The Pollard family papers (334 items) contain correspondence, indentures, and financial records related to the Pollard family of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The Correspondence and Documents series (228 items) includes personal letters between siblings Joseph G. Pollard, Cyrus W. Pollard, Emily F. Pollard, and George F. Pollard. From 1849-1865, the Pollard siblings wrote to each other about their daily lives, social activities, health, local travel, and family news from cities and towns in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York. Some of George F. Pollard's letters concern his education in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Joseph Pollard wrote about his work teaching in a country schoolhouse; in one letter, he mentioned his plans to attend a lecture by Ralph Waldo Emerson, though he suspected it would be "beyond ordinary comprehension" (December 8, 1857). During the Civil War, the Pollards sometimes mentioned topics such as the draft, particularly as it related to Cyrus Pollard and his relocation from Woburn, Massachusetts, to Albany, New York; they also discussed George Pollard's attempt to obtain a commission in the Union Army. The Pollard siblings received letters from other acquaintances, occasionally pertaining to business matters.
The series also includes indentures regarding Asa D. Pollard and land in New Hampshire and Massachusetts; one document pertains to his purchase of a pew in the First Congregational Church in Woburn, Massachusetts (November 1, 1860). Undated items include a manuscript "Report of the School Committee of Woburn," a printed circular letter to children attending Sabbath schools, and a report about Emily Pollard's academic progress at the Charlestown Female Seminary.
The Financial Records series (106 items) is comprised of receipts, invoices, accounts, and promissory notes. Most of the items pertain to the financial affairs of Asa D. Pollard, including receipts for Pollard's tax payments in Derry, New Hampshire. Many of the remaining items, including most of the items dated after the mid-1850s, relate to Joseph G. Pollard's financial affairs in Boston.
Asa Davis Pollard (1805-1876) and his wife, Hannah Wallace (1802-1886), lived in Milton, New Hampshire; Charlestown, Massachusetts; Derry, New Hampshire; and Woburn, Massachusetts. They had seven children: Joseph Greeley (1833-1898), Cyrus Wallace, Edward, Emily Frances, George Frederick (1842-1864), Charles Henry, and Mary Susan. Joseph Greeley Pollard lived in Hudson, New Hampshire, and Derry, New Hampshire, before moving to Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-1850s. He later lived in Woburn, Massachusetts, where he was a leather manufacturer; he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1866-1888, and a member of the state senate from 1869-1871. Cyrus Wallace Pollard lived in Boston, Massachusetts, and Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 1850s and moved to Albany, New York, around 1863. Emily Frances Pollard lived with her parents in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. George Frederick Pollard served in the Union Army during the Civil War; he died during the Battle of Laurel Hill in May 1864.
