Moses Merrill papers, 1792-1871.

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Moses Merrill papers, 1792-1871.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702161210

The papers consist of correspondence, reports, writings, and other documents relating to the missionary work of Moses Merrill and his wife Eliza, and extended family papers. The majority of material documents the Merrill's experience as missionaries at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan Territory; Shawnee, Jackson County, Missouri; and at Bellevue and on the Platte River in Nebraska (Indian Territory). Merrill's correspondence with and reports to Lucius Bolles, Secretary, and Herman Lincoln, Treasurer, of the American Baptist Missionary Union, Boston, dates from 1834 to 1840, and describes the difficult living conditions of the Merrill's and their assistant Cynthia Brown; financial issues; the challenges of teaching and giving religious training to Otos, Pawnees and Omahas; the behavior and customs of the Indians, and outbreaks of cholera and smallpox among them; the illnesses of the missionaries; and the construction of living and teaching quarters near the Platte River. Individuals mentioned include Indian agent John Dougherty, government employee and Baptist mission representative Isaac McCoy, and missionary Jotham Meeker. Letters written by Merrill and Eliza to each other during brief and infrequent separations describe their activities and express their regret of being apart. Additional related material includes an 1825 letter of reference for, and a short undated holograph essay on marriage by Moses Merrill, and a manuscript copy of a document relating to the "civilization of the Indians," issued by the United States Department of War in 1830, in an unidentified hand. Eliza Merrill letters include those written to her father (1829), her brother-in-law (and later husband) Thomas W. Merrill (1829, 1848), and her sister (1833). In a letter dated 1840 Mar 29, Eliza is comforted by her sister-in-law after the death of Moses the previous month. Eliza Merrill's work with orphanages in Albany, New York, is represented by two undated reports on the "Asylum for Missionaries children," a letter dated 1843 Mar 27 to Mrs. Merrill from H. Van [O. Lindy?] regarding the institution, and a document relating to solicitation of donations by Mrs. Merrill for an orphan girls home dated 1843 Jan 27. Items documenting the life and work of Moses' father Daniel, and other family members include correspondence, sermons and essays, and miscellaneous notes and writings dating from 1792 to 1871. A printed autobiography of Daniel Merrill, published posthumously by the Baptist General Tract Society, and one of his sermons reprinted by his grandson from an issue of Zion's Advocate, accompany the papers.

0.20 linear ft. (1 box)

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8021053

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Related Entities

There are 12 Entities related to this resource.

Brown, Cynthia, fl. 1840.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tf2m6n (person)

Merrill, Eliza Wilcox.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h42q43 (person)

Merrill, Moses, 1803-1840.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f483mk (person)

The son of Baptist minister Daniel Merrill (1765-1833) of Sedgewick, Maine, and Nottingham West, New Hampshire, Moses Merrill and his wife Eliza Wilcox Merrill (1800-1882) were missionaries of the American Baptist Missionary Union in Michigan, Missouri and Nebraska. They had two children, Moses Daniel (b. 1831) and Samuel Pearce (b. 1835). After her husband's death from tuberculosis in 1840, Eliza Merrill taught school and worked to establish an orphanage in Albany, New York. In 1847 she married...

Dougherty, John E., 1841-1905

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fr2jnb (person)

John E. Dougherty was born in Perth, Ontario, Canada, in 1841. He taught school near Ottawa for four years. In 1870 he came to Montana Territory and taught school for a year. In 1871 he bought Billy Quinn's general store in Radersburg, which at that time was a bustling mining town. The J.E. Dougherty store sold general merchandise and farm implements to the local farmers and miners, until it closed in 1886. In addition to the store, Dougherty had a farm in the Crow Creek valley. Daugherty marrie...

Meeker, Jotham, 1804-1855

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qj9w75 (person)

Lincoln, Herman.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xs8j7x (person)

Bolles, Lucius, 1779-1844

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cv761f (person)

American Baptist Missionary Union

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hn08c8 (corporateBody)

Records probably collected by George N. Mills, attorney for the American Baptist Missionary Union. From the description of American Baptist Missionary Union records, 1837-1838 and 1850. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34422413 ...

McCoy, Isaac, 1784-1846

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68344w5 (person)

Baptist missionary to Native Americans, surveyor, author; of Michigan, Indiana, Kansas. From the description of Isaac McCoy papers, 1808-1874. (Kansas State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 655829527 Founder of Carey Mission (a school for Native Americans) near Niles, Mich. From the description of Isaac McCoy correspondence, 1800-1821. (Detroit Public Library). WorldCat record id: 368120827 ...

Merrill family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tn6r06 (family)

Merrill, Thomas W.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64t74z6 (person)

Merrill, Daniel

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xh2dgc (person)