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These two bound volumes chronicle the sailing voyages and agricultural exploits of Albert Henry Kingman of Keene, New Hampshire. Sailing from Boston to New Orleans and back in 1856, Kingman described shipboard life and provided observations of antebellum New Orleans. Following his return to New Hampshire, the diaries follow his life as a farmer.

These two bound volumes (marked "volume 3" and "volume 4") chronicle the sailing voyages and agricultural exploits of Albert Henry Kingman of Keene, New Hampshire. Sailing from Boston to New Orleans and back in 1856, Kingman described shipboard life and provided observations of antebellum New Orleans. Following his return to New Hampshire, the diaries follow his life as a farmer.

The first volume begins mid-November 1856 and concludes mid-November 1857. He described his efforts to secure work on a sea-going vessel. While in Boston, he attended services at Trinity Church and Tremont Temple. He eventually secured passage, with the assistance of his uncle, as a cook's mate onboard the Milton from Boston, Massachusetts, to New Orleans, Louisiana, by way of Cuba. While at sea, Kingman detailed life aboard ship including the weather, especially the chronic lack of wind, which affected the Milton a sailing vessel. He also commented on marine life, ocean geography, and sightings of other vessels. Notable events included the addition of a hammock ("dream bag") to his cabin, hunting of dolphins, and sighting St. Elmo's fire. He also recorded the date of the inauguration of James Buchanan as President of the United States.

Arriving in March 1856, Kingman discussed homes and sugar plantations along the Mississippi River, and the tugboats towing the Milton to New Orleans. During his sojourn ashore, Kingman noted the architecture of Jackson Square and focused several entries on slavery in the city, including comments on fugitive slave advertisements and witnessing a slave auction. Kingman also discussed local news, such as fires, crime, and prices of goods. After a month in New Orleans, Kingman returned with the Milton to Boston. Kingman returned home to Keene, New Hampshire, to work on the family farm.

The second volume reveals Kingman's life as a farmer from late November 1857 to early June 1859. Most entries include details regarding livestock and tending to crops; however, he also included family news and mentions of social gatherings. He sang in the Congregational Church choir and attended Sunday School. He participated in a debate society for a time, was smitten with several different young women, and discovered a talent for marksmanship. Other topics include local politics, a hot air balloon ascension, and the completion of the transatlantic telegraph cable. Throughout both diaries, Kingman provided notes on various books he read.

The Henry Yates Thompson papers contain the letters, diaries, and lectures of Thompson, an Englishman who visited the United States in 1863 and witnessed several battles in the Chattanooga Campaign, while making observations on politics, slavery, and education.

The Henry Yates Thompson papers contain 38 letters, 6 diaries, 4 documents, 2 maps, and 43 printed items (including newspaper clippings), spanning 1863-1928.

The Correspondence series covers 1863-1918, with bulk centering around 1863-1866. Thompson wrote the vast majority of letters home to his parents and siblings, while he traveled the United States and Canada; he filled his correspondence with thoughtful observations on slavery, the Civil War, women's education, and comparisons between England and the United States. On July 29, 1863, he noted the objections to the military draft by "copperheads" in New Hampshire and commented unfavorably on them. In late summer, he remarked about the Canadian support for the Confederacy (August 7, 1863); the growth of slavery, which he believed had been slowed by objections from the North (August 15, 1863); meeting abolitionist Samuel J. May (September 1, 1863); and the "marks of quiet industry" that he saw in free African Americans in the North. On September 29, 1863, he wrote a long, detailed letter about a visit to a "colored camp" in Baltimore, in which escaped slaves trained and drilled in front of Yankee officers. He also recorded the comments of several slave owners, who discussed the escape of slaves and expressed doubt that slaves would fight. In several letters, dated November 23 and December 3, 1863, Thompson described several battles in the Chattanooga Campaign at the side of Ulysses S. Grant. He wrote about the intensity of firing, expressed horror at the injuries and deaths he saw, and gave his impressions of Grant. Thompson also wrote about slaughterhouses in Chicago and the benefits of co-education to women (October 16, 1863), a journey to the Isles of Shoals (September 12, 1863), and the people he met in Keene, New Hampshire (July 23, 1863).

The letters postdating 1863 document Thompson's failed attempts to establish a lectureship on American history at Cambridge in 1865. On May 16, 1907, he declined a revival of the idea by Cambridge, citing possible objections from Harvard and the diminishing need for such an academic collaboration.

The Diaries series contains four volumes, which cover July-December 1863, with overlap in periods and events covered between volumes. As in his letters, Thompson wrote frankly about slavery and abolition, American politics, education, and various places that he visited. He also enclosed letters and ephemera related to these, such as tickets, pamphlets, advertisements, and clippings, which remain with the volumes. In Volume I (July 10-November 3, 1863), Thompson discussed the circumstances of Lincoln's election (pp. 3-4), a visit to Niagara Falls (p. 45), and the National Bank system (p. 53). Volume II (September 13-November 13, 1863) contains another account of the Battles for Chattanooga (pp. 22-31), and discussion of slavery and both sides of the conflict. Volume III (September 25-November 26, 1863) describes travels through Missouri with a German friend, and also covers the Battle of Chattanooga, but more briefly and informally. It may have served as a field notebook. Volume IV (November 15-December 15, 1863) contains further discussion of the Chattanooga Campaign and the war, as well as a description of people that Thompson encountered during his travels to Brooklyn, New York.

The Lecture Notebooks series contains two items: a rough draft and an apparent final draft of a speech on the Battles for Chattanooga, given by Thompson at Harrow School on March 7, 1865. The lecture gives a very detailed description of many aspects of the battle, including troop movements, casualties, supplies, and the role of the United States Sanitary Commission.

The Documents series contains an 1862 "Requisition for Forage" for the Confederacy, and essays entitled "Then and Now at the University of Cambridge" (1918) and "The American Lectureship" (n.d.).

The Maps series contains just one item: a manuscript map illustrating the geography and positions of troops at Chattanooga on November 23, 1863.

The Printed Materials series, spanning 1865-1941, primarily contains printed materials related to Thompson's proposed lectureship on American history at Cambridge. Also included are several obituaries for Thompson, and a book by Christopher Chancellor, Thompson's great-nephew, containing excerpts from the diaries and letters. Published in 1971, the book is entitled, An Englishman in the American Civil War: The Diaries of Henry Yates Thompson, and is housed in the Clements Library's Book Division.