Letters from Timothy Boutelle, 1801 Digital

Contains correspondence from Timothy Boutelle to Lemuel Shaw, dated 1801, written from Leicester, Massachusetts, and his home town of Leominster. Topics include a graduation ceremony for students at Leicester Academy, where Boutelle was a teacher; the absence of good books and friendship in his life; his interactions with women; a former classmate’s opinion of Harvard’s governance; the subjects studied by his female pupils and their scholastic abilities; reprimand of one a student for growing his beard too long; plans to attend Harvard commencement; and the “numerous errors of my education” at Harvard, which Boutelle wrote were more clear in hindsight. He frequently ruminated on his future law career, and the advantages and expenses of studying in Boston, which Boutelle was unable to afford; he instead studied in Leominster with Abijah Bigelow (1775-1860). Boutelle also offers his opinions of William Blackstone and the merits and challenges of reading English law, and responds to Shaw’s suggestions and opinions on legal questions.