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This collection contains 25 diaries, 4 ledgers, and one volume of society constitutions kept by Asenath Chapin between 1840 and 1863. Daily diary entries document the everyday life and concerns of a socially active matron in upper-class Providence, Rhode Island, during the pre-Civil War era and the early years of the war.

This collection contains 25 diaries, 4 ledgers, and one volume of society constitutions kept by Asenath Cargill Capron Chapin. The volumes cover April 28, 1840-July 22, 1863, with gaps from 1843-1846 and 1854-1856, and many are titled "Help to Memory." The diaries, most of which are approximately 100 pages long, contain brief daily entries about Chapin's social activities, which included calls made on others and on her family, active involvement in numerous social and religious societies, charitable efforts, and church events and services. The Children's Friend Society and other organizations occupied much of her time, and she frequently attended day-long church services. On June 13-14, 1842, she noted the founding of the Ladies Society of Providence for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews, of which she then became a member.

The volumes also contain a few references to contemporary political events as they affected her life. In May and June 1842, for example, she occasionally mentioned local havoc caused by Dorr's Rebellion, and she wrote that her son-in-law attended at the Republican National Convention in 1860. On February 24, 1861, she referred to a "colored man" outside the church who requested donations to help him pay for the freedom of his mother and children. During the Civil War, Chapin maintained her focus on social events and everyday life but remarked about the fall of Fort Sumter and possibility of war (April 14-15, 1861). Four ledgers, dated between 1842 and 1851, document the Chapins' charitable donations and other expenses, including the cost of food and household items, and an additional volume holds constitutions and member lists for three societies: The Ladies Society of Providence for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews, Beneficent Foreign Female Missionary Society, and Beneficent Female Education Society.

This collection contains correspondence related to Nathan W. Williams, a Yale graduate and preacher in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, including incoming correspondence from friends and family members and his siblings' correspondence with their father, Reverend Thomas Williams of Providence, Rhode Island. Family members shared social news and updates about their travels, and Nathan's friends commented on their lives around New England. The collection also includes three framed, silhouette style paintings of Nathan W. Williams and his parents, Thomas and Ruth, by artist Edward Seager.

This collection contains correspondence related to Reverend Thomas Williams of Providence, Rhode Island, and to his son, Nathan W. Williams, who attended Yale and later became a preacher in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Nathan received 8 letters from friends, 5 from his father, 2 from his brother Thomas, 1 from his sister Sarah, and 1 from his brother Stephen. He also wrote 2 letters to his sister Mary, 2 to his father, and 1 to the Congregational Church at Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. The remaining items include 1 letter Reverend Thomas Williams wrote to his wife Ruth, 2 letters he received from his daughter Sarah, 1 from his son-in-law, and 1 from his son Thomas.

Reverend Thomas Williams and his son Nathan exchanged 7 letters between December 19, 1849, and November 11, 1850. In 5 letters to Nathan, Thomas Williams shared family news from Providence, Rhode Island, including travel plans and updates on Nathan's siblings and their families. Nathan, in return, wrote about his wife, Frances, and daughter, Anna, describing a "donation party" held for them by his congregation in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts (January 15, 1850). In his letter of November 11, 1850, Nathan was concerned that his sister Mary and her husband "Mr. Grover" were planning to travel to the South for her health and discussed the drawbacks at length. Thomas Williams also wrote one letter to his wife Ruth while living in Foxboro, Massachusetts (May 6, 1816), and received letters from two of his children. In his April 19, 1839 letter, Thomas Hale Williams wrote of his attempts to find a place to live in Hartford, Connecticut, and drew the floor plan of one of the possible choices. Sarah Williams Cotton wrote of her first week of married life in Pomfret, Connecticut (April 29, 1850), and of a visit to her brother Nathan (October 24, 1850).

Nathan W. Williams also received letters from his classmates at Yale College, as well as from his siblings. One acquaintance, Benjamin T. Eames, thanked Williams for sending information on Yale's entry requirements (July 6, 1839), and another, M. Patten, mentioned raising money to pay for Nathan's tuition (January 5, 1842). William S. Huggins, a former classmate, wrote 4 letters between 1846 and 1850, in which he provided news of his recent travels to Washington, D. C., where he witnessed a speech by the Speaker of the House (February 20, 1850), and to western New York and Niagara Falls (October 19, 1850). In the summer of 1849, Nathan's brother Thomas wrote two letters concerning books, and Nathan wrote twice to his sister Mary in Philadelphia, describing his social life and hoping to meet her in New York City (January 4, 1842, and May 8, 1842). Sarah Williams (later Cotton) also corresponded with her brother and sister-in-law (February 6, 1850), as did Nathan's brother Stephen (August 16, 1851).

Nathan Williams also wrote a response to the call from the Congregational Church in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, on January 29, 1849, provisionally accepting a position as the church's pastor but requesting vacation periods and a visit to the town.

The collection also includes three framed, silhouette style paintings of Nathan W. Williams and his parents, Thomas and Ruth, by artist Edward Seager. The Nathan Williams portrait is dated May 1834; his parents' silhouette portraits are undated.