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Asa Lyon Papers

 Collection
Identifier: mss-064

Scope and Content Note

The Asa Lyon Papers consist primarily of notes for and texts of sermons preached by Lyon over a fifty-year span. There are hundreds of these sermon texts and outlines in the collection, with each identified by Biblical source, place where the sermon was delivered, and date. Other religious papers include Lyon's notes on various theological questions, manuscript Biblical indexes, and a few scattered pieces relating to Lyon's service as a minister in Massachusetts and Vermont.

The small group of non-religious materials in the collection consists of a variety of materials: account books and diaries from the 1780's and 90's; manuscripts of almanacs drawn up by Lyon in the 1780's; addresses and poems written while he was a student at Dartmouth College; poems and orations written for Fourth of July celebrations; a few Grand Isle County Court papers; papers relating to the Sand Bar Turnpike Corporation; a few political speeches from the early 1800's; Lyon's notebooks and writings on mathematics and English grammar; and a few pieces of correspondence.

The collection has been arranged chronologically, with undated materials grouped at the end.

Dates

  • 1754-1840

Creator

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Manuscripts.

Biographical Note

Asa Lyon was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, on December 31, 1763, the son of Jonathan and Rebecca Maxley Lyon. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1790, Asa studied religion under Rev. Charles Backus of Somers, CT, and was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Sunderland, Massachusetts, on October 4, 1792. Lyon left Sunderland on September 23 of the following year in a dispute over some aspect of church administration, and moved soon thereafter to South Hero, Vermont. He helped organize the South Hero-Grand Isle Congregationalists in 1795 and, although never officially installed, served as their elected pastor until his death forty-six years later. Lyon soon assumed political leadership of the Islands as well, and held a variety of elected offices in the early nineteenth century: State Representative from South Hero, 1799-1802, 1804-06, 1808, and from Grand Isle, 1810-14; member of the Governor's Council, 1808; and chief judge of the Grand Isle County Court, 1805-07, 1808-09, and 1813-14. A staunch Federalist, Lyon was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1814 and served one term from 1815 to 1817. Recognized as one of the leading intellects in Vermont, he also proved quite adept at acquiring and retaining money, and gradually became the wealthiest man in the Champlain Islands. Asa Lyon died in South Hero on April 4, 1841, at the age of seventy-seven.

Extent

7 Linear Feet (7 cartons)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Asa Lyon was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, on December 31, 1763, the son of Jonathan and Rebecca Maxley Lyon. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1790, Asa studied religion under Rev. Charles Backus of Somers, CT, and was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Sunderland, Massachusetts, on October 4, 1792. Lyon moved soon thereafter to South Hero, Vermont. He helped organize the South Hero-Grand Isle Congregationalists in 1795 and, although never officially installed, served as their elected pastor until his death forty-six years later. Lyon soon assumed political leadership of the Islands as well, and held a variety of elected offices in the early nineteenth century. The Asa Lyon Papers consist primarily of notes for and texts of sermons preached by Lyon over a fifty-year span. There are hundreds of these sermon texts and outlines in the collection, with each identified by Biblical source, place where the sermon was delivered, and date.

Location

Library Research Annex; contact uvmsc@uvm.edu for access.

Title
Guide to the Asa Lyon Papers
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University of Vermont Libraries, Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Silver Special Collections Library
48 University Place, Room B201
Burlington Vermont 05405 U.S.A. US
(802) 656-2138
(802) 656-4038 (Fax)