William Augustus Stearns Papers, 1801-1875
General International Standard for Archival Description
Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Sarah Sorscher AC 2005. 2003-06-24
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Stearns Papers
Creation of Stearns Papers
Time of Creation of Stearns Papers
Stearns, William A. (William Augustus), 1805-1876
Biographical History for: Stearns Papers
Biographical Note William Augustus Stearns, clergyman and educator, was born in 1805 in Bedford, Mass. He was the son of a minister, Samuel Stearns, and one of eleven children. He was educated at Phillips Academy Andover, Harvard College, and Andover Theological Seminary. His first post as minister was at Cambridgeport, Mass. at the age of twenty-six; he was so successful that he stayed there from 1831 until 1854. In 1854, Stearns was called to be the fourth president of Amherst College, where he served until his death in 1876. He was a strong and popular administrator.
Scope and Contents of the Collection This collection contains a small body of correspondence and biographical material containing general information on Stearns. The bulk of the collection consists of Stearns's sermons in manuscript form. The correspondence is mostly personal letters to and from members of Stearns's family, but there are some letters from Stearns to others, a group of anti-slavery letters and documents, and some religious documents pertaining to Stearns's ministry.
Congregational churches--Clergy--Biography--Sources.
lcsh
Sermons, American--Massachusetts.
Stearns, William A. (William Augustus), 1805-1876.
lcnaf
Amherst College--Presidents.
aat
series
Series 1: General and Family Correspondence
This series is organized into seven sub-series: A. Family B. General correspondence from StearnsC. General correspondence to StearnsD. Andover and Harvard: miscellaneous bills and documentsE. Anti-slavery letters for congregation at Cambridgeport, not from StearnsF. Religious reports and documentsG. Correspondence to Jonathan F. Stearns from William M. Rogers and others
Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1821-1829
Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1830-1835
Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1836-1850
Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1851-1868
Stearns to his brother, Samuel H. Stearns 1822-1832
Stearns to his sister, Abigail French Stearns 1822-1832
Stearns to his daughter, Elisa C. Stearns 1822-1832
Stearns to Mrs. Stearns 1822-1832
Stearns to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Stearns 1823-1831
Stearns from his brother, Samuel H. Stearns 1824-1857
Stearns from his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1823-1850
Stearns from his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Stearns 1823-1850
General Correspondence from Stearns, arranged alphabetically (A-Z) 1823-1850
General correspondence to Stearns, arranged alphabetically (A-Z) 1823-1850
Andover and Harvard-misc. bills and documents 1822-1830
Anti-slavery letters for Cambridgeport congregation, not from Stearns 1837-1839
Religious Reports and documents 1831-1853
Correspondence to Jonathan F. Stearns from William M. Rogers and others 1836-1858
Series 2: Biographical Information
Scraps of sermons and addresses, membership certificates, prayer of dedication n.d.
Obituary, biography, and bibliography (including com discourse by W. S. Tyler) n.d.
Material about marble bust of Stearns (photos) n.d.
Photographs of Stearns n.d.
Concert Programs (Mrs W. F. Stearns) n.d.
Clippings n.d.
Mrs. William A. Stearns School (photographs) n.d.
Diaries and almanac for 1835 interleaved with notes, account books n.d.
Miniature of Stearns n.d.
Material on Samuel Stearns, Stearns's father n.d.
Material on Abigail Stearns, Stearns's Mother n.d.
Material on Mrs. W. A. Stearns, Stearns's Wife n.d.
Material on William F. Stearns, Stearns's Son n.d.
Sermon on death of William F. Stearns n.d.
Series 3: Sermons
Miscellaneous Scraps of Sermons n.d.
Undated Sermons n.d.
Sermons 1827-1831
Sermons 1832
Sermons 1833
Sermons 1834
Sermons 1865-1865
Sermons 1837 Jan-Aug
Sermons 1837 Sept-Dec
Sermons 1838
Sermons 1839
Sermons 1840 Jan-May
Sermons 1840 Jun-Dec
Sermons 1841
Sermons 1842
Sermons 1843
Sermons 1844 Jan-Jul
Sermons 1844 Aug-Dec
Sermons 1845 Jan-June
Sermons 1845 July-Dec
Sermons 1846
Sermons 1847 Jan-May
Sermons 1847 Jun-Aug
Sermons 1847 Sept-Dec
Sermons 1848 Jan-June
Sermons 1848 July-Dec
Sermons 1849 Jan-Apr
Sermons 1849 May-July
Sermons 1849 Aug-Dec
Sermons 1850 Jan-Apr
Sermons 1850 May-Sep
Sermons 1850 Oct-Dec
Sermons 1851 Jan-May
Sermons 1851 Jun-Dec.
Sermons 1852 Jan-Sep
Sermons 1852 Oct-Dec
Sermons 1853
Sermons 1854 Jan-Mar
Sermons 1854 Apr-Dec
Sermons 1855
Sermons 1856
Sermons 1857
Sermons 1858
Sermons 1859
Sermons 1860-1861
Sermons 1862-1863
Sermons 1864
Sermons 1865-1869
Sermons 1870-1871
Sermons 1872, 1874-1875
Baccalaureate Sermons 1871-1873
Baccalaureate Sermons 1874-1876
Samuel Stearns's Sermons 1801, 1812, 1814, 1832
Baccalaureate Sermons n.d.
"Hebrew Theocracy and its Records" n.d.
"Hebrew Theocracy and its Records" (cont) n.d.
Manuscript: "Hindooism" n.d.
Manuscript: "Laying the Cornerstone of Walker Hall" 1868 Jun 10
Printed material: pamphlets, speeches, addresses, etc. n.d.