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The James Craik collection contains seven letters and recipes written by Craik. Three items relate to the health of George Washington and his family, and six propose contemporary cures for various ailments.

The James Craik collection contains seven letters and recipes written by Craik. Three items relate to the health of George Washington and his family, and six are contemporary cures for various ailments. In the first letter, addressed to Tobias Lear, Craik encouraged him to introduce his friend Mrs. Dixon to George Washington (September 21, 1789). The remainder of the material focuses on medicine, and contains several remedies for a range of complaints, including chest pain, a "perpetual blister," and a malady frequently affecting children. Three of the items relate directly to the health of George Washington and his family.

• A letter to Martha Washington proposing a treatment for her son's fever (August 8, 1780)
• A letter to Colonel Bassett suggesting a method to alleviate "weakness" in Washington's stomach (December 6, 1792)
• A method for easing one of Washington's complaints (undated)

The Mason F. Cogswell letters are made up of letters that Cogswell, an American physician, wrote about 18th- and 19th-century medical practices.

The Mason F. Cogswell letters are made up of 4 letters that Cogswell, an American physician, wrote about 18th- and 19th-century medical practices. The first 2 letters are addressed to Shubael Breed of Norwich, Connecticut, and include Cogswell's response to a description of a sea voyage and a discussion of emetics (October 20, 1786). Cogswell's second letter to Breed is more personal, celebrating "A New Epocha of Liberty and Happiness" (August 12, 1788). On December 1, 1801, Cogswell wrote to Elias Graves of Guilford, Connecticut, about an unsuccessful cataract surgery. His letter of March 5, 1828, to David Hossac[k], a professor at Rutgers Medical College, affirmed that Henry Burnham, who recently passed an examination, had fulfilled all of his obligations under Cogswell's supervision.

The Peter Turner papers contain 21 incoming letters concerning Revolutionary War service, medicine, and family matters.

The Peter Turner papers contain 21 incoming letters, received by Peter Turner between 1774 and 1789. His friend and fellow army surgeon, Samuel Tenny, wrote 14 of the letters, while his half-brother, Jabez Campfield, contributed 4. Turner's brother, Daniel Turner; nephew, William Campfield; and fellow soldier, Charles Greene, wrote the remainder of the correspondence. The letters primarily pertain to Revolutionary War medicine and surgery, soldier life, and family news.

Many of the letters describe camp life, conditions, and the everyday experiences of Army surgeons Samuel Tenny and Jabez Campfield, as well as several major events of the Revolutionary War. In a letter of September 9, 1774, Daniel Turner referenced the Powder Alarm, which had taken place in Boston the previous week, calling it a "Bloody engagement" and noting that many had lost their lives and that the city had been damaged. He also wondered how Rhode Island would fare in "these Times of Tyranny & Opresion." Later letters express a great deal of dissatisfaction with the conditions, organization, and compensation of army life. In one, Tenny complained about the meager food, the "vile Whiskey," and the rarity of seeing women, and wrote, "This is not living--tis barely existing" (April 23, 1778). In another, he stated his objection to the army hierarchy, which he accused of rewarding rank rather than merit, and noted that he looked forward to telling the officers "how sincerely I despise them" (October 19, 1780). On July 31, 1781, he described his attempt to write a letter amidst the din of camp life: "such a ceaseless Buzz of Tongues assails my Ears, that my thoughts are much confus'd, as a Swarm of Bees, amidst the Clattering of a Spoon & Fryingpan." The collection also contains brief commentary on the Benedict Arnold treason (October 19, 1780) and the Pennsylvania Line mutiny (January 16, 1781).

Samuel Tenny and Jabez Campfield, in their roles as surgeons, also commented on the medical profession and on the health of the men under their care. On February 18, 1778, Tenny wrote that many men were sick in his regiment and dying at the rate of one per week, noting, "they relapse & rerelapse & relapse two or three times more." In another letter, he humorously described a "Pop-Gun," employed for performing enemas, as a piece of "ordnance" and discussed its use (December 17, 1780). Also mentioned is the inoculation of soldiers for smallpox (April 3, 1782) and the difficulty of starting a medical practice in cities already populated with doctors (March 20, 1782).

