Guide to the Phineas Densmore Gurley Papers
Open for research.
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Phineas Gurley was born in Hamilton, NY. He studied at Union College and Princeton Theological Seminary. From 1840-1854 he served pastorates in Indianapolis, IN and Dayton, OH. In 1854 he was called to the F Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. In 1859, when the Second and F Street Churches merged to create the New York Avenue Church, Dr Gurley took over as pastor of the new congregation. He died in Washington in 1868.
Gurley served as chaplain of the United States Senate in 1858, and as moderator of the General Assembly in 1867. He is perhaps best remembered for having been the pastor in attendance at the deathbed of Abraham Lincoln and for the sermon he preached at the President's funeral.
The Gurley Papers include manuscript sermons and correspondence, a few transcripts of correspondence, a facsimile and transcipt of the sermon Gurley preached at the funeral of Abraham Lincoln, and a transcript of the sermon he preached at the funeral of Lincoln's young son, William. There are also several photographs of Gurley, some taken at Matthew Brady's studio.
Organized in four series by format:
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1855-1863
SERIES 2: LICENSE TO PERFORM MARRIAGES, 1849
SERIES 3: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1837, 1867, n.d.
SERIES 4: SERMONS, 1862-1865, n.d.
Available on microfilm: MFPOS 1472.
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
"Faith in God," the sermon Gurley preached at President Lincoln's funeral, has been published and printed in 2 versions:
PAM E 457.52 .G93 1940b
E 457.52 .G93 1940
The society owns the original manuscript:
PHS also holds Phineas Densmore Gurley sermon, 1858, accession no. 17-0809.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: November 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist
Material added and finding aid revised: July 2012
Bill Brock, Collection Management Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 329 | |
| SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1855-1863 | |||
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence, 1855-1863 | Digital |
| SERIES 2: LICENSE TO PERFORM MARRIAGES, 1849 | |||
| 1 | 3 | License, 1849 | Digital |
| SERIES 3: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1837, 1867, n.d. | |||
| 1 | 4 | Photographs, 1837, 1867, n.d. | Digital |
| SERIES 4: SERMONS, 1862-1865, n.d. | |||
| 1 | 5 | Funeral of William Wallace Lincoln, 1862 | Digital |
| 1 | 6 | "Faith in God" (funeral of Abraham Lincoln), 1865 [original in Rare Docs.] | Digital |
| 1 | 7 | Sermons, n.d. | Digital |
| 1 | 8 | Sermons, n.d. | Digital |
| 1 | 9 | Sermons, n.d. | Digital |
| 1 | 10 | Sermons, n.d. | Digital |
| 1 | 11 | Sermons, n.d. | Digital |