Reverend Edward Harris memoir
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Abstract
The Reverend Edward Harris memoir, dated 1872, is a handwritten autobiographical work by Harris, a Presbyterian minister. Covering the period 1797-1872, Harris chronicles his various destinations as a minister, his motivations, family and other influences on his life choices, and more.
Biographical note
Edward Harris, born in Philadelphia in 1797, was a minister in the Presbyterian Church for 48 years, as of the date of his memoir in 1872. Harris moved with his family from Philadelphia to Maine in 1808. In 1815, he returned to Philadelphia before moving to Kentucky in 1817 where he began his training as a minister. Returning again to Philadelphia in 1819, and on to Princeton, New Jersey, he was licensed to preach in 1822. He would be ordained in 1830. Largely an itinerant minister spending fairly short periods with any one congregation, Harris's career took him to Long Island, several New England states (including Maine and Connecticut), Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio. He even preached and worked in North Carolina in the late 1850s despite his abhorrence of slavery. Harris preached 3,876 sermons, travelled 124,884 miles, and received $6,746.84 (by his own calculations) for his services.
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single item.
Scope and Contents
The Reverend Edward Harris memoir, dated 1872, is a handwritten autobiographical work by Harris, a Presbyterian minister, bound in a paper cover. Covering the period 1797-1872, Harris chronicles his various destinations as a minister, his motivations, family and other influences on his life choices, the manner in which he was called or assigned to various pulpits or presbyteries, his difficulties and challenges with various congregations (including a controversy he found himself connected with concerning an elopement at Hebron, Conn. and his distress while working in the slave state of North Carolina), financial difficulties, health concerns, and his side occupations such as writing articles for the religious press. Harris's travels took him from Maine to North Carolina, from eastern Long Island (N.Y.) to Ohio, often repeatedly. Overall, Harris's memoir provides insight into an itinerant ministry as a career choice, principally in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, in the nineteenth century.
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Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
This item is in the public domain. While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Reverend Edward Harris memoir, 1872, 1979.006; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The source and date of the acquisition is unknown. However, a letter with the manuscript suggests that Harris composed the memoir in reponse to a request for information from Reverend Edwin Warriner, a historian of 18th and 19th century Methodism on Long Island. The document might have been acquired with the Warriner collection (accession 1977.255), but separated from it because Harris was a Presbyterian, not Methodist, minister. The item was formally accessioned in 1979.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The memoir was processed and described by Matthew Gorham and Larry Weimer in 2011-2012. It was rehoused and the finding aid revised by Dee Bowers in 2024.
