The Bingham Family Papers Collection is composed of both personal and professional correspondence, miscellaneous papers, sketches, photographs, and accounts of nineteenth and twentieth century missionary life in the Pacific Islands beginning with Hiram Bingham I (1789-1869) to Hiram Bingham II (1831 to 1908). This collection contains materials about the Sandwich Isles Mission, 1819-1863, mission to the Gilbert Islands, 1852-1900, as well as Bingham family material.

Collection ID: MS-004

Location: Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, Vault

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Biographical Note

Hiram Bingham I

Date ~ Event

1789 ~ Hiram Bingham is born in Bennington, Vermont on Oct. 30.

1816 ~ Graduated from Middlebury College

1819 ~ Graduated from Andover Theological Seminary

1820 ~ Accepted for the first American mission to Hawaii under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

1820 ~ Married Sybil Moseley (1792-1848)

1820 ~ Hiram Bingham and his wife arrived in Hawaii aboard the brig Thaddeus

1822-39 ~ Created an alphabet and translated the Bible into the Hawaiian language

1840 ~ Returned to the United States where he lectured and wrote until his death

1852 ~ Remarried to Naomi Morse (1802-1873) on Aug. 24

1869 ~ Died in New Haven, Connecticut on Nov. 11

Note: Hiram Bingham I was responsible for designing Kawaiaha'o Church, which was constructed between 1836 and 1842 and still stands in Honolulu, Hawaii today.

Hiram Bingham II

Date ~ Event

1831 ~ Hiram Bingham II was born on Aug. 16 and the sixth child born to Hiram Bingham (1789-1869) and Sybil Moseley Bingham (1792-1848).

1840 ~ Hiram Bingham II was sent to the United States to attend school with sisters Elizabeth (1829-1899) and Lydia (1834-1915). Hiram Bingham II was enrolled at Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

1853 ~ Graduated from Yale University

1856 ~ Ordained a Congregationalist minister in New Haven, Connecticut on Nov. 9

1856 ~ Married Clarissa Brewster in Northampton, Massachusetts on Nov. 18

1857 ~ Arrived in Honolulu to serve as missionaries to Hawaii and would later spread Christianity to several islands throughout the Pacific

1865 ~ Returned to the United States

1867 ~ Returned to Honolulu on Mar. 13 while en route to the Marquesas Islands

1868 ~ Returned to Honolulu to settle

1877-80 ~ Hiram Bingham II served as Secretary of the Hawaiian Board

1895 ~ Hiram Bingham II was awarded the Doctorate of Divinity by Yale University

1908 ~ Died in Baltimore, Maryland on Oct. 25

Note: Hiram Bingham II was the first to translate the Bible into the Gilbertese language.

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Scope and Contents of the Papers

The Bingham Family Papers is composed of both personal and professional correspondence, miscellaneous papers, sketches, photographs, and accounts of nineteenth and early twentieth century missionary life in the Pacific islands beginning with Hiram Bingham I (1789-1869) to Hiram Bingham II (1831 to 1908). This collection contains materials about the Sandwich Isles Mission, 1819-1863, mission to the Gilbert Islands, 1852-1900, as well as Bingham family material.

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Arrangement of the Papers

The papers are arranged into 9 series

Papers of Hiram Bingham I
Papers of Sybil (Moseley) Bingham [Mrs. Hiram Bingham I]
Papers of Hiram Bingham II
Papers of Clarissa (Brewster) Bingham [Mrs. Hiram Bingham II]
Papers of Lydia (Bingham) Coan
"Private Journal," 1840-1844, of Elizabeth Bingham [sister of Hiram II]
Papers re the Bingham's work in the Gilbertese language
Miscellaneous Correspondence [i.e., letters written neither by nor to members of the Bingham Family] and documents
Duplicates, Miscellany, and Photographs

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access:

The Bingham Family Papers are open for research. All requests for permission to republish or quote from the manuscript collections must be submitted in writing to the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

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Related Material

Researchers desiring materials about related persons, subjects or document types should search the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives catalog using the index terms shown below.

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Index Terms

Personal Names

Bingham, Hiram. 1789-1869

Bingham, Hiram. 1831-1908

Subjects

Missionaries --Hawaii --Correspodence.

Missionaries --United States --Correspondence.

Missions --Hawaii.

Document Types

correspondence

daguerreotypes (photographs)

travel sketches

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Item, folder title, box number, Bingham Family Papers, Collections of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society Library, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

Acquisition Information

A certificate of gift signed by Woodbridge Bingham on June 5, 1979 states that the Bingham Family Papers was given to HMCS in 1965.

Processing Information

The Bingham Family Papers collection was processed by MHM Librarian, Sophie J. Cluff.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Papers of Hiram Bingham I ~ 1816-1869

Letters written by him [Hiram Bingham I] ~ 1816-1869

Letters written to him [Hiram Bingham I] ~

Miscellaneous papers [of Hiram Bingham I] ~

Papers of Sybil (Moseley) Bingham [Mrs. Hiram Bingham] ~ 1840-1848

Letters written by her [Sybil Moseley Bingham] ~ 1810-1848

Letters written to her [Sybil Moseley Bingham] by her friends, Mrs. G. Hall and Mrs. L.F. Judd ~

Miscellaneous papers [of Sybil Moseley Bingham] ~

Papers of Hiram Bingham II ~ 1841-1908

Letters written by him [Hiram Bingham II] ~ 1841-1908

Letters written to him [Hiram Bingham II] ~

Miscellaneous papers of [Hiram Bingham II] ~

Papers of Clarissa (Brewster) Bingham [Mrs. Hiram Bingham II] ~ 1855-1903

Letters written by her [Clarissa Brewster Bingham] ~ 1855-1903

Letters written to her [Clarissa Brewster Bingham] ~

Miscellaneous papers [of Clarissa Brewster Bingham] ~

Papers of Lydia (Bingham) Coan ~ 1840-1911

Letters written by her [Lydia Bingham Coan] ~ 1840-1911

Letters written to her [Lydia Bingham Coan] by friends ~

Miscellaneous papers [of Lydia Bingham Coan] ~

"Private Journal," 1840-1844, of Elizabeth Bingham [sister of Hiram II] ~ 1840-1844

Papers re the Binghams' work in the Gilbertese language ~

Miscellaneous correspondence and documents [i.e., letters not written by nor to members of the Bingham family] ~

Letters including those written by Cyrus Byington, Theodore Gulick, Luther H. Gulick, and S.E. Bishop ~

Mrs. Alfred Walkup's journal (copy) of voyage to the Gilbert Islands ~

Undated, but written after 1881 (from internal evidence) ~

Pamphlets, reports, etc., relating to the "Morning Star" ~

Account book by Levi Chamberlain ~ 1831-1837

Miscellaneous Clippings ~

Minerva Brewster - Rewards of merit, calling cards ~

Miscellany ~

Duplicates, Miscellany, and Photographs ~

Duplicate transcripts (no photos) ~

Photographs ~

Manuscript memoranda ~ 1855-1908

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Banner Image N-0894 - Hiram Bingham II in his study. Photograph.

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