Walsworth Family Papers, [ca. 1842-1906]

Summary

Title:

Walsworth Family Papers,

Dates:

[ca. 1842-1906]

Creators:

Walsworth family

Abstract:

Correspondence, diaries, Mss., scrapbooks and clippings of Presbyterian minister Edward Brown Walsworth and his wife, relating to their voyage around the Horn in the Trade Wind, 1852; life in San Francisco, Marysville and Oakland; voyage to Hawaii, 1858; visit to Yosemite; association with the Oakland Female College. Also included: letters, accounts and papers of the Gibson and Pierson families, 1806-1874; and genealogical materials relating to the Pierson, Walsworth and Redington families.

Extent:

Number of containers: 2 boxes, 2 cartons and 1 oversize folder

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Walsworth family papers, BANC MSS 70/131 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Biographical / historical:

Edward Brown Walsworth, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 29, 1819, moved with his family to New York State when he was fifteen years old. There he received his early education, and there he joined the Presbyterian Church. Having decided to become a minister, after graduating from Union College in 1844, he continued his studies at the Auburn Theological Seminary, and later at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Upon his graduation in 1848, he accepted his first call in East Avon, New York. Here he met Sarah A. Pierson who was to become his wife.

In 1852 Mr. Walsworth offered his services to the American Home Missionary Society, and left for California with Mrs. Walsworth on the Trade Wind, traveling around Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco in February, 1853. In California he organized the First Presbyterian Church in Oakland, then went on to Marysville, returning to Oakland some ten years later. At this time, Walsworth founded a college for women, the Oakland Female College of the Pacific, thereby combining his love of church and education. He was also a trustee and one of the founders of the Oakland College School. In 1872 he returned to New York, settling in Albion, and later accepting the chancellorship of Ingham University at LeRoy for three years. He spent his last years as resident pastor in Livonia, where he died in 1891.

Physical location:

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Related resources

Separated material:

• Photograph of the First Presbyterian Church, Marysville, transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library (BANC PIC 1970.050--CDV)
• Portraits have been removed and cataloged as portraits no. 14063-14068.

Other descriptive data:

The papers, a gift of Warren Howell, March 9, 1970, contain correspondence of both Mr. and Mrs. Walsworth from 1852 to 1890; a diary of Edward Brown Walsworth, 1853, describing the end of his voyage in the Trade Wind and his arrival in San Francisco; four volumes of diaries of Mrs. Walsworth,1852-1862, concerning the voyage to California, and life in San Francisco, Marysville and Oakland; papers relating to the Female College of the Pacific; scrapbooks of Edward Brown Walsworth relating to his ministerial career and to his interest in education; manuscripts of his writings and sermons, including the text for a Guide Book, New York to San Francisco via Panama, written in 1867; clippings; deeds for property in Marysville;and early family papers containing miscellaneous accounts and documents of the Gibson family, 1806-1842, and of the Pierson family, 1827-1874.

There is also genealogical material for the Pierson, Redington and Walsworth families.

A key to the arrangement of the papers and a list of major correspondents follow.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Processed by The Bancroft Library staff

Date Prepared:

© 1997

Date Encoded:

Machine-readable finding aid derived from paper by means of scanning and OCR; OCR file edited for typographical errors before encoding; finding aid encoded by Xiuzhi Zhou. Date of source: ca. 1970.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Walsworth family papers, BANC MSS 70/131 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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