Series 1: Correspondence, 1856 -- 1906
This series is open for research.
1.25 linear feet; 2.75 linear feet; 3 boxes
This series contains letters sent to and received by Robert Hamill Nassau, and letters received by his second wife Mary Brunette Foster (died 1884). The majority of the letters were written by his family, including his parents, Reverend Charles William Nassau and Hannah Hamill Nassau; and an older sister, Isabella Ann Nassau (also a missionary in Africa). Additional letters are from other sisters, Matilda Nassau Lowrie and Emma Nassau Swan; colleagues, and pastors. The letters are inscribed with locations and dates, and many include the original envelopes. The letters discuss in detail the life and work of a medical missionary in Africa, and illustrate the relationship between Nassau and his family, and his colleagues and members of the Mission Board.
This series is arranged chronologically by correspondents.
Series 2: Personal and biographical materials, 1890 -- 1976
This series is open for research.
0.25 linear feet; 0.25 linear feet; 1 box
This series contains personal items collected by Nassau, including summaries of work and programs from Presbyterian churches that he attended, as well as biographical information written about Nassau posthumously.
This series is arranged chronologically.
Box 3 Folder 11
Report of Committee on Outfit and Outfit List for the Interior, Gaboon and
Corisco Missions, 1890
Box 3 Folder 12
Session Work Summaries, Batanga and Kribi Church, 1902
Box 3 Folder 13
Corisco Presbytery Narrative, 1903
Box 3 Folder 14
Presbyterian Church Programs, 1904
Box 3 Folder 15
Secondary Biographical Information, 1963 -- 1976
Series 3: Accessions, 1860 -- 1864
This series is open for research.
0.25 linear feet; 0.25 linear feet; 2 folders
This series contains a journal segment and letters.
This series is arranged in chronological order of accession.
Box 3 Folder 16
Liberia journal segment, 1861
16 page journal segment describing three days in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1861, and an inland trip up the Mesurado River to visit the home of Leo L. Lloyd, who had escaped from slavery in the United States.
Box 3 Folder 17
Nassau letters, 1860 -- 1864
Letters received by Nassau, including two from family members while he was in West Africa, and a third from 1860, shortly after he'd been approved by the ABCFM Board as a missionary, from John Leighton Wilson, who preceded Nassau as a missionary in West Africa. This is a particularly significant letter as it came prior to Nassau's decision to where he would serve his appointment as missionary, and Wilson offers his advice and the possibility for consultation on the subject. Of the two family letters, one was sent by his father, Charles William Nassau, in 1864, and another by his sister, Isabella, from September 1862, which includes a fascinating detail about family and friends spending "most of the evening in the study re- and re- re reading the Pres. Emancipation Proclamation", shortly after the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation had been published. The collection also includes two envelopes with Nassau's markings recording his receipt of the letters.