The correspondence contains several references to women and Turner family affairs. In a letter dated September 9, 1774, Daniel Turner informed his brother that Jabez Campfield disapproved of his attachment to a young woman and related the importance of a woman's virtuous reputation. Samuel Tenny also discussed his marriage prospects and lamented his "faint heart" for such matters (December 19, 1781). The volume closes with a letter dated May 16, 1789, that gives an account of the killing and scalping of Captain Zebulon King, Sr., by Native Americans near Marietta, Ohio (May 16, 1789).

This collection is made up of 4 letters that Dr. Theodore Beardsley wrote to Dr. Wells Beardsley about his medical practice in North Hero, Vermont, in 1808, and a letter that Wells Beardsley wrote to his son Marcus in 1833.

This collection is made up of 4 letters that Dr. Theodore Beardsley wrote to Dr. Wells Beardsley about his medical practice in North Hero, Vermont, in 1808, and a letter that Wells Beardsley wrote to his son Marcus in 1833. Theodore Beardsley wrote about illnesses, treatments, pregnancies, commerce, and agriculture in Grand Isle County, Vermont. Wells Beardsley's letter concerns a recent journey to northern New York, Vermont, and Québec (November 1833). See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information about each letter.

The West family papers are comprised of approximately 1,400 letters, letter books, documents, and financial records pertaining to Reverend Samuel West and his two sons, Benjamin and Nathan P., of Boston. The bulk of the collection (approximately 900 items) relates to business concerns, particularly to Benjamin West's sugar refining firm.

The West family papers are comprised of approximately 1,400 letters, letter books, documents, and financial records pertaining to Reverend Samuel West and his two sons, Benjamin and Nathan P., of Boston. The bulk of the collection (approximately 900 items) relates to business concerns, particularly to Benjamin West's sugar refining firm.

The Correspondence and documents series consists of approximately 150 items, dating from 1679 to 1880; the bulk of these are dated between 1759 and 1826. Though the majority of the material within the series pertains to business affairs, several groups of letters relate to other topics. One early group of letters concerns Samuel West's move from Needham, Massachusetts, to Boston's Hollis Street Church, and another group to a Boston committee's proposal to alter the municipal government in 1815, which includes its lengthy report [September 25, 1815]. In addition, the series contains personal and family correspondence, though to a lesser extent. Primary correspondents within the series include Caleb and Joshua Davis, Benjamin West, Enoch H. West, Samuel West, Richards Child, Mills Olcott, Samuel and Ephraim May, Sarah Plimpton, George Cheyne Shattuck, and Elisha and Elizabeth Ticknor.

The collection's two Letter books belonged to Benjamin West, and hold copies of 166 outgoing letters, dated 1803-1827, related to his various business affairs and the settlement of his uncle's estate, as well as personal matters.

The Financial records series contains three subseries: Bills and receipts, Sugarhouse accounts, and Account and expense books. The series contains approximately 300 bills and receipts dating from 1748 to 1824, primarily pertaining to labor, repairs, and donations to various Boston societies and institutions. About 600 sugarhouse accounts (1796-1823) record financial transactions associated with Benjamin West's sugar refining business, and include accounts, bills, and receipts. The four books cover Benjamin's West's personal accounts and expenses between 1797-1799 and 1811-1827; the first of these concerns West's service in a local militia, as well as his other financial matters, including numerous accounts for clothing, tobacco, and trips to the theater.

Legal documents within the collection are divided into two subseries, covering Land and real estate (1707-1824) and other Legal documents (1738-1834). The first subseries consists of approximately 60 items, which relate to mortgages, indentures, and other agreements about land around Boston and in Charlestown, New Hampshire. The West family frequently dealt with the Wheelock and Metcalf families when purchasing land. The second subseries is comprised of approximately 75 miscellaneous documents, including material related to Samuel West's interests in Needham, Massachusetts; bills from Nathan P. West's time at Harvard College (1788-1792); and the family's additional business and legal concerns.

The Printed and miscellaneous items series consists of approximately 20 items, dated 1714 to 1825. Among these are broadsides, including programs for Samuel West's internment services and various anniversaries, and partially printed school reports. Miscellaneous manuscript items are 13 statements of Christian faith; manuscript music for several hymns; two books kept by Nathan P. West, including a copybook of mathematical problems and exercises (1792-1807) and a commonplace book (1798-1813) with medicinal recipes West used in his drugstore; and scattered quotations. The copybook also includes a small drawing of a skull next to a bottle of borax on its inside cover.