Search

This collection contains 21 letters and 1 document related to the family of Luke Drury of Grafton, Massachusetts. Most of the correspondence pertains to finances and business affairs. The collection also contains a legal document between John Drury, Henry Wight, and a Massachusetts Native American tribe, as well as 2 Drury family histories written in the late 20th century.

This collection contains 21 letters and 1 document related to the family of Luke Drury of Grafton, Massachusetts. Luke Drury received 11 letters from his son John, a merchant in Bristol, Rhode Island, between 1786 and 1790; 4 letters from his son Thomas, who lived in Providence, Rhode Island; and 2 letters from an acquaintance, Samuel Wardwell. John Drury also wrote 4 letters to his brothers Aldon and Thomas. Most letters pertain to finances and business affairs. The collection also contains a legal document between John Drury, Henry Wight, and a Massachusetts Native American tribe, as well as 2 Drury family histories written in the late 20th century.

John Drury's letters to his father mainly concern his financial and business interests in Bristol, Rhode Island, often related to Caribbean trade; his letter of December 22, 1786, discusses paper currency. John Drury wrote 2 letters to his brother Aldon, advising him to focus on his education, and 2 letters to his brother Thomas, extending an invitation to live with him and attend school in Bristol. In a document dated March 22, 1790, John Drury and Henry Wight appointed Luke Drury their attorney in a monetary dispute with the "Trustees of the Asnomisco Indian Tribe" [the Hassanamisco Nipmuc] over debts owed by James Thomas, a member of the tribe by intermarriage.

Luke Drury also received 2 letters from Samuel Wardwell and 4 letters from his son Thomas, who reported on his finances and discussed his life in Providence, Rhode Island, where he intended to study navigation and lunar observation. The collection also contains 2 bound family histories compiled by Cuma Drury Schofield: My Drury Family (1987) and My Mother's Brown Family (1990).

The Henry M. Wheeler photoprint collection consists of approximately 719 images of colonial architecture and historical locations in Massachusetts from ca. 1889 to 1915.

The Henry M. Wheeler photoprint collection consists of approximately 719 images of colonial architecture and historical locations in Massachusetts from ca. 1889 to 1915. The collection is mainly composed of 10 x 15 cm silver platinum, platinotype, and gelatin silver prints as well as 15 x 20.5 cm cyanotypes. A couple of manuscript notes are also present. Much of the focus is on eastern Massachusetts, centering on Wheeler’s hometown of Worcester. Photographs show residential architecture from the 17th century, unidentified colonial homes, and contemporary architecture from Wheeler's day and age. Many of the historical structures documented here were in danger of vanishing during Wheeler's lifetime, and many have long since been destroyed. Other photographs show natural landscapes, noteworthy trees, country roads, parks, public and educational buildings, farms, monuments, bridges, milestones, and gravestones as well as images of famous paintings, engravings, and lithographs. Also included are a small number of images related to Washington, D.C., Maine, and New Hampshire. Wheeler likely took the vast majority of these photographs, though there are several instances where he credited the original sources of certain images. The collection materials were removed from the original album volumes they were stored in and have been rehoused in three 3-ring binder albums and three flat boxes. Most photographs also have original reference numbers that were used by Wheeler to organize the collection.

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created the Henry M. Wheeler Photoprint Collection Inventory. This inventory lists items according to volume/box location and includes references to specific page/mat numbers, image descriptions (most of which are derived from captions originally inscribed by Wheeler on photograph versos), and photographic formats.

These two account books record the income and expenses of Peter F. Wheeler, a palm leaf splitter and farmer who lived in Grafton and Petersham, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. One volume primarily concerns the costs of finishing calfskins and other labor performed in Grafton between 1832 and 1847, and the second records Wheeler's finances between 1860 and 1872.

These two account books record the income and expenses of Peter F. Wheeler, a palm leaf splitter and farmer who lived in Grafton and Petersham, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. The first volume (84 pages) primarily concerns the costs of finishing animal skins in Grafton, Massachusetts, between September 1832 and September 1849, and the second (170 pages) details Wheeler's finances, including the income he earned as a palm leaf splitter and general laborer.

Volume 1 primarily contains accounts related to the costs of numerous types of labor in Grafton, Massachusetts. The first 79 pages consist of personal accounts Peter F. Wheeler kept between September 1832 and September 1849, pertaining to the cost of working with animal hides. Pages 19 through 75 record Wheeler's accounts with "Captain Jona. Warren," for whom Wheeler finished boots, hides, and other leather products between September 1842 and April 1847. Three pages of accounts note Wheeler's work finishing calfskins and doing other labor in Grafton and Petersham between September 1847 and September 1849. These accounts are followed by 5 pages covering labor done by Samuel W. Flagg, Moses Hook, and Elisha W. Hinds between April 1844 and January 27, 1847, including a record of the days they were absent from work.

Volume 2 contains 170 pages of personal accounts Wheeler kept between February 1860 and October 1872, while he lived and worked in Petersham, Massachusetts. Most of these are double entry accounts that show Wheeler's credits and debits with farmers for whom he split palm leaves and worked as a farm laborer by hoeing, planting, plowing, and haying. He often received payment in foodstuffs, such as apples, potatoes, and butter, and in labor. Employers included Adin Tolman, Josiah B. Goddard, and Moses Gates, and in the late 1860s, Wheeler often worked on boards for the firm Eaton & Dunn. At least four accounts reflect women's expenses; in exchange for their labor, Wheeler provided clothing, whiskey, and similar items (pp. 36-37, 82-83, 102-103, 116-117, 128-129). The accounts on page 158 list the cost for sending mail in Denison, Iowa, between 1867 and 1872. Supplemental financial notes at the end of the volume include cash and other items received (pp. 151-157, July 5, 1867-October 31, 1872), cash paid (p. 160, November 1, 1866-July 6, 1872), taxes paid to Petersham, Massachusetts (p. 161, August 30, 1869-October 31, 1871), and expenses (pp. 166-170, May 7, 1862-May 3, 1864).

Sixteen notes and receipts are laid into the volume, including a page of genealogical information about Justus H. Tillman of Columbia, South Carolina, and two tax receipts from 1868 and 1872.