]> ms.30 Silliman (Benjamin) 1779-1864 Collection 1816-1871 Ms. 30 Special Collections, The Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 USA Phone: (410) 516-8323
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Diwakar Bhandari Finding aid written in English Silliman (Benjamin) 1779-1864 Collection 1816-1871 Ms. 30 Special CollectionsThe Milton S. Eisenhower Library The Johns Hopkins University Contact Information Special Collections The Milton S. Eisenhower Library The Johns Hopkins University 3400 North Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 516-8323 Diwakar Bhandari

©2003 The Johns Hopkins University

 Descriptive Summary Ms. 30 Silliman (Benjamin) 1779-1864 Collection 1816-1871 Silliman, Benjamin , 1779-1864 Johns Hopkins University. Special Collections 29 items English The collection spans the years 1816 - 1871 and consists of 28 autograph letters filed alphabetically by author of letter and 1 eulogy of Benjamin Silliman. There is one letter in French and one letter in German. Administrative Information Provenance

The Silliman Collection consists of autograph letters to Benjamin Silliman and his son Benjamin Silliman, Jr. Originally these letters formed a part of the Gilman Papers Ms. 1. Letters from Benjamin Silliman and Benjamin Silliman, Jr. remain in the Gilman Collection.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from this collection must be requested in writing from the Manuscripts Librarian, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Md. 21218.

 Preferred Citation

Benjaman Silliman Collection Ms. 30 Special Collections Milton S. Eisenhower Library The Johns Hopkins University

Biographical Note

Benjamin Silliman, American chemist and geologist and Professor at Yale, was born in 1779. He entered Yale in 1792 and graduated in 1796. in 1797 he became a Tutor and was appointed Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in 1804. He held this post until his retirement in 1853. In 1818 he founded and edited the American Journal of Science and Arts, usually called Silliman's Journal. He was active in the organization of the Yale Medical School. Benjamin Silliman married twice, first in 1809 to Harriet, daughter of the second Govenor Trumbull of Conecticut and the mother of his nine children; and again in 1851 to Mrs. Sarah Webb. In 1864 Benjamin Stillman died, aged 85 years.

His son, Benjamin Silliman, Jr., chemist was born in 1816. He became his father's teaching assistant at Yale; Associate Editor (1838) and later Editor of the American Journal of Science. With John P. Norton he established at Yale a school of applied chemistry which later became the Sheffield Scientific School. He was Professor of Chemistry at Yale from 1853. He died in 1885.

Both father and son were original members of the National Academy of Sciences (1863).

Description of Series/Container List Correspondence Series Correspondence Silliman, Benjamin from: Bowditch, Henry I., July 31, 1863 Cleveland, C., April 19, 1816 Daubeny, Charles, December 22, 1839 Dewey, C., December 23, 1829 Hall, James, March 24, 1847 Hayes, Aug. A., 10 September 1836 Jones, T. Rupert, August 12, 1854 Laidinger, W.H., Feb. 3, 1861 Lederer, L., 15 Feb. 1839 Linth, Escher de la, 28 avril 1851. (in French) Maskelyne, Nevil Story, November 18, 1861 Mitchell, I.K., 28 Nov. 1838 Morton, Sam. Geo., Aug. 13, 1831; Jan. 18, 1847 Perdacaris, A., Aug. 15, 1839 Proemer, Ferd., January 8, 1852 Schlagintweit, Hermann de, 6 April 1861 Verlentz, A., Decbr. 31. 1851 Silliman, Benjamin, Jr. from: Henry, Joseph, Feby. 10, March 12 and 24, April 7, 1852 Jackson, C.T., Nov. 20, 1863 Root, O., June 3, 1853 Smith, J. Lawrence, Apr. 1, 1873 Wohler, (?), 22 Februar 1861. (in German) Porter, N. to Prof. Trendelenburg, April 13, 1871 Tyson, Phillip T. to Jas. Hall, 25 Dec. 1858. (typewritten transcript) Others: Benjamin Silliman from the American Journal of Science and Arts, Vol. XXXIX, Jan. 1865. (eulogy)