Overview
Edward Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829) and John Holyoke (1733/4-1753) were children of Harvard's ninth President Edward Holyoke (1689-1769) and Margaret Appleton Holyoke (d. 1740). Edward Augustus and John grew up in Cambridge and received undergraduate degrees from the College in 1746 and 1751, respectively. After graduation, Edward Augustus Holyoke received an AM from Harvard in 1749 and practiced medicine in Salem, Massachusetts. John Holyoke was studying law when he died of illness in 1753. The Holyoke family diaries contain the annotated interleaved almanacs that Edward Augustus and John used to enter short and sporadic notes during the 1740s, primarily recordings their daily lives as college students at Harvard.
Dates
- Creation: 1742-1748
Researcher Access
The Holyoke family diaries are open for research.
Copying Restriction
Copying of fragile materials may be limited.
Extent
.17 cubic feet (6 volumes in 1 half document box)The Holyoke family diaries contain the annotated interleaved almanacs that Edward Augustus Holyoke and John Holyoke used to enter short and sporadic notes during the 1740s, primarily while they were college students at Harvard.
The diaries consists of brief entries, usually a sentence in length recording daily events including community news, astronomical occurrences, the weather, trips and visitors, holidays, birthdays, illnesses, deaths, and academic life at Harvard. Notably, the diaries contains references to local murders, the Boston Knowles Riot of November 1747, and the beginning of King George's War. There are rare references to African Americans including mentions of Juba, an enslaved person in the Holyoke household.
The volumes offer a resource for studying the daily activities of a Harvard student, as well as life in eighteenth century Cambridge.
These diaries are transcribed and published in The Holyoke diaries, 1709-1856 (Salem, MA : Essex Institute, 1911), edited by George Francis Dow.
Biographical Note
Edward Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829) and John Holyoke (1733/4-1753) were children of Harvard's ninth President Edward Holyoke (1689-1769) and Margaret Appleton Holyoke (d. 1740). Both sons were born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where their father held a pulpit, before moving into Harvard's Wadsworth house in 1736. Edward Augustus and John grew up in Cambridge and graduated from the College in 1746 and 1751, respectively.
Detailed biographical information about Edward Augustus and John Holyoke is included at the series level.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series:
- Diaries of Edward Augustus Holyoke, 1742-1747
- Diary of John Holyoke, 1748
Acquisition information
The 1747 Edward Augustus Holyoke diary was the gift of Frederick L. Gay of Boston in 1911. All other diaries in the collection were donated by Joshua Ward Jr., grandson of Edward Augustus Holyoke and received on July 20, 1846.
Online access
All of the diaries have been digitized and are available online. Links accompany detailed descriptions.
References
- Dow, George Francis, ed. The Holyoke Diaries, 1709-1856. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911).
Inventory update
This document last updated 2021 July 26.
Processing Information
The material was first classified and described in the Harvard University Archives shelflist prior to 1980 as two separate collections. The material was re-processed in 2010 and reclassified as HUM 46. A list of superceded call numbers is available at the end of the finding aid. Re-processing involved a collection survey, re-housing in appropriate archival folders and boxes, and the creation of this finding aid.
This finding aid was created by Diann Benti in July 2010.
Preservation and description of the Holyoke family diaries was supported by the Arcadia-funded project Harvard in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
- Title
- Holyoke family. Holyoke family diaries, 1742-1748: an inventory
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua26010
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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