COLLECTION GUIDES

1537-1990; bulk: 1620-1900

Guide to the Microfilm Edition

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Representative digitized documents from this collection:

Restrictions on Access

Portions of this collection are available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Where digital facsimiles are available, use of the originals is restricted.


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of papers of the Winthrop family of Massachusetts and Connecticut, including Gov. John Winthrop, John Winthrop, Jr., Fitz-John Winthrop, Wait Still Winthrop, John Winthrop, F.R.S., Prof. John Winthrop, Thomas Lindall Winthrop, Robert C. Winthrop, Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., and their families. Also included are papers of the related Bowdoin and Temple families.

Biographical Sketches

Gov. John Winthrop (1588-1649) was born in Edwardstown, England, to Adam Winthrop (1548-1623) and Anne Browne Winthrop (1558-1629). Winthrop founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 and served as governor of the colony from 1630-1634, 1637-1640, 1642-1644, and 1646-1649. He married four times: in 1605 to Mary Forth (1584-1615); in 1615 to Thomasine Clopton (1583?-1616); in 1618 to Margaret Tyndal (1591-1647); and in 1647 to Martha Rainsborough Coytmore (1617?-1660).

John Winthrop, Jr. (1606-1676) was the oldest son of Gov. John Winthrop (1588-1649) and Mary Forth Winthrop (1584-1615). He emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1631 and served for many years as colonial governor of Connecticut, beginning in 1635.

Fitz-John Winthrop (1638-1707) was born to John Winthrop, Jr. (1606-1676) and his second wife Elizabeth Reade Winthrop (1614-1672). He fought in military campaigns, held many political positions, and served as colonial governor of Connecticut from 1698 until his death.

Wait Still Winthrop (1643-1717) was the son of John Winthrop, Jr. (1606-1676) and brother of Fitz-John Winthrop (1638-1707).

James Bowdoin I (1676-1747) was one of the wealthiest merchants in Boston.

John Winthrop, F.R.S. (1681-1747) was born in Boston to Wait Still Winthrop (1643-1717) and Mary Browne Winthrop (1656-1690). He married Ann Dudley (1684-1776). After several years in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where he became embroiled in legal conflicts, he took up residence in London. He was a member of the Royal Society.

Prof. John Winthrop (1714-1779) was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard.

Gov. James Bowdoin (1726-1790) was governor of Massachusetts from 1785 to 1787.

John (later Sir John) Temple (1732-1798), 8th Baronet, was born in Boston. He worked in the U.S. customs service and later as British consul to the U.S. In 1767, he married Elizabeth Bowdoin (1750?-1809), daughter of Gov. James Bowdoin (1726-1790).

James Bowdoin III (also called James Bowdoin, Jr.) (1752-1811) was the son of Gov. James Bowdoin (1726-1790).

Thomas Lindall Winthrop (1760-1841) was born to John Still Winthrop (1719-1776) and Jane Borland Winthrop (1732-1760). He married Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple (1769-1825), daughter of Sir John Temple (1732-1798) and Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple (1750?-1809).

Robert C. Winthrop (1809-1894) was born to Thomas Lindall Winthrop (1760-1841) and Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple Winthrop (1769-1825). A prominent member of Boston society, Winthrop served from 1834-1840 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He then entered national politics and was elected to Congress in 1840 and served as speaker of the House of Representatives from 1847-1849. After leaving politics, Winthrop became president of the Massachusetts Historical Society. In 1832, he married Eliza Cabot Blanchard (1809-1842), remarried in 1849 to Laura Derby Welles (1811-1861), and remarried in 1865 to Adele Granger Thayer (1819-1892).

Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. (1834-1905) was born in Boston to Robert C. Winthrop (1809-1894) and Eliza Cabot Blanchard Winthrop (1809-1842). Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. attended Phillips Academy, Andover, and Harvard University, where he obtained his law degree. He married Frances Pickering Adams (1836-1860) and spent many years abroad in Europe. Winthrop remarried in 1869 to Elizabeth Mason (1844-1924) and eventually settled in Massachusetts, where he became an active member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Sources

Mayo, Lawrence Shaw. The Winthrop Family in America. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1948.

Winthrop, Robert C. Life and Letters of John Winthrop: Governor of the Massachusetts-Bay Company at Their Emigration to New England, 1630. 2 vols. Boston: Little, Brown, 1869.

Collection Description

This microfilm edition of the Winthrop family papers consists of both public and private papers of the Winthrop family and the related Bowdoin and Temple families. The collection includes correspondence; diaries and travel journals; deeds; account books; medical, legal, and genealogical records; diplomas and commissions; inventories and estate settlements; scrapbooks; speeches; autographs and portraits; and annotated books and publications. Winthrop family members most heavily represented in the collection are: Gov. John Winthrop; John Winthrop, Jr.; Fitz-John Winthrop; Wait Still Winthrop; John Winthrop, F.R.S.; Prof. John Winthrop; Thomas Lindall Winthrop; Robert C. Winthrop; and Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Papers from the 17th century relate primarily to the founding and early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and include two volumes of the journal of Gov. John Winthrop, 1630-1649.

The collection includes books and pamphlets written by or about members of the Winthrop family. Except where noted, only the annotated pages of these printed works have been microfilmed. The microfilm also contains a small collection of correspondence between John Adams and Prof. John Winthrop, 1775-1776, held at the Massachusetts Historical Society, as well as positive and negative microfilms of Winthrop papers at other institutions and in private hands. Some papers, including 20th-century Winthrop family correspondence and Clara Bowdoin Winthrop volumes, have not been microfilmed. See Materials Not Included on Microfilm for a detailed list.

The Bowdoin and Temple papers in this collection relate primarily to James Bowdoin I, Gov. James Bowdoin, James Bowdoin III (also called James Bowdoin, Jr.), and John (later Sir John) Temple.

Some of the items in the Winthrop family papers have been individually cataloged in the MHS card catalog and published in the Catalog of Manuscripts of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1969).

Acquisition Information

Most of the papers in this collection came from members of the Winthrop family over a period of a century and a half. In 1803, Francis Bayard Winthrop, at the urging of his brother Thomas Lindall Winthrop, gave to the Massachusetts Historical Society the first two volumes of the journal of Gov. John Winthrop. The third volume, when discovered in 1816 among the books of Thomas Prince, was added to the other two. (Unfortunately, the second volume was destroyed in a fire in 1825.) In 1860, Robert C. Winthrop acquired a collection of papers which had descended from the Connecticut Winthrops, added it to the papers he had inherited from his father Thomas Lindall Winthrop, and from time to time, over the next 30 years, presented to the MHS individual letters or small groups of papers. The rest of the Winthrop family papers, Robert C. Winthrop's own papers, and the Bowdoin and Temple papers were added following the death of Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. in 1905.

Other materials, mainly non-manuscript, came to the MHS following the deaths of Elizabeth Mason Winthrop and her daughter Clara Bowdoin Winthrop (1876-1969). Additional papers were given by descendants of Francis Bayard Winthrop, Jr. (1787-1841) in 1880; Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. in 1896; Mrs. Robert Ludlow Fowler (1893-1970) in 1967; Robert and Nathaniel Winthrop; and the heirs of Mrs. Fowler. Other papers were acquired by purchase or as gifts from individuals outside the Winthrop family.

For a detailed account of the Winthrop manuscripts, see Robert C. Winthrop Jr.'s memoranda about the Winthrop papers, located on Reel 1 of this microfilm edition. For additional information on the acquisition and custodial history of the Winthrop papers, see:

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 1st ser. Vol. 12. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1873. 233-245.

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 1st ser. Vol. 17. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1880. 101-103.

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 2nd ser. Vol. 7. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1892. 457-465.

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 2nd ser. Vol. 8. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1894. 139-143.

