Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the John Hamilton Cornish Papers #1461, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed 2007) available.

Alternate Form of Material

Typed transcriptions are available for selected volumes.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Joseph Jenkins Cornish of New Orleans, La., in 1948. Additions received from Mrs. George Cullen Battle in May 1956; from Elizabeth Budlong Johnston of Charlotte, N.C., in July 1965; and from Mrs. Edward T. Bartram of Aiken, S.C., in January 1967. A single item was purchased from Americana Mail Auction of Allentown, Pa., in June 1978.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: SHC Staff, 1962-1979

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, August 2005

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2021

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• African American Episcopalians--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Aiken (S.C.)--Church history.
• Aiken (S.C.)--History.
• Church music--Episcopal Church--History--19th century.
• Clergy--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Cornish family.
• Cornish, Andrew H., d. 1875.
• Cornish, John Hamilton, 1815-1878.
• Cornish, Joseph J.
• Diaries (Blank-books)
• Edisto Island (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Education--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Enslaved persons--South Carolina--Social conditions.
• Episcopal Church--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Families--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
• General Theological Seminary (New York, N.Y.)
• Low Country (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Plantation life--South Carolina.
• Plantations--South Carolina.
• Saint Thaddeus Episcopal Church (Aiken, S.C.)
• Sea Islands--Social life and customs.
• Sermons, American--South Carolina.
• Slavery--South Carolina.
• Sullivans Island (S.C.)--Religious life and customs.
• Washington College (Hartford, Conn.)

John Hamilton Cornish (1815-1878) was an Episcopal minister of Aiken, S.C. Cornish left his home in Michigan Territory in 1833 to attend Washington College, Hartford, Conn., from which he graduated in 1839. He then studied at the General Theological Seminary in New York City but did not complete his education. He became a tutor on an Edisto Island, S.C., plantation and later ran an academy there. He was ordained in 1843 and thereafter served in many Sea Island and Low Country churches before becoming rector of Saint Thaddeus Church in Aiken in 1846. He married Martha Jenkins of Edisto Island and had several children, including Rhoda, Mattie, Mary, Sadie, Ernest, and Joseph, who also attended the General Theological Seminary.

The collection consists of John Hamilton Cornish's diary, 1833-1877, and Cornish family papers, 1833-1966. The diary describes Cornish's education, experiences teaching and preaching in the South Carolina Low Country, plantation life, and the treatment of slaves. The extensive family and church correspondence augments the diary. Letters from the 1830s and early 1840s are from John at Washington College in Hartford, Conn., and later at General Theological Seminary in New York; from his brother, Andrew Cornish, who also studied at General Theological Seminary; and from another brother, Jonas Cornish. Letters from the mid 1840s and 1850s document the Cornish brothers at work as Episcopal preachers in South Carolina, John at Saint Thaddeus Church in Aiken, S.C., and Andrew at Pendleton, S.C.

The volume of letters drops off in the 1860s, and these chiefly came from the various Cornish children at schools and colleges in the North and South, although some church business is included. Letters from the early 1870s, mostly from daughters Rhoda Cornish, Mattie Cornish, and Mary Cornish, indicate that John Cornish traveled extensively up and down the east coast at this time. There are also a number of 1870s letters pertaining to church business, especially from merchants selling church equipment. Beginning in 1871, there are letters from Joseph Cornish, first at prep school in Charleston, S.C., then at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., and finally at the General Theological Seminary in New York. In addition, there are letters from his sister, Sadie Cornish, who attended Saint Mary's School in Raleigh, N.C., and from his brother, Ernest Cornish, who also studied at University of the South. From 1883 to 1886 Joseph Cornish corresponded faithfully with Mary Tuttle, the daughter of Bishop Tuttle, though the two were never engaged. The courtship exchange ended abruptly in 1886 with no explanation. Letters through the 1890s are chiefly among family members, Joseph, Ernest, Mattie, and Rhoda.

From 1900 on the family of correspondents expands and becomes quite complex. There are letters, often unsigned, to "Dear Cousin," and "Dear Daughter," who evidently are members of the family of Mrs. Joseph J. Cornish.

Also included are scattered sermons and writings, some from John Cornish's time at Washington College; record books of church observances and memoranda; a register of African American members of the Church of the Messiah, an Episcopal church on the North Santee River, 1843; John Cornish's manuscript history of ritual music at the Episcopal Church on Sullivan's Island, S.C., 1846; and a history of Saint Thaddeus Church, Aiken, S.C., 1842-1966.

• Oversize Papers (OP-1461/1-7)
• Pictures (P-1461/1-3)
• Microfilm (M-1461/1-3)
• Transcription volumes (TV-1461/1-10)