Charles Augustus Stoddard papers, circa 1750 -- 1916

Summary Information

Abstract

Charles Augustus Stoddard was a Presbyterian clergyman, editor, and writer. The collection contains newspaper clippings and religious service bulletins, sermons and prayers, professional correspondence, genealogical materials including family trees and photographs, personal correspondence, a journal and a diary.

At a Glance

Bib ID:
4492499 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Stoddard, Charles Augustus, 1833-1920
Repository:
Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
Physical Description:
0.5 linear feet (0.5 linear feet; 1 box )
Language(s):
English .
Access:

The 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.

Description

Scope and Contents

This collection contains newspaper clippings, largely related to Stoddard's colleagues in the New York ecumenical community but also including religious notices, obituaries, and some clippings of President Lincoln's fast day declarations in the 1860s; sermons given by Stoddard in institutional and recreational settings on subjects such as charity, reflections on faith following the Civil War, fasting, the state of Jews in New York at the turn of the century, forgiveness, and death; unattributed sermons deriving from the 18th century that were interfiled among Stoddard's papers; Stoddard family genealogical materials dating back to the family's arrival in Massachusetts from England in 1630, including family trees, photographs, and correspondence with community and family members; annotated Presbyterian bulletins and service programs; correspondence and bulletins relating to the Seamen's Friend Society and the Observer; sermons given as part of Stoddard's activities with the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb; a bound typescript biography of Stoddard's paternal grandfather; and Stoddard's journal and personal diary.

  • Charles Augustus Stoddard papers, circa 1750 -- 1916

    This series contains newspaper clippings, largely related to Stoddard's colleagues in the New York ecumenical community but also including religious notices, obituaries, and some clippings of President Lincoln's fast day declarations in the 1860s; sermons given by Stoddard in institutional and recreational settings on subjects such as charity, reflections on faith following the Civil War, fasting, the state of Jews in New York at the turn of the century, forgiveness, and death; unattributed sermons deriving from the 18th century that were interfiled among Stoddard's papers; Stoddard family genealogical materials dating back to the family's arrival in Massachusetts from England in 1630, including family trees, photographs, and correspondence with community and family members; annotated Presbyterian bulletins and service programs; correspondence and bulletins relating to the Seamen's Friend Society and the Observer; sermons given as part of Stoddard's activities with the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb; a bound typescript biography of Stoddard's paternal grandfather; and Stoddard's journal and personal diary.

Burke Library record group:

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

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in one series organized by format.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access

The 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.

Conditions Governing Use

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: Charles Augustus Stoddard papers, circa 1750-1916, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The exact provenance of this collection is unknown.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Processing Information

Material was cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-07-14. Metal clips and staples were removed from materials and folded items were flattened. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Acidic items were separated from one another by interleaving with acid-free paper as needed. The finding aid was created by Rebecca Nieto in 2016 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2020.

Revision Description

2020-09-18 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Augustus Stoddard was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 28, 1833 to parents Charles and Mary Noble (nee Porter) Stoddard. He was educated at Williams College in 1854 and went on to pursue divinity studies, at first at the University of Edinburgh and the Free Church of Scotland Theological Seminary before completing his graduate work at Union Theological Seminary in 1859. He was ordained in the Presbyterian ministry and installed at Washington Heights Presbyterian Church in New York later that year, where he would remain until 1883. Also in 1859, Stoddard married Mary Elizabeth Prime, the daughter of Reverend Samuel Irenaeus Prime, whose affiliation with the New York Observer would aid Stoddard in joining the editorial staff of the paper, eventually becoming editor-in-chief and publisher in 1873. Charles Augustus and Mary traveled extensively together, and had two children, Charles Prime Leslie in 1861, and a daughter Ethel born in 1864. Stoddard spent most of his life in New York City, but his career and personal life allowed him to travel extensively, inspiring a number of books and travel monographs recounting his journeys alone, with his wife, and others, notably, Beyond the Rockies: A Spring Journey in California, a travel piece recounting Stoddard's train travel through burgeoning cities and the frontiers of the American West in 1893. In addition to his religious work, Stoddard maintained non-ecumenical affiliations, including holding tenures as Director of the American Seamen's Friend Society (based in New York), as Director and Vice President of the then-named New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, as member of the American Oriental Society, and as President of the Williams Alumni Association. In 1857, Stoddard was retroactively conferred with an A.M. from Williams College, as well as a D.D. in 1871. Charles Augustus Stoddard died in New York City on June 3, 1920.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form
Diaries CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
Smith, Mehitabel CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Stoddard, Charles Augustus, 1833-1920 -- : Archives CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Clergy CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID