The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
CredoResearch digital collections in Credo

Collecting area: Massachusetts (East)

Cushing, Job, 1785-1867

Job Cushing Account Book

1826-1863
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 207 bd

Farmer from Cohasset, a shipbuilding and fishing town in eastern Massachusetts. Includes customer accounts, the services he performed (such as plowing up and hauling field stones to the wharf, and carting wood, merchandise, and iron), products he sold (potatoes and calves), and documentation of a hired Irish-born laborer.

Subjects

Ballast (Ships)Cattle--Massachusetts--Marketing--HistoryCohasset (Mass.)--HistoryFarmers--Massachusetts--CohassetJames, EleazarKilburn, WilliamMulvey, PatrickPotatoes--Massachusetts--MarketingStetson, MorganStoddard, ElliottTilden, Amos

Contributors

Cushing, Job, 1785-1867

Types of material

Account books
Cushing, Timothy

Timothy Cushing Account Book

1764-1845 Bulk: 1781-1806
2 vols. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 485 bd

A carpenter by trade and a farmer, Timothy Cushing lived in Cohasset, Massachusetts, throughout most of his adult life. Born on Feb 2, 1738, the eighth child of Samuel Cushing, a selectman and Justice of the Peace from the second district in Hingham (now Cohasset), Cushing married Desire Jenkins (b. 1745) on June 4, 1765, and raised a considerable family of eleven children. During the Revolutionary War, he served for a brief period in companies raised in Cohasset, but otherwise remained at home, at work, until his death on December 26, 1806.

Cushing’s accounts offer a fine record of the activities of a workaday carpenter during the first decades of the early American republic, reflecting both his remarkable industry and the flexibility with which he approached earning a living. The work undertaken by Cushing centers on two areas of activity — carpentry and farm work — but within those areas, the range of activities is quite broad. As a carpenter, Cushing set glass in windows, hung shutters, made coffins, hog troughs, and window seats; he worked on horse carts and sleds, barn doors, pulled down houses and framed them, made “a Little chair” and a table, painted sashes, hewed timber, made shingles, and worked on a dam. As a farm worker, he was regularly called upon to butcher calves and bullocks, to garden, mow hay, plow, make cider, and perform many other tasks, including making goose quill pens. The crops he records reflect the near-coastal setting: primarily flax, carrots, turnips, corn, and potatoes, with references throughout to cattle and sheep. During some periods, Cushing records selling fresh fish, including haddock and eels.

Subjects

Agricultural laborers--Massachusetts--Cohasset--18th centuryCarpenters--Massachusetts--Cohasset--18th centuryCohasset (Mass.)--Economic conditions--18th centuryCohasset (Mass.)--Economic conditions--18th century

Contributors

Cushing, Isaac, 1813-1891Cushing, Timothy, 1738-1806

Types of material

Account books
Dall Family

Dall Family Correspondence

1810-1843
2 boxes 2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 282

Chiefly correspondence from various Dall family members in Boston, Massachusetts, particularly father William Dall, Revolutionary War veteran, merchant, businessman and former Yale College writing master, to sons William and James Dall in Baltimore, Maryland. Letters of son James Dall, then a student at Harvard University, provide accounts of Boston political and cultural activities of the time.

The correspondence documents the daily changes in the life of a merchant’s family in the early 19th century, reflecting anxiety over trade restrictions, embargoes, and other economic disruptions resulting from the War of 1812. The elder Dall (William 3rd) and much of his family lived in Boston, but two sons lived in Baltimore. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters to the younger son, William 4th, who was then apprenticed to a Baltimore merchant. The letters of son James Dall, then a student at Harvard University, provide accounts of Boston political and cultural activities.

Acquired 1989

Subjects

Baltimore (Md.)--BiographyBaltimore (Md.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryBoston (Mass.)--BiographyBoston (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryBoston (Mass.)--Intellectual life--19th centuryBoston (Mass.)--Politics and government--19th centuryDall familyFamily--United States--History--19th centuryHarvard University--StudentsMerchants--Maryland--BaltimoreMerchants--Massachusetts--Boston

Contributors

Dall, James, 1781-1863Dall, John Robert, 1798-1851Dall, John, 1791-1852Dall, Joseph, 1801-1840Dall, Maria, 1783-1836Dall, Rebecca KeenDall, Sarah Keen, 1798-1878Dall, William, 1753-1829Dall, William, 1794 or 5-1875
Dartmouth Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends)

Dartmouth Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends) Records

1698-2010
2 boxes, 4 vols. 1.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 902 D378

Located in South Dartmouth, Mass., the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting is one of the oldest Friends meetings in the United States, having been founded by Quakers seeking a haven from religious persecution in nearby Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies. Private worship may have begun in area homes as early as the 1660s, with the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting formally established in 1699. Today, the Meeting has two distinct meetings: the pastoral Smith Neck Meetinghouse and the Apponegansett Meetinghouse.

