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The Nathaniel Stacy papers include correspondence, documents, sermons, and other materials which relate to the personal and professional life of Mr. Stacy, a Universalist preacher.

The Nathaniel Stacy papers include eight boxes of material relating to every aspect of the personal and professional life of a Universalist preacher operating in the hot bed of the Second Great Awakening, the Burnt-Over District of New York. Boxes 1 through 4 contain correspondence arranged chronologically, 1803-1867, followed by undated correspondence arranged alphabetically by author. Box 5 contains Stacy's preaching log, listing date, place and text taken for sermons given between 1803 and 1864, sometimes with additional notes concerning funerals or other special occasions. Box 6 contains 30 numbered lectures given by Stacy in Ann Arbor in 1837 and 1838. Only the first of these is specifically dated. They are filed in numerical order with text taken noted on the folder. Boxes 7 and 8 contain material arranged topically, filed alphabetically by folder title. The Box-Folder listing provides detail. Included in these boxes are Stacy's diaries, with an unbroken run from 1835 through 1868 and scattered earlier and undated fragments, and 18 folders of sermons arranged by text. The bulk of the collection centers around Stacy and the members of his immediate family, and includes some materials generated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by his grandchildren or great-grandchildren, the Smiths of Corry, Pa. The unidentified photographs are probably of these family members.

The Stacy collection is a rich resource for historians of the Universalist Church. Stacy was part of what might be called a second generation of American Universalist preachers, taught by Hosea Ballou and influenced by other members of the General Convention of Universalists of the New England States and Others. He was among the first to preach the doctrine of universal salvation in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and in each state he founded a number of local societies and regional associations. Stacy's papers vividly document the hardships involved in the life of an itinerant preacher of an unpopular doctrine. The financial difficulties inherent in such a career are reflected in his appeals to various Societies for whom he preached to honor their subscriptions or allow him to leave, and in letters from other struggling preachers bemoaning their meager earnings or looking for a better place; they are implicit in all his financial juggling and in schemes for supplementing his income, ranging from the disastrous reprinting of Marie Hubers's The State of Souls Separated From Their Bodies (1:46) to an ill-fated speculation in cheese (3:91). The individual societies for whom Stacy preached are variously documented in 8:35-39. For example, materials concerning the Society in Hamilton are unfortunately sparse, consisting of one letter of appeal from Stacy and a draft report to the Western Association of Universalists. The Society in Columbus is better documented, with a constitution and list of members dated 1834 and a record of church proceedings from 1834 to 1847 as well as a number of Stacy's accounts and subscription lists. The run of undated sermons (8:18-35) is useful for study of Universalist doctrine, as are the dated occasional sermons which may be found in the card catalog under Stacy's name. Running throughout the correspondence is a considerable debate on the subject of universal salvation versus endless misery, and these debates are echoed and extended in Stacy's diaries and Memoirs.

Stacy's ministry in New York occurred during one of the most volatile periods in the state's history. The collection documents the intense interest in religion in general and the willingness to question established doctrine which characterized the Burnt-Over District during this period. Letters such as one dated January 1, 1819 (1:37) offer moving descriptions of the spiritual hunger and emotional turmoil which stirred many, although a counterbalance is offered in such letters as the one dated January 20, 1828 (2:9) which offers a rationalistic discussion of the illogical nature of such biblical imagery as that of armies of angels in heaven. A number of Stacy's correspondents describe protracted religious meetings and local revivals (indexed under Revivals; and Enthusiasm). Universalist ministers generally disapproved of the techniques of the evangelical churches, and Stacy avidly collected stories of people driven to madness, infanticide, and suicide by Calvinism (1:59; 3:78,92). Yet it is also clear, as one fellow minister pointed out to Stacy, that the Universalist Church benefited both by the interest in religion stirred up by the revivals and by the renewed commitment of the enlightened who found such meeting objectionable (3:11) A letter from a niece turned Mormon requests Stacy to "give me the Names of your Anchestors as far back as you can gain eny knowledge and also give me the Names of your Children that are dead that I may have them to be handed down from generation to generation after me" (4:38). In another interesting series of letters, Stacy acts as advocate for an elderly neighbor, a former Shaker who had been expelled from their community, and who was seeking their support (see subject index under Shakers).

In Michigan and Ann Arbor, Stacy experienced the region's transition from territory to state and the hard times following the Panic of 1837. His correspondence from this period, and in particular his diaries, which he began to keep regularly upon his removal to Michigan, offer a window onto life in a frontier town. Although his daily entries are seldom lengthy, the cumulative effect of the diaries is to provide a rich picture of Stacy's social and economic setting and, as a side benefit, of his very appealing personality.

