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George Washington Heard Papers, undated

 Collection
Identifier: MH 120

Scope and Content Note

The George Washington Heard papers contain transcripts of letters that George wrote to his parents and friends during his trip to China as private secretary for the American delegation at the negotiation of the Treaty of Tientsin in 1859 and the subsequent "Chinese Expedition" in 1860. The papers also contain a transcript of George's diary that he kept during that same trip. There are two copies of the diary dated May 18, 1859, and two copies of the diary dated September 21, 1859. It is unknown when these transcripts were made, or where the originals are; there are no original materials in this collection.

Dates

  • Creation: undated

Creator

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Biographical Sketch

George Washington Heard was born on January 21, 1837 to George Washington and Elizabeth Ann (Farley) Heard, in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He would later legally change his name to George Farley Heard. After attending Phillips Andover Academy, he attended Harvard University, as part of the class of 1856.

In 1859, he sailed to China as private secretary for the American delegation at the negotiation of the Treaty of Tientsin. After the Treaty negotiations were complete, George joined his uncle's business. His uncle, Augustine Heard (1785-1868), had a successful trading firm in China, Augustine Heard and Company. George became the business manager in Canton. After the firm filed for bankruptcy he sailed for the United States aboard the S.S. Anadye, but died at sea in 1875. He never married.

Extent

0.5 linear feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The George Washington Heard papers contain transcripts of letters that George wrote to his parents and friends during his trip to China as private secretary for the American delegation at the negotiation of the Treaty of Tientsin in 1859 and the subsequent "Chinese Expedition" in 1860.

Physical Location

Phillips Library Stacks

Provenance

Some of this material was donated by Howard Corning in March 1943; the rest was found in the collection.

Bibliography and Related Collections

Harvard College. Memorial of the Harvard College Class of 1856: Prepared for the Fiftieth Anniversary of Graduation. Geo. H. Ellis, 1906.

Elizabeth Heard Papers, 1829-1864. Baker Library, Harvard Business School.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Hilary Streifer, June 2015.

Title
GEORGE WASHINGTON HEARD PAPERS, undated
Author
Processed by: Hilary Streifer; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Phillips Library Repository

Contact:
Peabody Essex Museum
306 Newburyport Turnpike
Rowley MA 01969 USA