Amherst Academy Franklin Society notebook of minutes, 1833 February 21 to 1835 November 19
Description:
A Franklin Society administrative notebook containing minutes from meetings and lists of members. The Franklin Society was a male student society at Amherst Academy which held weekly meetings of society business and debates on posed questions. Minutes in the notebook are of society meetings from February 1833 to November 1835 and include details such as the order of proceedings, the results of the meeting's debate, the question proposed for the next debate, and in some cases, the names and position titles of officers chosen at the meeting. Notes on new members proposed for acceptance or accepted into the society at meetings are also included in minutes. Minutes for each meeting are signed by the secretary at the time. Secretaries who contributed to the notebook include: Francis Williams, Marcus E. Cross, William Murdock, Andrew Bigelow, William Mather Ely, William Hill, William T. Doubleday, Melzar Parker, Judah Loring, Eli Thorp, Lewis Williams, Edward D. Grosvenor, Pascal Paoli Pratt, George A. Ward, Emery B. Fay, Walter C. Robinson, Eleazer J. Houghton, George Harrison Jones, and C.H.T. Lyman. Interspersed throughout the notebook are occasional full lists of all the members of the society at that time.
