Sherlock Bristol Papers, 1841-1904, n.d.
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Sherlock Bristol, son of Gideon and Julia (Parker) Bristol, was born on the four-generation historic family farm in Cheshire, CT on June 5, 1815. He was converted at age 16 and went to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts to prepare for college. There he became interested in a "great" anti-slavery revival. His active participation in the rebellion resulted in him being expelled from the Academy. This interest in northern abolitionism took him to the Oberlin Collegiate Institute in 1835 where he studied and received an A.B. degree in 1839. He then went to the New Haven Theological Seminary for one year after which he came back to Oberlin to complete his study and graduated from the Seminary in 1842. He was licensed to preach the following winter by the Central Ohio Congregational Association at Mansfield, Ohio.
While serving as the Financial Agent of Oberlin College and the Theological Department (1843-1846), he conducted revival work in Ohio and later held pastorates in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, New York City, Andover, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. In 1851 he settled in California because of health problems but after one year, he returned to Wisconsin where he established three churches. In 1862 he started west again across the plains, several times encountering Indians on the frontier and ending up in Oregon. The following year he headed east again and reached his previous home in Wisconsin in 1864.
Finding himself unable to sustain his health in the east, he set out for California in 1867 by ship from New York City by way of the Isthmus of Panama. There he spent two months exploring the country while walking across the isthmus to the Pacific Coast and waiting to catch a ship north. He disembarked in Monterrey, California, and worked his way north through California to the minefields. On the way he did ministerial work among the miners as well as some mining himself. He evolved (to fit the conditions of the wild frontier) from "Father Bristol" to "Captain Bristol" when justice had to be enforced in perilous situations on short notice. Sherlock was of sturdy build with a fearless personal presence that served him well in the roughhouse atmosphere that prevailed in the west at that time.
In 1868 he came south from the mining country and settled in Ventura County just north of Los Angeles near Montalvo where he bought a farm and became one of the pioneer settlers of the area. Six years later another Oberlin educated western builder, Charles G. Finney II, the son of Oberlin 's second president, Charles G. Finney, joined him in Ventura. He continued farming, preaching and doing ministerial work almost continuously up to the day of his death in 1906. He wrote many articles and several books, the most popular of which his massive 1887 autobiography The Pioneer Preacher, which went through several printings. James Harris Fairchild, then president of Oberlin College, wrote the introduction to it.
Bristol had an active correspondence on religious topics of the day. In particular, he preoccupied himself with the "Baptism of the Spirit" and other like spiritual matters. He discusses these topics in two books, The Pioneer Preacher: Incidents of Interest, and Experiences in the Author's Life (1887) and Paracletos, or The Baptism of the Holy Ghost (1892). Bristol counted among his close friends Oberlinians Amos Dresser, James H. Fairchild, Edward Henry Fairchild, James Monroe, General A.B. Nettleton, Danforth B. Nichols, and John M. Williams. In 1883, on the occasion of Oberlin's Jubilee, Bristol was unable to attend because of the distance he faced in getting to Oberlin. Sherlock missed an important time to regale with his friends about their exploits in outfoxing slave catchers and assisting African-Americans on the Underground Railroad so that they would not be returned to slavery.
Sherlock Bristol married Emily H. Ingraham, from Providence, Rhode Island on September 9,1842 and they had two sons and a daughter. Emily (d. 1899) was a graduate in the Ladies' Course at Oberlin Collegiate Institute in 1841. (Apparently, Emily was not related to Elizabeth Ingraham, from the same graduating class, and Mrs. Bristol remains somewhat of a mystery in tracing her genealogy.) Some years later they were legally separated and Sherlock married Amelia S. Locke November 2, 1865. They had three sons and two daughters. He continued his religious work and was active until the day he died on Sept. 26, 1906 at the age of 91. In May of 1906 he wrote "I am in excellent health and about as active in religious work as ever."
Sources Consulted
Student file of Sherlock Bristol, Alumni and Development records, RG 28/2.
Author: Ed Schwaegerle Administrative Information
The papers of Sherlock Bristol document the last few years of Bristol 's ministerial work before his death in 1906. Of some significance is the manner by which he presents his views on popular religious topics at the turn of the century. The thirteen letters to Reverend William Marsh confirm that the fearless Bristol had remained steadfast to "Oberlin Perfectionism" all his life. His letters continually take up the gifts of spirituality in general and what it meant to accept faith, by way of the Bible, in particular. Although Bristol's The Pioneer Preacher (1887) is not part of this collection, the letters to Reverend Marsh nonetheless add weight to the contents of that book. He clung to the American "Idea of Progress" as well. This collection, being quite small, presents a narrow view of Bristol's life. For information regarding Bristol's career at Oberlin, the researcher will need to consult Bristol's alumni record.
This small collection has three record series: I. Correspondence from Sherlock Bristol; II. Miscellaneous Correspondence; III. Manuscript. Within each series, files are arranged chronologically. For preservation reasons, each document has its own folder.
Correspondence from Sherlock Bristol is comprised of ten handwritten letters from Bristol to Reverend William Marsh, whom he affectionately addresses as "Brother Marsh." Three additional letters are addressed to "Brother and Sister Marsh," that is to say, Reverend Marsh and his wife. All of these letters are of both personal and religious content, as Bristol writes with a mind to improve the life of himself and his friends through faith in the Lord, and adherence to the morals preached in the Bible.
Contained in the miscellaneous correspondence are two letters which have to do with ministerial work, a passion of Bristol's, but do not mention Bristol himself. The first is a personal letter from Jennie Jones to her "Sister Ella"; the second is written from Frank E. Sawyer to "Brother Will" and concerns the Congil Church, where Sawyer was the deacon.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Correspondence from Sherlock Bristol, 1900-1904 (13 folders)
This series consists of thirteen letters sent by Bristol to Reverend William Marsh ("Brother Marsh") and his wife.
Series II. Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1841, 1902 (2 folders)
A letter of church politics written to "Brother Will" from the Reverend Frank E. Sawyer, and a personal letter from Jennie Jones to "Sister Ella" are both contained herein.
Series III. Manuscript, n.d. (1 folder)
This series contains one handwritten manuscript regarding General Benjamin Butler. The author is unknown.
INVENTORY
Series I. Correspondence from Sherlock Bristol, 1900-1904
Box 1
Letters sent to Reverend William and
Mrs. Marsh, 1900-1904 (13 letters)
Series II. Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1841, 1902
Box 1 (cont.)
Letter to "Sister Ella" from Jennie Jones,
14 January 1841 (1 letter)
Letter to "Brother Will" from Frank E. Sawyer,
5 December 1902 (1 letter)
Series III. Manuscript, n.d.
Box 1 (cont.)
Handwritten manuscript re: General
Benjamin Butler, n.d. (4 pages)