James McKenzie writes a letter to President Charles Nisbet expressing apprehension over a potential invasion of Great Britain by France, and the precautions taken against it. "Our fleets are as formidable as our armies, and watch the motions of the French so closely, that they cannot get out of...

A biographical manuscript of Judge Thomas Cooper, a lecturer at Dickinson College, entitled "Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Carlisle." Composed for the Baltimore Federal Gazette, this manuscript details the judge's pious disposition and the "splendor of his talents." Transcript...

United States Attorney General Roger Brooke Taney responds to a request to write a letter on behalf of a friend applying for a divorce. "When I was a member of the Senate," Taney writes, "I voted against all the applications for divorces...not only from the religious opinions I entertain, but...

Dickinson College President John P. Durbin sends Rev. John Rhodes a report on the conduct of Joseph Clubine Rhodes (Class of 1838). The report lists the number of times that Joseph has been absent from his literary exercises, prayers, and public worship. Durbin also adds a note about a bill for...

John Zug (Class of 1837) writes to his girlfriend, Margaret Hood, and describes his first days of work as a lawyer. Zug explains that his colleagues are "ungodly men, not only irreligious, but most of them profane." Zug is happy, however, to have recovered from a recent fever. Transcript...

John K Stayman prepared this oration, entitled “Difference of Opinion," for the commencement ceremonies held July 8, 1841. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.

Dewitt C. Lloyd prepared this oration, entitled “National Example," for the commencement ceremonies held July 8, 1847. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.

James Andrew McCauley, a member of the Class of 1847, receives his license to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church on October 15, 1848.

Ulysses Hobbs records his thoughts and activities as a college student at Dickinson College. Hobbs includes lists of his fellow students attending events, and details information about the running of the activities that he was involved in such as the Union Philosophical Society. He discusses...

Richard D. Sellman prepared this oration, entitled "The Roman Catholics of Maryland," for the commencement ceremonies held July 11, 1850. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.

Moncure Daniel Conway, a 1849 graduate of Dickinson College, records a critical time in his personal development as he moves from life as a Methodist preacher to Harvard Divinity School, Unitarianism, and freethought, meeting and befriending Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau along the...

Charles Collins writes two letters to his wife, Harriet, regarding his trip to Portland, Maine, and shares news of their family and friends. Collins also mentions watching a doctor perform an operation with chloroform and listening to a lecture on temperance by John B. Gough. "[Gough] is a...