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Sereno Edwards Bishop Papers: Finding Aid
mssBSH 1-943, FAC 933-944
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Title: Sereno Edwards Bishop Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1795-1937
Bulk dates: 1852-1884
Collection Number: mssBSH 1-943, FAC 933-944
Creator:
Bishop, Sereno Edwards, 1827-1909.
Extent:
956 pieces in 10 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Architecture Collections
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Hawaiian Presbyterian missionary and scientist Sereno Edwards Bishop (1827-1909) and
three generations of the Bishop family, chiefly dating from 1852 to 1884.
Subject matter includes: Hawaii and Hawaiian life; education both in Hawaii and Amherst, Massachusetts; travel; and missionary
work.
Language:
English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Sereno Edwards Bishop Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Robert Van Dyke, 1977.
Sereno Edwards Bishop (1827-1909), son of Presbyterian missionary Artemas Bishop (1795-1872), was
born in Kaawaloa, Hawaii, educated at Amherst College, Massachusetts, and returned to Hawaii
as a teacher at Lahainaluna Seminary and as a missionary. He wrote widely on native
and public affairs, and married Cornelia Ann Sessions Bishop (1826-1920) in 1852.
Sereno and Cornelia Bishop had five children: Edward Bishop (1853-1875), Charles Bishop (1855-1857), George Bishop (1856-1859),
John Sessions Bishop (1859-1951), and Elizabeth Delia Bishop Shaw (1862-1937).
Bishop's father Artemas Bishop was 27 years old and had been married only about 10 days when he and his
wife Elizabeth Edwards Bishop (1796-1828) sailed on the Thames in November 1822 from New Haven,
Connecticut, to Hawaii with the second missionary company. 158 days later they reached Honolulu.
Elizabeth lived only six
years after leaving her home, and left two children, Jane Elizabeth (1825-1904) and Sereno
Edwards. After Elizabeth's death, Artemas married Delia Stone (1800-1875), who had
arrived as an unmarried member of the third missionary company. Delia aided her husband and was a teacher in the
missionary school.
This collection contains the papers of Hawaiian missionary and scientist Sereno Edwards Bishop, his father, Artemas Bishop,
and the Bishop family.
This collection condenses nearly a century of missionary life on the Sandwich
(Hawaiian) Islands, and subject matter includes: Hawaii and Hawaiian life; education both in Hawaii and Amherst, Massachusetts;
travel; and missionary work.
Mainly the papers of Sereno Edwards Bishop, the collection contains letters between
Artemas and Sereno. Father and son consulted and
discussed widely affairs of family, mission and school, world events, and biblical
interpretations in the candid, open way possible only between persons who fully
trust each other. These discussions likely influenced Sereno's
attitudes and success as a writer and editor, and encouraged him in his scientific
investigations such as on the effects of volcanic eruptions on atmospheric conditions.
Letters between Sereno and his wife, Cornelia Ann (Sessions) Bishop, give a
comprehensive picture of life on the Islands through the decades 1850s-1880s. There
are also letters from other family members, and from friends, missionaries, and
business associates, both in the Islands and on the mainland. The collection also
contains several journals.
Of the journals in the collection, of note is a journal of Cornelia Ann Sessions
Bishop (written between 1856-1862) (BSH 509) and a journal of Sereno E. Bishop kept in
passage from Hawaii to Newport, Rhode Island, on the ship, William Lee (1839-1840), which
discusses whaling (BSH 708). There is also a manuscript "Childhood Recollections of the Old Mission House, between
1831 and 1839" by Sereno E. Bishop (BSH 709).
Correspondents represented in the collection include: the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, American Seamen's Friend Society, Artemas
Bishop, Cornelia Ann Sessions Bishop, Edward Fletcher Bishop, Luther Halsey Gulick,
Albert Francis Judd, and John Sessions.
Individuals represented by more than 5 pieces include:
- American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (5 pieces)
- American Seamen's Friend Society (9 pieces)
- Andrews, Claudius B. (17 pieces)
- Andrews, Lorrin A. (10 pieces)
- Andrews, Martha (5 pieces)
- Bicknell, James (13 pieces)
- Bingham, Elizabeth K. (10 pieces)
- Bishop, Alice (Moore) (5 pieces)
- Bishop, Artemas (262 pieces)
- Bishop, Cornelia Ann (Sessions) (173 pieces)
- Bishop, Edward Fletcher (25 pieces)
- Bishop, John Sessions (18 pieces)
- Bishop, Sereno Edwards (161 pieces)
- Bishop, William R. (6 pieces)
- Carpenter, Helen E. (12 pieces)
- Forbes, Anderson O. (20 pieces)
- Gulick, Luther Halsey (10 pieces)
- Hillebrand, Jane Elizabeth (Bishop) (18 pieces)
- Judd, A. Francis (6 pieces)
- Sessions, Edward C. (31 pieces)
- Sessions, John (10 pieces)
- Shaw, Elizabeth Delia (Bishop) (8 pieces)
The collection is arranged chronologically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Bishop, Artemas,
1795-1872.
Bishop, Cornelia Ann
Sessions.
Bishop, Edward
Fletcher.
Bishop, Sereno
Edwards, 1827-1909.
Lahainaluna Seminary --
Faculty -- Archives.
William Lee
(Ship)
Education -- Hawaii.
Education -- Massachusetts --
Amherst.
Educators -- Hawaii.
Missionaries -- Hawaii -- 19th century
-- Archives.
Missionaries' spouses -- Hawaii --
Correspondence.
Missions -- Hawaii -- History --
Sources.
Whaling.
Hawaii -- Church
history.
Hawaii -- Description
and travel.
Hawaii -- History --
19th century -- Sources.
Hawaii -- History --
To 1893 -- Sources.
Hawaii -- Social life
and customs -- 19th century.
Journals -- Hawaii.
Letters (correspondence) -- Hawaii.
Bishop, Artemas, 1795-1872.
Bishop, Cornelia Ann
Sessions.
Bishop, Edward Fletcher.
Gulick, Luther Halsey,
1828-1891.
Judd, A. F. (Albert Francis),
1874-1939.
Sessions, John, 1795-1884.
American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions.
American Seamen's Friend
Society.