Bache and Hodge Family Papers

Bache family

The Bache family is directly related to Benjamin Franklin. Sarah Franklin Bache, born on September 11, 1743, was the daughter of Benjamin. In 1767 she married Richard Bache against her father's will. However, after the birth of her first son, Benjamin Franklin reconciled himself to the match. That first son went on to be a political actor like his grandfather. Sarah's grandson through her first son was a physician, chemist, and author, who served as a military doctor from 1813 to 1816. Before her death in October of 1808, Sarah had eight children with Richard.

History of the Wistar Family

The Wistar family was another Philadelphia family. Richard Wistar, a glass manufacturer, had a son Caspar. Caspar became a doctor, and after spending time in Edinburgh and touring continental Europe, he returned to Philadelphia. There he was connected with the University of Pennsylvania Medical School for thirty years, and became a prominent and popular personality in the Philadelphia social circle. One of eight children, Caspar was part of a large network of Wistars.

Hodge, Charles (1797-1878)

Charles Hodge (Dec. 27, 1797 - June 19, 1878), theologian and leader in the Presbyterian Church, was born in Philadelphia, son of Dr. Hugh Hodge, a surgeon in the Continental Army and later in Philadelphia, and Mary Blanchard. Charles was educated at Princeton (Class of 1815) and went on to attend the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1819. His training in theology, especially his instruction by Archibald Alexander, was later to shape his thought and life's work. He became an instructor at the seminary in 1820 and taught there all his life, except for two years of study in France and Germany (1826-1828). His subjects were Biblical and Oriental literature from 1822 to 1840, after which date he concentrated on theology.

Hodge was an extremely gifted teacher, able to arouse the minds of his students with his tools of clear analytical statement, strong certainty, solid learning, and knowledge of contemporary thought. However, his personal religion and piety were more powerful tools of instruction, as demonstrated by his famous Sunday afternoon conference addresses. His theology was centrally Calvinism, as purported by the Westminister divines, but also from other sources, notably Turretin. His theology was always deeply Biblical, and he held it unchanged, even in the face of disintegrating Calvinism (in America), altering conceptions of the Bible, and the emerging force of Darwinism. The theology he established at Princeton was a powerfully conservative force, not only in the Presbyterian Church, but also in other churches. He started in 1825 the publication that would come to be known as the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, which he edited for more than 40 years. In his essays contributed to it, he defended vigorously the Princeton theology, especially against that of Andover. His first book, A Commentary on the Epistle of the Romans, brought him high repute. His other works include The Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, commentaries on other Pauline epistles, The Way of Life, and finally his Systematic Theology, which had extensive circulation. Posthumously appeared Discussions in Church Polity, a book of much importance, and Conference Papers.

He held a commanding position in the Presbyterian Church through both active participation and his articles in the Review. He was moderator of the (Old School) General Assembly in 1846, as well as being on both the missionary and education boards. In the church schism of 1837, he supported division and argued against the New School views. Although rigid in his views, he was also tender-hearted and affectionate. In 1822, he married the great-grand-daughter of Benjamin Franklin, Sarah Bache, daughter of Dr. William Bache and Catharine Wistar. Two of their eight children, Archibald Alexander and Caspar Wistar, became professors at Princeton Theological Seminary. His first wife died in 1849, and in 1852 he married Mrs. Mary (Hunter) Stockton.

The collection consists primarily of correspondence representing five generations of the Bache and Hodge families as well as members of the Scott and Wistar families of Princeton and Philadelphia. Some prominent family members represented are Sarah Franklin (1744-1808), daughter of Benjamin Franklin, and her husband, Richard Bache (1737-1811); their son, Dr. William Bache (1773-1814), and his wife, Catharine Wistar Bache (d. 1820); their daughters, Catharine Wistar Bache (1805-1886) and Sarah Bache (1798-1849); and Charles Hodge (1797-1878, Class of 1815), the husband of Sarah Bache, and several of their children, including Mary Elizabeth Hodge (b. 1825) and her husband, William Mckendry Scott (1817-1862), as well as their sons Hugh Lenox Scott (1853-1934) and William Berryman Scott (1858-1947, Class of 1877). During the early years of their marriage, the latter couple lived in Danville, Kentucky. Two (1878) of the Hugh Lenox Hodge letters were written from Ft. Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory, previously commanded by Colonel George Custer before departing on his trek to the Little Bighorn.

The collection also includes three diaries (1859-1861) of William McKendry Scott; the Princeton valedictory oration (1815) of Charles Hodge and an essay on Philip Massinger by William Berryman Scott written while he was a student at Princeton; and three photograph albums, including those belonging to Sarah Bache Hodge and Charles Hodge Scott (1849-1921, Class of 1868), containing photographs of family members, scenes of the Princeton University campus around 1868, and members of the Princeton Class of 1868. The albums include photographs of Charles Hodge; his brother, Hugh Lenox Hodge (1796-1873, Class of 1814); three of his sons, Archibald Alexander Hodge (1823-1886, Class of 1841), Francis (Frank) Blanchard Hodge (b. 1838), and Caspar Wistar Hodge (1830-1891, Class of 1848); his son-in-law, William McKendry Scott; and his grandson, Charles Hodge Scott. There are also many photographs of unidentified family members.

Series: A. Family Members (A-Z), B. Unidentified Material, C. Photograph Albums.

Additions are a gift of Mrs. Ada Roelke. AM 89-102 and AM 2010-80.

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Folder list prepared by Lisa Yankowitz ('13) in 2012.

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Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Bache and Hodge Family Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Publisher

Manuscripts Division

Date

2008

Creator

Bache family

People

Hodge, Archibald Alexander (1823-1886)

Hodge, Caspar Wistar (1830-1891)

Hodge, Charles (1797-1878)

Hodge, Francis Blanchard (1838-1905)

Hodge, Hugh L. (Hugh Lenox) (1796-1873)

Scott, Charles Hodge (1849-1921)

Scott, William McKendry (1817-1862)

Organization

College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.)

College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.). Class of 1815.

College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.). Class of 1868.

Place

Danville (Ky.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century

Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century

Princeton (N.J.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century

Language

English

Form

Photoprints

Albums

College orations -- 19th century

Correspondence

Diaries -- 19th century

Family records