Special Collections Department
Henry Clay Trumbull
Correspondence
1844 - 1892
(bulk dates 1851 - 1852 and 1864 - 1865)
Manuscript Collection Number: 238
Accessioned: Gift, Anna D. Moyerman,
1972
Extent: .33 linear ft. (115 items)
Content: Letters
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: June 1993 by Rhonda
R. Newton
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Biographical Note
Henry Clay Trumbull (1830-1903) was a noted author, editor, and Sunday-school missionary. Trumbull was born in Stonington, Connecticut to a prominent family. His brother, James Hammond Trumbull, was a noted historian, philologist, and bibliographer. Trumbull attended Stonington Academy and Williston Seminary. He moved to Hartford, Connecticut, at age 21 and worked for the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad as a clerk. In 1854, he married Alice Cogswell Gallaudet, the daughter of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet who was named in honor of Alice Cogswell, a daughter of Dr. Mason Cogswell and first deaf pupil of Gallaudet's.
In 1852, Trumbull joined the church and became the superintendent of a mission Sunday-school, continuing to work at the railroad. After working at several different jobs, in 1858 he became the state Sunday-school missionary for Connecticut.
Trumbull was ordained in 1862 and became the chaplain of the 10th Connecticut Regiment, stationed in North Carolina. He was held by the Confederates for four months in 1863, and after his release served in Virginia until his discharge in August 1865.
He then became New England secretary for the American Sunday-school Union. In 1875, he and his family moved to Philadelphia where he became editor of the Sunday School Times. Trumbull was the Lyman Beecher Lecturer at Yale Divinity School in 1888.
During his life, Trumbull wrote thirty-three books, including Kadesh-Barnea, about a historic site he identified in Palestine, and The Knightly Soldier, a biography of his friend Henry Ward Camp.
Source:
Malone, Dumas (ed.). Dictionary of American Biography. Volume 10. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1964. pp. 8-9.
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains 120 letters written by various members of Henry Clay Trumbull's family. The majority of the letters are between Trumbull and his parents and siblings. Several were written between his father and brother as well as between his mother and wife. The letters span 1844 to 1892, but the bulk are from 1851 to 1852 and 1864 to 1865. These cover part of Trumbull's time in Hartford and most of his Civil War service. They primarily deal with family news and requests but there is also information on religion, Connecticut state legislative action, and Trumbull's feelings towards those who paid for proxies during the war. Letters from April 1861 from Thomas Trumbull tell of his campaign to obtain letters of recommendation to support his application for the Consulship at Tunis.
A list of family names follows:
Trumbull, Henry Clay
Trumbull, Gurdon, father
Trumbull, Sarah Anne (Sally), mother
Trumbull, Charles, brother
Trumbull, James Hammond, brother
Trumbull, Alice Cogswell, wife
Trumbull, Thomas, brother
Prime, Mary Trumbull, sister
Noyes, Mrs. Fanny, grandmother
Contents List
Folder -- Contents
Correspondence
F1 1844-1849
5 items
F2 1850
4 items
F3 1851 Feb-Jul
7 items
F4 1851 Oct-Dec
9 items
F5 1852 Jan-Feb
7 items
F6 1852 Mar-May
7 items
F7 1852 June
6 items
F8 1852 July
5 items
F9 1852 Aug-Sep
6 items
F10 1852 Oct-Dec
5 items
F11 1853-1854, 1856
4 items
F12 1860-1861
9 items
F13 1862-1863
7 items
F14 1864 May-July
6 items
F15 1864 Aug-Dec
5 items
F16 1865 Jan-May
9 items
F17 1865 Jun-Aug
9 items
F18 1885-1886, 1892
3 items
F19 [n.d.]
7 items
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Last modified: 01/19/11
