Call Number:

C0233

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Jonathan Edwards Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1723-1798 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Edwards, Jonathan, 1703-1758.

Form:

Broadsides -- 18th century., Correspondence -- 18th century, Documents -- 18th century., Family papers -- 18th century., Manuscripts -- 18th century, Receipts -- 18th century., and Sermons -- 18th century.

Abstract:

Consists of selected correspondence, sermons, and documents of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) America's most important and original philosophical theologian, and his three sons, Timothy, Jonathan, and Pierpont Edwards.

Jonathan Edwards, the elder, was a colonial American Congregational preacher and theologian. In 1757, on the death of the Rev. Aaron Burr, who had married Edwards's daughter Esther, he reluctantly agreed to replace his late son-in-law as the president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), where he was installed on February 16, 1758. Almost immediately after becoming president, he was inoculated for smallpox, which was raging in Princeton at the time. However, Edwards died of the inoculation on March 22, 1758, and was buried in the Princeton Cemetery.

Edwards's eldest son, Timothy, was a member of the Princeton Class 1757.

Edwards's middle son, also named Jonathan, was a member of the Princeton Class of 1765. A theologian and a pioneer of Native American languages, he became president of Union College in Schenectady, New York.

The youngest son, Pierpont, was a member of the Princeton Class of 1768, and the uncle of Aaron Burr. Pierpont was a delegate to the American Continental Congress from Connecticut in 1787-88, and served as United States Attorney for 17 years.

The collection consists of correspondence, sermons, and documents of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) and his three sons, Timothy Edwards (Princeton Class of 1757), Jonathan Edwards (Princeton Class of 1765), and Pierpont Edwards (Princeton Class of 1768). Among the other correspondents are Joseph Bellamy, Rev. Aaron Burr (1716-1757), Capt. N. Dwight, John Ely, Jonathan Sergeant, and Benjamin Trumbull. Of significance is one of the few letters Edwards wrote during the five weeks he served as president of the College of New Jersey, before his death from an inoculation for smallpox. In this letter, dated February 28, 1758, Edwards asks Jonathan Sergeant for an advance of his stipend for his work at the College. He died three weeks later on March 22, 1758. Also of significance is Edwards's letter (1752) to Burr about his proposed trip to Great Britain to collect funds for the College of New Jersey. Ironically, Edwards suggests that Burr get inoculated for the smallpox. There are three substantial sermons by Edwards (the son) and a broadside (1795) reporting his dismissal as pastor of the White Haven Church of New Haven, Connecticut. In addition, there are numerous notes and fragments for sermons, and receipts, including ones related to the College of New Jersey.

The folders are arranged in accession number order.