Vault A10, Unit 4
EXTENT: ca. 11 linear ft. (7 containers, 1 oversize folder outside container, 15 unboxed volumes, 1 unboxed trunk).
ORGANIZATION: Organized into five series: I. Act of incorporation, 1803; II. Bound manuscript and printed records, 1807-1892; III. Membership, 1820-[1891?]; IV. Financial, 1831-1892; and V. Cattle Show, 1822-1892.
HISTORY: Society organized in 1794 under the name Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen by Middlesex County members of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture. Formed to encourage the exchange of agricultural information and ideas and to foster experimentation with techniques. Incorporated February 28, 1803. The first Board of Trustees was chosen October 22, 1804. The name was changed to the Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers by an act of the Massachusetts legislature, January 24, 1820, and to the Middlesex Agricultural Society in 1852. The Society’s first meetings were held in various locations in Middlesex County; its activities were centered in Concord from 1820. Its annual Cattle Show (sometimes referred to as the Agricultural Festival) was first held at Concord on October 11, 1820, initially on property adjacent to the New Hill Burying Ground. Premiums were awarded at the Cattle Show for the best in various categories of produce, livestock, farm products, handiwork, etc. In 1853, the Society’s Committee to Purchase Land, &c. bought property in Concord near the Concord Depot, on which sheds, pens, a platform, fences, and other permanent structures were built to accommodate the Cattle Show. Membership lists within the records show a high proportion of Concord residents among the Society’s members, including (among the many): George M. Brooks; Nathan Brooks; Simon Brown; Ephraim Bull; John M. Cheney; Waldo Flint; Abiel Heywood; George Heywood; Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar; Edward Jarvis; Francis Jarvis; John S. Keyes; John Brooks Moore; William Munroe (Sr. and Jr.); Frederick G. Pratt; Minot Pratt; Timothy Prescott; Grindall Reynolds; Joseph Reynolds; Daniel Shattuck; Sam Staples; Harvey Wheeler; Albert E. Wood.
SCOPE AND CONTENT: The series Act of incorporation consists of an 1803 manuscript copy of the act passed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives February 25, 1803, by the Senate on February 26, and approved by the Governor on February 28. The series Bound manuscript and printed records contains nine bound volumes of manuscript records (some with clippings pasted in), including records of the Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen, Middlesex Society of Husbandmen and Manufacturers, and Middlesex Agricultural Society, covering the years 1807-1892. These record volumes contain minutes of meetings, in combination with membership lists, lists of Cattle Show premiums, and lists of Trustees, officers, and committees. The series also includes two issues of the Society’s printed Transactions (for the years 1852 and 1856), both in printed paper wrappers. The series Membership (1820-[1891?] contains: two manuscript record books listing members by towns of residence, the first spanning the years 1820-1861, the second 1820-1888 (the earlier entries in the second transcribed from the first); undated manuscript list of life members; printed membership list ([1891?]); three engraved membership diplomas (two for the Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers, one filled out in 1842 for Cyrus Hunt, the other in 1844 for John S. Keyes; one for the Middlesex Agricultural Society, filled out in 1871 for Mrs. Julia A. Barrett). The series Financial (1831-1892) consists of: Treasurer’s receipt book for the Middlesex Agricultural Society (1866-1875); two manuscript cash books for the Middlesex Agricultural Society (1871-1888 and 1889-1891); 1831 manuscript copy of account of funds of the Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers; and loose bills and receipts (1890-1892). The series Cattle Show (1822-1892) contains: eighteen manuscript notebooks (in paper wrappers), 1822-1841, in which are listed Cattle Show entries; manuscript volume listing livestock show entries (1842-1859); two manuscript volumes listing premium awards (1874-1882; 1883-1891); printed handbill and postcard announcements of the Cattle Show (1876-1891); manuscripts of toasts made at the Cattle Show (1838-1858, plus some undated); 1853 printed report of the Committee to Purchase Land, &c., detailing expenses of establishing a new fairground in Concord; printed List of Committees and Premiums for the Cattle Show and Exhibition … (1859); correspondence (1825-1892, including two ALS, Edward Everett to Nathan Brooks, 1825 and 1833, regarding invitation to Everett to deliver address at Cattle Show); packets of printed forms and notices (one 1889 notice stating the inability of the Society to pay premiums awarded in 1888, one undated [1891?] notice concerning vote to insure against loss by show, one undated form used to appoint marshals for show); ephemera and artifacts (packets of life members’ tickets, two Cattle Show marshals’ badges, and the trunk formerly used for storage of Cattle Show records).
SOURCES OF ACQUISITION: Multiple; partially established. The bound record volumes for 1820-1850, 1822-1839, and 1843-1869 were deposited by the Concord Antiquarian Society in 1971, converted to gift in 1974. Most of the remaining bound manuscript volumes were presented by Wilfrid Wheeler in May of 1936. The Transactions for 1852 was presented (donor unrecorded) in July of 1958.
PROVENANCE: Established for several items, as follows. The Transactions for 1856 was once owned by Francis Jarvis. The List of Committees and Premiums (1859) was once Ephraim Bull’s. The bound record volumes for 1820-1850, 1822-1839, and 1843-1869 (formerly CAS B-1830.3a-3c) passed to the Concord Antiquarian Society from the estate of Col. George L. Prescott in 1941.
ASSOCIATED MATERIALS: The Winnifred Sturdy Collection of Papers and Records Connected Primarily with Concord, Mass., 1663-1951 (also held by the Concord Free Public Library Special Collections) includes records of the Middlesex Agricultural Society and its predecessors (among them the record volume from 1793 to 1821 of the Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen).
