Guide to the Henry Harris Jessup Papers
Open for research.
Following his graduation from Union Theological Seminary and his subsequent ordination to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, Henry Harris Jessup was appointed as a missionary to Syria in 1855 by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In 1870, when the Syria Mission was transferred from the ABCFM to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, he thereafter served the latter. Until 1860, Jessup resided in Tripoli with his family, but spent the remainder of his missionary service in Beirut where for thirty years he was acting pastor of the Syrian Church of Beirut and superintendent of its school. He also served as secretary of the Asfuriyeh Hospital for the Insane from its establishment and as a missionary editor of the Arabic Journal, El Nesrah. In 1866, Jessup helped found the Syrian Protestant College, now the American University of Beirut. Besides serving as moderator of the 1879 General Assembly, Jessup authored several works about his mission experience in Syria. He died in service and was buried in Beirut.
RG 183 consists of Jessup's unpublished memoirs, written around 1910; his bound correspondence; and other miscellaneous items. The memoirs cover his early years prior to his Syrian service as well as his missionary experiences and are roughly indexed. The somewhat illegible letter books are incomplete and do not include the years 1873-1890 or 1892-98. Of the various miscellaneous items included are Jessup's notes on the history of the Syria Mission, probably made between 1904 and 1905, and his journal from his student days, 1853-1854.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1861-1900
SERIES 2: MEMOIRS 1832-1908 (COMPILED CIRCA 1910)
SERIES 3: MISCELLANY, 1853-1908
The Henry Harris Jessup Papers, 1851-1912 (Record Group No. 117, Special Collections, Yale Divinity School Library) contain materials that dovetail with items in RG 183.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1984
Frederick J. Heuser, Jr, Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 183 | |
| SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1861-1900 | |||
| 1 | 2-4 | 1861-1865 | |
| 2 | 1-5 | 1866-1900 | |
| SERIES 2: MEMOIRS 1832-1908 (COMPILED CIRCA 1910) | |||
| 3 | 1-5 | 1832-1908 | |
| SERIES 3: MISCELLANY, 1853-1908 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Journal, 1853-1854 | |
| 4 | 2-3 | History of the Syria Mission, 1900-1904 | |
| 4 | 4 | 1908 | |
| 4 | 5 | Miscellaneous items, 1900-1904 | |
| 4 | 6 | pamphlets, 1901-1904 |