Preserved Smith notebooks, 1820

Creator:: Smith, Preserved, 1759-1834 and Smith, Preserved, 1789-1881
Abstract:: Preserved Smith was a minister in Rowe and Mendon, Massachusetts, an American Revolutionary War veteran, and grandfather to UTS alumnus Henry Preserved Smith. The collection contains two volumes of Bible notes written in Warwick, Massachusetts in 1820.
Extent:: 0.25 linear feet 0.25 linear feet; 1 box
Language:: English .
Scope and content:: This collection contains two bound volumes of manuscript Biblical notes written while Smith was preaching in Warwick, Massachusetts in 1820.
Biographical / historical:: Preserved Smith (1759-1834) was a well-known preacher in the American colonial era and grandfather to Union Theological Seminary alumnus Henry Preserved Smith (1847-1927). Smith was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts on June 25, 1759. He was descended from a long line of Puritan ministers that included Reverend Henry Smith, the first minister of Wethersfield, Connecticut, and an earlier Reverend Henry Smith of England, who served as a "silver-tongued" religious leader in Queen Elizabeth I's court. Preserved Smith's family was of modest means, and at the age of sixteen, he enlisted to fight in the Revolutionary War with the Hampshire County Regiment under Colonel David Wells of Shelburne. He fought in five different campaigns before leaving the army at the age of 19, at which point he began to cultivate his studies in Latin in preparation for schooling. Once he'd saved money to attend college, Preserved enrolled for one year of independent study at Dartmouth College in 1782 before going on to study divinity at Rhode Island College (today's Brown University) under a Reverend Emerson in 1786. He married Eunice Wells in 1788. Following his studies, Preserved began preaching in the then-burgeoning town of Rowe, Massachusetts. Smith's ministerial career was marked by his so-called "transitional views" on traditions around the Trinity, and included a brief departure from his own ministry for the nearby town of Mendon, eventually returning to Rowe in 1812. In addition to his service to the Church, Smith showed a lifelong interest in local libraries and childhood education. Preserved Smith died on August 15, 1834 at the age of 75.

Acquisition information:

The exact provenance of this collection is unknown. It is possible that this collection was donated at the same time as the papers of Smith's descendent, Henry Preserved Smith.

Custodial history:

This collection was among a large group of unprocessed materials that were organized in 2017 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. The volumes present are 1 and 3; volume 2 was not included in the initial acquisition and its current location is unknown.

Processing information:

Materials were cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-07-13. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. The finding aid was created by Rebecca Nieto in 2017 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2020.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in one series in original order.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related material:

UTS1: Henry Preserved Smith Papers, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Other information:

Possibly instead by his son, Preserved Smith (1789-1881), also a minister in Warwick, Massachusetts.

Union Theological Seminary Archives: UTS 1, papers of faculty and students

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Onsite storage.

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: Preserved Smith notebooks, 1820, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Location of this collection:: Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Burke Home Page
Before you visit:: Researchers must book an appointment at least 5 business days in advance to view special collections material in the reading room. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to one item per hour of appointment time.

Contact:: burke@library.columbia.edu

Collection