Skip to main content
COLLECTION Identifier: bMS 682

Lowell, Charles, 1782-1861. Annotated volumes of the Massachusetts Register,

Overview

Annotated volumes of the Massachusetts Register by minister, Charles Lowell. The volumes span 1814-1824.

Dates

  • Creation: 1814-1824.

Access

There are no restrictions on access to this collection.

Extent

8 Volumes

The collection consists of eight annotated volumes of the printed annual, the Massachusetts Register (Boston: James Loring, et al.), for the years 1814, 1815, 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1822, and 1824. These printed volumes contain directories of Massachusetts church and state officials, officers of diverse state and local voluntary associations, and sections on the federal government. Lowell's handwritten annotations record his elaborate schedule of preaching exchanges with other ministers; his additions and corrections to the Register; his acquisition, holdings, and disbursement of funds; family events; and profuse references to household help, orchard, agriculture, and yard work, all pertaining to the Lowells' mansion on Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In all, these eight volumes comprise 199 pages of annotated interleaving and 2,096 printed pages, of which about 100 printed pages carry Lowell's holograph marks, corrections, additions, and comments.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Lowell (1782-1861) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1800. After studying law for a year he decided to pursue a career in ministry, and he traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied for the ministry until 1805. He then returned to the United States, and in 1806 was ordained as minister and pastor at the West Church in Boston. He married Harriet Spence in 1806, and the couple had six children, two of whom - Robert Trail Spence and James Russell Lowell - became notable writers. Charles Lowell received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard in 1823. In addition to being pastor of the West Church until his death in 1861, he was a member of the Massachusetts Bible Society, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians, the Evangelical Missionary Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

Collection purchased from Carmen D. Valentino, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Philadelphia, PA, June 2005.

General note

The number after the slash in each entry in the following list indicates the box number, and the number in parentheses is the folder number.

Title
Lowell, Charles, 1782-1861. Annotated volumes of the Massachusetts Register, 1814-1824: A Finding Aid.
Author
Andover-Harvard Theological Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
div00682

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard Divinity School Library, Harvard University Repository

Special Collections at Harvard Divinity School Library preserves and makes accessible primary source materials documenting the history of religion and theology, with particular historical emphasis on American liberal religious traditions. Though the historical strengths of the collections have been in the field of Christianity, other religious traditions are increasingly reflected, in step with Harvard Divinity School's evolving focus on global religious studies. Known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library since 1911, it was renamed the Harvard Divinity School Library in 2021.

Contact:
45 Francis Avenue
Cambridge MA 02138-1911 USA
(617) 496-2485