The Occom Circle

Gershom Breed, account ledger, 1764

Manuscript Number764900.1

Date1764

Author

Recipient

AbstractGershom Breed's bill against Wheelock for goods furnished to Occom and others.

Bill of Goods, 1765 October 15

Manuscript Number764565

Date15 October 1765

Author

Recipient

AbstractBill of goods presented by Gershom Breed to Eleazar Wheelock.

Eleazar Wheelock, letter, to Samson Occom, 1766 April 9

Manuscript Number766259

Date9 April 1766

Author

Recipient

AbstractWheelock writes to Occom about his family’s unmet needs — perhaps because of the influence of the “Antimason Party” — which he supplied on his own account. He cautions Occom not to be involved in the Mason land case, and gives him advice about his son Aaron’s bad behavior.

Amos Smith, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1766 May 19

Manuscript Number766319

Date19 May 1766

Author

Recipient

AbstractSmith asks for a settlement of the payment due for work done on Occom’s house.

Bezaleel Woodward, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1766 June 13

Manuscript Number766363.4

Date13 June 1766

Author

Recipient

AbstractWoodward writes about Mary Occom's accounts with the merchants Gershom Breed and Nathaniel Shaw while her husband is in England.

Robert Keen, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1766 August 20

Manuscript Number766470.1

Date20 August 1766

Author

Recipient

AbstractKeen writes a lengthy letter to Wheelock about the progress of the fundraising tour in England, and the management of the funds collected.

David Fowler, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1766 August 26

Manuscript Number766476.2

Date26 August 1766

Author

Recipient

AbstractFowler writes to Wheelock, bitterly protesting the treatment he has received for purchasing what Wheelock thinks are too costly items at Mr. Breed’s store.

Moses Peck, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1766 September

Manuscript Number766540

DateSeptember 1766

Author

Recipient

AbstractPeck encloses a bill, and copies a letter from Whitefield to Mason regarding the controversy involving Occom and the New England Company.

Eleazar Wheelock, letter, to Robert Keen, 1766 December 4

Manuscript Number766654.1

Date4 December 1766

Author

Recipient

AbstractWheelock writes to Keen about money matters, selecting a potential site for the School, and the controversy regarding the letter sent to England by the New England Company. He also introduces William Samuel Johnson, newly appointed as Special agent for the Colony of Connecticut.

Nathaniel Whitaker, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1767 February 12

Manuscript Number767162.1

Date12 February 1767

Author

Recipient

AbstractWhitaker writes regarding several matters, including the slanders of the New England Company, General Lyman's progress in obtaining land, the necessity of formalizing the Charity School accounts, and the disbursement of a shipment of books. He notes that Whitefield suggests sending Indian baskets to the wives of donors, and that Occom proposes Long Island as a suitable new location for an Indian school.