated most of the volumes now located in Boxes 6 and 7, as well as most of the items now interfiled in Box 5, in 1919.
Charles Deane donated 35 manuscript copies of letters from Jeremy Belknap to Ebenezer Hazard (in Folder 161.M) in 1880.
Mrs. William W. Frances and John I. Coddington donated a small booklet entitled "Articles communicated to Jeremy Belknap for his History of New Hampshire" in memory of Edward Goodwin Wesson in March of 1938. This item can be found in Box 5.
Mary Lincoln Eliot donated a small collection of letters from Jeremy Belknap to John Eliot (1777-1786) in May 1922. These letters (013.2) are now in Box 5.
A small collection of papers (eight items) related to Belknap's ministries were purchased in April 1991 and can be found in Folder 13 in Box 5.
Other Formats
Many of the volumes in this collection have been microfilmed. Use the table below to locate microfilm copies of individual volumes.
| Volume | Location |
| 61.A, 013.9 | P-380, Reel 1 |
| 61.B, 013.9 | P-380, Reel 2 |
| 61.C, 013.9 | P-380, Reel 3 |
| 161.A, 013.2 | P-380, Reel 4 |
| 161.B, 013.2 | P-380, Reel 5-6 |
| 161.C, 013.3 | P-380, Reel 6-7 |
| 161.F, 013.5 | P-380, Reel 8-9 |
| A.1.8 | P-363, Reel 2; P-380, Reel 10 |
| A.1.9 | P-363, Reel 2; P-380, Reel 10 |
| A.1.10 | P-380, Reel 10 |
| 013.9i, A.1.16 | P-380, Reel 11 |
Some of the items in this collection have also been published. Correspondence between Ebenezer Hazard and Jeremy Belknap has been published in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 5th series, vols. II-III. Belknap's journal of his trip to Dartmouth College has been published as Jeremy Belknap's Journey to Dartmouth in 1774, edited by Edward C. Lathem (Hanover, N.H.: Dartmouth Publications, 1950).
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Numbered volumes I, 1637-1872
This series consists of volumes of tipped-in manuscripts containing historical documents collected by Jeremy Belknap, including the correspondence of several well-known historical figures. Subjects represented in this series include: the slave trade, the rights of Native Americans, the history of New Hampshire and Cape Cod, the establishment of the Massachusetts Historical Society, weather and climate, Boston harbor issues, the Sons of Liberty, the Society for Propagating the Gospel, and the Stamp Act. Among the many important correspondents are: George Washington, John Adams, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, John Jay, John Cotton, Cotton Mather, Noah Webster, John Winthrop, Benjamin Rush, William Ellery, Timothy Pickering, Gideon Hawley, John Eliot, and others. The series also contains extensive correspondence between Belknap and his friend and bookseller Ebenezer Hazard, 1779-1804.
Other items of interest include: a document from King George III; handbills from George Washington to the House regarding treaty papers; the freedom papers of a formerly enslaved person; and the personal and family papers of Mary Hartford, a Black woman who lived with the Belknap family from the time she was a child. The series also contains a significant amount of material about the Louisbourg Expedition of 1745, including correspondence, a "Resolve of a Council of war," a list of French vessels taken, an inventory of ordnance at Louisbourg, and a register of army commissions.
Some of the volumes have been disbound and the documents rehoused in boxes. A few include indexes. Some volumes have been microfilmed, and larger items have been removed to oversize materials.
Part I of II. This volume contains "Questions agreen upon by the Elders of the Bay in 1637," "A Draught of the Harbour of Boston and Adjacent Towns and Roads 1755," John Wheelock's appointment as president of Dartmouth College, and the last act of the administration of Governor John Wentworth. Also included are letters from John Cotton and John Winthrop and correspondence between Belknap and Benjamin Franklin.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part II of II. This volume contains letters from John Winthrop, as well as correspondence between Belknap and Benjamin Franklin, John Winthrop, George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Rush, and Noah Webster.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part I of II. This volume contains documents to the Senate concerning the rights of Native Americans; reports to Congress about the slave trade; and correspondence between Jeremy Belknap and Noah Webster, John Adams, John Winthrop, Joseph Stevens Buckminster, John Wentworth, John Pintard, and David Howell.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
Part II of II. This volume contains letters to the public about the establishment of the Massachusetts Historical Society and letters about the history of Cape Cod and Native American affairs. Also included is correspondence between Belknap and Paine Wingate, John Jay, James Madison, John Wentworth, Benjamin Rush, James Bowdoin, George Washington, Samuel Miller, Benjamin Smith Barton, and William Dandridge Peck.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
Part I of II. This volume contains correspondence between Belknap and Stephen Van Rensselaer, Abigail Adams, Noah Webster, William Ellery, James Winthrop, Timothy Pickering, Gideon Hawley, John Jay, and George Washington. Also included are handbills from George Washington to the House in answer to demands for treaty papers and papers concerning the Society for Propagating the Gospel.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part II of II. This volume contains registers of inhabitants of Connecticut; deeds; correspondence between Belknap and John Elliot, the Earl of Warwick, and Josiah Waters; and "Papers relative to the Difficulties subsisting between me and the Parish in Dover [N.H.] 1785, 6, & 7."
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
Loose manuscripts, 1723-1799
This box contains letters from Issac Watts to Benjamin Colman and between Belknap and John Eliot, as well as papers relating to New Hampshire and Belknap's history, freedom papers of a formerly enslaved person, maps, and notes concerning climate, weather, fishing, plants, crops, and longevity. Includes an index.
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
This box contains letters from Jeremy Belknap in Dover, N.H., to Ebenezer Hazard. Includes an index.
