Administrative/Biographical History
Charles Grandison Finney, flamboyant evangelist of the Second Great Awakening, served as the second President of Oberlin College (1851-65). He was born in Warren, Connecticut on August 29, 1792 to Sylvester (1727?-1842) and Rebecca (Rice) Finney (1759-1836). For an extensive biography there are many sources; a brief biographical sketch can be found in the finding guide to the Charles Grandison Finney Presidential Papers.
During his life, Finney had three wives. In 1824, he married Lydia Root Andrews (1804-47). They had six children: Helen C. Finney (b. 1828); Charles Grandison Finney (b. 1830); Frederick Norton Finney (b. 1832); Julia R. Finney (b. 1837); Sarah Sage Finney (1841-43), and Delia Andrews Finney (1844-52). Finney's second wife was Elizabeth Ford Atkinson (1799-1863, m. 1848) and his third wife Rebecca Allen Rayl (1824-1907, m.1865). All three women shared in Finney's revival work, accompanying him on his travels and even developing parallel ministries, as Elizabeth Ford Atkinson did during the two evangelistic trips in England. In Oberlin, they were active in various women's organizations, including the Maternal Association, the Infant School, and the Oberlin Female Moral Reform Society. Rebecca Rayl served as Assistant Principal of the Ladies Department at Oberlin College between 1856 and 1865, prior to her marriage.
Finney taught up until his eighty-third year, submitting his resignation from the presidency in 1865. He died in Oberlin in August 1875 following a heart ailment.
For genealogical information on the Finney family, consult Series 2 in the collection.
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationThis small collection consists of items relating to the Charles Grandison Finney family. The correspondence series (Series 1) includes eight letters by Elizabeth Atkinson Finney, C. G. Finney’s second wife, and one letter from C. G. Finney to his daughter, Julia R. Finney. The series also holds one letter of introduction for Mrs. Charles G. Finney to Horace Greeley by Henry Ward Beecher.
Series 2. Geneology holds a family chart and a report on the Finney family traced back to the first emigrants from England to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1630 and going forward to the twelfth generation as of the 1990s in California.
Series 3. Diary and Journal contains extracts from “Father’s Diary” with entries from 1858, and the Elizabeth Ford Atkinson Finney and Charles Grandison Finney, Sr. journal of a visit to England in 1859-60. The journal represents the richest source material in the collection, covering the evangelistic work of the famous C. G. Finney and his wife in England during that period.
Series 4. Photographs holds images of Charles G. Finney, Jr., son of C. G. Finney, Sr. and his first wife, Lydia Andrews; his wife Angela Atkinson; snapshots and postcards from the scrapbook of Ange Isham Hampton, granddaughter of Charles G. Finney, Jr.; and photographs taken in the 1990s of places in Ventura, California, home of Ange Isham Hampton’s descendant and the collection donor, Earl Hampton.
INVENTORY
Series 1. Correspondence, 1853-1858, 1871
Box 1
Original and Photocopied letters
Charles Grandison Finney (Oberlin) December 14, 1871 to “Dearest Julia” (4 pages)
Elizabeth A. Finney [?] (Westernville, Oneida County) December 6, 1854 to “My Own
Precious Daughter” (3 pages – typescript only)
Elizabeth A. Finney (Boston) February 27, 1857 to “My Dear Julia” (4 pages)
Elizabeth A. Finney (Boston) December 7, 1857 to “My Precious Daughter” (4 pages)
Elizabeth A. Finney (Boston) December 16, 1857 to “My Precious Julia” (4 pages)
Elizabeth A. Finney (Boston) January 1, 1858 to “My own Precious Daughter” (4 pages)
Elizabeth A. Finney (Oberlin) June 12, 1858 to “My Dear Julia” (4 pages)
Elizabeth A. Finney (Brooklyn) October 2, 1858 to “My Dearest One[?]” (4 pages)
Elizabeth A. Finney (Brooklyn) October 28, 1858 to “My Dearest Julia” (4 pages)
Letter introducing Mrs. Charles G. Finney to Horace Greeley Henry Ward Beecher (Brooklyn)
October 4, 1853 (1 page plus address card and envelope)
(Researchers are encouraged to use photocopied letters)
Series 2. Genealogy, n.d.
Box 1 (cont.)
Short Genealogy of the Finney Family, n.d.
“Descendants of ?? Finney,” including Hampton family, n.d.
Series 3. Diary and Journal, 1858-60
Box 1 (cont.)
“Extract from Father’s Diary” November 10, 1858-December 22, 1858 (4 pages) [transcribed by
“Louise”]
Elizabeth Ford Atkinson Finney and Charles Grandison Finney Journal, 1859-60
Series 4. Photographs, 1909-12, c. 1990s, n.d.
Box 1 (cont.)
Angelina Atkinson Finney, n.d.
Charles G. Finney, Jr., n.d.
Snapshots and postcards from scrapbook of Ange Isham Hampton (O.C. 1912), c. 1909-12
Ventura Cemetery Park, c. 1990s
Ventura City Hall, c. 1990s
Ventura Presbyterian Community Church, c. 1990s
Ventura San Buenaventura Mission, c. 1990s
