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The Haverhill, Mass. photograph album (15 x 19 cm) contains 92 amateur photoprints (cyanotypes and gelatin silver prints) mainly consisting of photos taken at a home on North Street, Haverhill, Massachusetts as well as family photos, pet pictures and winter scenes taken around Haverhill, Captain's Pond in Salem, New Hampshire, and other locations around southern New Hampshire.

The Haverhill, Mass. photograph album (15 x 19 cm) contains 92 amateur photoprints (cyanotypes and gelatin silver prints), including photos taken at a home on North Street, Haverhill, Massachusetts, "camp" at Captain's Pond in Salem, New Hampshire, and scenes from several other locations in southern New Hampshire. There are numerous photographs of exterior and interior views of houses, pets and farm animals (cats, dogs, geese, cows and horses) as well as a number of winter scenes, candid shots of women swimming and family groups, including images of a women's outdoor tea party and a child with a dog.

The album has a pebbled black leather cover and is housed in a light grey wrapper with a blue cloth spine.

This collection contains 20 letters, 1 document, and 1 essay fragment related to members of the extended Jackman family, who lived in Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington during the late 19th century. The material, which includes many letters by women, concerns topics such as religion, family life and news, the Civil War, family history, and education.

This collection contains 20 letters, 1 copied document, and 1 essay fragment related to members of the extended Jackman family, who lived in Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington during the late 19th century. The material, which includes many letters by women, concerns topics such as religion, family life and news, the Civil War, family history, and education. Most correspondents wrote only 1 or 2 letters.

The first item is a letter David McDonald wrote about Indiana University School of Law in 1848, addressed to an unidentified recipient. A notarized document dated April 4, 1851, provides genealogical information about the family of Elijah and Eunice Hall, and most remaining items are letters written to and received by their daughter Mary Ann and her descendants. The letters concern a variety of topics related to daily life throughout the latter half of the 19th century, including educational experiences (Ada's letter of February 14, 1858, from Moline, Illinois, for example) and the problems associated with earning a living in Illinois and Indiana (Mary A. Jackman's letter of July 10, 1859, for example). Some correspondents discussed religion, such as their spiritual beliefs and skepticism about Universalist teachings (January 5, 1862). During the war, one person wrote about an acquaintance who had briefly served in the Union Army, and Mary A. Merriman shared her opinion that the Civil War was a chastisement of the nation for "pride and naughtiness of heart" (June 5, 1863).

Later letters include mentions of Elijah Hall's War of 1812 service and its detrimental effects on him, and William Grupe's Civil War service. One letter concerns an unidentified woman's life in San Francisco, California, in 1878, and 6 late items reflect the Grupe family's life in Dayton, Washington. Among the latter are a letter about social life at the Washington State Normal School in 1900, and an undated essay fragment entitled "When a Western Girl Comes East" (4 pages) about regional differences and misconceptions between the residents of the Pacific Coast and the state of New York.

The James Patten papers contain letters and documents detailing his capture and captivity by Delaware Indians in Ohio, the funds raised by the family to purchase his ransom, his eventual release, and his life on the Ohio frontier.

The James Patten papers (16 items) contain letters and documents regarding Patten's capture and captivity by Delaware Indians in Ohio, the family's efforts to raise funds to purchase his ransom, his eventual release, and his life on the Ohio frontier (1789-1799). The collection is comprised of 12 letters (1788-1799), 3 receipts (1791), and a subscription list (1791). Also present is a photocopied excerpt from The Choates in America, 1643-1896, by E. O. Jameson, which describes the capture of Patton and Isaac and Francis Choate by the Delaware Indians (pages 125-128).

