Eggleston family collection, 1772-1924 (majority within 1859-1864)

Summary

Creator:

Eggleston family

Abstract:

The Eggleston family collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other items related to Ambrose Eggleston, Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston (or Egleston), Melville Eggleston (or Egleston), and Samuel Eggleston. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters to Ambrose Eggleston from family members, who responded to genealogical inquiries about their family histories.

Extent:

0.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Cheney J. Schopieray, July 2003, and Naomi Herman-Aplet and Meg Hixon, December 2012

Background

Scope and Content:

The Eggleston family collection (0.5 linear feet) contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other items related to Ambrose Eggleston, Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston (or Egleston), Melville Eggleston (or Egleston), and Samuel Eggleston. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters to Ambrose Eggleston from family members, who responded to his genealogical inquiries about family history.

The bulk of the collection is made up of items collected by Ambrose Eggleston . The Ambrose Eggleston Correspondence subseries contains around 250 letters to Eggleston, dated September 14, 1850-December 13, 1864, and May 2, 1900. The bulk of the correspondence is dated 1859-1864. Eggleston received letters from over 131 family members, who provided information on Eggleston (and Egleston) family history. Eggleston regularly corresponded with Elijah Eggleston of Hartford, Connecticut, who shared news of his genealogical findings. One late letter pertains to Murray E. Poole's genealogical research, which he conducted after Ambrose Eggleston's death.

The Ambrose Eggleston Genealogies subseries (16 items) contains undated biographical sketches of, and notes about, various members of the Eggleston family and allied families. Two items pertain to Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston.

The Ambrose Eggleston Newspaper Clippings subseries (4 items) is made up of newspaper articles attributed to Elijah Eggleston, dated July 19, 1859-October 7, 1859. The articles concern historical publications, patent medicine, a murder case, and the Putnam Phalanx, a military unit.

The Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston series pertains to Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston (or Egleston) and his son Melville. The Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Correspondence subseries (17 items) contains 5 letters by Nathaniel H. Eggleston (December 20, 1841-September 5, 1859); 9 letters to Melville Eggleston (July 9, 1886-November 9, 1924), and a letter to "Mama" about a leg injury, including 2 diagrams (February 9, 1898); the series also contains 2 undated items. Nathaniel Eggleston and his wife Sarah wrote to family members and an acquaintance about life in Hartford, Connecticut, and in Madison, Wisconsin, after the family relocated in the 1850s. A letter to Eggleston's mother includes an announcement of Melville Eggleston's birth (July 27, 1845); one letter includes a newspaper clipping mentioning Nathaniel Eggleston's admission to the Union Congregational Church in Madison (July 22, 1859). Melville Eggleston received letters relating to subjects including his master's degree from Yale College (July 9, 1886), genealogical inquiries and family history, and club membership. Two undated items are a German-language postcard from "Lilian" to an uncle, and a typed extract of a letter by Nathaniel H. Eggleston.

Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Newspaper Clippings (12 unique items) include 10 unique obituaries for Reverend Nathaniel Hillyer Egleston, published during the week after his death in August 1912. Burrell's Press Clipping Bureau collected and mounted 8 of the clippings. The other articles relate to the death of William H. Sheldon (undated) and to a performance of Oedipus Rex at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City (April 28, 1914).

The Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Ephemera and Report Card (3 items) relate to Williams College. Items include an invitation to a "Class Day," a grade report for Nathaniel H. Egleston, and a commencement program for the class of 1906, which included Nathaniel Hillyer Egleston.

The Samuel Eggleston Documents series contains 13 land deeds and indentures (April 16, 1772-July 18, 1850) pertaining to land that Eggleston owned in Dutchess County, New York.

Biographical / Historical:

Ambrose Eggleston (May 16, 1793-1865-January 23, 1865) was the son of Nicholas Eggleston and Mary Stewart of North East, New York. He graduated from Yale College in 1813 and taught school until 1815, when he moved to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he studied law. In 1818, he was admitted to the bar and moved to Unadilla, New York, where he practiced law until 1821. That year, he entered the Auburn Theological Seminary, and he received a preaching license in 1822. Eggleston was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Conventry, New York; the Congregational Church in Egremont, Massachusetts; and the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in Fallsburg, New York. He lived in Coldwater, Michigan, during his later years. Eggleston married Elizabeth B. Harper ("Betsey") of Windsor, New York, on August 18, 1819, and they had four children: George H. (1821-1861), Nicholas Albert (b. 1824), Hamilton Stewart (b. 1835), and Mary Emily (ca. 1840-1842).

Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston (or Egleston) was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 7, 1822, the son of Nathaniel Eggleston (1790-1839) and Emily Hillyer (1797-1874). After graduating from Yale College in 1840 and Yale Seminary (now Yale Divinity School) in 1843, he was pastor of the Congregational Church in Ellington, Connecticut, from 1845-1850. He also served in Brooklyn, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and was a founder of the American Congregational Union and the Chicago Theological Seminary. His teaching career included an appointment at Williams College and the establishment of a family school in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Eggleston later lived in Washington, D.C., where he was chief of the Bureau of Forestry (now the United States Forest Service) from 1883-1886. Nathaniel H. Eggleston married Sarah Ann Winship, the daughter of Thomas Winship and Emily Warner, on July 30, 1844, and they had five children: Melville (b. 1845), Mary Edith (1847-1858), Nathaniel Howard (b. 1851), Lilian Hillyer (b. 1857), and Sarah Louise (1860-1878). Nathaniel Hillyer Eggleston died on August 24, 1912. Melville Eggleston (or Egleston) received a bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1870 and an honorary master's degree from Yale College.

Samuel Eggleston (1738-1822) of North East, New York, and his wife, Hester Buck, married on March 18, 1761. Their children were Phebe, Elizabeth, Hester, Martha, David, Abigail, Samuel, Eunice, Susan, and Keturah.

Acquisition Information:

1981. M-1960 .

Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in the following series and subseries, based on its original order:

• Series I: Ambrose Eggleston
  • Subseries I: Ambrose Eggleston Correspondence
  • Subseries II: Ambrose Eggleston Newspaper Clippings
  • Subseries III: Ambrose Eggleston Genealogies
• Series II: Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston
  • Subseries I: Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Correspondence
  • Subseries II: Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Newspaper Clippings
  • Subseries III: Nathaniel and Melville Eggleston Ephemera and Report Card
• Series III: Samuel Eggleston Documents

Each series and subseries is arranged chronologically, with undated items placed at the end.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

Egleston, Nathaniel Hillyer. God Among the Nations: A Discourse Delivered on the Occasion of the Late State Fast. Hartford, Conn.: E. Hunt, 1845.

Egleston, Nathaniel Hillyer. He, Being Dead, Yet Speaketh; Two Discourses Occasioned by the Death of the Hon. John Hall, Delivered October 3d, 1847. Syracuse, 1848.

Egleston, Nathaniel Hillyer. In Memoriam: A Discourse Preached November 1st, 1868, on the Occasion of the Erection of Tablets in the Old Church at Stockbridge, Mass., in Memory of Its Former Pastors, John Sergeant, Jonathan Edwards, Stephen West, and David D. Field. New York: Baker & Godwin, printers, 1869.

Bibliography

Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History. Volume VI: September, 1805-September, 1815. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1912.

General Biographical Catalogue of Auburn Theological Seminary 1818-1918. Auburn, N.Y.: Auburn Seminary Press, 1918.

Loomis, Elias. The Descendants [by the Female Branches] of Joseph Loomis, Who Came from Braintree, England, in the Year 1638, and Settled in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1639. Volume II. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor, 1880.

Miller, Char. "Amateur Hour: Nathaniel H. Egleston and Professional Forestry in Post-Civil War America." Forest History Today (Spring/Fall 2005): 20-26.

"Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased During the Year Ending June 1, 1913, Including the Record of a Few Who Died Previously, Hitherto Unreported." Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased from June, 1910, to July, 1915. New Haven: Published by the University, 1915. 339-341.

Stiles, Henry R. The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut; Including East Windsor, South Windsor, Bloomfield, Windsor Locks, and Ellington. 1635-1891. Volume I: History. Hartford, Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1891.

Stiles, Henry R. The History of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Including East Windsor, South Windsor, and Ellington, Prior to 1768, the Date of Their Separation from the Old Town; and Windsor, Bloomfield and Windsor Locks, to the Present Time. Also the Genealogies and Genealogical Notes of Those Families Which Settled Within the Limits of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Prior to 1800. New York: Charles B. Norton, 1859.

An inventory is available in the Manuscripts Division

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Genealogy.
Real property--New York.

Formats:

Clippings (information artifacts)
Genealogies (histories)
Indentures.
Letters (correspondence)
Postcards.

Names:

Yale College (1718-1887)--Students.
Williams College.
Eggleston family--Genealogy.
Eggleston, Ambrose, 1793-1865.
Eggleston, Elijah.
Eggleston, Samuel, 1738-1822.
Eggleston, Sarah Winship.
Egleston, Melville.
Egleston, Nathaniel Hillyer, 1822-1912.

Places:

Dutchess County (N.Y.)
Hartford (Conn.)
Madison (Wis.)