Collections

This collection contains handwritten minutes, many with revisions and excisions, for 49 meetings of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions between 1848 and 1892. Written by multiple clerks, the minutes contain information on attendance, votes, resolutions, current and future missions, letters received, appointees, offers of service, reports from the field, salaries, grants, funding distribution, and other subjects.

This collection contains handwritten minutes, many with significant revisions and excisions, for 49 meetings of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions between 1848 and 1892. Written by multiple clerks, the minutes contain information on attendance, votes, resolutions, current and future missions, letters received, appointees, offers of service, reports from the field, salaries, grants, and funding distribution. Other subjects referenced include Native American tribes, the Dakotas "in the new frontier," the need for missionaries to have wives, death or health concerns related to members, legal or domestic issues with foreign officials, and mission work in Hawaii.

Among the Mission Stations referenced are:

• Cape Town
• Constantinople
• Smyrna
• Beirut
• Oroomiah
• Ahmednuggur
• Canton
• Amoy
• Madras
• Fuh Chau
• Mosul
• Shanghai
• Aleppo
• Peking
• Guadalajara
• San Sebastian
• Prague
• and others

This volume contains meeting minutes pertaining to the administration of a school in Bradford, New Hampshire, in the early 19th century. Residents of District No. 4 discussed funding for building repairs, firewood, beginning dates of school sessions, and other administrative matters.

This volume (58 pages) contains meeting minutes pertaining to the administration of a school in Bradford, New Hampshire, from December 22, 1806-April 6, 1829. Residents of District No. 4 met semi-annually and annually to discuss issues such as building maintenance, the construction of a chimney, the supply of firewood, and the opening dates of school terms; some entries include associated costs. The attendees began each meeting by electing officers, who often remained consistent from year to year. At their meeting of April 3, 1809, attendees decreed that parents would be held responsible for any damage that their children did to the school. Later minutes refer to schoolmistresses' board. The volume also contains the copied text of a formal meeting notice dated February 18, 1828.

This volume is made up of the minutes of the proceedings of the St. Louis, Missouri, chapter of the Brotherhood of the Footboard (later Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers) railroad labor union. The ledger documents the election of officers, membership issues, committee appointments, local disciplinary actions, blacklisted members, other union business, and occurrences such as the death of Thomas Higgins while working on the Pacific Railroad near Labadie, Michigan (March 1865).

This 132-page volume is made up of the minutes of the proceedings of the St. Louis, Missouri, chapter of the Brotherhood of the Footboard (later Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers) railroad labor union. It contains entries from February 22, 1864-January 5, 1867, and April 1871-July 7, 1872. William J. DeGrummond, First Assistant Engineer, kept the meeting minutes until May 12, 1866, when Frank Lewis took over pro tem. William Facer kept the minutes from April 1871-April 1872.

The ledger documents the election of officers, membership issues, committee appointments, local disciplinary actions, blacklisted members, other union business, and occurrences such as the death of Thomas Higgins while working on the Pacific Railroad near Labadie, Michigan (March 1865).

This collection consists of two volumes and eight receipts and fragments relating to the Coventry Factory Fire Engine Company of Anthony, Rhode Island, between 1864 and 1894. Included are the Company's meeting minutes for their annual Fourth of July/Independence Day meetings.

This collection consists of two volumes and eight receipts/manuscript fragments relating to the Coventry Factory Fire Engine Company of Anthony, Rhode Island between 1864-1894. Included are the Company's meeting minutes for their annual Fourth of July/Independence Day gathering.

These papers likely belonged to Arthur J. Matteson, secretary of the company between 1888-1893.

Volume one is titled "Coventry Factory Fire Engine Company" and was written inside a "Writing Book." It contains all July 4th meeting minutes between 1864 and 1881.

Volume two contains July 4th meeting minutes as well as minutes for meetings on other dates, such as August 3, 1893, or September 15, 1893.

The Great Britain Indian Department collection is made up of documents, letters, and other manuscripts relating to interactions between government and military officials, Native Americans, and American residents from 1753 to 1795.

