1845 American Missionary Letters from Erzurum, Ottoman Turkey, Where Mary Lawrence Herbert Peabody Describes Armenian Protestant Work Against “Satan’s Seat”

On offer are two [2] original manuscript autograph letters handwritten by the wife of Mary Lawrence Herbert Peabody (1817-1899), wife of Reverend Josiah Peabody (1807-1873), while the two were stationed in Erzurum, Turkey. They were serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.).

Peabody wrote to brother to her brother, Reverend Charles Herbert (1818-1893), who was, at the time, located in Missouri. She dates the letters Erzroom [Erzurum, Turkey], April 21, 1845 and Sept. 3, 1845. 

[To learn more about the Peabodys and Herbert, see BIO NOTES at the end of the listing].

These letters are thorough and describe the seemingly insurmountable task of instilling the Christian gospel in Erzurum. Peabody writes of the treaty, political and religious obstacles with the Russians and French; persecution and more. 

Some excerpts from the letters follow: 

"I suppose your are hoping to hear that the door for our Missionary work is thrown wide open by this time. But no, we are still laboring & toiling against the current. If the work of doing good is difficult in our own happy & Christian country what must it be here where Satan's seat is...Our prospect in some respects looks very dark at present. It seems the Russians & French are exerting all their power to oppose the progress of Protestantism...The influence of Russia is peculiarly felt at Erzroom as you know. The almost look upon this part of Turkey as their own...All the efforts of the English consul for us of late have been disregarded by the Bishop...." [April 21, 1845].

"Our prospects at times have seemed so dark - the poor people so oppressed & crushed to the earth by those who ought to aid them." [Sept. 3, 1845]

"The Bishop publicly not only orders the people not to speak or transact any business with those excommunicated but also to spit in their faces when they meet them. Notwithstanding...the people dare to read the Gospel & other good books...It is an interesting thing that some boys of 12 or 14 years old are searching the scriptures...Two were in yesterday & Mr. Peabody talked with them & read and explained the Gospel...one of them we have heard reads the Bible much to his mother...his father is much opposed to these things...he has a testament however which he reads privately to his mother..." [Sept. 3, 1845]

"Mr Peabody several weeks since resumed his Armenian service on the Sabbath...Those attending are principally a new set as those who formerly attended are still regarded with so much suspicion..." [Sept. 3, 1845]

She also writes of the invalid Mrs. Jackson and her trip across the mountain, gardening and home. She expresses great joy at the receipt of her brother's daguerreotype  and shares that she brings it along to a dinner party.

These letters provide insight into the experience of American Board missionaries in Ottoman Erzurum in the 1840s, documenting the difficulty of Protestant evangelical work among Armenians under intense ecclesiastical opposition, Russian and French political pressure, and the daily burdens of missionary family life on a remote eastern frontier. They would be an important addition to a collection or research library that features American missionary history, Ottoman Empire studies, Armenian religious and social history, women’s missionary writing, nineteenth-century Protestant reform movements, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, or the history of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East.

They would also be of interest to those who study or collect content on the Herbert family, as Mary was the daughter of George Herbert, said to be the first lawyer in Ellsworth, Maine. 

Condition: The letters are in generally excellent condition with the exception that each sheet has eight vertical 2" cut marks (clean), not resulting in any text loss. Hand carried covers. Closely penned, ink. 3 1/2pp each.

BIO NOTES:

Reverend Josiah Peabody (1807-1873) was born in Topsfield, Mass. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1936 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1840. In March, 1841, he married Mary Lawrence Herbert (1817-1899) of Ellsworth, Maine. About a month after their wedding, Peabody and his bride sailed to Smyrna on route to Ezroum, Turkey for his missionary work under the direction of A.B.C.F.M. He served in Turkey until his transfer to Constantinople in 1855. The Peabodys returned to the USA in 1860. They had three children that survived beyond infancy: Mary Charlotte, Anne Lucy and Josiah Charles. 

Mary Lawrence Herbert (1817-1899) and Charles D. Herbert  (1818-1893) were born to George Herbert (1778-1820) and Charlotte Tuttle (1782-1869). They were two of six children born to George and Charlotte. George Herbert was educated at Dartmouth and became a well-known lawyer in Ellsworth, Maine, sometimes referred to as the first lawyer in Ellsworth.

Reverend Charles D. Herbert was the youngest son of the family. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1841 and from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1843. Following a few years doing home missionary work "in the west", he became the pastor of the West Newbury Church in Mass. He married and had two sons, George Herbert and Rev. C.E. Herbert.