Guide to the Nehemiah Cleaveland Papers, 1806-1877, undated
No restrictions.
Nehemiah Cleaveland Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine
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Nehemiah Cleaveland was born on August 16, 1796 in Topsfield, Massachusetts. When he was eleven years old he was sent to Brunswick to live with his cousin, Bowdoin professor, Parker Cleaveland. Nehemiah Cleaveland entered Bowdoin at the age of thirteen, graduating with the class of 1813. From 1814-1848, he held a number of positions in education including Bowdoin tutor of Latin and Greek (1817-1820), and principal of Dummer Academy (1821-1839). Cleaveland was a writer and delivered numerous addresses, including an address on the history of Bowdoin College, given during the College's 1852 semi-centennial celebration. Cleaveland collected information and reminiscences of Bowdoin alumni, a "Bowdoin Memorial," which became the History of Bowdoin College with Biographical Sketches of its Graduates, from 1806 to 1879, inclusive. This history of the College written by Cleaveland was edited and completed by Alpheus S. Packard in 1882.
In 1823 Cleaveland married Abby Pickard, daughter of Dr. Joseph Manning of Charleston, South Carolina, and they had four children: Joseph M., George N., Henry W., and Abby E. Cleaveland. Abby Pickard Cleaveland died in 1836; Cleaveland married Katharine Atherton in 1842; she died in 1846. Nehemiah Cleaveland died on April 17, 1877.
This collection contains Nehemiah Cleaveland's family correspondence as well as correspondence with friends, colleagues, and Bowdoin alumni. In addition to individual letters there are notebooks containing lists of Bowdoin graduates, copies of letters sent to alumni, and information compiled about graduates. There is also miscellaneous print material including manuscript poems, notes, and articles.
Additional information on Nehemiah Cleaveland's cousin, Parker Cleaveland, is available in the Cleaveland-Chandler Family Papers and in the Parker Cleaveland Collection.
This series contains letters to and from Nehemiah Cleaveland. There is family correspondence, and Bowdoin correspondence dated 1820 while he was Bowdoin College tutor of Latin and Greek. From 1852 many of the letters concern the "Bowdoin Memorial," Cleaveland's history of Bowdoin College. Included are letters to Alpheus Spring Packard, who edited and completed Cleaveland's history of the College. Additional information on Packard is available in the Alpheus Spring Packard Papers.
Arranged chronologically.
No restrictions.
1806-1813
1814-1816
1817-1820
1821-1822
1823-1826
1827-1832
1833
1834-1836
1843-1852
1853
1854
1855
1857-1871, n.d.
1857-1871, n.d.
This series includes Cleaveland's notebooks and other material concerning the "Bowdoin Memorial," which became the Cleaveland-Packard history of Bowdoin College. Notes, articles, poems and other miscellaneous print material are also included in the notebooks, and separately.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
Bills and receipts, 1809, 1855
Biographical and genealogical material, n.d.
Clippings, 1877
Manuscript poems, 1840, n.d.
Material regarding the Cleaveland-Packard "History of Bowdoin College," n.d.
Miscellaneous covers, 1873, n.d.
"Bowdoin College Letters Sent," 1852-1860, n.d.
"Bowdoin Memorial," 1853-1858, n.d.
Miscellaneous notebook, ca. 1854