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 2nd ser. Vol. 19. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1906. 304-307.

"Preface." The Winthrop Papers. Vol. 1. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1929. v-xi.

Freiberg, Malcolm. "The Winthrops and Their Papers." Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Vol. 80. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1969. 55-70.

Restrictions on Access

Portions of this collection are available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Where digital facsimiles are available, use of the originals is restricted.

Other Formats

Portions of this collection are available as color digital facsimiles.

Selections from the Winthrop family papers between 1498 and 1654 have been printed in:

Mitchell, Stewart, Allyn Bailey Forbes, and Malcolm Freiberg, ed. The Winthrop Papers. 6 vols. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1929-1992.

The journal of John Winthrop has been printed in:

Dunn, Richard S., James Savage, and Laetitia Yeandle, ed. The Journal of John Winthrop, 1630-1649. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996.

Other selections from the Winthrop family papers have been printed in:

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 4th ser. Vol. 6. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1863.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 4th ser. Vol. 7. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1865.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 5th ser. Vol. 1. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1871.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 5th ser. Vol. 8. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1882.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 6th ser. Vol. 3. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1889.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 6th ser. Vol. 5. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1892.

Selections from the Bowdoin and Temple papers have been printed in:

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 6th ser. Vol. 9. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1897.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 7th ser. Vol. 6. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1907.

Correspondence between John Adams and Prof. John Winthrop, 1775-1776, has been printed in:

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 5th ser. Vol. 4. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1878. 291-313.

Detailed Description of the Collection

I. Loose manuscripts, 1537-1904

Arranged chronologically.

This series contains correspondence, including some letters of George William Erving; deeds, wills, and other legal papers; diary fragments; bills and receipts; membership certificates; news items and annotated newspaper clippings; and miscellaneous papers. Among the papers in this series are some copies of manuscripts no longer in existence or held at other repositories, presumably made by James Bowdoin (1794-1833) or by or for Robert C. Winthrop and Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. The series also includes a small number of letters between John Adams and Prof. John Winthrop about the American Revolution, the Siege of Boston, and politics in Philadelphia, 1775-1776.

NOTE: This series contains manuscripts previously bound in Vols. 1-20 (except 9a), 21-25a, 30a-31, 34, 35-36, 53, 59, 74a, and 79-80. These volumes have been disbound and the manuscripts filed chronologically here.

Reel 1
Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. memoranda about Winthrop papers, 1889-1892?
Reel 1Box 62
Undated manuscripts
Reel 1Box 1
1537-1628
Reel 1Box 2
1629-1630
Reel 2Box 2
1631
Reel 2Box 3
1632-1636
Reel 2Box 4
1637-1638
Reel 3Box 5
1639-1640
Reel 3Box 6
1641-1646
Reel 4Box 7
1647-1649
Reel 4Box 8
1650-May 1653
Reel 5Box 8
June 1653
Reel 5Box 9
July 1653-1656
Reel 5Box 10
1657-June 1658
Reel 6Box 10
July 1658-Mar. 1659
Reel 6Box 11
Apr. 1659-Oct. 1660
Reel 6Box 12
Nov. 1660-Nov. 1661
Reel 7Box 12
Dec. 1661-June 1662
Reel 7Box 13
July 1662-Aug. 1664
Reel 7Box 14
Sep. 1664-Feb. 1665
Reel 8Box 14
Mar.-Dec. 1665
Reel 8Box 15
1666-Mar. 1667
Reel 8Box 16
Apr.-June 1667
Reel 9Box 16
July 1667-May 1669
Reel 9Box 17
June 1669-1670
Reel 10Box 17
1671
Reel 10Box 18
1672-Aug. 1673
Reel 10Box 19
Sep.-Dec. 1673
Reel 11Box 19
Jan.-Oct. 1674
Reel 11Box 20
Nov. 1674-Sep. 1675
Reel 11Box 21
Oct.-Nov. 1675
Reel 12Box 21
Dec. 1675-June 1680
Reel 12Box 22
July 1680-1685
Reel 13Box 23
1686-June 1690
Reel 13Box 24
July 1690-1693
Reel 14Box 24
1694
Reel 14Box 25
1695-June 1698
Reel 14Box 26
July 1698-June 1699
Reel 15Box 26
July-Dec. 1699
Reel 15Box 27
1700-Mar. 1701
Reel 15Box 28
Apr.-Dec. 1701
Reel 16Box 28
1702-Apr. 1703
Reel 16Box 29
May 1703-June 1704
Reel 16Box 30
July-Aug. 1704
Reel 17Box 30
Sep. 1704-June 1706
Reel 17Box 31
July 1706-1708
Reel 17Box 32
Jan.-June 1709
Reel 18Box 32
July 1709-1713
Reel 18Box 33
1714-Mar. 1717
Reel 19Box 33
Apr. 1717
Reel 19Box 34
May 1717-1720
Reel 19Box 35
1721-1738
Reel 20Box 35
1739-1743
Reel 20Box 36
1744-1791
Reel 20Box 37
1792-1803
Reel 21Box 37
1804-1816
Reel 21Box 38
1817-1819
Reel 22Box 38
1820-1838
Reel 22Box 39
1839-July 1840
Reel 23Box 39
Aug. 1840-Mar. 1842
Reel 23Box 40
Apr.-Dec. 1842
Reel 24Box 40
1843-July 1845
Reel 24Box 41
Aug. 1845-June 1846
Reel 25Box 41
July 1846-Mar. 1848
Reel 25Box 42
Apr.-Dec. 1848
Reel 26Box 42
1849-Mar. 1851
Reel 26Box 43
Apr.-June 1851
Reel 27Box 43
July 1851-1855
Reel 28Box 43
Jan.-Apr. 1856
Reel 28Box 44
May 1856-1858
Reel 29Box 44
1859
Reel 29Box 45
1860-Apr. 1862
Reel 30Box 45
May 1862-1865
Reel 30Box 46
1866-1869
Reel 31Box 46
1870-1873
Reel 31Box 47
1874
Reel 32Box 47
1875-1879
Reel 32Box 48
1880
Reel 33Box 48
1881-1886
Reel 33Box 49
1887-1888
Reel 34Box 49
1889-1904

II. Bound volumes, 1550-1909digital content

This series contains writings on alchemy and medicine; diaries and journals, including the journal of Gov. John Winthrop entitled "History of New England"; a volume of deeds, commissions, and miscellaneous papers; a volume of lead mine papers; three notebooks of proverbs; several volumes on Robert C. Winthrop's Congressional career; letterbooks; and miscellaneous writings of several generations of the Winthrop family.

Reel 35Vol. 20c (XT)
"Latin and English tracts on alchemy," [ca. 1550-1600]

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Robert C. Winthrop in 1869.

This volume contains a number of writings on alchemy by different authors in both prose and poetry, probably collected and bound in the latter half of the 16th century. The volume, which most likely belonged to John Winthrop, Jr., was repaired and bound in its present form in 1933. Also included at the beginning of the microfilm are a typewritten article by C. A. Browne and a note by Robert C. Winthrop with further information on the volume and its contents.

Reel 35Box OS 1Vol. 88
Winthrop deeds, commissions, etc., [1577]-1901

The earliest document in this volume is a deed of William Winthrop (1529-1582), and the last is an article on Melford Hall. Other items include photographs, other deeds, mortgages, indentures (some with copies), maps and drawings, funeral elegies, military and civilian commissions, diplomas, and miscellaneous papers. For a complete listing, see the table of contents at the front of the volume.