The records of Dartmouth Monthly Meeting are divided into two centers of gravity. First, the collection contains nineteenth century copies of the meeting’s early minutes (1698-1792) and vital records covering most of that period. Secondly, the collection contains to the meeting since the late 1960s, including minutes (1968-1989) and newsletter (1999-2005). The remaining records of the meeting — the bulk of them — are maintained by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and available online.

Gift of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, April 2017

Subjects

Dartmouth (Mass.)--Religious life and customsQuakers--MassachusettsSociety of Friends--Massachusetts

Contributors

New England Yearly Meeting of FriendsSmith Neck Monthly Meeting of Friends

Types of material

Minutes (Administrative records)NewslettersVital records (Document genre)
Dethlefsen, Edwin S.

Edwin S. Dethlefsen Photograph Collection

ca.1965-1970
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: PH 020
Depiction of Abigail Holman, d. 1702, Milton, Mass.
Abigail Holman, d. 1702, Milton, Mass.

Edwin S. Dethlefsen and his colleague James Deetz did pioneering work in the historical archaeology and material culture of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century gravestones in New England. Through a series of articles in the mid-1960s, based on intensive study of well documented sites in Massachusetts, Deetz and Dethlefsen developed a basic framework for understanding the stylistic evolution of gravestones. Their work was foundational for later studies in material culture and folk art, but also the broader study of death and bereavement and colonial culture.

The Dethlefsen Collection consists of nearly 2,900 negatives (black and white, 35m and 2×2″) of gravestones, primarily from eastern Massachusetts and Newport, R.I. Among the towns documented are Boston, Cambridge, Charlestown, Concord, Dorchester, Harvard, Lexington, Marblehead, Marshfield, Plymouth, Quincy, and Scituate.

Subjects

Sepulchral monuments--MassachusettsSepulchral monuments--Rhode IslandStone carving--MassachusettsStone carving--Rhode Island

Contributors

Association for Gravestone StudiesDethlefsen, Edwin S

Types of material

Photographs
Dobrowski, Elaine H.

Elaine H. Dobrowski Collection

ca.1935-1995
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 376
Depiction of Ogniko Polek (Polish Women's Club) at Blinstrub's Village nightclub, 1950
Ogniko Polek (Polish Women's Club) at Blinstrub's Village nightclub, 1950

Deeply involved in the Polish community in Boston, Elaine (Proborszcz) Dobrowski (1923-2009) was the wife of attorney Francis R. Dobrowksi and mother of two children. She was a resident of Dorchester and Milton, Mass., and a long-time member of Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in South Boston.

Compiled by Elaine Dobrowski, this collection of photographs, printed materials, and news clippings documents the Polish community in Boston from the 1930s through the 1990s. The collection includes photographs of the Kosciusko Monument in the Boston Public Gardens, a children’s dance festival, and a Polish Women’s circle outing at Blinstrub’s Village as well as images of parades, receptions, and conventions.

Gift of Elain H. Dobrowski, Jan. 1995.
Language(s): pol

Subjects

Boston (Mass.)--Social life and customsPolish Americans--Massachusetts

Types of material

Photographs
Drake, Friend

Friend Drake Daybook

1856-1878
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 622 bd

For most of his adult life, Capt. Friend Drake (1799-1882) farmed his property in Sharon, Mass., and raised a large family. Drake appears to have married twice, having three children with his first wife Sarah, and 10 with his second wife Sally. His son Melzar relocated to Texas in 1858 and served in the Confederate 24th Texas Cavalry during the Civil War.

Primarily a record of small purchases and labor, this daybook was kept by Friend Drake and his son Melzar — apparently interchangeably — during the years just prior to the Civil War. Interspersed throughout the text, however, are family references and interesting vignettes, including a mention of the great “Cold storm” of January 1857, which Drake called “the toughest storm I ever faced;” an agreement with a neighbor, allowing passage rights through a meadow in exchange for permission to take a valuable large white oak “root and branch;” and Melzar’s note from Oct. 25 1858 that his 121 year old grandfather Joseph Drake had died, just as Melzar was leaving for Texas.