The earliest item in the collection is a letter of recommendation for David Patten (1761-1836) by the Selectman of Bedford, New Hampshire, and endorsed by Justices of the Peace from Hillsborough and Middlesex Counties (May 1, 1788). It asks "all Civil Officers and others let him pass and repass unmolested." David may well have planned to go to Ohio with his brother James, but changed his mind. Matthew and Elizabeth Patten wrote the next two letters in the collection to James Patterson, who accompanied their son to Ohio (June 13, 1789 and December 1, 1790). They discussed local news like the new style of singing hymns in the meeting house, family news, and news on crop yields. James Patten wrote all his 7 letters after his captivity; these contain details about his time with the Indians and how he was freed (November 1, 1796 -- April 21, 1799). Though many of his comments on the experience are brief, his letter to friend Samuel Patterson provides a day-by-day account of the nearly month-long trek he made across what is now the state of Ohio, from Big Bottom, where he was captured, to "The Grand Auglaize" in the heart of the Northwest Indian Confederacy (Sept. 10, 1797). He described his abduction, daily travel, and forced run through the gauntlet before he was accepted into the village: "I was welcomed into ther town one with his Club[,] a nother with his foot [,] another with his hand [,] another with a tomyhak."

The collection provides considerable information on ransoming a prisoner during the Northwest Indian War. Lacking sufficient funds, James' father Matthew Patten wrote a subscription appeal to friends and neighbors and received 37 signatures (July 4, 1791). The three receipts follow the trail of the 93 dollars collected to ransom James, as it was carried to Montreal by Isaac Choate, Jr.

The papers also document improvements in transportation both in New Englandas well as in the Ohio territory. In his letter of Aug. 18, 1796, David Patten informed his brother James that they had had a bumper hay crop, but had to pay very high wages to harvest it because of the demand for local labor "which is caused by building bridges and digging canals." He also listed the locations along the Merrimack River where bridges were being built: Concord, Amoskeag, Pentucket, Bodwell's Falls, Haverhill, Sweat's Ferry, and Newbury. In letters to his brother David, James Patten described, in detail, new roads, canals, and bridges built in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and mentioned horse powered boats being used on rivers in Ohio (November 23, 1797).

On the back of the September 10, 1797, letter from James Patten to Samuel Patterson is a copy of a poem called O True Times, commemorating American independence.

This collection is made up of 39 letters that Paul Stevens wrote to his cousin, Hannah F. Stevens, about his life in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and his trips to Buenos Aires, Calcutta, and London while working as a ship's carpenter.

This collection is made up of 39 letters that Paul Stevens wrote to his cousin, Hannah F. Stevens, about his life in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and his trips to Buenos Aires, Calcutta, and London while working as a ship's carpenter.

Stevens composed 14 letters from Haverhill, Massachusetts, between December 24, 1854, and March 29, 1857. He commented on his social life, which included frequent attendance at religious gatherings, and his separation from Hannah and other family members in Maine. In 1856, he commented on the upcoming presidential election. From May 31, 1857, to June 7, 1860, Stevens wrote from Buenos Aires, Argentina; Calcutta, India; London, England; and "Saint Johns" about his experiences as a member of a ship's crew. He described his quarters, discussed aspects of sea life, and provided information about the cities where he stayed for lengthy periods of time, often noting the arrivals and departures of other vessels. Occasionally, particularly while in India, he mentioned recent news or political developments, and one of his letters contains a complaint about two recent passengers.

This collection contains personal correspondence related to the family of Daniel M. Robertson of Bow, New Hampshire, mainly pertaining to his daughters Mary, Martha, Eliza, and Harriet. A later group of items relates to Harriet Robertson's son, Franklin N. Saltmarsh. The letters concern family news in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York, and mention topics such as the Civil War and higher education.

