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This collection is primarily made up of letters between members of the Washburn family of Worcester, Connecticut, including Massachusetts governor Emory Washburn, his wife Marianne, and their children Emory, Charles, and Marianne. Emory Washburn also wrote letters to various individuals during his time as a professor at Harvard Law School.

This collection is made up of around 125 letters between and to members of the Washburn family of Worcester, Connecticut, including Massachusetts governor Emory Washburn, his wife Marianne, and their children Emory, Charles, and Marianne. The bulk of the collection is comprised of love letters that Emory and Marianne Washburn wrote to each other during their courtship and marriage (1830-1851). Many of Emory Washburn's letters were addressed to Marianne in Walpole, New Hampshire. They corresponded about their social lives, family news, and travel in New England and New York. Occasionally, they reported their recent activities, such as Emory's letter to his children about his visit to the Mayflower landing site in Plymouth, Massachusetts (December 3, 1844). Later items often pertain to the health and activities of their children, and the collection has a series of letters between Emory Washburn and his daughter Marianne. Other correspondence includes letters between the Washburn children, often enclosed in their parents' letters to one another. Emory Washburn also wrote a series of later letters to various acquaintances during his tenure at Harvard (1859-1875).

George Hamilton's 1783-1785 journals record his travels in England and the United States and describe the modes of transportation, the local inhabitants and businesses, and the landscapes of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. His 1786 journal chronicles his early life, from birth to his trip to America.

The George Hamilton papers contain five journals that record Hamilton's travels in England and the United States between 1783 and 1785, and a journal written in 1786 that chronicles his early life, from birth to his return to England. The journals are full of details and opinions about the people he met and lifestyles he observed in London, on board ship, and in the eastern United States. He recorded details on American culture and city life, as well as on modes of transportation and the physical features of the land. Hamilton commented on some of the battles and incidents of the American Revolution, which had just recently ended, and related amusing anecdotes of various adventures and notable characters he met during his travels.

The first diary (May 9, 1783-March 1784, 50 pages) documents his trip from London to America in the spring of 1783, and his trip between Philadelphia and Richmond. The journal is full of descriptions of the characters he met on his journey. For instance, on page 7, Hamilton playfully described a fellow passenger named Foulke: "He has the affected beliefs of the Frenchman with the rough plainness of the Quaker. The rancor of a Whig with the servility of a Tory, and the illiberality of a Methodist with the principles of a Deist." The journal's last page includes a list of towns where Hamilton stopped during his travels in Pennsylvania and Virginia; he marked the towns with good and bad taverns.

The second item (October 16-November 8, 1783, 14 pages) is a daily diary of his trip from Philadelphia to Mahoning Creek and the Susquehanna, 85 miles from their starting point. Along the way, Hamilton wrote of his interactions with the local population and described, in detail, the natural beauty of the area (rivers, mountains, cascades etc.). He also provided his impressions of the Moravians in the frontier town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The third item (May 12-28, 1784, 20 pages) contains entries from Hamilton's "Tour to the Northward," which document travels from Philadelphia through Trenton, New Jersey; to Princeton (where he noted the gardens, storms, and locals meals); to Elizabeth Town; New York City; Long Island; and finally Connecticut. About New York City he wrote: "all the woods being cut down, the fields neglected and the fencing carried away. The Town is by no means remarkable for elegant streets or handsome buildings. The streets are irregular and excessively dirty" (page 9). He also mentioned a statue of King George that had been severely vandalized.

The fourth item (July 17-August 1, 1784, 31 pages) documents Hamilton's travels from Long Island to Boston and throughout New England and the eastern part or New York (Albany, Saratoga, Fishkill). He stopped at Stillwater, New York, and remarked that the British General John Burgoyne had penetrated this far north (to 27 miles from Albany) "…where the German lines were forced by a lucky mad strike of Arnold. Upon this they retreated to Saratoga" (page 29). He journeyed as far north as Fort Edward near Saratoga Springs. Throughout these pages, he recounted events of the Revolutionary war, including a detailed, though second hand, eyewitness account of George Washington's resignation of his commission to Congress (page 11). He also mentioned Generals Greene, Cornwallis, and Clinton.

