Contents


Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Contents List

Correspondence, 1835-1848

Biographical Information, 1854

Drawings, circa 1840-1846

Lord papers, 1835-1854.

Finding Aid

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003

Collection Overview

Creator: Lord, Lucy T., 1817-1853.
Title: Lord papers
Dates: 1835-1854.
Abstract: Lord, Lucy Thomas Lyon, 1817-1853; Teacher and missionary. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary graduate, 1840. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary teacher, 1841-1846. Papers contain correspondence, letterbook, and a biography. Primarily consisting of letters to her brother regarding her religious life and to Mary Lyon, her aunt, about her mission work in China.
Extent: 1 box(2.5 linear in.)
Language: English.
Identification: MS 0566
Location: LD 7092.8 Lyon

Biographical Note

Lucy Thomas Lyon was born on February 15, 1817 in Buckland, Massachusetts to Armilla Alden Lyon and Aaron Lyon, the brother of Mary Lyon. Though she moved to Stockton, New York with her family, she returned to attend school at Franklin Academy in Shelburne, Massachusetts. Lyon taught in Shelburne and nearby towns before enrolling at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. After graduating in 1840, she taught in Stockton for one year then returned to Mount Holyoke as a teacher. She married the Rev. Edward Clemens Lord in 1846 and accompanied him to Ningpo, China where the Lords worked as missionaries for seven years. She had two children, both of whom died before the age of two. Because of her own poor health she and her husband returned to the United States in 1853. She visited friends in New England and her sister Rosina Dayfort in Ohio. Lyon died of intestinal tuberculosis and tetanus at her mother's home in Fredonia, New York on May 5, 1853.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Lucy Thomas Lord Papers consist primarily of correspondences from Lord and her husband Edward Clemens Lord. While a few are addressed to her brother, Aaron E. Lyon, and discuss religious matters, the majority of the letters are addressed to her aunt, Mary Lyon, concerning the Lords' trip to China. Later letters, which are included in a letterbook, describe her travels to and her missionary service in Ningpo, China. This collection also includes a biography entitled "The Memoirs of Mrs. Lucy T. Lord," published in 1854, and additional biographical information, as well as a drawing of her that probably dates from 1840-1846.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

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Contents List

Correspondence, 1835-1848 2 folders

This series consists of letters written by Lord between 1835-1848. The letters from 1835, written while she was in Stockton, N.Y., are addressed to her brother, Aaron E. Lyon, and chiefly discuss religion and local people. The remaining letters date from 1846-1848 and are addressed to Lord's aunt, Mary Lyon, as well as to friends, other relatives, and students at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. The letters of 1846 concern her marriage to Edward Clemens Lord and their plans to go to China as missionaries. Correspondence in a letterbook, 1847-1848, describes Lord's experiences and activities in Ningpo, China, including her struggle to learn the language and her response to Chinese customs.

Arranged chronologically.


Box

Folder

1 1
Correspondence, 1835-1848: 1835-1847

2
Correspondence, Letterbook 1835-1848, 1847-1848

Biographical Information, 1854 2 folders

This series consists of "Memoir of Mrs. Lucy T. Lord," 1854, which offers biographical information and an extensive collection of excerpts from Lord's writing. This book is supplemented by additional biographical notes about Lord.

Arranged chronologically.


Box

Folder

1 3
"Memoir of Lucy T. Lord,"

4
Supplementary biographical information,

Drawings, circa 1840-1846 1 folder

This series includes of a drawing of Lucy T. Lord probably dating from around 1840-1846.


Box

Folder

1 5
Drawing of Lucy T. Lord, circa 1840-1846