Reel 35Vol. 94
"Medical recipes," undated

The first part of this volume consists of copies of remedies taken from a number of 16th-century sources, among them Jean Fernel's "booke of the generall methode of curinge of feavers," Christof Wirsung's Praxis Medicinae Universalis, Hugh Plat's The Jewell House of Art and Nature, John Banister's edition of Johann Wecker's A Compendious Chyrurgerie, and The Secrets of...Alexis of Piedmont. Interspersed among the medical recipes are instructions for preserving fruits and making tarts, gingerbread, and several kinds of cake. At the end of the volume, written in several different hands, are notes on religion and alchemy, some in English and others in Latin.

Reel 35Box 62
John Winthrop sermon notes, 1627-1628

Of this volume, Robert C. Winthrop, in Life and Letters of John Winthrop, writes: "An additional illustration of Winthrop's character and habits...is furnished by a little autograph volume, found among his papers, in which all the sermons which he heard on Sundays and on prayer-days, during a large part of the years 1627 and 1628, are noted, with the names of the preachers, the texts of their discourses, and the various heads and arguments carefully written out."

Reel 35Vol. 58
John Winthrop journal: "History of New England," 1630-1649

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Francis Bayard Winthrop in 1803 (vol. 1-2) and 1816 (vol. 3).

Gov. John Winthrop's journal describes events in the history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from the sailing of the Arbella in Mar. 1630 until shortly before Winthrop's death. As the chief source of information on the colony's early history, Winthrop's journal was later used in the writings of historians such as William Hubbard, Cotton Mather, Thomas Prince, and Jeremy Belknap.

Reel 35Vol. 65
John Winthrop, Jr. memoranda book, 1631

The first part of this volume consists of notes and exercises in Latin, probably not written by John Winthrop, Jr. At the end of the volume are accounts and notes made by John Winthrop, Jr. at the time of his preparation for the voyage to New England in 1631.

Catalogs and papers related to Harvard graduates, 1773-1825

Reel 36Vol. 45
Copy of the catalog of Harvard College graduates for 1642-1798, [1798]

This manuscript list of Harvard graduates, with biographical notes, was presumably compiled by James Winthrop for Thomas Lindall Winthrop. James Winthrop was the Harvard College librarian from 1772-1787 and a founder of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Reel 36
William Winthrop correspondence and notes, 1794-1825

Originals located at Harvard University archives.

Included are notes and correspondence of William Winthrop (1753-1825) related to the Harvard College triennials of 1773-1824.

Reel 37
Annotated Harvard College triennials, 1773-1824

Originals located at Harvard University archives.

Included are triennials for the years 1773, 1782, 1794-1800, and 1806-1824, annotated by William Winthrop (1753-1825).

Reel 38Box OS 2
"The Tale of Tantiusques," 1644-1909

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by the American Antiquarian Society in 1968.

Tantiusques was a black lead (graphite) mine in the vicinity of Sturbridge, Mass., originally granted to John Winthrop, Jr. in 1644 and later the property of his descendants. Both John Winthrop, Jr. and his grandson John Winthrop, F.R.S., attempted unsuccessfully to profit from the mine. In 1828, the mine passed into the hands of Frederic Tudor and, during the remainder of the 19th century, was worked sporadically by a number of companies.

Also included with this volume are seven letters, 1899-1903, related to Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s gift of the volume to the American Antiquarian Society; his comments on George H. Haynes's article about Tantiusques in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society in 1901; and copies of Frederic Tudor's diary entries dealing with his ownership and operation of the mine.

John Winthrop, Jr. medical records, 1657-1669digital content

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Robert C. Winthrop in 1869.

John Winthrop, Jr.'s record of his patients, their symptoms, and the remedies that he, as an amateur physician, prescribed or gave to them. Included are typewritten indexes pasted at the end of each volume. The volumes were bound and labeled as vol. 20a and vol. 20b in 1912. They have since been disbound.

Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 1digitized
digitizedIndex
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 2digitized
digitizedFront cover
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 3digitized
digitizedPages 1-24
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 4digitized
digitizedPages 25-52
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 5digitized
digitizedPages 53-82
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 6digitized
digitizedPages 83-112

Pages 107 and 108 are missing from the sequence.

Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 7digitized
digitizedPages 113-136
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 8digitized
digitizedPages 137-162

Pages 149 and 150 are missing from the sequence.

Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 9digitized
digitizedPages 163-186
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 10digitized
digitizedPages 187-210
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 11digitized
digitizedIndex
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 12digitized
digitizedPages 235-258
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 13digitized
digitizedPages 259-282
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 14digitized
digitizedPages 283-306
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 15digitized
digitizedPages 307-328
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 16digitized
digitizedPages 329-352
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 17digitized
digitizedPages 353-374
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 18digitized
digitizedPages 375-396
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 19digitized
digitizedPages 397-418
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 20digitized
digitizedPages 419-442
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 21digitized
digitizedPages 443-464
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 22digitized
digitizedPages 465-479
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 23digitized
digitizedIndex

Pages 487 and 488 are missing from the sequence.

Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 24digitized
digitizedPages 481-502
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 25digitized
digitizedPages 503-526
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 26digitized
digitizedPages 527-550
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 27digitized
digitizedPages 551-572
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 28digitized
digitizedPages 573-596
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 29digitized
digitizedPages 597-618
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 30digitized
digitizedPages 619-642
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 31digitized
digitizedPages 643-666
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 32digitized
digitizedPages 667-690
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 33digitized
digitizedPages 691-714
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 34digitized
digitizedPages 715-738
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 35digitized
digitizedPages 739-762
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 36digitized
digitizedPages 763-786
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 37digitized
digitizedPages 787-810
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 38digitized
digitizedPages 811-834
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 39digitized
digitizedPages 835-858
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 40digitized
digitizedPages 859-882
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 41digitized
digitizedPages 883-908
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 42digitized
digitizedPages 909-932
Reel 38Vol. 20a-bFolder 43digitized
digitizedPages 933-934
Reel 39Vol. 104
[Adam Winthrop], "Arcana," [1690-1694]

This small notebook, thought to be in the hand of Adam Winthrop (1676-1743), contains reading or lecture notes in Latin, perhaps made while he was a student at Harvard College, 1690-1694.

Reel 39Vol. 9a
Commonplace book, 1700-?

Acquired by Robert C. Winthrop in 1861.

This volume was first used by John Winthrop, F.R.S., who made miscellaneous notes on scattered pages throughout. Later, John Still Winthrop (1720-1776) recorded genealogical data taken from memoranda of Wait Winthrop and John Winthrop, F.R.S. Finally, Francis Bayard Winthrop added genealogical notes, copies of a few letters, and miscellaneous memoranda.

Mrs. Grenville Temple Winthrop autograph collection, 1799-1875

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Thomas Lindall Winthrop (b. 1834), Elizabeth Winthrop Hooker, and Susan Winthrop Swett in June 1879.

Mrs. Grenville Temple Winthrop collected 7 volumes of American and European autographs and photographs. Included in this microfilm are only those items written to or by a member of the Winthrop family--17 items in all from volumes 1, 2, and 4. The earliest document is a letter from Sir Grenville Temple to Thomas Lindall Winthrop, and the last is part of a letter from one of Charles Darwin's sons, enclosing an autograph of his father.

Reel 39Vol. 46
Vol. I: "Miscellaneous, chiefly American"
Reel 39Vol. 47
Vol. II: "Foreign and American"
Reel 39Vol. 49
Vol. IV: "British, miscellaneous"
Reel 39Vol. 105
William Winthrop journal, 1812-1824

The journal of William Winthrop (1753-1825), son of Prof. John Winthrop, consists of ten notebooks kept from 1 May 1812 to 15 Dec. 1824. Most of the entries relate to the operation of Winthrop's farm overlooking the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass., including notes on the weather, accounts, records of planting and cattle, and descriptions of work performed by his hired men. The first page of the first notebook contains notes in another hand, perhaps that of John Reed, whose name appears on the cover. Toward the end of his life, William Winthrop was almost blind, and entries for 1823 and 1824 are fewer and written in a different hand, presumably that of his housekeeper Nabby Allen. Also included are loose papers, scattered through several notebooks, including receipts and miscellaneous memoranda.

