Peabody, Ephraim, 1807-1856. Autograph Book, 1662-1849.

This collection consists of a volume of autograph letters and signatures kept by Ephraim Peabody and arranged "with pious care by his wife as a token of her affection." The material covers the period from 1662 to 1849, and includes letters from many leading Unitarian ministers of this period including Henry Whitney Bellows, William Ellery Channing, Convers Francis, Ezra S. Gannett, Andrews Norton, Theodore Parker, George Ripley, Henry Ware, and Henry Ware, Jr. The volume was given to the library of the American Unitarian Association, October 24, 1928, by Francis G. Peabody. The volume was taken apart and the letters arranged alphabetically in separate acid free folders. All the letters are addressed to Peabody unless otherwise noted.

The eighteenth century materials in this collection consist of sermons written by John Williams in 1727; the Rev. David Hall (1704-1789; Harvard AB, 1724) of Sutton, Massachusetts in1730; and Samuel Dunbar in 1778. The collection also includes fragments of four sermons and religious notes attributed to Rev. Stephen Williams (1693-1782; Harvard AB 1713) of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, in 1721, and a document with two 1798 letters between Rev. Samuel Foxcroft (1735-1807; Harvard AB 1754) of New Gloucester, Maine and Rev. Eli Forbes (1726-1804); Harvard AB 1751) of Gloucester, Massachusetts, concerning the printing of a religious book. There is also a sermon from 1662 by an unknown author.