Eliza Fairbanks Hooper diary and correspondence, 1818-1830.

ArchivalResource

Hooper, Eliza Fairbanks. Eliza Fairbanks Hooper diary and correspondence, 1818-1830.

Eliza Fairbanks Hooper diary and correspondence, 1818-1830.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702161243

In her diary dated 1827 Jan 1-1829 Jan 13, Eliza Fairbanks Hooper comments on her spiritual life, her feelings of inadequacy and her commitment to doing Christian work. The entries also document her teaching in Hopkinton; meetings with Choctaw missionary Dr. William Pride in Massachusetts in 1827; application to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; journey from Massachusetts with the missionaries to Philadelphia, Hagerstown, Maryland, Winchester, Virginia, Woodstock, [Ohio?], between September 10 and October 12, 1827, and then her arrival at Elliot from Mayhew, on December 1; courtship and subsequent marriage to William Hooper; her friendship with her sister in-law Dorcas Hooper; and teaching experiences and observations of the Choctaws. The correspondence dates from 1818 to 1830, and includes letters from Eliza to her sister dated 1827 July 1, at Hopkinton, mentioning her application to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to become a missionary; a letter written from Mayhew to an unidentified friend shortly after her arrival, describing her daily activities, interactions with Choctaw women, and difficulties in teaching the children without proper interpreters; a letter to William Hooper written early in their courtship on 1828 January 18; and a letter to "Sister Smith" from Elliot, 1829 Jan 31, expressing her continuing sorrow following the death of her husband, and describing the progress she believes the missionaries were making in leading the Choctaws to salvation. Letters received by Eliza include those from her mother, Molly Fairbanks, of Franklin, Massachusetts, written when Eliza was a student at the Bradford Academy in 1818, and when she was in Mississippi in 1827, 1828 and 1830; a general letter of reference for Eliza written by her pastor in Franklin in 1827; a letter written by William Hooper in 1828 Jan, in response to a letter from Eliza; and letters from friends and fellow missionaries H. Emily Core, Rev. Cyrus Byington, and Rev. Calvin Cushman, written after the death of William Hooper. Accompanying the diary and correspondence are undated holograph student writing exercises by Dorcas Hooper.

0.20 linear ft. (1 box + 1 portfolio)

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library