Robert C. Winthrop correspondence, diaries, and commonplace book, 1836-1894

These two bound volumes contain extracts from Robert C. Winthrop's letters to John P. Kennedy, John C. Lee, John H. Clifford, and Hugh Blair Grigsby; a few miscellaneous letters; and letters from John H. Clifford to Robert C. Winthrop. Also included, at the end of the second volume, are extracts from Winthrop's commonplace books and diaries. These copies were made by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.

This collection of Winthrop family papers contains many of the original Clifford-Winthrop letters extracted here.

Reel 39Vol. 32
"Extracts from letters of Robert C. Winthrop to John H. Clifford, John P. Kennedy, & John C. Lee," 1836-1870
Reel 39Vol. 33
"Add.l correspondence of Robert C. Winthrop with John H. Clifford & others, -- with extracts from his diaries and commonplace books," 1849-1894
Reel 39Vol. 37
Robert C. Winthrop, "Account of the controversies growing out of the Mexican War Bill of 1846," 1872

While Robert C. Winthrop was a Congressman from Massachusetts in 1846, his vote on the controversial Mexican War Bill aroused strong opposition, and he was virulently criticized by Charles Sumner in the Boston Courier and in a private letter to Winthrop. Believing he had been misrepresented, Winthrop defended his vote. In 1872, when a new edition of Sumner's works appeared, Winthrop wrote his own account of the controversy, which appears in this volume.

Reel 40Vol. 34a
Robert C. Winthrop European diary, 1847

Robert C. Winthrop made a number of trips to Europe and kept a journal of each, detailing his activities, impressions, and people he met. This volume describes his first trip to Europe, Apr.-Sep. 1847, with his son Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Winthrop arrived in England with letters of introduction from Edward Everett and Daniel Webster and met most of the men prominent in politics, literature, and religion, with many of whom he formed lasting friendships. After more than a month in London, father and son spent June and part of July in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium before returning to England. There they visited the ancestral home in Groton and nearby towns, as well as Scotland and Ireland.

This volume is bound with Robert C. Winthrop's 1867-1868 diary, but the volumes have been microfilmed separately and appear in chronological order.

Reel 40Vol. 38
Robert C. Winthrop's election as speaker of the House in Dec. 1847, 1847-1890

In this volume, Robert C. Winthrop describes his election as speaker of the House of Representatives in Dec. 1847 and his defeat for the same office in Dec. 1849. The volume also contains several related printed items, including a letter from E. Carrington Cabell of Florida to the National Intelligencer; correspondence between Robert C. Winthrop and John G. Palfrey of Massachusetts, 1848; a letter from Isaac E. Holmes of South Carolina to the Charleston Mercury, Jan. 1848; John P. Kennedy's sketch of Robert C. Winthrop in the American Review, Mar. 1848, with Winthrop's speech on taking the House chair; an 1883 newspaper clipping entitled "Winthrop, Toombs and Stephens"; and Robert C. Winthrop's remarks on Jeremiah Morrow and Samuel F. Vinton at the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1890. Inserted at page 67, in Robert C. Winthrop's hand, is a statement by George Ashmun of Springfield, Mass.

Robert C. Winthrop account books as speaker of the House, 1847-1849

These two volumes, one for each session of the 30th Congress, contain the accounts kept by Robert C. Winthrop between Dec. 1847 and Mar. 1849. Accounts include payments to members of the House of Representatives and the total each received for per diem pay and mileage allowance.

Reel 40Vol. 54
30th Congress, 1st session
Reel 40Vol. 55
30th Congress, 2nd session
Reel 40Vol. 56
Members of the House of Representatives, 31st Congress, 1849

This list of representatives from each state, with party affiliation, was compiled for Robert C. Winthrop by J. H. Clay Mudd, assistant clerk of the House, at the time of Winthrop's unsuccessful bid for re-election as speaker in Dec. 1849.

Reel 40Vol. 39
Robert C. Winthrop papers related to the Fugitive Slave Bill, 1850

In July 1850, Robert C. Winthrop was chosen as Massachusetts senator to replace Daniel Webster, who had resigned to become secretary of state. Winthrop served in the Senate until Feb. 1851. This volume contains copies of extracts from letters to Winthrop about his work in the Senate; one from Winthrop to John P. Kennedy; and a pamphlet of Proceedings of the United States Senate on the Fugitive Slave Bill..., with a speech Winthrop made at the time.

William Winthrop proverbs, 1848

These three small notebooks contain proverbs collected by William Winthrop (born William Winthrop Andrews) (1809?-1869), great-grandson of Prof. John Winthrop and U.S. consul at Malta from 1834-1869. The bulk of the proverbs are English, although the third notebook includes proverbs translated from foreign languages. The numbers on the pages of the first two volumes are not page numbers, but represent the number of proverbs collected to that point.

Reel 40Vol. 97a
"Selected English proverbs," 1848
Reel 40Vol. 97b
"English proverbs," 1848
Reel 40Vol. 97c
"English proverbs," undated
Reel 40Vol. 109
George Derby Welles autograph book, 1850-1860

George Derby Welles was the son of Laura Welles Winthrop, second wife of Robert C. Winthrop. This volume contains autographs of a number of Robert C. Winthrop's well-known friends, some written directly onto the pages, others taken from letters to his mother or stepfather and pasted into the book.

Reel 40Vol. 34b
Robert C. Winthrop European diary, 1859-1860

This diary consists of ten small notebooks bound together and describes Robert C. Winthrop's second European trip. After renewing acquaintances in London, Winthrop and his family traveled to Paris and witnessed the celebrations following the successful Italian war against Austria. Winthrop met and visited with many notable people: at Vienna, he was presented to Emperor Franz Josef and visited old Prince Esterhazy, whom he had known earlier in London; in Rome, he had a private audience with Pope Pius IX, met Cardinal Antonelli and other Catholic church leaders, and visited the studios of American sculptors; he spent an hour with Prime Minister Cavour at Turin; and he saw the Genoa birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

During this trip, however, the Winthrop family suffered many misfortunes. Winthrop's wife Laura Welles Winthrop developed an eye infection and needed surgery in Berlin in July 1860. His stepson George Derby Welles contracted typhoid fever while in Vienna, and his recovery was slow. And in Apr. 1860, Fanny Winthrop, wife of Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., died in Rome.

Reel 41Vol. 99
William Winthrop, "Christian and Moslem slavery with historical sketches of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the Holy Land, Cyprus, Rhodes, and Malta," 1860-?

William Winthrop (born William Winthrop Andrews) (1809?-1869) was U.S. consul at Malta, 1834-1869, and a knight commander of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. In this volume, he describes the origin and development of the Order of St. John, battles between Christian and Muslim fleets, the treatment of Christian prisoners by Muslims and vice versa, the battle for Rhodes, the intermittent wars against Mediterranean pirates, and the end of Christian slavery with Lord Exmouth's victory over the dey of Algiers in 1816.

Reel 41Vol. 34a
Robert C. Winthrop European diary, 1867-1868

This diary details Robert C. Winthrop's third European journey, June 1867-Oct. 1868. After visiting old friends in England and sightseeing in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, the Winthrops traveled to Paris, where they saw the Paris Exposition and where Winthrop heard the debates in the Chamber of Deputies on the German and Italian questions. The family spent the winter months in the south of France and in Italy; in Rome, Winthrop sat for a bust by Hiram Powers. During the following spring and summer, the Winthrops were again in France and England. Back in the United States in the fall, they spent several weeks in Canandaigua, N.Y., before returning to Brookline, Mass.

