Scope and Contents
The papers consist of miscellaneous personal papers of Edward Parmelee Smith including letters to his future wife (1851-1854) and letters to his daughter (1872-1873) with an account of a sea voyage to California and his impressions once there. His years at Yale College are documented by an autograph album with messages from his teachers and classmates (1849-1855). Among the four photographs in the papers is one showing Edward P. Smith with six Blacks when he served in the American Missionary Association. Clippings and correspondence describe his work as Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1873) and his death in Africa in 1876 while an envoy of the American Missionary Association.
Dates
- 1849-1947
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The entire collection is available on microfilm. Patrons must use HM 109 instead of the originals.
Existence and Location of Copies
Entire collection also available on microfilm (314 frames on 1 reel, 35mm.) from Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, at cost. Order no. HM109.
Conditions Governing Use
Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Extent
0.75 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The papers consist of miscellaneous personal papers of Edward Parmelee Smith including letters to his future wife (1851-1854) and letters to his daughter (1872-1873) with an account of a sea voyage to California and his impressions once there. His years at Yale College are documented by an autograph album with messages from his teachers and classmates (1849-1855). Among the four photographs in the papers is one showing Smith with six Blacks when he served in the American Missionary Association. Clippings and correspondence describe his work as Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1873) and his death in Africa in 1876 while an envoy of the American Missionary Association.
Biographical / Historical
Edward Parmelee Smith, son of the Rev. Noah Smith (Dartmouth Coll. 1818) and Laura (Parmelee) Smith, was born in South Britain, a parish of Southbury, Conn., where his father was pastor, June 3, 1827. On the death of his father, in Oct., 1830, he was taken to the home of an uncle, Col. Ashbel Smith, of Hanover, N. H. He entered Dartmouth College in 1845, and this College two years later.
After graduation, he taught school for three years in Mobile, Ala., and then began the study of theology in the Yale Seminary. In March, 1853, he removed to N. Y. City, and studied in the Union Theol. Seminary, laboring also in connection with the Children's Aid Society, until the fall of 1854, when he went to Andover Seminary for the closing year of theological study. After another year spent in preaching in Rockville, Conn., and Pompey, N. Y., he was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Pepperell, Mass., June 11, 1856. In Jan., 1863, he offered his services to the U. S. Christian Commission, and was employed, at first as one of the General Field Agents and later as Field Secretary, until the closing of the work of the Commission, in January, 1866. He had, meantime, resigned his pastorate in 1864, and now entered the service of the American Missionary Association (devoted especially to educational work among the Freedmen) as District Secretary at Cincinnati. In 1867 he was called to N. Y. City as General Field Agent of the Association, and in that capacity performed a large share of the work of planting schools for freedmen in the South. When President Grant in 1871 invited cooperation in the work of Indian civilization, Mr. Smith resigned his position in New York, and offered his services as Indian Agent. He was appointed to the Chippewa Agency in Minnesota, and remained there until unexpectedly offered the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the U. S. Government in April, 1873.
This position he resigned in 1875, and was immediately elected President of Howard University, in Washington. He accepted the Presidency, and in the spring of 1876 sailed for Africa, on invitation of the American Missionary Association, to survey and report on the work of their missions in that country. He left Sierra Leone in May in good health, but while on board the steamship Ambric on his way from Monrovia (in Liberia) was taken with the African fever, and was too ill to land at Accra, as he had intended. He died on shipboard, in the Gulf of Guinea, near the island of Fernando Po, on the night of June 15, and was buried on the 16th at the Presbyterian Mission Station, Old Calabar.
He was married, June 3, 1856, to Hannah C., daughter of Levi Bush, of Westfield, Mass., who survives him with one of their two children.
(Taken from Yale Obituaries, 1871-1880\).
After graduation, he taught school for three years in Mobile, Ala., and then began the study of theology in the Yale Seminary. In March, 1853, he removed to N. Y. City, and studied in the Union Theol. Seminary, laboring also in connection with the Children's Aid Society, until the fall of 1854, when he went to Andover Seminary for the closing year of theological study. After another year spent in preaching in Rockville, Conn., and Pompey, N. Y., he was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Pepperell, Mass., June 11, 1856. In Jan., 1863, he offered his services to the U. S. Christian Commission, and was employed, at first as one of the General Field Agents and later as Field Secretary, until the closing of the work of the Commission, in January, 1866. He had, meantime, resigned his pastorate in 1864, and now entered the service of the American Missionary Association (devoted especially to educational work among the Freedmen) as District Secretary at Cincinnati. In 1867 he was called to N. Y. City as General Field Agent of the Association, and in that capacity performed a large share of the work of planting schools for freedmen in the South. When President Grant in 1871 invited cooperation in the work of Indian civilization, Mr. Smith resigned his position in New York, and offered his services as Indian Agent. He was appointed to the Chippewa Agency in Minnesota, and remained there until unexpectedly offered the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the U. S. Government in April, 1873.
This position he resigned in 1875, and was immediately elected President of Howard University, in Washington. He accepted the Presidency, and in the spring of 1876 sailed for Africa, on invitation of the American Missionary Association, to survey and report on the work of their missions in that country. He left Sierra Leone in May in good health, but while on board the steamship Ambric on his way from Monrovia (in Liberia) was taken with the African fever, and was too ill to land at Accra, as he had intended. He died on shipboard, in the Gulf of Guinea, near the island of Fernando Po, on the night of June 15, and was buried on the 16th at the Presbyterian Mission Station, Old Calabar.
He was married, June 3, 1856, to Hannah C., daughter of Levi Bush, of Westfield, Mass., who survives him with one of their two children.
(Taken from Yale Obituaries, 1871-1880\).
- Title
- Guide to the Edward Parmelee Smith Papers
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- compiled by Staff of Manuscripts and Archives
- Date
- June 1982
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Location
Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511