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Williams (Benajah) diaries
ARC Mss 85
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Title: Benajah Williams diaries
Identifier/Call Number: ARC Mss 85
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2.34 linear feet
(2 flat boxes)
Creator:
Williams, Benajah, 1789-1864
Date (inclusive): circa 1818-1862
Abstract: Five handwritten diaries by Methodist preacher Benajah Williams (1789-1864) documenting his activities during the years 1818-1862.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
The collection is open for research.
[Identification of Item], Benajah Williams diaries, ARC Mss 85. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Library purchase, 2017.
The Rev. Benajah Williams was born in Pownal, Vermont in 1789, and soon after moved to Cazenovia, New York with his family.
He married his wife Jerusha Wiliams in 1808, and by 1816 he was first licensed to preach in the Methodist faith. Williams
was quickly assigned as a traveling preacher to many circuits (which were assigned routes provided by the church in order
to ensure access to religious services for residents of rural areas) inside of New York including Old Bloomfield, Caladonia,
Sweeden, Batavia, Danaville, Plattsburg, Naples, Scottsville, Elba, Richmond, and East Liberty, with Honeyoe Falls serving
as his central station before 1840. Williams life was very difficult for him and his family, and often most of his annual
salary was paid in produce by members of his congregation. Perhaps because of this, he briefly left New York and relocated
to Chagrin Falls, Ohio where he owned and operated an iron foundry beginning in June of 1840. He would return to his preaching,
however, in 1848, and this time he was assigned to the Coudersport, Pennsylvania circuit. Williams was known to be a strict
man, shunning and condemning extravagance or display in dressing such as jewelry and adornments. This garnered him the reputation
of an extremist, though most accounts note that he was well regarded and kind in many other areas. Williams was also a known
Abolitionist, and he was known to distribute anti-slavery materials along with his religious teachings. Wiliams was known
to be suspicious of Catholicism, and saw the Pope as a threat to Republicanism and the Protestant Church.
This collection is comprised of five volumes, each of which is composed of 25 individual pocket-sized diaries that have been
bound together. The total number of pages for these volumes totals at nearly 4,700. All of these have diaries seem to have
been hand written by the Rev. Benajah Williams, a Methodist preacher and "circuit rider" active during the years of these
journals from 1818-1862 (with some gaps). Williams composed these manuscripts during these years while traveling the Northeast
Circuits. The parties responsible for the binding these journals are unknown at this time.
These diaries have been arranged in chronological order.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Methodist Church -- Clergy -- Biography
Methodist Church -- New York (State) -- History
New York (State) -- Church history
Diaries
Williams, Benajah, 1789-1864 -- Diaries