This volume is bound with Robert C. Winthrop's 1847 diary, but the volumes have been microfilmed separately and appear in chronological order.

Reel 41Vol. 34c-d
Robert C. Winthrop European diary, 1874-1875

In this diary, Robert C. Winthrop describes his fourth European trip. Because of the delicate health of his third wife Adele Thayer Winthrop and her daughter Adele Thayer, the family decided to spend the winter and spring in a warmer climate. After several months in Cannes, they traveled to Rome, Florence, Paris, and London. Winthrop missed the Lexington and Bunker Hill centennial celebrations, at both of which he'd been invited to speak. In the spring of 1875, the family visited Suffolk County, England, to see the newly completed Winthrop memorial window in the church at Groton, then toured northern England and Scotland and made a final shopping trip to Paris before returning home.

Reel 41Vol. 82
Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., "Reference list of my communications to the Massachusetts Historical Society," 1879-1901

This volume contains a list of Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s communications to the Massachusetts Historical Society from the time of his election as a resident member in 1879 to 1901. Also included are memoranda on his activities at the MHS and on its building, opened in 1899.

Reel 42Vol. 34e
Robert C. Winthrop European diary, 1882

This diary describes Robert C. Winthrop's final trip to Europe with his wife Adele and her daughter Adele Thayer, Mar.-Nov. 1882. Highlights include: the unveiling of a memorial window to Sir Walter Raleigh at St. Margaret's Church in London, for which Winthrop had raised more than half the money; Winthrop's visit of several days to the Chateau de Rochambeau in France, where he was assigned "the grand state chamber in which the old Marquis slept, with his state bed, and with the original portrait of Washington, by Peale, which Washington himself had sent to Rochambeau"; and the Winthrops' brief visit with the Duc d'Aumale at Chantilly.

Reel 42Vol. 81
Letters and notices concerning Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s memoir of Robert C. Winthrop, 1897-1898

Robert C. Winthrop served as president of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1855 to 1885. After his death in 1894, Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. was appointed by the MHS to write a memoir of his father. This manuscript volume contains some of the letters written to Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. in response to the memoir, as well as newspaper and periodical reviews.

III. Genealogical material, 1818-1949

This series contains both bound volumes and loose papers related to the genealogy of the Winthrop family.

Reel 42Vol. 74
Accounts of the Winthrop family, 1862-1887

This volume includes A Short Account of the Winthrop Family (Cambridge, 1887) and Some Account of the Early Generations of the Winthrop Family in Ireland (Cambridge, 1883), bound together and annotated by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., as well as the section of George Adlard's The Sutton-Dudleys of England dealing with the family of John Still Winthrop (1720-1776). Only annotated pages and facing printed pages have been microfilmed. Adlard's book has been microfilmed from another copy (Vol. 74b), more fully annotated, at the beginning of Reel 43.

Reel 42Vol. 72
Joseph James Muskett, Evidences of the Winthrops of Groton..., privately printed, 1894-1896

This volume consists of the first section of the first volume of a two-volume work by Muskett entitled Suffolk Manorial Families (Exeter, 1900). Part of the research for this first section was financed by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., who had this copy (No. 1) interleaved and bound for his own use in order to make additions and corrections. Only annotated pages and facing printed pages have been microfilmed. Scattered throughout the volume are letters, obituaries, and miscellaneous genealogical notes.

Three manuscript genealogies, undated

The latter two of these three handwritten genealogies seem to have been copied from the first, with differing (and later) additions.

Reel 42Vol. 103
Genealogy of Winthrop family from Adam Winthrop (b. 1848)

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Robert Winthrop in 1952.

The bulk of this volume was written by Francis Bayard Winthrop, with additions in a different hand.

Reel 42Vol. 103a
Genealogy of Winthrop family from Adam Winthrop (b. 1848)

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Mrs. Robert Ludlow Fowler in 1967.

This volume includes additional information about John Still Winthrop (1785-1855), son of Francis Bayard Winthrop, on loose sheets inserted into the volume.

Reel 42Vol. 103b
Genealogy of Winthrop family from Adam Winthrop (b. 1848)

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Henry Fowler, Pamela Purse, and Mr. and Mrs. Craig Wylie in 1974.

This volume contains information on several other children of Francis Bayard Winthrop.

Reel 42Vol. 107
Family register, 1841-?

This printed family register, filled in by hand, was begun by Robert C. Winthrop in 1841 as a record of his own ancestry. Part 1 contains completed or partially completed genealogical charts. Part 2 contains miscellaneous information written by Robert C. Winthrop and Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. and a number of newspaper obituaries. Scattered throughout the volume are letters, copies of sermons, obituaries, lists of family portraits, and miscellaneous genealogical memoranda.

Reel 43Vol. 74b
George Adlard, The Sutton-Dudleys of England and the Dudleys of Massachusetts in New England, New York, 1862

Only the annotated portions of this volume dealing directly with Winthrop-Dudley connections have been microfilmed. These portions include information about Samuel Dudley and Mary Winthrop (1612?-1643); Ann Dudley Winthrop and John Winthrop, F.R.S.; and John Still Winthrop (1720-1776) and his family.

Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. family memorials, undated

Reel 43Vol. 113
John Still Winthrop and his descendants

This manuscript genealogy contains information on the various branches of the family descended from John Still Winthrop (1720-1776), 1720-1904. This information was collected and compiled by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.

Reel 43Vol. 112
Family of Thomas Lindall Winthrop

This notebook contains letters, diary and sermon extracts, and obituaries related to Thomas Lindall Winthrop and his family, 1812-1875, copied by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.

This collection of Winthrop family papers contains the originals of many of the documents copied here.

Reel 43Vol. 110
Miscellaneous memoranda, undated

Included in this volume are genealogical data, lists of portraits and heirlooms, notes about land ownership, memoranda from tombstones, and extracts from diaries and court records, compiled by (and many in the hand of) Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.

Reel 43Box 51
Unbound genealogical material, 1818-1949

Winthrop family charts given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Sidvin Frank Tucker in 1949-1950.

This miscellaneous genealogical material includes: Winthrop family charts, prepared by Sidvin Frank Tucker of Winthrop, Mass.; the Tyndall pedigree; extracts from the diary of Adam Winthrop (1548-1623) related to his brother John (1547-1613); copies of Chancery proceedings on the sale of Groton Manor, 1595-1624; memoranda about Sir George Downing and his family; the Lechmere pedigree and memoranda; and genealogical memoirs of families related to the Winthrops by marriage, collected by Lemuel Shattuck.

IV. Miscellaneous papers, 1582-1901

This series contains annotated almanacs, books, pamphlets, scrapbooks, school and college records, obituary notices, and clippings. Only the annotated pages of most of these volumes have been included in this microfilm.

Reel 43Vol. 91
[Hieronymus Osorius], Hieronymi Osorii, LV, Sitani, Episcopi Algarbiensis, de Vera Sapientia, Libri V, 1582

This small Latin volume belonged to and was annotated by Adam Winthrop (1548-1623). Because of the number of annotated pages, the entire volume has been microfilmed.

Reel 43Vol. 92a
[John Foxe], De Christo Gratis Iustificante, London, 1583

Written in 1583 by John Foxe the Martyrologist to refute the view of Hieronymus Osorius on justification by faith, this Latin volume has the signature of Adam Winthrop (1548-1623) on the verso of the flyleaf. Only this and the title page have been microfilmed.

Reel 43Vol. 57
William Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent..., London, 1596

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Thomas Lindall Winthrop in 1811.

First published in London in 1576, Lambarde's book, "conteining the Description, Hystorie, and Customs" of Kent, was the earliest of the English county histories. Adam Winthrop (1548-1623) owned and annotated this copy of the 1596 edition. Because of the number of annotated pages, the entire volume has been microfilmed.

