Papers of Henry Dunster and the Dunster and Glover families
- Dunster, Henry, 1609-1659? (Person)
Conditions on Use and Access
1.24 cubic feet (4 folio boxes)
A few documents in the collection relate specifically to Dunster's tenure as president of Harvard and document his academic reforms, some of which gave significant shape to the development of American higher education. These documents include:
- Memorandum of Henry Dunster, 1653 December
- Quadriennium memoir, 1654
- Petition of Henry Dunster to the General Court of Massachusetts, 1654 November 4
In addition to records relating exclusively to educational developments at Harvard, the collection includes three documents that pertain to the education of Native Americans and to the printing business in colonial America:
- Account of Henry Dunster's expenses for the colony, 1646 October 8
- Books printed at Cambridge, 1656 January 26
- Testimony of Stephen Day, 1656 April 1
Along with documents recording Henry Dunster's legal and educational activities, the seventeenth-century papers also contain a few personal letters to Dunster. Eighteenth and early nineteenth-century papers, including parish records, letters, leases, and receipts, record Dunster family history and genealogy in England and the colonies.
The papers are arranged chronologically. Titles were assigned by archivists and generally correspond to the titles of published transcriptions or prominent text on the documents themselves. Dates assigned by archivists appear in brackets.
Insofar as archivists are aware of published transcriptions, the transcription is cited in the document description below. Principal sources for these transcriptions are the Publications of the Colonial Society (volume 49), Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, (volume 2, series 4), and Henry Dunster and His Descendants.
Biographical / Historical
Dunster, the son of Henry Dunster and Isabel Kaye Dunster, was baptized on November 26, 1609 in Bury, Lancashire, England. He studied at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, receiving Bachelor of Arts (1630) and Master of Arts (1634) degrees. After graduation, he taught at the local free school, served as headmaster of the Bury Grammar School, and served as minister of Saint Mary’s Church in Bury.
In the summer of 1640, following the outbreak of the Civil War in England, Dunster emigrated to the English colonies in New England. Soon after his arrival, Dunster was appointed president of Harvard College on August 27, 1640.
When Dunster arrived at Harvard, the College was in dire financial straits and the students had left. As president, he oversaw reform of the academic program, including establishment of a requirement for four years’ residency, introduction of a code of conduct for students, oversight of construction of the College’s first building, funding from the General Court as well as from individual donors, and attracting students back to the College. Perhaps Dunster’s most important action was to secure the College’s papers of incorporation, approved by the General Court of Massachusetts as the Charter of 1650. The Charter established the President and Fellows of Harvard College (the Harvard Corporation) as one of Harvard’s two governing boards.
Dunster was forced to resign from the Harvard presidency in 1654, owing to a dispute with members of the General Court over the religious validity of infant baptism.
In 1641, Dunster married Elizabeth (Harris) Glover, widow of Joseph Glover.* When Elizabeth Glover Dunster died in 1643, she left her property, including land and a printing press, to Dunster, along with shared administrative responsibility for her estate and five children. Dunster continued to operate the printing business until 1654, when he sold the press to Harvard College.
In 1644, Dunster married Elizabeth Atkinson, with whom he had five children. Henry Dunster died on February 27, 1658/9**, and is buried in the churchyard of the First Church of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Elizabeth (Atkinson) Dunster died on September 12, 1690.
In documents and published sources, Joseph Glover is also referred to as Jose or Josse Glover. For consistency, his name has been standardized as Joseph Glover in this finding aid.
- Allen, Charles William. I spake the Truth: The Life and Times of Henry Dunster, Founding President of Harvard University, 1609-1659. Macon, Nauvoo, Illinois: privately printed, 1990.
- Chaplin, Reverend Jeremiah. Life of Henry Dunster, First President of Harvard College. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company,1872.
- ___Link directly to item in Google
- The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Publications of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, volume 31. Boston: D.B. Updike, the Merrymount Press, 1935.
- The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Publications of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Documents from the Harvard University Archives, 1638- 1750, volume 49. Portland, Maine: Anthoensen Press, 1975.
- Costigan, George P. Henry Dunster, Harvard's First President. Harvard Graduates' Magazine (March 1906) : 395-401.
- ___Link to Harvard Graduates' Magazine through HOLLIS
- Dunster, Samuel. Henry Dunster and His Descendants. Central Falls, R.I.: E.L. Freeman and Company, Steam Book and Job Printers, 1876.
- ___Link directly to item in Google
- Fallows, I.B. Bury Grammar School : A History c. 1570 to 1976 Cheshire: The Estate Governors of the Bury Grammar Schools, 2001.
- Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Founding of Harvard College. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1935.
- Morison, Samuel Eliot. Harvard College in the Seventeenth Century. Part I. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1936.
- Morison, S.E.
Henry Dunster, First President of Harvard.Harvard Alumni Bulletin (13 December 1928): 335-338.
- Paige, Lucius R. History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a genealogical register. Boston: H.O. Houghton and Company, 1877.
- ___Link directly to item in Google
- Ward, Andrew Henshaw. A genealogical history of the Rice family descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice, who came from Berkhamstead, England, and settled at Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1638 or 9: with an index. Boston: C.B. Richardson, 1858.
