Manuscripts

George L. (George Leonard) Vose Letter to "My Dear Choate,"

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Description: In this letter, Vose talks about his decision to leave his position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was dissatisfied with the engineering education at the school and felt that his opinions were being ignored. He mentions the previous president of the university William Rogers and former engineer professor John B. Henck.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1886, May 15.
Call number: mssHM 76729
Creator: Vose, George L (1831-1910)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Burndy Library Collection, Gift of Dibner Family, November 2006.

Thomas Starr King letter to "my dear Woodbury"

Manuscripts

Writing to the otherwise unnamed "Woodbury", King ponders over which of his previous lectures he ought to adapt for an upcoming speaking engagement.

mssHM 29247

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Edward W. Syle letter to "My dear Aunt,"

Manuscripts

Edward W. Syle wrote this letter from "Oakland, near San Francisco," which was where his family settled as he did missionary work with the Chinese community in San Francisco in 1855. In his letter, Syle mentions the S.S. George Law which took him and his family from Shanghai to California. The California weather was "very pleasant" and healthy for the children, but his missionary work was "trying" and "perplexing," unlike his rewarding efforts in China. Syle described Oakland as "peaceful & retired." Once a week, Syle crossed the Bay in a Ferry Boat to teach an evening class to the Chinese, but he spent his Sundays in a "little parish" he had just organized, the Oakland Parish of St. John's Episcopal Church.

mssHM 83406

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Albert Franklin Sawyer letter to James A. Tufts

Manuscripts

Dr. Sawyer writes to Professor Tufts that his son Albert, having failed the exams at Harvard, will soon arrive with his sister at Exeter. Dr. Sawyer hopes his sister will remain until Albert is "settled in his work," and is "anxious to have my son conform rigidly to the discipline of the Academy." He would have come himself, but urgent business has made it impossible for him to leave San Francisco. It is his hope that Professor Tufts can provide assistance, for Dr. Sawyer's hope is that his son can eventually attend Harvard, as it is his own alma mater. However, Dr. Sawyer describes his son as "extremely slovenly in his habits of study."

mssHM 27956

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Reminiscences of a gold miner

Manuscripts

Fisk starts his reminiscences in 1850 when he left Illinois for California. He describes his overland journey in a party of 20 wagons. He mentions the Native Americans they passed (specifically the Utes and Otos), Fort Laramie, and how the group had to leave items behind to speed their pace. He also talks about Salt Lake City, buffalo herds, and the group's constant search for water. Fisk then describes arriving in Hangtown (Placerville), his experience mining on the American River and leaving California to mine in Colorado. He writes briefly about his time with the 2nd Iowa Regiment. He also discusses his decision to travel to Alaska to try his hand at gold mining one more time. Following the reminiscences are typescripts of several letters from Fisk to his sister written while on his journey to Alaska.

mssHM 68417

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George Gibbs letter to Parker Cleaveland

Manuscripts

In this 1811 letter, George Gibbs writes about his collection to Parker Cleaveland, professor of Chemistry at Bowdoin College. Gibbs announces in this letter his discovery of "the first cristal [sic] in a meteoric stone". The only remaining specimen of the Weston meteorite is in the "Gibbs Cabinet" at Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History. In 1816, Cleaveland wrote the first American textbook on mineralogy and geology; he is considered by many to be the father of American mineralogy. In 1822, the mineral gibbsite was named in honor of George Gibbs.

mssHM 82987

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George F. Kent letters to "My Dear John," and "My Dear Cousin,"

Manuscripts

In the first letter to John R. French, George Kent discusses his admiration for the democratic spirit of the mining camps and comments on various social phenomena, expressing his distaste for gambling and his revulsion toward the recently passed fugitive slave law

mssHM 57698-57699

George L. (George Leonard) Vose Letter to "My Dear Choate,"

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Thomas Starr King letter to "my dear Woodbury"

Edward W. Syle letter to "My dear Aunt,"

Albert Franklin Sawyer letter to James A. Tufts

Reminiscences of a gold miner

George Gibbs letter to Parker Cleaveland

George F. Kent letters to "My Dear John," and "My Dear Cousin,"