Letter Book, Vol. II, 1771 June 29-1774 March 30 Digital

Contains copies of letters from Caleb Gannett to merchants, other ministers, and politicians, dated June 29, 1771-March 30, 1774, mainly regarding the impact on his Fort Cumberland parish by the arrival of Church of England missionary John Eagleson, and Eagleson’s attempts to claim Gannett’s glebe lands.

Correspondents include Boston merchant Henry Bass, Congregational clergyman Charles Chauncy (1705-1787; Harvard AB 1721, AM 1724), Jotham Gay, Reverend Simeon Howard, Malachy Salter, Nova Scotia judge and politician Joshua Winslow (1726-1801), Reverend Samuel Webster (1718-1796; Harvard AB 1737), Connecticut minister John Marsh (1742-1821; Harvard AB 1761), and Nova Scotia residents Deacon Simeon Chester, William Allan, his son, politician John Allan (1747-1805), who later served in the Massachusetts Militia during the Revolutionary War, and John Huston. There is an index of names on the last page of the volume.

Gannett writes about Eagleson’s legal efforts to eject him from his glebe lands, his thoughts on leaving the ministry in Fort Cumberland, the dwindling number of his parishioners, and finally, requesting dismission from his parish. Upon his return to Massachusetts in the fall of 1771, Gannett’s correspondence continued to focus on Eagleson. He sent a long account of Eagleson and the situation in Fort Cumberland, salaries of school masters, and the number of Episcopal ministers in Nova Scotia, to Reverend Chauncey, hoping he would help publish it.

He wrote several letters to the residents of Fort Cumberland in response to a supplication from his parish, claiming that it was improbable that circumstances would allow him to return as long as the provincial government favored Church of England ministers over dissenting Congregationalists.

Other topics relate to news about Harvard, friends, and acquaintances, and politics and unrest in the colonies. He comments on the mental health of James Otis (1725-1783; Harvard AB 1743), a lawyer and advocate for independence, who “behaved so outrageously in town,” he was sent to Nantasket under the care of a Captain Souter. He discusses taking up residence at Harvard in 1772, delays in choosing a College Librarian, and the challenges of his work as a tutor in Natural Philosophy and Mathematics. Gannett also comments on the abrupt resignation of Samuel Locke as Harvard president in 1773 after it was discovered he had an affair with his maid.

A number of letters to Jotham Gay, who had power of attorney for Gannett in Fort Cumberland, relate to settling his affairs there, including issuance of a quitclaim deed for Gannett’s house. In another letter to Gay, Gannett offered his thoughts on the colonists’ resolve regarding the Tea Act and what might happen if it were repealed.

Gannett wrote to Joshua Winslow regarding the debate over the independence of judges, argued by the Loyalist William Brattle (1706-1776; Harvard AB 1722) and John Adams, in a series of essays the two men published in the Boston Gazette in the winter of 1773.

In a letter to John Huston, Gannett relays the “tribulation” of Boston merchant Joshua Winslow (1737-1775), one of the consignees appointed by the East India Company to accept tea the firm shipped to Boston in the fall of 1773. Winslow sent his resignation to fellow consignee Benjamin Faneuil, Jr., after he became aware of the extent of public opposition to the Tea Act, and sought advice on how to make his resignation known. Included is an account of the Boston Tea Party. Regarding the protest, Gannett wrote, “This spirit has run like wild fire through the Continent.”

Gannett responded to a request by Reverend Webster to locate copies of Dudleian lectures on Presbyterian ordination in February 1774. Gannett writes that he found two copies in the College Archives and a third in the Library, and that he tried to comply with Webster’s request without transcribing the greater part of each sermon. Webster was likely conducting research ahead of his own Dudleian lecture, delivered in September 1774. Gannett also mentions the search for a new Harvard president, noting acting President John Winthrop (1714-1779; Harvard AB 1732) had declined, and Reverend Samuel Cooper (1725-1783; Harvard AB 1743) was elected, but had not yet accepted the post.