John Davis papers, 1627-1846 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Papers collected by John Davis, judge of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts and president of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Included are papers, sermons, and letters to or from governors and religious leaders of the American colonies, including John Winthrop, Sr., Gov. Thomas Prence, Jonathan Belcher, Benjamin Fletcher, Josiah Cotton, Rev. Thomas Prince, and Benjamin Colman. Some of the letters contain accounts of King Philip's War or other discussions of Native American relations. Also included are letters of John and Thomas Davis; Joshua Gee's notebook, kept from 19 July 1714-26 Dec. 1715, which contains notes and accounts he kept while attending Harvard; notes of John Adams on the trial of British soldiers for the Boston Massacre; a journal by John Davis (with transcription) of an expedition led by Prof. Samuel Williams to observe the solar eclipse behind British lines in Maine, 16 Oct.-1 Nov. 1780; and lists of men who attended special dinners in 1797 and 1798 in Boston to commemorate the landing of the Pilgrims