Silliman Family Papers, 1836-1868
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Silliman Family
Title: Papers, 1836-1868
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 0.33 cubic feet
Location Number: Mss. A S584
Scope and Content Note
Papers consisting of correspondence between members of the Benjamin Silliman family discussing family and social life and mentioning Dr. Lunsford P. Yandell, Sally Ward’s divorce from Abbot Lawrence, the death of Bishop Benedict Flaget, and Captain Thomas Joyes’s Indian stories, and describing Susan Silliman’s 1868 trip with a railroad construction crew from Chicago to Laramie, Wyoming. Some of this collection has been digitized. To view PDF scans, click on the links provided in the folder list below.
Biographical Note
Benjamin Silliman
- 1779 Born in Connecticut.
- 1796 Graduated from Yale College.
- 1802 Admitted to the bar.
- 1802 Appointed professor of chemistry and natural history at Yale College.
- 1805 Traveled to Europe to meet the eminent scientists of the day.
- 1809 Married Harriet Trumbull.
- 1813 Aided in the creation of a medical school at Yale College.
- 1818 Founded and edited The American Journal of Science and Arts.
- 1847 Succeeded in creating what became the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale College.
- 1851 Married Sarah Isabella (McClellan) Webb.
- 1863 Became an original member of the National Academy of Sciences.
- 1864 Died in New Haven, Connecticut.
- For more information consult the Dictionary of American Biography.
Benjamin Silliman
- 1816 Born in New Haven, Connecticut.
- 1840 Married Susan Huldah Forbes of New Haven.
- 1837 Graduated from Yale College.
- 1838 Became an associate editor of The American Journal of Science.
- 1847 His college text First Principles of Chemistry published.
- 1853 Appointed professor of chemistry at Yale College.
- 1859 His college text First Principles of Physics published.
- 1885 Died in New Haven.
- For more information consult the Dictionary of American Biography.
Folder List
Box 1
1 Correspondence from Benjamin Silliman, Jr. to his sister, Maria Church and tohis father, 1836-1844.
2 Correspondence from Benjamin Silliman, Jr. to his brother-in-law, James Dwight Dana, 1850.
3 Correspondence from Susan Silliman to her sister-in-law, Maria Church, 1841-1842.
5 Correspondence from Susan Silliman to her sisters-in-law, Henrietta Dana and Julia Silliman, 1850 Jan.
6 Correspondence from Susan Silliman to her sisters-in-law, 1850 Feb.-Mar.
9 Correspondence from Susan Silliman to her sister-in-law, Maria Church, 1856.
10 Correspondence from Susan Silliman to her sister-in-law, Henrietta Dana, 1868.
11 Letter from Susan Silliman to “My dear niece,”n.d.
12 Invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Silliman, Jr. to meet the Chief Justice, the Secretary of State and other members of the class of 1837.
