Lemuel Shattuck Papers: Finding Aid mssShattuck
Melissa Haley
The Huntington Library
September 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Lemuel Shattuck papers
Creator:
Shattuck, Lemuel, 1793-1859
Identifier/Call Number: mssShattuck
Physical Description:
1.2 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1637-1850
Date (bulk): 1825-1850
Abstract: Primarily the correspondence of Lemuel Shattuck, dating from 1825 to 1850.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
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[Identification of item]. Lemuel Shattuck papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Ruth Dobson, March 1931.
Lemuel Shattuck (1793-1859), was an American author, statistician and public health reformer. He settled in Concord, Massachusetts
in 1822. In 1826, Shattuck took over the editorial department of the Yeoman's Gazette, and in 1829 became the recording secretary
of the Middlesex County Lyceum. In 1834, he moved to Cambridge and a year later to Boston, where he became a bookseller, publisher,
public health writer and statistician. In 1837, Shattuck was elected to the Boston City Council. He was a founder of the American
Statistical Association (1839) and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He was the author of A History of the Town
of Concord (1835), Census of Boston for the Year 1845 (1846), and other works on statistics, public health, and local history.
Collection primarily consists of the correspondence of Lemuel Shattuck, mostly letters addressed to him. The letters discuss
Shattuck's work on his history of Concord, Massachusetts; his tenure as the editor of the Yeoman's Gazette; various publishing
projects; the affairs of the Middlesex County and Cambridge, Massachusetts Lyceums; the 6th U.S. Census in 1840; and his work
on statistics, public health, history, and genealogy. The largest group of 21 letters, dating from 1826 to 1849, is Shattuck's
correspondence with Edward Everett. Everett's letters cover political affairs, including his 1826 speech on slavery and his
position on the Antimasonic and National Republican parties in the 1832 elections. Other correspondents include James Buchanan
(1791-1868); Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Farmer (1789-1838), George Farrar (1778-1858), Richard Fletcher (1788-1869), John Hoskins
Griscom (1809-1874); Eben Norton Horsford (1818-1893), Horace Mann (1706-1859), James Gates Percival (1795-1856); Ezra Ripley
(1751-1841), Jared Sparks (1789-1866), James Stewart (1799-1864), James Walker (1794-1874), Francis Wayland (1796-1865), Daniel
Webster (1782-1852), Noah Webster (1758-1843), and Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-1854). Also present is a group of 16 manuscripts
dating from 1654 to 1799 collected by Shattuck in preparation for his history of Concord, Massachusetts, including documents
dealing with Simon Willard's 1654 expedition against the Narragansett Indians, King Phillip's War from 1675 to 1676, and the
dispute between the town of Concord and Robert Blood, 1685.
Collection includes James Buchanan, Department of State, autograph letter signed to Lemuel Shattuck, Boston, 1845 November
20 (HM 8375).
This finding aid was created in 2022 by Melissa Haley as part of the American Presidential Papers Project with enhanced description
of the presidential material present. The items had been assembled physically and arranged by Huntington Library former staff
in the mid-20th century.
Former call number: mssShattuck papers.
Collection is arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Genealogists -- Massachusetts -- Archives
Historians -- United States -- Correspondence
King Philip's War, 1675-1676 -- Sources
Narragansett Indians -- History -- 17th century -- Sources
Public health -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Publishers and publishing -- United States -- Correspondence
Slavery -- United States -- Controversial literature
Massachusetts -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Massachusetts -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Sources
United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Sources
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882
Everett, Edward, 1794-1865
Farmer, John, 1798-1859
Farrar, George, 1778-1858
Fletcher, Richard, 1788-1869
Griscom, John H. (John Hoskins), 1809-1874
Horsford, Eben Norton, 1818-1893
Percival, John Gates, 1795-1856
Ripley, Ezra, 1751-1841
Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866
Stewart, James, 1799-1864
Walker, James, 1794-1874
Wayland, Francis, 1796-1865
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852
Webster, Noah, 1758-1843
Willard, Simon, 1605-1676
Winthrop, Robert C. (Robert Charles), 1809-1894
Antimasonic Party
Middlesex County Lyceum
National Republican Party (U.S.)
Box 1
Lemuel Shattuck papers 1637-1850