Lorenzo Warriner Pease papers, 1811 -- 1896

Summary Information

Abstract

Lorenzo Warriner Pease was a Presbyterian missionary in Cyprus. The collection contains diaries and correspondence by Pease and his family, sermons, essays and notes, linguistic manuals, and studies, as well as surrogate photocopies of some collection material.

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in four series: Series 1: Diaries; Series 2: Correspondence; Series 3: Manuscripts; and Series 4: Surrogates.

• Series 1: Diaries, 1811 -- 1896
• Series 2: Correspondence, 1834 -- 1840
• Series 3: Manuscripts, circa 1830 -- 1839
• Series 4: Surrogates, circa 1830 -- 1896

Description

Scope and Contents

This collection contains diaries written by Pease and by members of his family including his mother Persis Chapin Pease, his daughter Sarah Ann Pease Wadsworth, and his wife Lucinda Leonard Pease; letters from Pease and his family during his time as a missionary as well as from after his death; sermons, essays, notebooks, and research by Pease; as well as surrogate photocopies of some collection material.

• Series 1: Diaries, 1811 -- 1896

  This series contains diaries written by Pease, and three others penned by other members of his family including his mother, Persis Chapin Pease; his daughter, Sarah Ann Pease Wadsworth; and his wife, Lucinda Leonard Pease. The diaries give in great detail the life and experience of Pease in Cyprus, discussing events, other people, meteorological observations and everyday life as a missionary. Some diaries have poems, theatrical plays, sermons, letters, newspaper clippings, notes from his classes while at Auburn Theological Seminary and other ephemera pasted in the pages.

• Series 2: Correspondence, 1834 -- 1840

  This series contains letters from Pease and his family during his time as a missionary, as well as from after his death. The first item in the series is a notebook which has handwritten transcripts of letters from Lorenzo Pease that he wrote to his friends and family while at sea. It also includes a few letters written after his arrival. Those noted in this notebook include Pease's parents, his brother Henry C. Pease, and his sisters Cordelia, Harriet, Laura, Catharine and Charlotte. The other correspondence includes individual letters to family and friends.

• Series 3: Manuscripts, circa 1830 -- 1839

  This series contains sermons, essays, notebooks, and research Pease hand-wrote while a missionary in Cyprus. The sermons and sermon sketches deal with a specific passage from the Bible, such as Job 11:7 or Matthew 26:41. The essays give a glimpse into missionary life during Pease's time. The notes and research involve a more in-depth look at the Cyprus that Pease knew through handdrawn maps and other information on topics such as politics, education and physical geography.

• Series 4: Surrogates, circa 1830 -- 1896

  This series contains surrogate photocopies that were created in 1999. The series includes duplicates of some diaries and correspondence. Also available are copies of materials whose originals have been noted missing since before January 2004. The surrogates are organized so that the copies of the missing materials are available in box five, with the diaries and correspondence in the remaining boxes and organized in the same order as the originals. The Greek manuscript in box 5 folder 6 is a hymn composed for the baptism of Lorenzo's daughter, Harriet Maria, incorporating scripture from Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is written in the nineteenth-century Katharevousa Greek which was first used circa 1796.

Burke Library record group:

Missionary Research Library Archives: MRL2, Near/Middle East

Using the Collection

Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Onsite storage.

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, MRL 2: Lorenzo Warriner Pease papers, 1811-1896, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Related Materials

AUB1: Auburn Theological Seminary Records, 1818-2001, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Formerly part of the independent Missionary Research Library (MRL), these records were accessioned by the Burke Library at the time of the MRL's closure in 1976.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Processing Information

Materials were cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-07-18. 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. One box which housed items 68 through 79 noted missing prior to January 2004 included linguistic manuals and studies, a book of poetry, and Pease's passport from 1837. Original folder numbering from the Missionary Research Library has been retained in the brackets at the end of each line. An item-level listing is available to researchers upon request. The finding aid was created by Brigette C. Kamsler in 2011 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2022.

Revision Description

2022-03-16 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.

Subject Headings

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

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Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Lorenzo Warriner Pease was born May 20, 1809 in Hinsdale, Massachusetts to parents Erastus and Persis (Chapin) Pease. Lorenzo attended Hamilton College and graduated in 1828. He also attended Auburn Theological Seminary from 1830 to 1833 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1834. In 1834, Pease was ordained a missionary in Auburn at the First Presbyterian Church; appointed by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM); and married Lucinda Leonard of Auburn. Less than a month after their wedding, the couple set sail for Cyprus, arriving on the island in November 1834. Lorenzo stayed in Cyprus for the rest of his life, traveling extensively throughout the area. In the final entry in the last diary, Lorenzo wrote, "Today I have been attacked with a slight fever, which I am endeavoring to subdue by fasting." Lorenzo died five days later of typhoid fever on August 28, 1839 in Larnaca, Cyprus and was buried in Scala with two previously deceased children. He was survived by his wife and two daughters, Sarah Ann and Harriet Maria. Harriet Maria died 1839-1840, thus Lorenzo's wife Lucinda returned with Sarah Ann to America in 1840.