Collection: Beach Family papers | Archives at Yale (original) (raw)

Collection

Call Number: RG 60

Scope and Contents

Rather than providing complete documentation of the lives and work of David Nelson Beach and Harlan Page Beach, the papers of this collection highlight certain aspects of their lives while leaving others untouched. The college years at Yale of both David and Harlan are well documented through letters and diaries. David's career as a prominent Congregational clergyman is traced through correspondence and newspaper clippings up until the year 1903, when he became president of Bangor Theological Seminary. Regular letters to family members document the period when Harlan and his wife Lucy were missionaries in China. Extensive information regarding Beach family relationships and history is available in the collection.

The larger portion of the papers in this collection are related to David Nelson Beach, with only several folders of family correspondence and one item of general correspondence relating to Harlan. Harlan's work as a professor of missions at Yale is touched upon only in a bound volume of letters from former students. No material related to David's work as president of Bangor Theological Seminary is available in this collection.

The first series, Correspondence dates from 1863 to 1961 and is divided into Family Correspondence and General Correspondence. The General Correspondence of David Nelson Beach documents his connection with the Liberal Congress of Religion and the American Anti-Saloon League and includes letters from Henry Cabot Lodge, Charles F. Thwing and Henry Clay Trumbull.

The Diaries and Journals of Series II date from the Beaches' student days, 1862 to 1876, and from a trip to Europe taken by David in 1885.

The writings of David Nelson Beach in Series III date from 1862 to 1909 and include many compositions and poems written while a student. The series also contains two items related to mission work which were written by Harlan Page Beach, and one essay related to Congregationalism which was written by David Nelson Beach, Jr. in 1957.

The Personal Items and Memorabilia of Series IV date from 1858 to 1919. The series contains primarily biographical material relating to David Nelson Beach, newspaper clippings, printed material, school reports and so forth. Reviews and correspondence related to his published writings are also in this series.

The Photographs of Series V include one folder of portraits of David and Harlan and several folders of photographs from the travels of Harlan and his wife in Africa, India and the Far East.

Dates

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Arrangement

  1. I. Correspondence, 1863-1961, undated
  2. II. Diaries, Journals, 1862-1885
  3. III. Writings, 1860-1957
  4. IV. Personal Items and Memorabilia, 1858-1919
  5. V. Photographs, 1872-1898, undated

Extent

6 Linear Feet (15 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/divinity.060

Additional Description

Abstract

The papers document various aspects of the lives of brothers David Nelson Beach and Harlan Page Beach, including their student days at Yale (1868-1878), Harlan's work in North China (1883-1890), and David's work as a clergyman and with the Anti-Saloon League while in Cambridge, Minneapolis and Denver. David Nelson Beach, 1848-1926, was a prominent Congregational clergyman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Denver, Colorado and was active in temperance reform. He was president of Bangor Theological Seminary from 1903-1921. Harlan Page Beach, 1854-1933, was a missionary to China under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1883-1890. He was professor of missions at Yale Divinity School from 1905-1921 and librarian of Yale's Day Missions Library from 1911-1925.

Biographical / Historical

Chronology of David Nelson Beach

1848 November 30

Born in South Orange, NJ, son of Joseph Wickliff and Mary Angeline (Walkley) Beach

1865-1868

Golden Hill Institute, Bridgeport, CT

1868-1872

Yale University, B.A. 1872. Class poet. New Haven correspondent, New York Tribune

1872-1873

Assistant city editor, New York Tribune

1873-1876

Yale Divinity School, B.D.

1876-1879

Pastor of Pawcatuck Congregational Church, Westerly, RI

1878

Married Lilian Tappan who became the mother of Dorothea, John, Joseph, and David Nelson Jr. before her death June 30, 1902

1879-1884

Pastor of Congregational Church, Wakefield, MA

1884-1896

Pastor of Prospect Street Church, Cambridge, MA

1896-1898

Pastor, Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis, MN

1896

D.D. Western Reserve University

1899-1902

Pastor of First Congregational Church, Denver, CO

1903

Married Dora Freeman who died March 14, 1915

1903-1921

President and Professor of Sacred Rhetoric, Bangor Theological Seminary

1916

Married Ellen Olive Walkley (his cousin).

1921-1926

Pastor-at-large, residing in Guilford and Southington, CT

1926 October 18

Died in Southington, CT

Beach was active in temperance work and in work for church unity. He was a member of the Liberal Congress of Religion. His published works included: The Newer Religious Thinking and The Annie Laurie Mine.

Chronology of Harlan Page Beach

1854

Born in South Orange, NJ, son of Joseph Wickliff and Mary Angeline (Walkley) Beach

1870, 1871

Worked in Plantsville, CT as a bookkeeper

1871

Entered Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

1878

B.A. Yale University

1883

B.D. Andover Theological Seminary

1883-1890

Missionary in North China under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), with his wife Lucy Ward Beach.

1901

M.A. (honorary) Yale

1905-1914

Professor of the Theory and Practice of Missions, Yale.

1911-1925

Librarian, Day Missions Library, Yale

1913

D.D. Amherst College

1914-1921

Willis James Professor of the Theory and Practice of Missions, Yale

1921-1933

Professor Emeritus

1933 March 4

Died in Florida

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title

Guide to the Beach Family Papers

Author

Compiled by Martha Lund Smalley

Date

1979

Description rules

Finding Aid Prepared According To Local Divinity Library Descriptive Practices

Language of description note

Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Yale Divinity Library Repository

Opening Hours