Elam Jewett Comings Papers, 1834-94, 1904-36, undated | Oberlin College Archives

Scope and Contents: The papers of Elam J. Comings include correspondence, writings, miscellaneous family papers, and photographs. The bulk of the collection consists of the correspondence of Elam J. Comings to his family, written while a student at Oberlin College (1836-41) and while serving pastorates in Ohio (1842-43, 1853-60), Vermont (1845-48), and Massachusetts (1848-53). Topics covered in the Oberlin correspondence include the preaching of Asa Mahan (1799-1889) and Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875), the lectures of John Morgan (1802-84), land values, and the financial state of the young institution. Sixty letters (1863-64) written by Elam and his daughter Sarah (1840-1926) describe their work educating former slaves in Beaufort, North Carolina, under the auspices of the American Missionary Association (AMA). There are also two letters (1984) to Elam Comings from Siam missionary, Dan Beach Bradley (1804-73), written during Bradley's three-year residence in the United States (1847-50) as a fund-raiser for the AMA. Additional materials in the collection include original essays, sermons, and diaries of Elam Comings, miscellaneous family papers, and photographs of the Comings family.