George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

Correspondence, 1730-1848
0.25 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M15.1

Series Description:
Consists of letters to and from members of the Bowdoin family focusing mainly on matters both financial and political. Principal correspondents are James Bowdoin II, including letters written during the American Revolution and during his tenure as the Governor of Massachusetts, and James Bowdoin III, whose letterbooks from 1791 to 1811 compliment the series. Other correspondents include Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically.
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Documents & Wills
0.25 linear feet + 1 folio box
Catalog Number: M15.2

Series Description:
Consists of five sub-series: Pierre & Elizabeth Baudouin, James Bowdoin I, James Bowdoin II, James Bowdoin III & Sarah Bowdoin, and Other Family. See sub-series descriptions below for a detailed description.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically into sub-series by family member, then chronologically within each sub-series with estate and will material listed last.
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Documents & Wills: Pierre & Elizabeth Baudouin,

Catalog Number: M15.2.1

Series Description:
Contains a survey of Baudouin lands in Maine from 1687, as well as the last wills & testaments of both Pierre Baudouin and his wife, Elizabeth. Also includes an inventory of the Pierre Baudouin estate in Boston.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically with estate and will materials listed last.
General Note:
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Documents & Wills: James Bowdoin I

Catalog Number: M15.2.2 

Series Description:
Consists primarily of materials documenting financial and business transactions, including receipts and invoices for goods sold. Also included are land deeds as well as the last will & testament of James Bowdoin I.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically with estate and will materials listed last.
General Note:
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Documents & Wills: James Bowdoin II

Catalog Number: M15.2.3

Series Description:
Consists of land deeds, receipts for financial transactions, as well as items documenting military and political appointments made by James Bowdoin II while governor of Massachusetts. Also included are Bowdoin's 1780 missive to "the different Tribes of Indians under Col. John Allan, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Eastern Department," as well as the arrest warrant for Daniel Shays and Bowdoin's last will & testament.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically with estate and will materials listed last.
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Documents & Wills: James Bowdoin III & Sarah Bowdoin

Catalog Number: M15.2.4

Series Description:
Consists of documents relating to land and financial transactions, as well as the last will & testament of James Bowdoin III and the original catalogue compiled by John Abbott of materials from the Bowdoin estate bequested to Bowdoin College. Also included are materials relating to the Bowdoin estate dispute of the 1840s.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically with estate and will materials listed last.
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Documents & Wills: Other Family

Catalog Number: M15.2.5

Series Description:
Consists of documents concerning James Temple Bowdoin and William Bowdoin, Jr., with the bulk of the items concerning the latter's political  appointments in Massachusetts.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically.
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Sarah Bowdoin Diary, 1806-1808
0.25 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M15.3

Series Description:
Diary of Sarah Bowdoin, wife of James Bowdoin III, which contains almost daily documentation of the couple's life in Paris and London from the autumn of 1806 to the winter of 1808. Included in the diary are Sarah Bowdoin's observations on French customs, as well as her descriptions of the family's leisure activities and dinner parties, which included such guests as the Marquis de LaFayette and General Kosciuszko. Also included are Sarah Bowdoin's impressions of the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Josephine and her description of the family's stormy, ten-day crossing of the English Channel in the fall of 1807.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically.
General Note:Photocopies available for patron use.
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Realia
 2.0 linear feet
Catalog Number: M15.4

Series Description:
Consists of three-dimensional objects from the James Bowdoin III bequest to Bowdoin College, not including the book or art collection. Contains clothing of James Bowdoin III as well as scientific instruments used by James Bowdoin II.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically by material type.
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Biographical Materials, 1806-1987
0.25 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M15.5

Series Description:
Consists of biographical materials on the patriarchs of the Bowdoin family in the United States, including Pierre Baudouin, James Bowdoin I, James Bowdoin II, and James Bowdoin III. Materials include addresses, newspaper clippings, and lists of related materials in other collections both at Bowdoin and other institutions.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically by seniority of family member.
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Genealogical Materials
0.75 linear feet
Catalog Number: M15.6

Series Description:
Contains addresses, articles, clippings, correspondence and notes on the respective branches of the Bowdoin family. Most prominently represented are the Baudouin, Bowdoin, Temple, and Winthrop lines, with additional materials on other branches of the family.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically by family name.
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William Bowden Genealogical Notes
1886-1996, 0.75 linear foot.
Catalog Number: M15.7

Series Description:
Contains addresses, articles, clippings, correspondence and notes compiled by William Bowden on different branches of the Bowdoin family. The  materials focus primarily on the Robins family of Maryland and the Bowdoins of Virginia, as well as other Southern factions of the family. Also included are materials on Pierre Baudouin and the French heritage of the Bowdoin family.
Arrangement:Kept in William Bowden's original order
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Walett Biography of Gov. Bowdoin Material
0.5 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M15.8

Series Description:
Contains the incomplete manuscript for Walett's unpublished biography, "James Bowdoin: Massachusetts Patriot and Statesman." Also consists of other writings by Walett, including "The Diary of Ebenezer Parkman, 1703-1782" [Worcester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Society, 1974-] and Walett's doctoral dissertation, "James Bowdoin and the Massachusetts Council" [Boston, Boston University, 1948].
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically by material type.
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Images
0.5 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M15.9

Series Description:
Most of the images in this series are plates from Colonial & Federal Portraits at Bowdoin College [by] Marvin S. Sadik and published by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in 1966. The plates are of paintings done in the 1700's and very early 1800's by such artists as Robert Feke and Gilbert Stuart.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically by subject.
General Note:
Restrictions:None.