Those interested in Freemasonry and the Antimasonic excitement which played such an important role in determining Stacy's actions will find materials of interest in the collection. Two examples of Antimasonic rhetoric are found in letters dating from 1829, written by a kinswoman who exhorted Stacy to divest himself of the "vile robes" of the "base ferternity," while listing the ghastly crimes committed by Masons (2:15,17). Clippings concerning his Masonic affiliation and two speeches delivered in lodges are included in 8:14. Also of interest are two series of legal materials: one concerning the estate of David Curtis, founder of Columbus, Pa., for which Stacy acted as executor (7:1), and one concerning the legal separation of Stacy's niece, Rhoda Porter Thompson from her second husband (8:41). Each set of documents includes an inventory of the principal's household goods. Stacy's register of marriages (8:13) and his log of sermons, which often gives some detail about those at whose funerals he preached (5), include useful material for genealogists. The subject index includes topics covered in less detail in the papers, such as Stacy's chaplaincy during the second campaign at Sackett's Harbor in the War of 1812, and his involvement in various Temperance groups.

Rhobe Knight and Dorcas Arnold, two daughters of the Sarle family of Cranston, Rhode Island, moved to northern New York State after marriage, ca. 1805-1810. Their letters home to their family discuss their lives and concerns, including farming, childbirth, marital relations, the War of 1812, and the religious conversion of one sister during a Methodist revival.

The Sarle letters were written by poor, minimally-educated young women and document the hardships and concerns of their lives. Therein lies their value, for society's humbler citizens, particularly females, generally leave little for the historical record. Dorcas and Rhobe did not write detailed, descriptive letters, but they were frank about their problems and their feelings, and the result is a sense of how very difficult life was, and how subject to the uncontrollable forces of weather, war, health, the larger economy, and just plain luck. One readily understands the comfort and appeal of religious faith in the face of such harsh realities. Both women also valued education and saw to it that their children attended school.

The letters in this collection were written from 1807-1826; most between 1810 and 1819. They are addressed to Joseph Sarle but were intended for the entire family and usually include notes to specific family members. Dorcas and Rhobe each wrote nine letters, with other family members often sharing in the writing. There is one letter written solely by Anna Arnold Cole, one by a Thomas Sarle, Jr., who appears to have been a nephew of Joseph Sarle. The handwriting and language of this letter suggest that Thomas may have received a better education than others in the family.

A recurring subject of the correspondence is the possibility of the senior Sarles moving to New York State. All of the writers strongly encourage Joseph Sarle to sell his property in Rhode Island and move the family north, where there is land to be had cheaply. He evidently seriously considered doing so but never made the move. Other than this, topics generally relate to family and farming -- weather, childbirth, health, marital and inter-family relations, crop prospects and prices, religion. Two letters (one each by Dorcas and Rhobe) discuss British military action in the area during the War of 1812. Rhobe writes on February 28, 1813, that "the Brittish come a crost and take our village and Did a Good Deil of Dammage and take about 63 Prisners and how many thay killed I Donot no..." The Knights' horse was stolen, but Mr. Arnold, who was taken prisoner and immediately paroled, had gone to retrieve it or to be paid by the state for it.

Beginning in 1814, when the area was swept by a Methodist-fuelled revival, Dorcas comments on religious matters. Her letter of January 26, 1814 thanks her father "for Learning me to read So that I Can read the scriptures." Rhobe was more skeptical, and warned her parents not to "think [it] Strangs if Dorcas Don't Send you no Letters for tha have so much Churching to Do in that Clas that She cant git time." Her sister's conversion proved genuine, however, for the last letter, written in 1826, shows that her faith was still strong.

The Knights' marital problems are discussed at length by both sisters. In August, 1819 Dorcas wrote to her parents that when George Knight returned home he had "...Laid on the floor with his head on his pack and rhobe did not ofer him t[he] bed and he says rhobe has not slept with him in three years..." Rhobe denies this, and bitterly criticizes her husband for leaving her and the five children "not a mouthful of met nor a morsel of Bread or milk only what we was beholden to Strangers for..." She calls Dorcas "the old Devil" for talking "so mean" to her and making upsetting accusations. [1819 Sept. 26] Their letters also discuss the debt dispute between George Knight and Ichabod Arnold.

The last letter, written by Dorcas in 1826, is an (unintended) epilogue to this collection, and bears the news that George Knight has died, permitting Rhobe to remarry to Parvis Round. She also writes about the Knight and Arnold children and grandchildren, and of her own continuing religious convictions and hopes.

Correspondence and documents relating to the Tower family of upstate New York, primarily relating to business and family affairs.

Most of the letters in this collection pertains to business operations, including incoming and outgoing letters correspondence with bill collectors, shippers, customers, and others. Correspondents frequently commented on the operation of the business and the financial and political climate.

Family correspondence is concentrated in the period between 1821-1848, during which time the Tower children were away at school or college. The collection also includes several account books.

The Tower family papers have multiple important, unprocessed additions, including Civil War correspondence of Charlemagne Tower, of the Pennsylvania 6th Regiment, Company H (the "Tower Guards").