The Great Britain Indian Department collection is made up of documents, letters, and manuscripts relating to interactions between government and military officials, Native Americans, and American residents from 1753 to 1795. The bulk of the collection concerns British interactions with Native Americans in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, with some material relating to South Carolina, Michigan, and Virginia. Official documents include passes for Native American travelers, speeches to and from Native American groups, copies of treaties, and reports and correspondence relative to diplomacy, peace efforts, and military affairs. Materials relay information on boundary disputes, prisoner exchanges, crimes committed against both American settlers and Native Americans, and Native American distress over land infringements.

Of particular note are the Albany Commissioners of Indian Affairs' reports (112 pages) from June 1753 to May 1755. These include copies of correspondence, reports of meetings with Native American groups, and remarks on fort construction, prisoner exchange, rivalries with the French, religious evangelization, and diplomacy. The collection also includes a manuscript copy of the August 1768 journal of Benjamin Roberts, an Indian commissary, in which he describes the trial of Captain Robert Rogers for treason.

Please see Box and Folder Listing below for a comprehensive inventory of the collection.

The Henry M. Phillips collection contains materials related to Phillips's life and legal career in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the mid-19th century, and to the Citizens of the Fifth Ward for the Relief and Employment of the Poor.

The Henry M. Phillips collection contains materials related to Phillips's life and legal career in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the mid-19th century, and to the Citizens of the Fifth Ward for the Relief and Employment of the Poor.

A bound group of minutes and financial records (102 pages) pertains to the work of the executive committee of the Citizens of the Fifth Ward for the Relief and Employment of the Poor. The society met regularly between November 1857 and March 1858 and contributed coal and other assistance to needy Philadelphians. Henry M. Phillips's brother, J. Altamont Phillips, served on the organization's executive committee.

The collection contains a brief biography of Henry M. Phillips, written after his death; a letter to Phillips about a lot in Philadelphia; and a document permitting a visitor to see the grounds of Girard College. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for additional information.

Samuel Philbrick of Brookline, Massachusetts, kept this diary (53 pages) between January 10, 1857, and September 12, 1859, one week prior to his death. He wrote of the weather, his agricultural pursuits, and news of friends, family, and the local community. His entries reflect an interest in political and international affairs, touching on such topics as slavery and abolition, the Panic of 1857, the transatlantic telegraph, and more. Several entries regard his religious faith, and the concluding pages document his final illness and awareness of his impending death. Four loose manuscripts are laid into the volume, including condolence letters from Theodore Dwight Weld, Angelina Emily Grimké Weld, Sarah Moore Grimké, and Maria Weston Chapman, and a handwritten copy of a letter, possibly written by Samuel Philbrick, regards his youth growing up in New Hampshire.

Samuel Philbrick of Brookline, Massachusetts, kept this diary (53 pages) between January 10, 1857, and September 12, 1859, one week prior to his death. Philbrick wrote in great detail about the weather, making comparisons to former years, noting its impact on his agricultural pursuits and the local vegetation, and commenting on larger weather events like the disruptive blizzard and extreme weather in early 1857 (pages 1-6). He wrote about news of friends and family, including descriptions of his children's activities like the construction of William’s house and its associated costs (page 13), Edward’s marriage (page 16), and William’s business practices (page 24). He noted social visits, including one trip where he stopped at the Eagleswood School run by his friends Theodore Dwight Weld, Angelina Emily Grimké Weld, and Sarah Moore Grimké (page 49). Their son Charles Stuart Weld later visited the Philbrick family while traveling to Cambridge for entrance exams (page 53).

In addition to commentary on household activities and maintenance, farming, and local affairs, Philbrick remarked on notable events of the day, like the Panic of 1857 and its impact on currency, banking, and speculation (pages 18-25); the completion of the first transatlantic telegraph (pages 34-40, 43); Donati's Comet (page 41); and the Treaty of Tianjin (pages 40, 43-44).

Philbrick wrote several times about matters relating to slavery and abolition. He followed the disputed 1857 Kansas election regarding the inclusion of slavery in its constitution, noting with dismay, "It now seems probable that Congress, which is strongly democratic, which party goes all lengths in support of slavery, will accept Kanzas as a state with this vile Constitution, which will require all the United States Troops to enforce. And for this purpose a bill is now before Congress providing for a large increase of our standing Army that freedom & liberty may be subject to despotism" (pages 1 and 27). He noted his pessimism about how the growing demand for cotton, sugar, rice, and tobacco was fueling slavery (page 25). He recorded his attendance at a lecture by Wendell Phillips (page 10) and visits with William Lloyd Garrison (pages 41, 51, 52).

