Collection: Alexander Stevenson Twombly papers (original) (raw)

Collection

Call Number: MS 1163

• Manuscripts and Archives
• Alexander Stevenson Twombly papers

Scope and Contents

The Alexander S. Twombly Papers consist mainly of letters to Twombly from famous people and personal friends. There are also clippings about the correspondents and a small number of drawings, photographs, and writings. Most of the letters are mounted in three scrapbooks (numbered 1, 2, and 4), which are the entire contents of Box 1. Box 2 contains the remaining papers, including loose letters, some of which were originally in scrapbook 3. The following pages contain an index to the correspondence.

These papers were purchased by Yale University in 1947.

Dates

• 1843-1907

Creator

• Twombly, Alexander S. (Alexander Stevenson), 1832-1907

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased in 1947.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (2 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/mssa.ms.1163

Additional Description

Abstract

Letters from personal friends and famous people concerning Twombly's work as minister, author, president of the Yale Alumni Association of Boston.

Biographical / Historical

ALEXANDER STEVENSON TWOMBLY, son of Alexander Hamilton and Mary (Perley) Twombly, was born March 14, 1832, in Boston, Mass. Before fitting for college he spent two years in a store, and after preparation in the school of Lewis J. Dudley (Y.C. 1838) in Northampton, Mass., he joined the class at the beginning of Sophomore year.

After graduation he entered the Andover Theological Seminary and finished his course in 1858, having meantime spent part of the years 1856-1857 in travel and study at Heidelberg, Germany. He was ordained February 10, 1859, and was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Cherry Valley, N.Y., for three years. In 1862 he accepted a call as the first pastor of the State Street Presbyterian Church of Albany, N.Y., where he remained five years. From the spring of 1867 to 1872 he was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Stamford, Conn., and then for nineteen years of the Winthrop (Congregational) Church, in Charlestown, Mass. (now Bunker Hill District of Boston). He remained with this church, admired and beloved, until his retirement from pastoral service in 1891, when he bought a home in Newton, Mass. He spent the year 1886-1887 abroad. During four months of the winter and spring of 1894 he was the acting pastor of the Central Union Church at Honolulu. As the result of his sojourn there he wrote "Hawaii and its People" and "Kelea, the Surf Rider: a Story," both published in 1900.

He often contributed to the religious and secular press and for a time in 1891 was editorially connected with the Boston Traveler. From 1896 to 1898 he was Literary Editor for the publishing house of Silver, Burdett & Co., issuing during that time "The Silver Series of English Classics," in ten volumes. Besides this work he was the author of "Merry Maple Leaves," 1872; "The Choir Boy of York Cathedral, and other Christmas Stories," 1890; "Masterpieces of Michelangelo and Milton"; and "Life of Dr. John Lord," 1896.

In 1883 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Yale, and from 1881 to 1885 was President of the Yale Alumni Association of Boston. He was for five years Vice-President of the Associated Charities of Newton and President from 1902 to 1908.

Dr. Twombly died after a brief illness at his home in Newton, November 19, 1907, at the age of 75 years.

He married, December 23, 1858, Abby, daughter of Jacob Bancroft, of Boston, and had five sons, all of whom with Mrs. Twombly survive him. Four of the sons graduated from the Academical Department of Yale, in 1881, 1884, 1891, and 1896, respectively, and the other from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1887.

Yale Obituary Record, 1900-1910.

Index of Correspondents

Note: Most of the letters are mounted in three scrapbooks (numbered vols. 1, 2, and 4), which are the entire contents of Box 1. Box 2 contains the remaining papers, including loose letters, some of which were originally in scrapbook vol. 3.

Subjects

• Alexander, Constance Grosvenor
• Carter, George Robert, 1866-1933
• Clergy
• Clergy as authors
• Duryea, Joseph T. (Joseph Tuthill), 1832-1898
• Dwight, Timothy, 1828-1916
• Gordon, George A. (George Angier), 1853-1929
• Hale, Edward Everett, 1822-1909
• Hincks, Edward Y. (Edward Young), 1844-1927
• Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894
• Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920
• Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909
• Lambert, Edward Wilberforce, 1831-1904
• Lord, John, 1810-1894
• McKenzie, Alexander, 1830-1914
• Munger, Theodore Thornton, 1830-1910
• Norton, Charles Eliot, 1827-1908
• Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 1833-1908
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896
• Thwing, Charles Franklin, 1853-1937
• Twombly, Alexander S. (Alexander Stevenson), 1832-1907
• Weeks, Edwin Lord
• Whiton, James Morris, 1833-1920

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title

Guide to the Alexander Stevenson Twombly Papers

Status

Under Revision

Author

compiled by Staff of Manuscripts and Archives

Date

August 1980

Description rules

Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual

Language of description note

Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours