Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

Written for his children on the eve of his sudden and unforeseen death, Gilbert McMaster's autobiography is a fascinating account of the life of a Scots-Irish immigrant and his growth as a Reformed Presbyterian minister. The most important section of McMaster's autobiography is undoubtedly that devoted to the events leading up to the eventful General Synod meeting of 1833, and the schism that resulted indirectly from McMaster's antislavery agitation.

Written for his children on the eve of his sudden and unforeseen death, Gilbert McMaster's autobiography is a fascinating account of the life of a Scots-Irish immigrant and his growth as a Reformed Presbyterian minister. His recollections of childhood are written with an eye toward his intellectual and moral development.

A man of measured temperament, McMaster's innate tendencies appear to have led him to consider all his actions and usually to adopt a moderate stance. Though hard edged and demanding in matters of morality, he avoided extremes. His comments on the great revivals of 1801-02 suggest that he withdrew from participation partly through reasons of personality and partly for orthodoxy, but despite this, and unlike many of his fellow Reformed Presbyterians, he never condemned them altogether. Even his opposition to slavery was placed within careful bounds -- criticizing the government, but never the Constitution, wishing to see it expunged from the Church, but rejecting the notion that its members were compromised by the sins of their fellow church members or fellow Americans who held slaves.

The most important section of McMaster's autobiography is undoubtedly that devoted to the events leading up to the eventful General Synod meeting of 1833, and the schism that resulted indirectly from McMaster's antislavery agitation. Although this account was terminated by his own untimely death, in conjunction with his published writings on the subject (see below), it provides a relatively full intellectual justification of his stance, and yields some insight into the politics and emotions of antislavery argumentation within a church setting. It is an invaluable document as well for understanding the history of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America.

This 88-page journal recounts Healy's travels from his home in Middlebury, New York, to northeastern Illinois between May 30 and July 13, 1838. The journal contains notes on his steamship voyages on the Great Lakes, descriptions of his overland travels and experiences in Illinois, and prayers and other religious reflections. This diary is a handwritten copy made by Horace Healy in 1841.

This 88-page journal recounts Healy's travels from his home in Middlebury, New York, to northeastern Illinois between May 30 and July 13, 1838. This diary is a handwritten copy made by Horace Healy in 1841.

Healy departed from Middlebury on May 30, 1838, with a friend, Hosea Wilson, and reached Buffalo the following day, where the men boarded the steamer Anthony Wayne, bound for Chicago via the Great Lakes. Healy kept a brief daily record of distances he traveled and the steamer's stops, until his arrival at Chicago on June 9. There, he took leave of Wilson. Along the way, Healy visited Fort Mackinac, Michigan, and described some of his fellow passengers. Upon his arrival in Illinois, he set out to visit acquaintances living southeast of Chicago, and then traveled westward and northward throughout the area for the rest of the month. A devout man, he recorded his religious activities, his attendance at church services, prayers, and religious thoughts.

The journal also contains brief descriptions of a few settlements, such as Naperville and Rockford, and of life on the Illinois prairie. One man at a camp meeting along the DuPage River mentioned his missionary work with local Native Americans (June 24, p. 38). On June 25, Healy left for home, though he remained in Chicago for several days awaiting a steamer; during this time, he visited Fort Dearborn and other sights. He boarded the Anthony Wayne on June 28, and spent a few days in early July near Detroit, Michigan, where he visited his brother Freeborn's grave in Macomb County (July 6, pp. 66-67). On July 10, he took the Clinton to Buffalo, where he arrived on July 12, his daughter's 14th birthday. The entry for July 12 also contains Healy's lamentation on the sinking of the steamboat George Washington on Lake Erie less than a month before (pp. 81-82). Healy arrived home in Middlebury on July 13, 1838.

Horace Healy transcribed this copy of his journal on October 21, 1841.