The fifth item (1784-May 29, 1785, 28 pages and 29 blank pages) is the final travel journal. Hamilton started it in Ticonderoga and continued his entries while traveling to Mount Independence, and eventually to Niagara Falls.

The sixth item is a 14-page reflection on Hamilton's early life, written from Edinburgh, June 29, 1786. He noted that his mother died when he was two years old, that his father had wanted him to join the church. He wrote about his education and travels through 1783, when he set off from London for America.

This journal recounts Boston native George M. Barnard's trips to the Atlantic seaboard and to London, England, in the 1820s and 1830s.

This journal recounts Boston native George M. Barnard's trips to the Atlantic seaboard and to London, England, in the 1820s and 1830s. The first page contains a list of places that Barnard visited, including England, New England, several Mid-Atlantic states, and three Caribbean islands.

Barnard first traveled from Boston to London, where he met with several acquaintances and toured the Tower of London, London Bridge, and Westminster Abbey. A man fell overboard during his return voyage to the United States (February 22, 1824). Barnard later briefly visited Tiverton, Rhode Island, where he spent much of his time on the beach and saw "some figures of men cut in rocks supposed to have been made by Indians" (June 10, 1824).

Between April 20 and May 31, 1825, Barnard took an extensive trip as far south as Murfreesboro, North Carolina, passing through and commenting on New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Norfolk. He traveled both by steamboat and by carriage, and frequently mentioned routes as well as people he encountered. While in the South, Barnard observed the conditions of slaves, and in Murfreesboro he witnessed "a great many slaves at work on the plantation, they live in wretched little log houses that appear to be but little bigger than a dog's kennel & furnished about the same" (April 29, 1824). He also noticed slave children dressed only in rags (May 1, 1824). He also visited Washington, D. C., and Mount Vernon, where he commented on the state of Washington's tomb (May 8, 1824). He continued to New York City, where he toured a factory, and returned to Boston on May 31.

After discussing a short trip to Goshen, New Hampshire, Barnard detailed a pedestrian trip from Boston to Francistown, New Hampshire, where he was accompanied by George Bond. They passed through Lowell, Massachusetts. After spending around 10 days in Worcester, Massachusetts, Barnard traveled through the wilderness of Maine to St. Andrews, New Brunswick. In Eastport, Maine, he observed a Native American in a birch canoe (August 3, 1830).

On a longer journey from December 1830-July 1831, Barnard voyaged around the West Indies, spending much time in the present-day Virgin Islands, particularly Saint Croix. He described scenery, a funeral, and a foot injury. While traveling home, he visited Puerto Rico and noted several of the island's products. On his final trip in 1832, Barnard went to Norfolk, Virginia, traveling through swamp land. In northern Virginia, he observed local commerce, particularly the cotton trade.

A German-language ticket for passage form Hamburg, Germany, to Boston, Massachusetts, is laid into the volume (1833).

This collection is made up of one diary of Robert Waterston of Boston, Massachusetts, and a diary of his son, Unitarian minister Robert Cassie Waterston. Robert C. Waterston kept his diary from May 1, 1832, to March 27, 1833. He wrote about attendance at meetings for The Association for Religious Improvement, religion, literature, life, philosophy, travel in New England (with a corresponding mileage log and related expenses), and weather observations. The elder Robert Waterson kept his diary between February 10 and April 7, 1861. He reflected on national politics, the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, secession, and the Civil War. He also noted weather observations and provided frequent religious mediations.

This collection is made up of one diary of Robert Waterston of Boston, Massachusetts, and a diary of his son, Unitarian minister Robert Cassie Waterston. Robert C. Waterston kept his diary from May 1, 1832, to March 27, 1833. He wrote about attendance at meetings for The Association for Religious Improvement, religion, literature, life, philosophy, travel in New England (with a corresponding mileage log and related expenses), and weather observations.

The elder Robert Waterson kept his diary between February 10 and April 7, 1861. He reflected on national politics, the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, secession, and the Civil War. He also noted weather observations, provided frequent religious mediations, and included a log of letters sent and received. On the rear cover are "A Few of the Last Words of Baron Bunson", attributed to "Review Chretienne, 15 December 1860".