Hamilton Wilcox Pierson papers, 1837 -- 1857

Collection context

Creator:
Pierson, Hamilton W (Hamilton Wilcox), 1817-1888
Abstract:
Hamilton Wilcox Pierson was a religious educator, President of Cumberland College in Princeton, Kentucky, author, and Secretary of the United States Christian Commission in Toledo, Ohio from 1843-1845. The collection contains personal correspondence, and also contains material related to his work on "American Missionary Memorial."
Extent:
0.25 linear feet (0.25 linear feet; 1 box)
Language:
English .
Scope and content:

This collection consists largely of Pierson's received correspondence with friends, students, church members, publishers, and missionaries, and also contains material for his work on "American Missionary Memorial," to which many of the letters make reference. The development of this work is seen through its many mentions in the correspondence, where it is also referred to as "Biographical Sketches of Missionaries," and where individual sketches, or responses and notes to specific ones, are given.

Biographical / historical:

Hamilton Wilcox Pierson was born on September 22, 1817, in Bergen, Genesee County, New York. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Union College in 1843. On November 13, 1853, he was ordained. Between 1849 and 1960 he served as an agent for the American Bible Society in Haiti and the West Indies. He also served as agent in the American Tract Society from 1843-1845, and as Secretary of the United States Christian Commission in Toledo, Ohio. From 1958-1962 he was President of Cumberland College in Princeton, Kentucky, and between 1863 and 1869 he worked as a teacher in Virginia and Georgia. From 1885-1886 he worked as State Librarian at Columbus, Ohio. He began his literary pursuits in 1850, publishing and editing a number of key texts, including American missionary Memorial (editor, 1853), Jefferson at Monticello: the Private Life of Thomas Jefferson from Entirely New Materials (1862), In the Brush, Or, Old-Time Social, Political, and Religious Life in the Southwest (1881), and "My invalid life, and how I have tried to live it: a Legacy" (1888), which he intended to be read at his funeral at Genesee County, where he wished to be buried. Rev. Pierson died on September 7, 1888, at 70 years of age.

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

The following boxes are located offsite: Box 1. Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.

Terms of access:

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.

Preferred citation:

Item description, UTS1: Hamilton Wilcox Pierson papers, 1837-1857, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Location of this collection:
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Contact:
burke@library.columbia.edu