Bellows, Henry W. (Henry Whitney), 1814-1882

Unitarian minister; President, United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War.

New York City resident and Unitarian clergyman.

Henry Whitney Bellows (1814-1882) was born in Boston and received a B.A. from Harvard College in 1832. He earned an S.T.D. from Harvard University in 1854. In 1882 he was ordained as a Unitarian minister at the First Congregational Church (later renamed All Souls Church ) of New York. From 1861 to 1878 Bellows was the president of the United States Sanitary Commission, which was a charity service for Union soldiers during the Civil War. During the Civil War, Bellows worked to establish the National Conference of Unitarian Churches, which became formally affiliated with the American Unitarian Association in 1925

Clergyman.

Collection consists of nineteen letters to various correspondents and a memorandum of outgoing correspondence by Henry W. Bellows, 1842-1881; an endorsed check; clipped autograph material; newspaper clippings; and two brief letters written on his behalf by son Russell N. Bellows. Letters mainly concern preaching, lecturing and social engagements; also, editorial and publishing activities, family matters, and Bellows' voyage to Liverpool, 1848 on Moses H. Grinnell's ship Ashburton. Letters written 1863-1864 as President of the Sanitary Commission include acknowledgment of a railroad pass and a letter of recommendation for Oscar B. Ireland. Also present is a photograph portrait of Bellows, attached to letter of 8 Feb. 1854 to Mr. and Mrs. Putnam.

Unitarian clergyman.