ma120 William Augustus Stearns Papers, 1801-1875 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Peter A. Nelson. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Amherst, MA
© 2003

Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Sarah Sorscher AC 2005. 2003-06-24 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 ma120 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Amherst College Archives and Special Collections William Augustus Stearns Papers, 1801-1875 Finding Aid 1974; revised 2002 Peter A. Nelson, Assistant Archivist (2002) Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003 Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.

 Collection Overview Stearns, William A. (William Augustus), 1805-1876 Stearns Papers 1801-1875 14 archives boxes (7 linear ft.) Amherst College Archives and Special Collections 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. English. 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.

 Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

1. General and Family Correspondence 2. Biographical Information 3. Sermons, chronologically arranged Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

There is no restriction on access to the William Augustus Stearns Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Requests for permission to publish material from the Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in William Augustus Stearns Papers [Box #, folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library

 History of the Collection 1974; revised 2002 Peter A. Nelson, Assistant Archivist (2002) Search Terms Stearns, William A. (William Augustus), 1805-1876. Amherst College--Presidents. Congregational churches--Clergy--Biography--Sources. Sermons, American--Massachusetts. Sermons--Amherst College. Series 1: General and Family Correspondence

This series is organized into seven sub-series:

A. Family B. General correspondence from Stearns C. General correspondence to Stearns D. Andover and Harvard: miscellaneous bills and documents E. Anti-slavery letters for congregation at Cambridgeport, not from Stearns F. Religious reports and documents G. Correspondence to Jonathan F. Stearns from William M. Rogers and others 1 1 Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1821-1829 1 2 Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1830-1835 1 3 Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1836-1850 1 4 Stearns to his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1851-1868 1 5 Stearns to his brother, Samuel H. Stearns 1822-1832 1 6 Stearns to his sister, Abigail French Stearns 1822-1832 1 7 Stearns to his daughter, Elisa C. Stearns 1822-1832 1 8 Stearns to Mrs. Stearns 1822-1832 1 9 Stearns to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Stearns 1823-1831 1 10 Stearns from his brother, Samuel H. Stearns 1824-1857 1 11 Stearns from his brother, Jonathan F. Stearns 1823-1850 1 12 Stearns from his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Stearns 1823-1850 1 13 General Correspondence from Stearns, arranged alphabetically (A-Z) 1823-1850 1 14 General correspondence to Stearns, arranged alphabetically (A-Z) 1823-1850 1 15 Andover and Harvard-misc. bills and documents 1822-1830 1 16 Anti-slavery letters for Cambridgeport congregation, not from Stearns 1837-1839 1 17 Religious Reports and documents 1831-1853 1 18 Correspondence to Jonathan F. Stearns from William M. Rogers and others 1836-1858 Series 2: Biographical Information 2 1 Scraps of sermons and addresses, membership certificates, prayer of dedication n.d. 2 2 Obituary, biography, and bibliography (including com discourse by W. S. Tyler) n.d. 2 3 Material about marble bust of Stearns (photos) n.d. 2 4 Photographs of Stearns n.d. 2 5 Concert Programs (Mrs W. F. Stearns) n.d. 2 6 Clippings n.d. 2 7 Mrs. William A. Stearns School (photographs) n.d. 2 8 Diaries and almanac for 1835 interleaved with notes, account books n.d. 2 9 Miniature of Stearns n.d. 3 1 Material on Samuel Stearns, Stearns's father n.d. 3 2 Material on Abigail Stearns, Stearns's Mother n.d. 3 3 Material on Mrs. W. A. Stearns, Stearns's Wife n.d. 3 4 Material on William F. Stearns, Stearns's Son n.d. 3 5 Sermon on death of William F. Stearns n.d. Series 3: Sermons 3 6 Miscellaneous Scraps of Sermons n.d. 3 7 Undated Sermons n.d. 4 1 Undated Sermons n.d. 4 2 Undated Sermons n.d. 4 3 Sermons 1827-1831 4 4 Sermons 1832 4 5 Sermons 1833 5 1 Sermons 1834 5 2 Sermons 1865-1865 5 3 Sermons 1837 Jan-Aug 5 4 Sermons 1837 Sept-Dec 5 5 Sermons 1838 5 6 Sermons 1839 6 1 Sermons 1840 Jan-May 6 2 Sermons 1840 Jun-Dec 6 3 Sermons 1841 6 4 Sermons 1842 6 5 Sermons 1843 6 6 Sermons 1844 Jan-Jul 6 7 Sermons 1844 Aug-Dec 7 1 Sermons 1845 Jan-June 7 2 Sermons 1845 July-Dec 7 3 Sermons 1846 7 4 Sermons 1847 Jan-May 7 5 Sermons 1847 Jun-Aug 7 6 Sermons 1847 Sept-Dec 7 7 Sermons 1848 Jan-June 8 1 Sermons 1848 July-Dec 8 2 Sermons 1849 Jan-Apr 8 3 Sermons 1849 May-July 8 4 Sermons 1849 Aug-Dec 8 5 Sermons 1850 Jan-Apr 9 1 Sermons 1850 May-Sep 9 2 Sermons 1850 Oct-Dec 9 3 Sermons 1851 Jan-May 9 4 Sermons 1851 Jun-Dec. 9 5 Sermons 1852 Jan-Sep 9 6 Sermons 1852 Oct-Dec 9 7 Sermons 1853 10 1 Sermons 1854 Jan-Mar 10 2 Sermons 1854 Apr-Dec 10 3 Sermons 1855 10 4 Sermons 1856 10 5 Sermons 1857 10 6 Sermons 1858 11 1 Sermons 1859 11 2 Sermons 1860-1861 11 3 Sermons 1862-1863 11 4 Sermons 1864 11 5 Sermons 1865-1869 11 6 Sermons 1870-1871 11 7 Sermons 1872, 1874-1875 12 1 Baccalaureate Sermons 1871-1873 12 2 Baccalaureate Sermons 1874-1876 12 3 Samuel Stearns's Sermons 1801, 1812, 1814, 1832 12 4 Baccalaureate Sermons n.d. 12 5 "Hebrew Theocracy and its Records" n.d. 12 6 "Hebrew Theocracy and its Records" (cont) n.d. 13 1 Manuscript: "Hindooism" n.d. 13 2 Manuscript: "Laying the Cornerstone of Walker Hall" 1868 Jun 10 14 1 Printed material: pamphlets, speeches, addresses, etc. n.d.