Bird, Isaac, 1793-1876

Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The Abernethy manuscript miscellany collection is comprised of 19 boxes (18 regular and 1 oversize) organized alphabetically by author last name. This collection includes original manuscript and typescript letters and writings from American authors throughout the 19th and 21st centuries. Transcriptions of original manuscript letters are available for some items.

Scope and Contents From the File:

Includes three letters written by Franklin Gillette Smith, dated 1815, 1816, and 1817, respectively.

Scope and Contents From the File:

Includes three letters written by Franklin Gillette Smith, dated 1815, 1816, and 1817, respectively.

Scope and Contents From the File:

Includes three letters written by Franklin Gillette Smith, dated 1815, 1816, and 1817, respectively.

Scope and Contents

Holograph signed letter from Pliny Fisk to Isaac Bird, dated May, 1820.

Scope and Contents

Holograph signed letter from Pliny Fisk to Isaac Bird, dated December 27-28, 1819. In the letter, Fisk discusses quarantine and preventing the spread of the plague. The letter also mentions Catholics, and disparages the service.

Scope and Contents

Holograph signed letter from Pliny Fisk to Isaac Bird, October 28, 1820, advocating that missionaries bound for Smyrna bring female helpers.

Scope and Contents

Holograph signed letter from Pliny Fisk to Isaac Bird, dated October, 1821, in which Fisk recommends just French and then Creole as languages missionaries should know. Fisk suggests that missionaries should bring female helpers and be prepared with elementary books in English and other languages to teach children. Fisk warns of an unsteady environment (war, upheaval), but expects all to settle down to continue missionary work.

Scope and Contents

Holograph signed letter from Pliny Fisk to Isaac Bird, dated April 29, 1822.

Scope and Contents

Holograph signed letter from Pliny Fisk to Isaac Bird, dated June 26, 1824. In the letter, Fisk includes much description of the land and examples of Arabic writing.

Scope and Contents One holograph note written by Isaac Bird to his brother, William Bird, dated July 13, 1812. The letter discusses Bird's thoughts on Middlebury College, and begins, "Middlebury College has some advantages which are not inconsiderable. Its officers are paid to be men of very distinguished talents & its scholars exemplary, most of them [...] of religion & on the whole a very flourishing institution. New Haven or Yale is a College of greater note more favorable for gaining a [complete?]...

Scope and Contents The collection consists primarily of four journals and letters from Fisk to fellow missionaries, describing his journey to the Middle East, encouraging them to join him, and telling them what to expect and how to prepare, and what languages to study. The two Pliny Fisk journals dated 1821-1823 and 1823-1824, plus journal excerpts from 1820-1821, represent Fisk's experiences as a pioneering American missionary in the Middle East. The two diaries dated 1814-1816 and 1816-1820 provide an...