- ___Link directly to item in Google (Vol. 1)
- ___Link directly to item in Google (Vol. 2)
- Winship, George Parker. The Cambridge Press, 1638-1692: a re-examination of the Evidence concerning the Bay Psalm Book and the Eliot Indian Bible as well as other contemporary books and people. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1945.
- Benjamin Peirce (donated in 1846)
- ___Indenture of Stephen Day, original and manuscript copy
- ___Bill to Henry Dunster from Nathaniel Eldred, original and commentary
- ___Agreement between Henry Dunster and his farmer, Edmund Rice, original and manuscript copy
- ___Deed of sale for the Glover house in Boston given by Henry Dunster and others to Theodore Atkinson, manuscript copy
- ___Petition by Henry Dunster to the General Court of Massachusetts
- ___Petition of John Appleton to the General Court of Massachusetts
- ___Reply of Henry Dunster to reply of John Appleton, original
- ___Thoughts on the petitions of Henry Dunster and John Appleton
- ___Petition of Henry Dunster to the General Court of Massachusetts
- ___Settlement of the estate of Joseph Glover proposed by Henry Dunster
- ___Appraisal of Mrs. Dunster's wood lot
- ___Books printed at Cambridge
- ___Motions presented to the General Court of Massachusetts by Henry Dunster
- ___Inventory of Glover estate acknowledged in court by Henry Dunster
- ___Motion presented to the court by Henry Dunster
- ___Testimony of Stephen Day regarding paper for printing provided by Joseph Glover
- ___Affidavit of Stephen Day regarding the Glover family silver
- ___Testimony of John Stedman about John Glover's land
- ___Verdict of the jury
- ___Testimony of Sarah Bucknam regarding Glover plate
- ___Account between Henry Dunster and John Glover
- ___Memoranda from the Dunster-Glover case
- ___Order to pay Belcher and Longhorne for two days attendance at court
- ___First section of the final decision in the Dunster-Glover Case
- ___Second section of final decision in the Dunster-Glover case
- Samuel Dunster (donated in 1871)
- ___Quadriennium memoir
- Samuel Dunster (donated in 1886)
- ___Letter from Henry Dunster of Balehoult, Lancashire, England, to his son, Henry Dunster, Cambridge, New England
- ___Letter from Richard Saltonstall to Henry Dunster
- ___Notes by Henry Dunster on the birth date of Christ
- ___Letter from William Cutter to Henry Dunster
- ___Letter from Edward Roberts to Henry Dunster
- ___Letter from Thomas Greene to Henry Dunster
- ___Land agreement between Edward Winshipp and Henry Dunster
- ___Deed of gift from Jonathan Dunster to Henry Dunster, his son
- ___Deed of sale from Jason Russell to Henry Dunster
- ___Will of Henry Dunster
- ___Deed of sale from Jonathan Snow to Isaiah Dunster
- ___Love poetry said to be in the hand of Isaiah Dunster
- ___Ordination charge to the colleague of the Reverend and worthy Mr. Lewis
- ___Lines for an inscription to the Reverend Isaiah Dunster
- ___Receipt to Hannah Dunster from Asaph Soule for two gravestones
- ___Letter from Josiah D. Foster to Hannah Dunster
- ___Letter from Isaiah D. Foster to Hannah Dunster, 1811 October 19
- ___Letter from Isaiah D. Foster to Hannah Dunster, 1812 August 19
- ___Letter from Isaiah D. Foster to Hannah Dunster, 1812 October 25
- ___Letter from Noah Fearing Willis to Hannah Dunster
- ___Elkanah Fauman desires the prayers of the congregation
- ___List of rules found in the study of King Charles of blessed memory
- ___Commission of Jason Dunster as an Ensign in the Fifth Company, Twenty-Second Regiment of New Hampshire Militia
- ___Papers relative to the claim of Jason Dunster's widow for a pension, 1838 October 3
- ___Papers relative to the claim of Jason Dunster's widow for a pension, 1838 November 22
- ___Genealogical details in the Dunster and Foster families partly in the hand of Samuel Dunster
- ___Manuscript of remarks read by the Reverend Collyer at the home of Eliza Anne (Dunster) Baker
- ___Parish records relating to the Dunster family from the register of Christ Church, Chicago, signed by Charles Edward Cheney, Rector
- ___Letter from Charles Edward Cheney to Samuel Dunster
- Theodora Willard (donated in 1903)
- ___Memorandum of Henry Dunster
- Harry C. Rice and E. Louise Rice (donated in 1924)
- ___Receipt to Goodman Watson from Jonathan Dunster on account of Jonathan Rice
- Philip Spaulding (donated in 1937)
- ___Letter from Josiah Quincy to Hannah, Mary, and Judith Dunster
- Joseph Gardner (donated in 1937)
- ___Papers served at the command of Hannah Dunster upon the firm of Calvin Chaddock and Company
- ___Genealogy of Hannah Dunster
- ___Real and personal estate of the late Hannah Dunster
- Dunster, Henry, 1609-1659? Papers of Henry Dunster and the Dunster and Glover families : an inventory
- The digitization of Henry Dunster's papers was made possible in part by generous support from the Sidney Verba Fund.
- EAD ID
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
Cambridge MA 02138 USA