Subjects

Farming--Massachusetts--SharonSharon (Mass.)--History

Types of material

Daybooks
Easton (Mass.)

Easton (Mass.) Physician's Daybook

1831-1833
1 vol. 0.15 linear feet
Call no.: MS 283 bd

The Bristol County, Massachusetts, towns of Easton and Norton had only a small number of trained physicians in the antebellum period tending to a growing population. During the 1830s, that number was probably less and ten, including those with allopathic medical degrees, alternative practitioners, and those who had irregular educations.

The unidentified physician who kept this daybook appears to have practiced in either Easton or Norton, Massachusetts, during the early 1830s. The daybook includes brief records of patient names and dates of visits, medical care dispensed, and minimal records of medical procedures.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1989

Subjects

Physicians--Massachusetts

Types of material

Daybooks
Econosmith

Econosmith Collection

1969-2019
1 box, digital files 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: PH 089
Depiction of Pete Seeger, 2006
Pete Seeger, 2006

A wife and husband team of photographers based in Provincetown, Mass., Maxine Smith and John Economos, known collectively as Econosmith, are photographers of the folk music scene, social action, and the landscape and people of outer Cape Cod. Social activists themselves, the Econosmiths were photographers for Pete Seeger during the last decade of his life and headed up the photography team at the Clearwater Festival, giving them unusual access to dozens of performers.

With compelling images of musicians in performance, the Economsmith collection is a rich visual record of the contemporary folk scene, with a special focus on Pete Seeger and the Clearwater Festival (also known as the Great Hudson River Revival). Over 90% of the images were born digital, with the remainder split between color negatives and 35mm. slides. The collection also includes photographs of antiwar demonstrations sparked by the Iraq War and images of the scenery and people of Provincetown and outer Cape Cod.

Gift of John Economos and Maxine Smith, April 2019

Subjects

Cape Cod (Mass.)--PhotographsClearwater Festival--PhotographsDemonstrations--New York (State)--New York--PhotographsDemonstrations--Washington (D.C.)--PhotographsFolk musicFolk musicians--PhotographsIraq War, 2003-2011--Protest movements--PhotographsPeace movements--PhotographsSeeger, Pete, 1919-2004--Photographs

Contributors

Economos, JohnSmith, Maxine

Types of material

Photographs
Eshbach, Charles E.

Charles E. and M. Sybil Hartley Eshbach Papers

1913-1963
30 boxes 25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 886
Depiction of Charles Eshbach on pony, ca.1915
Charles Eshbach on pony, ca.1915

Charles Edgar Eshbach, Jr., a 1937 graduate of Massachusetts State College, and Maude Sybil Hartley met in late 1939, while she was a student at Simmons College and he was working for the New England Radio News Service, part of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. They soon began dating and in February 1941 were engaged. After graduating in 1942, Sybil lived at home in Rochester, Mass., and taught school. Charles was drafted and enlisted in the army December 30, 1942. Trained as a radio operator, he was assigned to the Army Air Force Technical Training Command’s 326th Signal Co. Wing. Charles and Sybil married in September of 1943, and by November, Charles was in England, part of the 67th Fighter Wing stationed at Walcot Hall in Lincolnshire. Although not in combat, Charles rose to the rank of Technical Sergeant. He returned to the U.S. in December 1945. He and Sybil moved to Weymouth and had four children. Charles was appointed professor of Agricultural Economics at UMass in 1959. The family moved to Amherst in 1964, as Charles’ department was transforming into the Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration Department. He taught at UMass until 1986, when he retired. He died in 1997. Sybil worked at the University store for thirty years and died in 2009.

Consisting chiefly of their letters to each other, the Eshbach Papers vividly document the courtship and early married life of Charles and Sybil, particularly during their long separation, against a wartime backdrop. The collection also contains diaries, photograph albums, loose photographs, histories and rosters from Charles’ army unit, and a variety of ephemera and memorabilia such as ration tickets, receipts, programs, and Charles’ army badges and dog tags.

Gift of Aimee E. Newell, Nov. 2015

Subjects

4-H clubsEngland--Description and travelSimmons College (Boston, Mass.)United States. Agricultural Marketing ServiceUnited States. Army Air Forces. Technical Training CommandWorld War, 1939-1945

Contributors

Eshbach, M. Sybil Hartley

Types of material

DiariesEphemeraLetters (Correspondence)Photograph albumsPhotographs