Martha's Vineyard Museum

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biography/Historical Note

Scope and Content of Collection

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Index Terms

Contents of Collection

Personal Papers

Oration

Manuscripts

Publications

Descriptive Summary

Repository	Martha's Vineyard Museum, Gale Huntington Research Library 59 School Street P.O. Box 1310 Edgartown, MA 02539 (508)627-4441
Call Number	RU 87
Title	Hebron Vincent Papers
Date [inclusive]	1826-1886, undated
Extent	1.512 cubic feet  3 boxes
Location	For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's staff.
Language	The materials are in English.
Abstract	The Hebron Vincent Papers are largely composed of the sermons, lectures, poetry, articles and books written by the Reverend Hebron Vincent (1805-1890), including his historical accounts of the Wesleyan Grove and Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use and Reproduction Restrictions

Requests to reproduce material from this collection should be directed to the library's staff. Reproduction fees may apply.

Acquisition Information

Examples include the following:

• The immediate source of acquisition and date of accession are unknown.

Publication Information

Martha's Vineyard Museum

Gale Huntington Research Library
59 School Street
P.O. Box 1310
Edgartown, MA 02539
(508)627-4441

Revision Description

 Addition to the Collection; Addition of Box 1, Folder 8, Correspondence, and Box 1, Folder 9, Register of the Probate certifications, [CJ], August 2015

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Jean Cargill and machine-encoded by Clint Johnson in August 2015.

Related Materials

Related Materials

• See also, RU

Biography/Historical Note

Hebron Vincent was born August 21, 1805 into a farm family in Edgartown, Massachusetts. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker when he was thirteen. At the age of seventeen, Hebron converted to Methodism and received private lessons from “a good educated brother” to prepare him for preaching and teaching. Due to limited means and spells of poor health his formal education was limited to less than a year of study at Maine Wesleyan Seminary. Despite his lack of formal schooling, Hebron became an accomplished teacher, published author and poet, and, public speaker on topics ranging from religion to agriculture. In 1869 Wesleyan University granted Hebron Vincent an honorary master of the arts degree. In the summer of 1835, Rev. Hebron Vincent was among the original group from the Methodist Church in Edgartown “who went into the forest near Eastville to select a site for a Camp Meeting” and he is best remembered for his historical account of the Wesleyan Grove and what would become the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. He was ordained an elder in the Methodist Church in 1835, served as Secretary to the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association for nineteen years, and lived to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Camp Meeting, Wesleyan Grove, in 1885. Hebron married Lydia Russell Coffin on October 14, 1832 and raised two daughters. As a dedicated public servant, he held a variety of town and state offices including Justice of the Peace and Register of the Probate Court. Hebron Vincent was active in the Edgartown Antislavery Society, a founding member, and later, president of the Dukes County Educational Association, and twice elected president of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society.

Scope and Content of Collection

The Hebron Vincent collection is largely composed of his manuscripts of speeches, sermons, eulogies, poetry; articles on slavery, education and agriculture; and histories of Dukes County, especially the Wesleyan Grove and Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. Also included are letters to the editors of the Vineyard Gazette, Zion’s Herald and other Methodist periodicals; a statement in opposition to the separation of Oak Bluffs from Edgartown; a lengthy autobiographical note

Arrangement

• Series I: Personal Papers
• Series II: Oration
• Series III: Manuscripts
• Series IV: Publications