NOTES/COMMENTS: One item (Transactions for 1852) accessioned in August of 1958 (accession number 117137). The following items were transferred from the CFPL Letter File into the collection: one copy of 1853 report of Committee to Purchase Land, &c. (formerly Letter File 4, M7); 1831 manuscript copy of account of funds (formerly Letter File 4, M8); two ALS, Edward Everett to Nathan Brooks (formerly Letter File 6, E4 and E5); Cattle Show toasts (formerly Letter File 7, C1-C22); 1844 membership diploma of John S. Keyes (formerly Letter File 8, K1).
PROCESSED BY: LPW; finding aid prepared 07/02/95; edited and prepared for mounting on the Web, 03/04.
CONTAINER LIST
SERIES I. ACT OF INCORPORATION, 1803:
Box 1, Folder 1:
Act of incorporation, Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen (manuscript copy), 1803.
SERIES II. BOUND MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED RECORDS, 1807-1892:
Item 1 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript records, Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen/Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers, 1807-1821.
Item 2 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript records, Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers, 1821-1842, together in one volume with membership records, 1820-1850.
Item 3 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript records, Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers, 1822-1839.
Item 4 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript records, Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers/Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1840-1863.
Item 5 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript records, Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers/Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1843-1869, with loose sheet relating to 1870 laid in.
Item 6 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript records, Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1863-1882.
Item 7 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript records, Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1870-1892.
Item 8 (unboxed):
Printed Transactions of the Middlesex Agricultural Society, for the Year 1852 (Charlestown: William W. Wheildon, 1853).
Item 9 (unboxed):
Printed Transactions of the Middlesex Agricultural Society, for the Year 1856 (Concord: Benjamin Tolman, 1856). Signature of Francis Jarvis on the wrapper.
SERIES III. MEMBERSHIP, 1820-[1891?]:
Box 2, Item 1 (unfoldered):
Bound manuscript membership book, listing members by town of residence, 1820-1861.
Box 2, Item 2 (unfoldered):
Bound manuscript membership book, listing members by town of residence, 1820-1888 (the earlier entries transcribed from Item 1).
Box 2, Folder 1:
Undated manuscript list of life members.
Printed membership list ([1891?]).
Two engraved membership diplomas for Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manufacturers (one for Cyrus Hunt, dated 1842, one for John S. Keyes, dated 1844).
Box 2, Folder 2 (oversize, outside box):
Engraved membership diploma for Middlesex Agricultural Society (for Mrs. Julia A. Barrett, 1871).
SERIES IV. FINANCIAL, 1831-1892:
Item 1 (unboxed):
Manuscript Treasurer’s receipt book, Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1866-1875.
Item 2 (unboxed):
Manuscript cash book, Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1871-1888.
Item 3 (unboxed):
Manuscript cash book, Middlesex Agricultural Society, 1889-1891.
Box 3, Folder 1:
Account of funds, 1831 (manuscript copy).
Box 3, Folder 2:
Loose bills and receipts, 1890 Apr. 1-1891 Sept. 17.
Box 3, Folder 3:
Loose bills and receipts, 1891 Sept. 18-1892 Apr. 1.
SERIES V. CATTLE SHOW, 1822-1892:
Item 1 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript volume containing livestock show entries, 1842-1859.
Item 2 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript volume listing premium awards, 1874-1882 (alphabetical index of persons receiving premiums preceding listing of awards).
Item 3 (unboxed):
Bound manuscript volume listing premium awards, 1883-1891.
Box 4 (all items unfoldered):
Eighteen manuscript notebooks (in paper wrappers), 1822-1841 (including one undated), containing listings of Cattle Show entries:
1822.
1823.
1824.
1827 (inscribed inside wrapper: “Concord Court House Oct. 1827”).
1829.
1830-1837 [i.e. 1838], entries for “Working Oxen”; 1831 [i.e. 1830]-1837, entries “on Farms &c.”.
1831.
1832.
1833 (“Entries at the Court House”).
1834.
1835.
1835-1839 [i.e. 1841], “Entries for Ploughing Match and drawing”; 1839-1841, “Entries on Farms &c.”
1836 (“Entries at the Court House”).
1837 (“Entries at the Court House”).
1838 (“Entries at the Court House”).
1840 (“Entries at the Court House”).
1841 (“Entries at the Court House”).
[Undated].
Box 5, Folder 1:
Printed announcements of Cattle Show (handbill and postcard), 1876-1891.
Box 5, Folder 2:
Manuscript toasts made at Cattle Show, 1838-1858, plus some undated.
Box 5, Folder 3:
Printed report of Committee to Purchase Land, &c., 1853.
Box 5, Folder 4:
Printed List of Committees and Premiums for the Cattle Show and Exhibition … (Concord: Benjamin Tolman, 1859). Ephraim Bull’s copy.
Box 5, Folder 5:
Correspondence, 1825-1892 (including two ALS, Edward Everett to Nathan Brooks, 1825 and 1833, regarding invitation to Everett to deliver address at Cattle Show).
Box 6 (all items unfoldered):
Printed forms and notices (one 1889, two undated), including packet of unused printed forms for appointing marshals for Cattle Show.
Box 7 (all items unfoldered):
Ephemera and artifacts (packets of unused tickets for life members of Middlesex Agricultural Society, two Cattle Show marshals’ badges).
Unboxed:
Trunk formerly used for storage of Cattle Show records.
Mounted 15th Mar. 2004 -- Webmaster note: use FrontPage to edit.
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