Scope and Contents
The Bostwick Family Papers consist of approximately 213 letters to William Lewis Bostwick, 1845-1858, all but three dating from the period during which he was a student first at Jubilee College, Illinois, and then at Trinity College, Connecticut. Bostwick's correspondents are mainly friends and teachers from Jubilee College and members of his family, including among them his sisters Celeste (Bostwick) Fuller of Flushing, New York, and Mary (Bostwick) Harriman of Litchfield, Connecticut; his uncles A. S. and William H. Lewis, Henry H. Bostwick, and Daniel E. Brown; and members of the Hanford family of Lockport, Illinois. Comstock Hanford was Bostwick's guardian. The letters from friends deal largely with events at Jubilee College (one friend writes of being unjustly expelled for intoxication, 1850 Aug 18; another describes the funeral of Bishop Philander Chase, founder of the College, 1852 Oct 18), with church matters, and with Bostwick's decision to study theology at Trinity College. The family letters deal with social events and family news and business, in particular details of paying for Bostwick's education out of the estates of his parents and grandmother. A letter from Bishop George Burgess, 1852 Jul 10, offers Bostwick a scholarship to divinity school.
Dates
- 1845-1858
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
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Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain.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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased in 1947.
Arrangement
The letters are arranged in a single chronological sequence.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The principal figure in these papers is William Lewis Bostwick, the recipient of the approximately 213 letters which make up the collection. The letters were written to him while he was attending Jubilee College in Illinois and then Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. They are from family, friends, and teachers, and discuss student life, church matters, and family news with particular attention to the cost of Bostwick's education.
Biographical / Historical
William Lewis Bostwick was born in Hammondsport, New York, on December 20, 1830. He studied for four years at Jubilee College in Illinois, but graduated from Trinity College in Connecticut in 1851. Immediately, he joined the theological faculty at Trinity and was ordained into the priesthood in 1855. He returned to Illinois for missionary work, but later returned to Connecticut to lead parishes in Fairfield and Litchfield Counties. He died in Stamford, Connecticut, on March 13, 1895.
- Title
- Guide to the Bostwick Family Papers
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- compiled by Janet Elaine Gertz
- Date
- June 1983
- 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
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