Several entries relate to his religious faith. He wrote of a visit to Seabrook, New Hampshire, pointing out changes in the community since he lived there and his first time attending a public Quaker Meeting since his departure from the Society of Friends (pages 14-15). In a later entry, he recorded being awoken in the night "with a clear and strong impression of these words from the Prophet Isaiah . . . and must have been presented by some guardian Angel for my benefit" (page 39). He also documented his birthday, and in 1859 attributed his prosperity to "constant attention and strict regard to the known Laws of Divine Providence" (page 46). Philbrick described his illness in the months preceding his death, those who visited him, and (in his final entry) his decline, mental state, and awareness of his impending death. "I am now approaching a change, the greatest of all others to which life is subjected..." (pages 51-53). Beneath the final entry, a note written in a different hand reads: "died Sep 19th about 9 A.M."

Three newspaper clippings are pasted onto page 54 of the volume, one regarding Samuel Philbrick's resignation from the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and two relating to his death.

• 1859 August 10. Rob[er]t F. Wallcut, AMsS; [Boston, Massachusetts]. 2 pages. Extract from the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society minutes regarding their acceptance of Samuel Philbrick's resignation as treasurer and gratitude for his service.
• [1859] September 22. Angelina [Grimké Weld], S[arah] M. G[rimké], and Theodore D. Weld ALS to Eliza [Philbrick] and Edward [Philbrick]; s.l. 4 pages. Condolences upon Samuel Philbrick's death. Remarks on his character, faith, and consolation of having family nearby. One-page transcript of Theodore Weld's message included.
• [1859] September 23. Maria Weston Chapman ALS to [Edward] Philbrick; Weymouth, [Massachusetts]. 7 pages. Attended Samuel Philbrick's funeral. Reflections on how his encouragement in the anti-slavery cause influenced her and her husband. Notes on bereavement.
• [Undated]. Letter Copy to C. H. Shipman; s.l., 4 pages. A handwritten copy of a letter, possibly written by Samuel Philbrick, to Shipman with comments on the education of children and abiding by the Divine Laws. Gives an account of his youth growing up in New Hampshire exposed to "vulgar & corrupted classes of workmen" and alcohol. Describes his turn to temperance and education. Religious reflections and beliefs.

This collection contains 153 items related to Ward Napier Madison, a native of Montclair, New Jersey, who participated in a missionary trip to Asia from September 1931-August 1932. The bulk of the material consists of letters, meeting minutes, and other documents about the Laymen's Foreign Missionary Inquiry Commission of Appraisal, which visited Sri Lanka, India, China, and Japan.

This collection contains 153 items related to Ward Napier Madison, a native of Montclair, New Jersey, who participated in a missionary trip to Asia from September 1931-August 1932. The bulk of the material consists of letters, meeting minutes, and other documents about the Laymen's Foreign Missionary Inquiry Commission of Appraisal, which visited Sri Lanka, India, China, and Japan.

The first item is Madison's typed 7-page account of his initiation into the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity at Yale University in December 1923. Madison also compiled a typed diary during his trip to Europe in the spring of 1927. In May 1931, he applied for the position of secretary for the Laymen's Foreign Missionary Inquiry Commission of Appraisal's upcoming visit to Asia. Typed letters between the association's members, Madison, and others pertain to Madison's credentials and his health. Madison was accepted, and the bulk of the collection is made up of letters, meeting minutes, and cables about the group's travels. Madison retained copies of other members' correspondence, in which they described their experiences in Sri Lanka, India, China, and Japan. The commission periodically cabled Madison's mother, Louise N. Madison, about their progress, and Ward Madison wrote manuscript letters to his mother and to his grandfather, Charles F. Napier. Madison described missionary work, religion, and Asian politics, particularly the strained relationship between China and Japan. Madison wrote some of his letters on the backs of printed hotel menus, and he sent one photographic postcard with a picture of a hotel swimming pool in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After Madison's return to the United States in 1932, he corresponded with his grandfather about everyday life.