Winthrop family annotated almanacs, 1599-1666

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by the heirs of William Winthrop (1753-1825) in 1826.

These two volumes contain almanacs for the years 1599, 1606, 1609, 1610, 1611, 1612, 1617, 1618, 1620, 1628, 1631, 1662, and 1666. Only annotated pages have been microfilmed. The 1599 almanac was annotated by John Forth (1560-1613), the 1617 and 1620 almanacs by Adam Winthrop (1548-1623), the 1631 almanac by Gov. John Winthrop, and the 1662 almanac by John Winthrop, Jr. Annotators of the other almanacs have not been identified. The 1618, 1628, and 1666 almanacs contain no annotations and have not been included in this microfilm.

Reel 44Vol. 60
Vol. I, 1599-1618
Reel 44Vol. 61
Vol. II, 1620-1666

Adam Winthrop annotated almanacs, 1603-1621

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Miss Clara Bowdoin Winthrop in 1924.

These three almanacs, annotated by Adam Winthrop, have been microfilmed in chronological order with the Winthrop family annotated almanacs above.

Reel 44Vol. 63a
1603
Reel 44Vol. 62
1614
Reel 44Vol. 63
1621
Reel 44Vol. 70
Francisco Kiesero, Cabala Chymica, 1606

This 1606 chemistry book was owned by John Winthrop, F.R.S. Only the two pages containing his signatures and one page of manuscript notes on nature have been included in this microfilm.

Reel 44Vol. 89
Michael Maier, Arcana Arcanissima hoc est Hieroglyphica..., 1614

Michael Maier, considered the most learned chemist of his day, was an alchemist, a defender of the Rosicrucians, the physician and private secretary to Emperor Rudolf II, the physician to Landgrave Moritz of Hesse, and a voluminous writer. This copy of Arcana Arcanissima includes, on its title page, the signature of John Winthrop, F.R.S., and John Dee's "hieroglyphic monad" (a composite of the alchemical symbols for mercury, gold, and silver), adopted by John Winthrop, Jr. and later used by John Winthrop, F.R.S. Because of the number of annotated pages, the entire volume has been microfilmed.

Winthrop Bibles, 1611-1682

Acquired by Robert C. Winthrop in July 1873. Deposited at the Massachusetts Historical Society by Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. in 1920.

Only the notes and annotated pages in each volume have been microfilmed.

Reel 44
Adam Winthrop Bible, [1611-1619]

For the history of this Bible, once owned by Adam Winthrop (1548-1623), see the notes by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. inside its front cover. In 1855, Robert C. Winthrop attempted to purchase this Bible from George Livermore, whose letter of refusal follows Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s notes.

Reel 44
"Silver" Bible, 1680-1682

Bound together within the 16th-century cover of this "Silver" Bible (so called because of its silver cover) are the Old Testament of 1680 and the New Testament of 1682, both printed at Oxford. For the history of this Bible, see Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s notes at the end of the volume.

Reel 44Vol. 71
Petrus Cunaeus, Encomium Moriae, 1617

This small Latin volume belonged to John Winthrop, F.R.S., but also has other names written on its title page. Only this page and a brief note by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. have been microfilmed. A number of marginal annotations (Latin translations of Greek phrases) in an unknown hand have not been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 64
Book of Common Prayer, Greek New Testament, and Psalms, 1625-1626

Bound together in this volume are The Booke of Common Prayer (London, 1625), the New Testament in Greek (without title page or date), and The Whole Book of Psalmes: Collected into English Meeter (London, 1626). Included on the flyleaf are Greek words and the signature of Forth Winthrop. Robert C. Winthrop has added a note inside the front cover. Only this note and the few annotated pages have been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 66
William Alabaster, Roxana Tragaedia, London, 1632

This book is not a Winthrop heirloom, but was purchased by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. in 1880. Only his bookplate and notes at the beginning of the volume have been microfilmed. A few underlined passages and several brief annotations in an unknown hand have not been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 92
A Sacred Vow and Covenant Taken by the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament..., London, 1643

This 6-page pamphlet contains the "Vow and Covenant" against Popish plots taken by members of Parliament on 6 June 1643; a list of those who took the oath; and the "Vow and Covenant" to be taken by the armies and kingdoms. Robert C. Winthrop wrote an introduction to the pamphlet. Only Winthrop's notes and the title page have been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 88a
George Hutcheson, A Brief Exposition of the Prophecies of Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, London, 1654

Only the title page of this volume, with the name of John Winthrop, F.R.S., has been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 90a
John Flavell, Husbandry Spiritualized: or, The Heavenly Use of Earthly Things, London, 1678

This volume belonged to John Winthrop, F.R.S., whose signature appears on the flyleaf. Only this page, the title page, and two loose scraps of papers with annotations have been microfilmed.

Cotton Mather funeral sermons, 1710-1717

Reel 44Vol. 67
Winthropi Justa, Boston, 1710

This volume is a reprint of the sermon preached by Cotton Mather at the funeral of Fitz-John Winthrop, Dec. 1707. Only the signature of Robert C. Winthrop, the bookplate and note of Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., a letter from Gov. Joseph Dudley to Wait Winthrop about the funeral, and the title page have been included in this microfilm.

Reel 44Vol. 67a
Hades Look'd Into, Boston, 1717

This sermon was preached by Cotton Mather at the funeral of Wait Winthrop. Only the bookplate and signatures of Robert C. Winthrop and the title page have been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 89a
Roger Wolcott, Poetical Meditations, New-London, 1725

Poetical Meditations by Roger Wolcott, later deputy governor and governor of Connecticut, was the first volume of verse published in Connecticut. The longest of the poems is entitled "A Brief Account of the Agency of the Honourable John Winthrop, Esq; in the Court of King Charles the Second, Anno. Dom. 1662. When he Obtained for the Colony of Connecticut His Majesty's Gracious Charter." Only brief notes by Robert C. Winthrop and Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. and the title page have been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 90
[James Bowdoin], A Paraphrase on Part of the Oeconomy of Human Life, Boston, 1759

This copy of Gov. James Bowdoin's book was presented to Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple Winthrop by her aunt Sarah (Bowdoin) Bowdoin in 1812. Only her inscription on the flyleaf and the title page have been microfilmed.

Prof. John Winthrop papers, 1759-1779

Reel 44Vol. 69
Prof. John Winthrop, Two Lectures on Comets, Boston, 1759

This lecture was given by Prof. John Winthrop at Harvard College in Apr. 1759 shortly after the appearance of Halley's Comet. Only the page with his inscription and the title page have been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 91a
Funeral sermons, 1779

Once owned by William Winthrop (1753-1825). Presented by Hugh Blair Grigsby to Robert C. Winthrop in 1860.

Bound together in this volume are a number of tributes and sermons occasioned by the death of Prof. John Winthrop. Included are Samuel Langdon's The High Value of a Great and Good Name, Edward Wigglesworth's The Hope of Immortality, Simeon Howard's Christians No Cause to be Ashamed of Their Religion, and Stephen Sewall's A Funeral Oration. The entire volume has been microfilmed.

Reel 44Vol. 108
"The Croakers," [1819-1833]

From 10 Mar.-24 July 1819, the New York Evening Post published a series of poems signed "Croaker," "Croaker, Jr.," or "Croaker & Co." The poems were written by Joseph Rodman Drake and Fitz-Greene Halleck and copied by a friend, the apothecary Dr. Langstaff. In order to conceal the authors' identities, they were sent to the paper by mail or delivered by Benjamin R. Winthrop (1804-1879), Halleck's fellow clerk in Jacob Barker's counting house. This manuscript copy of the poems is written in an unidentified hand.

