GEORGE WASHINGTON HEARD (1837-1875)
PAPERS, undated
MH 120
Processed by:
Hilary Streifer
June 2015
Volume:
1 box
.5 linear feet
Provenance:
Some of this material was donated by Howard Corning in March 1943; the rest
was found in the collection.
Conservation:
The material was placed in acid-free folders.
Copyright:
Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted
in writing to the Manuscript Librarian in the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex
Museum.
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.
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
©2015, Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
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MH 120: George Washington Heard Papers
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.
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.
GEORGE WASHINGTON HEARD (1837-1875)
PAPERS, undated
CONTENTS LIST
Box
Folder
Contents
Date
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Correspondence, May-July 1859
Correspondence, August-November 1859
Correspondence, 1860
Diary, May 18, 1859, copy 1
Diary, May 18, 1859, copy 2
Diary, September 21, 1859, copy 1
Diary, September 21, 1859, copy 2
undated
undated
undated
undated
undated
undated
undated
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©2015, Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum