Robert Hamill Nassau papers, 1856 -- 1976

Robert Hamill Nassau was born in 1835 at Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania. He attended the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, after which he was awarded a bachelor's degree from the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton University.) After two years of teaching at Lawrenceville, he attended Princeton Theological Seminary from 1856-1859, obtained an MA from the College of New Jersey, and the degree of MD from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1861. Upon graduation, Nassau was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick and became a missionary for the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. His first appointment as a medical missionary was on Corisco Island, off the coast of West Africa. Nassau served throughout West Africa, including Benita; Belambla; Kangwe; Talaguga; Baraka (Libreville); and Batanga. Nassau also founded a mission station in Kangwe, later known as Lambaréné. His final missionary placement was in Batanga until 1906, after which he returned to the USA, and took a stated supply position in Florida. Nassau was married twice: First to Mary Cloyd Latta on Corisco in 1862 (died 1870), also a missionary and mother of three sons: William Latta, George Paull and Charles Francis; and to Mary Brunette Foster (died 1884), mother of daughter Mary Brunette Foster. Daughter Mary was the first white child born in Equatorial Africa. Nassau was a prolific writer and wrote many books, including Fetichism in West Africa (1904). He also learned African dialects and translated materials. He continued writing until his death in Ambler, Pennsylvania in 1921.