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Edward Raymond Ames Family Collection
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Edward Raymond Ames was born in Amesville, Ohio, on May 20, 1806 and died in Baltimore, on April 25, 1879. He became a Methodist, and in 1828 traveled to Illinois where, in Lebanon, he founded the school which later became McKendree College. In 1830 Ames joined the Indiana Methodist Episcopal conference, became a traveling preacher, and rode through the South and West, and among the Indian tribes, a distance of more than 25,000 miles. During his twenty years of traveling, he served as the chaplain of the Choctaw General Council at the tribe's request and as president of Asbury College. In 1852 he was elected bishop at a Boston conference.
The collection consists of two of Ames' diaries and 21 letters of Ames family members: Edward Raymond Ames, his mother, Nabby L. Ames, his wife, Henrietta Beach Ames, her brother, William D. Beach, her sister, Julia Beach, and her father, Samuel Beach. The first diary (14 pp.), dated Dec. 18-30, 1852, tells of Ames being sent to California to preside over conferences of the Methodist churches in California and Oregon. The second diary covers events of the year 1855. The bulk of the correspondence took place during the time when Ames joined the Indiana Methodist Episcopal conference and became an itinerant minister (1830s-1850s). The letters to his wife, written from the various cities that he travelled to, provide a firsthand account of an itinerant clergyman's life.
Organized by form (diaries and correspondence); correspondence arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.
No AM given except for AM8504 for Folder 4a and AM8023 for Folder 24.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
Finding aid written by James Flannery on January 11, 2006. Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager (2015) in 2012.
No appraisal information is available.
Organization
- Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
- Choctaw Nation
- McKendree College
- Methodist Episcopal Church
- Methodist Episcopal Church. Indiana Conference
Subject
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2006
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
Telling about being sent to California to preside over conferences of the Methodist churches in California and Oregon.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Asking her to pay a debt to W. Fuller for him.
Physical Description1 folder
About a visit.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Upon his arrival at St. Louis.
Physical Description1 folder
About her son George entering the ministry, with a note on the bottom of the page from Henrietta.
Physical Description1 folder
About his travels and about bringing up their children to love truth.
Physical Description1 folder
About friends he had seen on a trip to Madison, etc.
Physical Description1 folder
Regarding to his prospective appointments.
Physical Description1 folder
About his visits.
Physical Description1 folder
While he was attending a conference in Chicago.
Physical Description1 folder
Telling him of her life at school.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
About a visit in New York and Staten Island.
Physical Description1 folder
Sympathizing with her for the loss of a "kind brother."
Physical Description1 folder
Re: her husband's new station at Indianapolis and the birth of their daughter Ann
Physical Description1 folder
Urging him to take care of himself, and giving him news of the other members of the family.
Physical Description1 folder
Asking him to take better care of his health, and to write more often.
Physical Description1 folder
Telling her of the death of her father.
Physical Description1 folder
Telling of boarding in the absence of her husband.
Physical Description1 folder
Announcing the birth of another daughter Laura Adaline, and telling her of her husband's work.
Physical Description1 folder
Telling her of her new home in Madison.
Physical Description1 folder
Asking why he hasn't written her, and telling him of family news.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder