Search

This collection is made up of 74 letters and letter fragments that Sarah Augusta Keen and her family wrote to her brother William between 1859 and 1867. The letters are about their lives in Acushnet, Massachusetts, after William moved to San Francisco, California, in early 1862, and their views on the Civil War. Sarah A. Keen, William's most frequent correspondent, discussed her experiences as a schoolteacher in Lakeville, Massachusetts.

This collection contains 74 letters and letter fragments that Sarah Augusta Keen and her family wrote to her brother William between 1859 and 1867. The letters are about their lives in Acushnet, Massachusetts, after William moved to San Francisco, California, in early 1862, and their views on the Civil War.

Sarah Augusta Keen wrote letters to her brother William every few weeks between June 1862 and February 1866, routinely providing updates about friends and family members in and around Acushnet, Massachusetts. In her first letters, she reflected upon the death of their sister Lydia, and in later letters she continued to report on the health, marriages, and deaths of family members and local residents. Sarah occasionally commented on her experiences as a schoolteacher in Lakeville, Massachusetts, and shared her intention to quit teaching after her marriage in 1865. Some of her letters directly concern the progress of the Civil War and its effects on the local community, and regard such topics as the privateer Alabama; a deserter who had returned home to marry; a wounded soldier who intended to return to the army and to reenlist if necessary; an acquaintance who refused to enlist even after being promised a captaincy; drafted men; and subsequent draft riots in the larger cities. After the war, she urged William to return to Massachusetts.

William also received letters from his brothers Charles and Leonard, his sister Amelia, and his parents, Leonard and Sarah. They wrote about similar topics, including their educations, and inquired about William's health in California.

The Pollard family papers contain correspondence, indentures, and financial records related to Asa D. Pollard and his children, including Joseph G. Pollard, Cyrus W. Pollard, Emily F. Pollard, and George F. Pollard. Members of the Pollard family corresponded about their lives in New Hampshire and Massachusetts from the 1840s-1860s.

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.