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part I of II. This volume contains letters from Ebenezer Hazard to Jeremy Belknap. Includes an index.
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part II of II. This volume contains letters from Ebenezer Hazard to Jeremy Belknap, as well as letters sent to Belknap in response to his queries about the history of slavery in Massachusetts on behalf of St. George Tucker.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
This box contains documents removed from Volume 161.F.
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
This box contain deeds from Joseph Belknap to Jeremy Belknap and correspondence between Belknap and Jeremiah Dummer, William White, Ebenezer Hazard, Timothy Pickering, and John Eliot. Also included is correspondence about the "system of education in Boston," medical outbreaks, and meteor showers.
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
This folder contains a letter and responses to a covenant by the Committee of the Correspondence of Portsmouth Protesting the Boston Port Bill; queries for Captain [Benjamin] Magee; and letters from William Emerson, John Fisher, and Oliver Whipple.
Items in this folder are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
This box contains the personal and family papers of Mary Hartford, a Black woman "who lived in the Belknap family from a child."
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
The Mary Hartford papers have been digitized and transcribed as part of the MHS web presentation African Americans and the End of Slavery in Massachusetts. Click here to access digital images and transcriptions.
This folder contains manuscript copies of letters to Ebenezer Hazard from Belknap at Dover, N.H., and Boston.
Items in this folder are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
II. Numbered volumes II, 1655-1770
This volume contains items relating to the Louisbourg Expedition, the Sons of Liberty, a document from King George III, a New Hampshire boundary dispute, and the Stamp Act. Among the writers of letters are Cotton Mather, Henry Newman, and Joseph Dudley.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part I of II. This entire volume consists of historical documents relating to the Louisbourg Expedition. Among the correspondents are John Barnard, John Wentworth, William Pepperrell, Robert Auchmuty, Peter Warren, Samuel Waldo, and John Broadstreet.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part II of II. This entire volume consists of historical documents and letters relating to the Louisbourg Expedition. Among the writers are Peter Warren, William Shirley, Samuel Waldo, Benjamin Colman, John Wentworth, Robert Auchmuty, Jonathan Belcher, Thomas Cushing, James Bowdoin, Benjamin Lyde, and William Pepperrell. Documents include a "Resolve of a Council of war aboard his Majesty's ship 'Superbe' off Louisbourg."
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part I of II. This entire volume consists of historical documents and letters relating to the Louisbourg Expedition. Among the writers are William Shirley, Benjamin Colman, John Wentworth, Jonathan Belcher, John Read, and William Pepperrell. Documents include a "List of Vessels Taken from the French from the Time of the Expedition to Cape Breton."
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
Part II of II. The majority of this volume relates to the Louisbourg Expedition. Documents include an "Inventory of Ordnance at Louisbourg, including stores from New England, New York, and Annapolis Royal," "A Register of all the commissions in the Army under the Command of the Hon. General Pepperrell in the Expedition against Cape Breton," proclamations and correspondence of the Sons of Liberty, papers concerning the Stamp Act, and an example of stamped paper. Also included are letters from William Shirley, Elihu Palmer, John Winthrop, William Hubbard, and Benjamin Franklin.
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
III. Volumes in cases, 1758-1798
This series contains the diaries of Jeremy Belknap, 1758-1798, and his writings and notes on various topics, as well as drafts of his works The History of New Hampshire and American Biography. Of particular interest are his observations about the Oneida Nation, including a personal journal he kept after visiting the Oneida in 1796.
The volumes which follow do not appear in exact order according to their old shelf numbers. A rough order, where possible, was used to keep related volumes together, i.e. The History of New Hampshire and American Biography materials. Some of the volumes have been microfilmed.
A. Diaries, 1758-1798
Also on microfilm, P-363, reel 2.
Also on microfilm, P-363, reel 2.
For Belknap's 1774 diary of a trip to Dartmouth College, see Box 5, Folder 14.
B. Writings and notes, 1758-1793
Belknap's 1774 diary of a trip to Dartmouth College has been removed from this volume to Box 5, Folder 14.
Documents in this volume include: "Detached Remarks Mason Claim"; "Detached Remarks Chronology of Ann's War"; "Notes and Memoranda related to the Propagation of the Gospel," tour to Oneida, etc.; and a personal journal entitled "Belknap's tour to Oneida 1796."
This volume contains queries, answers, and observations concerning the Oneida Nation.
Documents in this volume include: notes for The History of New Hampshire, "Answer to Peace," miscellanea 1788, and Harvard College early graduates.
Documents in this volume include: "The Nature and Marks of a Credible Profession," "American Antiquities," "For Museum," "Journal of a Tour to Philadelphia 1785," "Youthful Sobriety," and "Captain's journal 1793."
Items in this volume are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
IV. Sermons, 1762-1798
Arranged chronologically.
V. Miscellaneous manuscripts and volumes, 1724-1891
This series consists of miscellaneous essays, journals, correspondence, poems, memoranda books, account books, and other papers of Jeremy Belknap. Larger items have been removed to oversize materials. Also included in this series are photocopies of records related to the Sons of Liberty, 1766-1770. The originals of the Sons of Liberty records are housed in oversize.
A. Loose manuscripts, 1758-1891
This journal includes a few historical notes on the White Mountains, N.H.
B. Volumes, 1724-1855
C. Sons of Liberty records (photocopies), 1766-1770
Items in this box are individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog.
See also: Oversize materials.
VI. Oversize materials
This series consists of oversize items removed from Series I-V. Descriptions of the items appear above. When an oversize item has been removed from a series, the description of that item reads: "See also: Oversize materials."
Preferred Citation
Jeremy Belknap papers, 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.