Record Title:
Dwight and Julia Marsh family papers
Abstract:
Correspondence, journal, and related items, documenting the experiences of American Protestant missionaries Dwight W. Marsh and Julia (née Peck) Marsh, in Mosul, Assyria during the 1850s. Correspondence to family members in the United States recounts their life in Mosul during this period, and journal accounts document their trips between Boston and Izmir (Smyrna) in 1852 and 1853.
Copyright:
The content in this collection can be deemed to be out of copyright term, and in the public domain, yet any quotations or excerpts from these materials that are used in publicatin should cite this collection as their source.
Scope and Content:
The Dwight and Julia Marsh Family Papers consist of correspondence, journal entries, and related material, documenting the experiences of American Protestant missionaries Dwight W. Marsh and Julia (née Peck) Marsh, in Ottoman-ruled Assyria (present day Iraq) during the 1850s. The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence to family members in the United States describing their lives in Mosul during this period, and journal accounts documenting their trips between Boston and Izmir (Smyrna) in 1852 and 1853. The correspondence, while covering the years 1850-1860, is focused chiefly on the earlier years of that decade. The letters include those sent from Dwight to Julia and to his family, during his time in Mosul and on his return journey to the United States in 1852; Julia's separate correspondence to Dwight's family in St. Louis from 1850-1852; and their joint correspondence following their wedding in October 1852, as they traveled around the United States to visit family and before setting sail for Turkey in early 1853. The early correspondence is characterized by Dwight's spiritual reflections and concerns about his family, in particular about the spiritual welfare of his brother, Waldo. Julia's correspondence to Dwight's family often reflects her role as a mediator of information about Dwight, which she first learned of from the missionary board, and from whom she received his journals, which she sent along to his family with her own correspondence. Sometimes she shared information that only she was privy to, such as the details of a Kurdish attack on Dwight and some of his colleagues, which they suffered during a trip to Urmia, and which was written about in American newspapers, and from which Julia sought to reassure Dwight's family that he escaped unharmed (letter of July 21, 1851). In many of her letters she talked of her own desire to assist Dwight in his ministry in Mosul after their impending wedding, looking forward to times when she can “stand with him in our home in Asia and comfort his heart and strengthen his hands as he strives to communicate to [the] darkened minds the light of life" (July 4, 1851). The largest group of letters dates from their time together in the Middle East from 1853-1855, beginning with their arrival in Izmir (Smyrna), their stopover and quarantine in Beirut, and their subsequent arrival in Mosul. This correspondence depicts Julia's efforts to adjust to life in Mosul, her impressions of her new surroundings, and of their building of a new house there. Also included are descriptions of Dwight's ministry in and around Mosul, including church services, encounters with communities of Nestorian Christians, and trips to outlying villages. Occasional references are made to the "ruins of Nineveh" and the "slabs" that were excavated there, The birth of their first child, Henry, is described in correspondence from 1854, as is his subsequent death, and the grief that Julia experiences and as well as attempts to find solace in her faith, noting that his "grave is beneath the hot sands of this wicked Moslem city, but his little spirit free, glorious, pure and beautiful dwells with Jesus.” During this same period, Dwight's letters to family also reflect on larger events in the world, such as the Crimean War, which he fears will spread to their corner of the Ottoman Empire, as well as his concerns about events in the United States, such as the evils of slavery and the fights between anti- and pro-slavery forces in Kansas. Save for a signle letter in from 1857, the correspondence in this collection leaves off in 1855, only to resume with a few letters following Julia's death in 1859 and Dwight's journey back to the United States.
Arrangement:
The correspondence is largely arranged in chronological order, by correspondent, in three series, with a fourth series containing a photograph, journal entries, and later copied material.
Processing Information:
Processed by Brad Bauer, December 2025 - January 2026.
Restrictions:
The Dwight and Julia Marsh family papers are open for use in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Agent Name:
/agents/people/671
Agent Name:
/agents/people/698
Subject:
/subjects/2189
Subject:
/subjects/2190
Subject:
/subjects/2191
Date Begin:
1850
Date End:
1860
