Palfrey family papers
Item
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Country
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US
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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Harvard Yard, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138
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Contact information: phone number
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001 (617) 495 2440
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Contact information: email
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Houghton_Library@harvard.edu
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Reference number
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MS Am 1704-1704.9, 1704.11-1704.21
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Palfrey family papers
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Palfrey family
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Date(s)
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1713/1915
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Language(s)
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eng
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Extent
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60 linear feet (130 boxes and 9 volumes)
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Physical condition
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Good
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Scope and content
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This collection comprises documentation related to John Gorham Palfrey (1796-1881) and other members of the Palfrey family, such as his grandfather William Palfrey (1741-80) and his father John Palfrey (1768-1843). It is divided into six series according to subject or document types: I) Correspondence of the Palfrey Family; II) John Gorham Palfrey Papers; III) Miscellaneous manuscripts from the Papers of William Palfrey; IV) Manuscript books not in boxes; V) Miscellaneous Sets of Proof Sheets; and VI) Additional Papers of the John Gorham Palfrey Family.
Amongst the correspondence of William Paltrey, there is a letter from Aaron Lopez dated August 6, 1773 (box 48, no. 127; digital copy available online) concerning the whale oil trade, and three other letters from Paltrey to Lopez also in 1773 (box 51, no. 51; box 54, no. 10).
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Archival history
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This collection comprises documents donated by James B. Ayer and his wife in 1941 and Mrs. Charles Woodrow in 1964.
The main part of the papers of the Palfrey family (bMS Am 1704 -1704.20) was given to Harvard University in 1941 by Dr. and Mrs. James B. Ayer. Additional correspondence, mainly from the period of the children and grandchildren of John Gorham Palfrey, the historian, was received in 1964 as a gift from Mrs. Charles Woodrow. This latter material was catalogued separately and placed at the end of the collection (bMS Am 1704.21).
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Administrative / Biographical history
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John Gorham Palfrey (1796-1881) was a Unitarian minister, professor, editor of the North American Review, congressman from Massachusetts (1847-1849), postmaster of Boston (1861-1867), and historian, best known for his multi-volume History of New England. His grandfather, William Palfrey (1741-1780), was a business partner of John Hancock and Pay Master General of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. His father, John Palfrey (1768-1843), was a merchant in Boston and later owned a plantation in Attakapas, La. John Gorham Palfrey's son, John Carver Palfrey (1833-1906), was a military engineer during the Civil War and was later an officer in the textile manufacturing business. His daughter Sarah Hammond Palfrey (1823-1914) was a novelist and poet.
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(source: Palfrey family papers in Hollis - Harvard Library Digital Catalogue)
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System of arrangement
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The collection is organised into six series, divided into subseries, whose records are arranged alphabetically (correspondence, by sender or recipient surname) or chronologically.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2023