Robert C. Winthrop scrapbooks, 1833-1890s

These three scrapbooks, bound as two, contain newspaper clippings and other papers documenting the career of Robert C. Winthrop. The first scrapbook consists primarily of clippings from his years in the Massachusetts General Court, 1834-1840, and the U.S. Congress, 1840-1851. Winthrop copied several of his early political speeches into the first part of this volume and made annotations throughout.

The second scrapbook contains a variety of clippings in no particular order, many undated. Included are clippings related to Winthrop's public career or political associations, as well as others reporting his numerous speeches; printing letters he wrote to newspapers, individuals, or institutions; marking his birthdays or other family occasions; and reviewing his book Life and Letters of John Winthrop.

Reel 44Vol. 41
1833-1858
Reel 44Vol. 40
ca. 1850s-1890s

Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. scrapbooks, [ca. 1837-1900]

The first of these three scrapbooks kept by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. contains clippings related to his father, obituaries of members of the family, reviews of books, and miscellaneous materials. The other two scrapbooks contain newspaper pictures; photographs and engravings; programs of concerts, plays, balls, college exhibitions, and commencements; and a number of invitations and miscellaneous clippings.

Reel 45Vol. 87
"Miscellaneous scrapbook, begun in my childhood, continued at intervals..."
Reel 45Vol. 86
Clippings and other memorabilia/ephemera
Reel 45Vol. 85
"Miscellaneous clippings for reference"

Pamphlets, 1837-1895

These pamphlets, some of them rare, were bound together in three volumes by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Two volumes contain pamphlets written by Robert C. Winthrop or related to his public career. The third volume consists of a group of miscellaneous pamphlets related to the Winthrop family. For information on specific pamphlets included, see the table of contents at the beginning of each volume, written by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Only the tables of contents, Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s notes, and scattered annotated pages have been included in this microfilm.

Reel 45Vol. 39a
Pamphlets by or about Robert C. Winthrop, 1837-1894
Reel 45Vol. 39b
Pamphlets by or about Robert C. Winthrop, 1848-1895
Reel 45Vol. 75
Pamphlets related to the Winthrop family and its connections, 1844-1895

Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. papers related to Phillips Academy and Harvard College, 1847-1855

These two volumes document the years spent by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. at Phillips Academy, Andover, 1847-1850, and Harvard College, 1850-1855.

Reel 45Vol. 83
Miscellaneous printed matter related to Phillips Academy and Harvard College

Bound together in this volume are catalogs, exhibition and commencement programs, and a list of classes. Only annotated pages have been microfilmed.

Reel 45Vol. 84
Harvard College photograph album

Removed to MHS Photo Archives.

This volume contains pictures of the Harvard College president and faculty members, Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s classmates, and friends in other classes. Also included are clippings or obituaries, reunion programs and dinner menus, and letters from classmates. The entire volume has been microfilmed.

Reel 45Vol. 55a
Zachary Taylor inaugural address, 1849-1889

Given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Robert C. Winthrop in Mar. 1877.

On 5 Mar. 1849, Robert C. Winthrop accompanied Gen. Zachary Taylor to the Capitol for his inauguration as president of the United States. On the ride back to the White House after the ceremony, Taylor gave Winthrop the printer's proof sheets of his inaugural address, with his corrections. Winthrop had the address bound in its present form in 1877.

Included with this volume are papers inserted at a later date, including an 1876 letter from Taylor's son Richard to Robert C. Winthrop and two pages from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1889, both referring to a letter from Zachary Taylor to James Buchanan vindicating his conduct in the Mexican War.

Reel 45
Mount Pleasant Academy programs, 1856-1857

Included are the 12th and 13th anniversary programs of Mount Pleasant Academy, Sing Sing, N.Y. Benjamin R. Winthrop, Jr. (b. 1843) attended Mount Pleasant Academy in 1857 (and perhaps also in 1856) and had a speaking part in the 13th anniversary exercises. Only the page with Winthrop's signature and notes and the title pages of the two programs have been microfilmed.

Reel 45Vol. 73
Catalogue of the Winthrop Library, 1861, annotated in 1874

Before his death, Francis Bayard Winthrop gave to the New York Society library a collection of books, most of which had belonged to John Winthrop, Jr. In 1861, the New York Society published this catalog, which Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. annotated in 1874. The volume also contains several later notes on Winthrop books.

Reel 45Vol. 78
John R. Bartlett, History of the Wanton family of Newport, Rhode Island, Providence, 1878

Mary Winthrop (1708-1767), daughter of John Winthrop, F.R.S., married Joseph Wanton. This history of the Wanton family by John Russell Bartlett was published in the Rhode Island Historical Tracts and presented to Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Only his bookplate, the title pages, and two pages annotated by him have been microfilmed.

Robert C. Winthrop obituary notices, 1894-1901

Clippings in Vol. 42 and a few in Vol. 43 were assembled and arranged for Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. by a New York news agent; others in Vol. 43 he added himself.

Reel 45Vol. 42
Vol. I, 17-29 Nov. 1894
Reel 45Vol. 43
Vol. II, 1894-1901

This volume contains tributes to Robert C. Winthrop, resolutions of societies to which he belonged, and several non-obituary clippings. Other papers relate to his son John Winthrop (1841-1895) of Stockbridge, Mass., including one page of obituary notices and a tribute by the Lenox Club.

Reel 45Box 51
Unbound miscellaneous material, 1706-1889

This miscellaneous material includes bookplates, photographs, copies of inscriptions, printed articles, and drawings related to several generations of the Winthrop family, as well as newspaper clippings reporting events of 1880 connected with the 250th anniversary of the founding of Boston.

V. Bowdoin and Temple papers, 1580-1900

A. Loose manuscripts, 1580-1900

Reel 46Box 53
1580-Sep. 1768
Reel 46Box 54
Oct.-Dec. 1768
Reel 47Box 54
1769-1771
Reel 47Box 55
1772-1775
Reel 48Box 55
1776-Apr. 1778
Reel 48Box 56
May 1778-1782
Reel 48Box 57
1783
Reel 49Box 57
1784-June 1786
Reel 49Box 58
July 1786-1787
Reel 50Box 58
1788-1793
Reel 50Box 59
1794-1806
Reel 51Box 60
1807-1840
Reel 51Box 61
1841-1900

B. Bound volumes, 1748-1813

This subseries contains letterbooks, accounts, estate settlements, genealogical information, and miscellaneous memoranda.

Reel 52Vol. 25b
"Bowdoin memoranda," undated

This volume contains miscellaneous memoranda, compiled at different times by James Winthrop Bowdoin, Robert C. Winthrop, and Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Memoranda relate primarily to Pierre Baudouin, James Bowdoin I, Gov. James Bowdoin, James Bowdoin III, and their families, although the volume also includes a few notes on other American Bowdoins and Baudouins of France. The table of contents was created by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.

Reel 52Vol. 27b
"Miscellaneous memoranda concerning John Temple," undated

This volume consists primarily of excerpts from various printed works about the career of Sir John Temple. The volume was compiled by Robert C. Winthrop, with a table of contents by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.

Reel 52Vol. 30
"Memorandum of public events," 1760-1769

This volume lists important public events of the years 1760-1769, compiled by Rev. Amos Adams of Roxbury for James Bowdoin III from the records of the Massachusetts General Court.

Reel 52Vol. 28
Bowdoin letterbook, 1748-1797

In this book, Gov. James Bowdoin kept copies of his business and official letters from 1759-1790, most of them written in his own hand. His son James Bowdoin III used the letterbook from 1790-1797. The volume also contains a few accounts, 1748-1751, and a rough index.

Reel 52Vol. 26a
Gov. James Bowdoin cash book, 1765-1781

This volume contains Gov. James Bowdoin's accounts of money spent and received from 1765-1781.