The Robertson family letters (93 items) are made up of personal correspondence related to the family of Daniel M. Robertson of Bow, New Hampshire. Items dated between 1827 and 1882 mainly consist of letters to and between Daniel M. Robertson and his daughters Mary, Martha, Eliza, and Harriet. Martha M. Robertson also wrote letters to her parents while living in Boston in the 1840s. The Robertson sisters corresponded with their cousins, including members of the Fletcher, Truell, and Fowle families, who reported on their lives in towns such as Nashua, New Hampshire; Boston, Massachusetts; and Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Correspondents discussed topics such as sickness and health, deaths, religion, employment, and local travel. Harriet Saltmarsh remarked on political tensions before Lincoln's inauguration (February 26, 1861). Other writers mentioned aspects of the Civil War; one hoped that "the soldier and the slave may both be free" (July 26, 1862), and an injured soldier expressed his desire to lengthen his furlough (December 24, 1863-January 1, 1864). The collection also contains letters that Mary Ann Robertson and her husband, Isaac W. Newell, wrote to Robertson's sisters about their lives in Stockholm, New York.

From February 5, 1890-November 24, 1892, Frank N. Saltmarsh wrote 14 letters to his parents, Gilman and Harriet Robertson Saltmarsh, and to his sister, Harriet Saltmarsh ("Hattie"), about his experiences as a student at Dartmouth College. He commented on his coursework and social activities, as well as local news. He also wrote one letter to his aunt, M[artha] M. Robertson. The latest items are letters Frank N. Saltmarsh received, often regarding his finances or business affairs; in one letter, J. W. Watson described a Dartmouth class reunion (July 12, 1894).

The collection contains correspondence, financial records, speeches, reports, and meeting notes generated by Soldiers' Relief Society of Haverhill and Bradford for their charitable efforts, 1860-1866.

The Soldiers' Relief Society of Haverhill and Bradford papers contain 601 items: 58 letters, 517 financial records, and 26 speeches and reports relating to the Society's activities, expenditures, and personnel, 1860-1865.

The Correspondence series contains letters spanning June 1860-June 1865. The earliest correspondence mainly relates to the establishment of the Society and the appointment of its leadership, including several letters from women who declined roles as officers. Other letters reflect personnel changes, such as resignations and the addition of new positions in the organization. Letters also document the types of materials requested from and sent by the Relief Society, as well as the reactions of recipients. Enlisted men wrote approximately one quarter of the correspondence, thanking the organization and describing their pleasure at receiving food, blankets, clothes, and other items. Occasionally, they offered suggestions on the sorts of items that were particularly useful. For example, in a letter of [August] 10, 1861, Captain Luther Day, of the 50th Massachusetts Infantry, wrote that "no gifts to soldiers are more acceptable than nice socks" and suggested that dry feet were essential to the soldiers' happiness. As the war went on, requests for medical supplies, particularly bandages and "lint," became more frequent, and several letters describe the conditions of hospitals and the difficulty of procuring sufficient supplies. One letter, dated September 2, 1864, gives such an account of Campbell Hospital in Washington, D.C. Other relief organizations, such as branches of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and the U.S. Christian Commission, wrote a few of the later letters in order to coordinate efforts and shed light on areas of particular need.

Financial records make up approximately 90% of the collection and span April 1861-October 1866. The records are mainly receipts; they document the purchase of materials used in the production of clothing, bedding, and other supplies for soldiers, as well as the rental of venues for fundraisers and knitting circles. Also present are a number of lists documenting the Society's output and activities, as well as records of charitable donations to the Society. The financial documents illuminate many details of fundraising and the profitability of the Relief Society's many endeavors. Like the correspondence, later financial documents show a shift toward donations of medicine and medical supplies. A receipt of January 12, 1864, lists the medical items purchased by the Relief Society at Emerson & Howe Apothecaries. After the end of the war, financial records show that the organization continued to donate supplies to the sick and wounded who still resided in hospitals.

The Speeches, Reports, and Meeting Notes series contains records of several meetings in 1864-1865 as well as speeches delivered by several officers. The meeting records document debates over the direction of the Society and how to spend its money. One undated 1865 speech, given by Sophia Hill, alludes to "sectarian" tensions among the members. An 1863 printed "Biennial Report" provides background on the formation and composition of the organization and includes its "Articles of Association."