Guide to the John Brodhead Romeyn Papers
Open for research.
John Brodhead Romeyn was born in Marbletown, NY. He attended Columbia College (now Columbia University) in New York City. After graduating with honors in 1795, he returned to his home in Schenectady, NY to study theology with his father Dirck, pastor of Schenectady's Reformed Dutch Church. He was ordained in Rhinebeck, NY in 1799. In April of that year he married Harriet Bleecker.
In 1803, Romeyn accepted a call to Schenectady's First Presbyterian Church. The following year he moved again, this time to the First Presbyterian Church of Albany. In 1808 he accepted a call to Cedar Street Church, New York City. Except for the years 1813-14, which he and Harriet spent in Europe, Romeyn remained at Cedar Street Church until his death in 1825.
Romeyn served as General Assembly Moderator in 1810, and was instrumental in the creation of the Princeton Theological Seminary, and of the American Bible Society.
Record Group 308 includes correspondence to and from John Brodhead Romeyn, as well as manuscript lectures and sermons. It also includes two journals he kept during his European trip and miscellaneous other papers.
A few of the Romeyn manuscripts were transcribed during the 1970s. The transcripts have been filed with the originals throughout the collection.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1800-1819
SERIES 2: JOURNALS, 1814
SERIES 3: LECTURES, 1795-1823
SERIES 4: SERMONS, 1798-1820
SERIES 5: OTHER PAPERS, 1784-1821
Other collections of Romeyn manuscripts exist at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (a list of its holdings is in Folder 1 of this collection), at the New York Public Library, at the New York Historical Society, at Union College, and at Princeton University Library.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: September 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 308 | |
| 1 | 1 | List of Romeyn MSS at Historical Society of PA | |
| 1 | 2 | "The Life of John Brodhead Romeyn" (by E. Kraege), 1971 | |
| SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1800-1819 | |||
| 1 | 3 | Incoming, 1800-19 | |
| 1 | 4 | Outgoing--To John McDowell, 1817 | |
| 1 | 5 | To Wm. Woodworth (Woodward?), 1803-08 | |
| SERIES 2: JOURNALS, 1814 | |||
| 1 | 6 | Great Britain, 1814 | |
| 1 | 7 | Holland, 1814 | |
| SERIES 3: LECTURES, 1795-1823 | |||
| 1 | 8-12 | On the Book of Genesis, 1822-23 | |
| 1 | 13-23 | On the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, 1810-12 | |
| 1 | 24 | Miscellaneous, 1795, 1798, undated | |
| SERIES 4: SERMONS, 1798-1820 | |||
| 1 | 25 | In Dutch--1798, 1802-03, undated | |
| 1 | 26 | In English--1802, 1818, 1820 | |
| SERIES 5: OTHER PAPERS, 1784-1821 | |||
| 1 | 27 | Notes/Proposals--relations between Dutch Reformed Church and Presbyterian Church, 1784, undated | |
| 1 | 28 | Orange Street Presbyterian Church, NY, 1815, 1821 | |
| 1 | 29 | Transylvania University--Minutes and Correspondence, 1805, 1815 | |
| 1 | 30 | Circular Letter (to Dirck Romeyn)--plan of general union and concert in prayer, 1794 | |
| 1 | 30 | Petition for creation of Washington College, 1813? | |
| 1 | 30 | Receipt--Board of Missions, 1819 | |
| 1 | 30 | Ode in memory of John Romeyn, undated |