Reel 52Vol. 26
"Temple papers," 1762-1768

This volume contains copies of the correspondence of John Temple, as surveyor-general of customs for the Northern District, with other customs commissioners and the home government, as well as a list of the "Establishment of the Northern District," 1 Nov. 1766. Also included are miscellaneous papers of the same period and two manuscript notebooks entitled: "Mr. Cockles Suspension with the whole of his, & Governor Bernards proceedings relating to the Anguilla Forgeries..." (1764) and "Governor Bernards Conduct Relating to the Riot & Robbery at Taunton..." (1765).

The "large folio volume" of Bowdoin and Temple papers, 1725-1768, mentioned by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. on the cover of this volume has been disbound and its contents incorporated into Series V.A. Loose manuscripts.

Reel 53Vol. 27
"Temple papers," 1767-1770

This volume consists of 11 notebooks bound together, with a table of contents by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Included are copies of letters of John Temple as surveyor-general of customs, as well as copies of proceedings and other papers related to the Board of Customs Commissioners, Northern District.

Reel 53Vol. 28a
Papers related to Gov. James Bowdoin's estate, 1790-1798

This volume contains accounts related to the settlement of Gov. James Bowdoin's estate, with original signatures of the legatees on some of the receipts.

Reel 53Vol. 28b
Papers related to Elizabeth Erving Bowdoin's estate, 1803-1805

This volume contains a memorandum of the real estate holdings of James Bowdoin III, 1 Jan. 1805; a copy of the will of Elizabeth Erving Bowdoin, wife of Gov. James Bowdoin; and accounts related to the settlement of her estate, with the signatures of James Bowdoin III and Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple as executors.

Reel 53Vol. 29a
Papers related to Lady Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple's estate, 1809-1812 [2 copies]

These two volumes contain copies of the will of Sir John Temple's wife, Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple, and accounts related to the division of her estate. The volumes are essentially the same, with only a few differences: the first volume contains a detailed inventory of the contents of Lady Temple's house; signatures of the legatees on receipts for division of the estate; penciled notes, in the hand of Thomas L. Winthrop, on the division and disposition of certain pieces of real estate; and a note by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. on the Temple farm at Pulling Point (the present Winthrop, Mass.). The second volume contains the appraisers' memorandum of Lady Temple's Suffolk County real estate. The pagination of the volumes does not match.

Reel 53Vol. 29b
Papers related to Hon. James Bowdoin's estate, 1811-1813

This volume contains a copy of the will of James Bowdoin III and accounts related to the division of his estate. Loose papers inserted into the volume include the executors' account, 8 Nov. 1813, and an inventory of real estate, household furnishings, and books.

C. Miscellaneous papers, 1682-1899

These miscellaneous papers consist primarily of genealogical information on the American members of the Temple family from Temple Prime's Some Account of the Temple Family (1887-1899), annotated by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., and a small group of related Winthrop family papers. These items include: "Bowdoin Pedigree: Notes Concerning the Supposed Ancestry of Pierre Baudouin," by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.; a photograph of the coverlet, ca. 1682, brought from LaRochelle by Pierre Baudouin and now located at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; a photograph and notes by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. on the Bowdoin vault in the Granary Burying Ground, Boston; copies of memoranda in the Bowdoin and Temple Bibles; material related to Capt. Robert Temple; notes on members of the Temple family in the time of Charles I; and a Bowdoin College bookplate.

Reel 53Box 61Vol. 76

Materials Not Included on Microfilm

Listed below are items in the Winthrop family papers that have not been included on the microfilm of the collection.

Box 50
Miscellaneous 20th-century Winthrop correspondence
Vol. 29
"Copies, from different sources, -- of Bowdoin & Temple papers, 1772-1792, and Bowdoin papers, 1804-1808"
Vol. 44
Joseph James Muskett, Evidences of the Winthrops of Groton..., privately printed, 1894-1896
Vol. 44b
Joseph James Muskett, Suffolk Manorial Families

Vol. 44b is missing from this collection.

Vol. 48
Mrs. Grenville Temple Winthrop autograph collection, Vol. III: "British Sovereigns, Princes, etc."
Vol. 50
Mrs. Grenville Temple Winthrop autograph collection, Vol. V: "Sovereigns of France, Continental, miscellaneous"
Vol. 51
Mrs. Grenville Temple Winthrop autograph collection, Vol. VI: "The Bonapartes, French marshals, etc."
Vol. 52 (XT)
Mrs. Grenville Temple Winthrop autograph collection, Vol. VII: "French and Continental"
Vol. 68
[Cotton Mather], Winthropi Justa, Boston, 1708
Vol. 72a
Joseph James Muskett, Evidences of the Winthrops of Groton..., privately printed, 1894-1896

Vol. 72a is missing from this collection.

Vol. 75a
[Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.], A Difference of Opinion Concerning the Reasons Why Katharine Winthrop Refused to Marry Chief Justice Sewall, Boston, 1885
Vol. 77
Memoirs of Sir Robert Naunton, Knt., London, 1814
Vol. 93
James Bowdoin's copies of John Winthrop, Jr. correspondence
Vol. 95
Governor Trumbull's copy of John Winthrop journal
Vol. 96
"Savage's manuscript copy of John Winthrop's Journal"
Vol. 99a
"Maltese Antiquities" broadside advertising a book by William Winthrop
Vol. 100
G. Owen writings on Welsh families
Vol. 101
"Welsh pedigrees or genealogy of Welsh families"
Vol. 102
John Winthrop, Letters to a Son, undated
Vol. 106 (XT)
Robert C. Winthrop's copies of John Winthrop/Peter Stuyvesant correspondence

This volume was prepared by Robert C. Winthrop for his cousin Benjamin Winthrop.

Vol. 111
Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., "Memoranda connected with the settlement of my father's estate"

This volume is blank, with some pages torn out.

Vol. 114
Photograph album, Winthrop's Cove, New London
Vol. 115
Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. recipe book, Boston
Vol. 116
Inventory of Lanthorne Hill
Vol. 117
[Clara B. Winthrop], "The Alibi" guestbook/autograph book
Vol. 118
Clara B. Winthrop, "Flights of Pegasus" poetry book
Vol. 119
Clara B. Winthrop poetry book
Vol. 120
[Clara B. Winthrop] postcard album
Vol. 121
Clara B. Winthrop postcard album
Vol. 122
Clara B. Winthrop scrapbook
Vol. 123
Clara B. Winthrop passports (2)
Vol. 124
[Clara B. Winthrop] postcard/photograph album
Vol. 125
Clara B. Winthrop postcard/photograph/memorabilia album

Preferred Citation

Winthrop family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Bowdoin family.
Temple family.
Winthrop family--Genealogy.
Winthrop, Clara Bowdoin.
Winthrop, Fitz-John, 1638-1707.
Winthrop, Grenville Temple, Mrs.
Winthrop, John, 1588-1649.
Winthrop, John, 1606-1676.
Winthrop, John, 1681-1747.
Winthrop, John, 1714-1779.
Winthrop, Robert C. (Robert Charles), 1809-1894.
Winthrop, Robert C. (Robert Charles), 1834-1905.
Winthrop, Thomas L. (Thomas Lindall), 1760-1841.
Winthrop, Wait Still, 1643-1717.

Organizations:

Connecticut--Governor (1657-1676 : Winthrop).
Connecticut--Governor (1698-1707 : Winthrop).
Harvard University--Faculty.

Subjects:

Account books.
Autographs--Collections.
Family history--1600-1899.
Massachusetts--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
Massachusetts--Politics and government--To 1775.
Medicine.
Scrapbooks.
Voyages and travels.

Materials Removed from the Collection

Photographs from this collection have been removed to the MHS Photo Archives.