John D. Wells diaries
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
John D. Wells was pastor of the South Third Street Presbyterian Church in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg from 1850 until his death in 1903. The John D. Wells diaries are contained in six bound volumes and consist of daily entries recorded by Wells during the period 1862 to 1888. Entries relate to Wells's work as pastor of the South Third Street Presbyterian Church, as well as the general affairs and activities of the congregation. The diaries also contain records of parishioners who had died each year, including dates of death and, occasionally, names of family relatives and causes of death. News clippings, correspondence, and programs are also interfiled throughout.
Biographical Note
John Dunlap Wells was born in 1815 in Whitesboro, N.Y. to Solomon Wells and Marion Dunlap. He graduated in 1838 from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and was principal of Green Academy in Huntsville, AL from 1838 to 1840. He later attended the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J., from which he graduated in 1844. Between 1842 and 1850, Wells held ministries at several presbyteries, and also taught the parish school at the First Presbyterian Church in New York City. In 1850, Wells was ordained by the presbytery of New York and became pastor of the Presbyterian Church of the Village of Williamsburgh. Some point after 1855, when Williamsburgh was annexed by the City of Brooklyn, the name of the Church was changed to the South Third Street Presbyterian Church. Wells served this congregation until his death in 1903.
Wells married Jessie Henderson, daughter of David Henderson and Jessie Cairns, in 1849, and the couple had seven children. A son, Newell Woolsey, was later the junior pastor of the South Third Street Presbyterian Church. In addition to his pastorate, John D. Wells was Secretary of the Williamsburgh Bible Society; Secretary, Vice-President, and President of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.; a trustee of the Princeton Theological Seminary; and a member of the board of the New York State Colonization Society.
Sources:
- Ross, Peter, and William S. Pelletreau. A History of Long Island: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. New York: The Lewis Pub. Co., 1903.
Scope and Contents
The John D. Wells diaries are housed in two manuscript boxes measuring .83 linear feet. The diaries are contained in six bound volumes and consist of daily entries recorded by Wells during the period 1862 to 1888. Entries relate to Wells's work as pastor of the South Third Street Presbyterian Church, as well as the general affairs and activities of the congregation. All entries for a given year are also preceded with a calendar of the Sabbath days and a list of parish members who had died that year, including dates of death and, occasionally, names of family relatives and causes of death. Additional items, such as news clippings, correspondence, and programs relating to Wells, his Church, and several other Presbyterian churches and religious organizations, are interfiled throughout or glued onto diary pages.
The first volume of the collection also contains the 1852 annual report of the Williamsburg Bible Society, recorded by Wells, who was the Society's corresponding secretary.
Subjects
Genres
People
Topics
Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers without restriction.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); John D. Wells diaries, 1977.269, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Thomas I. Morrow, 1966
About this Guide
Processing Information
Minimally processed to the collection level.
