Sermons on some of the distinguishing doctrines of divine revelation… – Provenance: The History of the Book, Vol. 2

Overview of Sermons…

Full title: Sermons on some of the distinguishing doctrines of divine revelation : collected from a number of ministers, in the northern states of America. Volume II.

Authors: Austin, Samuel, 1760-1830; Hyde, Alvan, 1768-1833; Catlin, Jacob, 1758-1826; Miller, Jonathan, 1761-1831; Thompson, Otis, 1776-1859; Lee, Chauncey, 1763-1842; Porter, David, 1761-1851; Worcester, Samuel, 1770-1821; Backus, Azel, 1765-1816; Weeks, Holland, 1768-1843; Beecher, Lyman, 1775-1863; Crossman, Joseph W., 1775-1812
Williston, Seth, 1770-1851; Shepard, Samuel, 1772-1846; Willard, Heman, 1775-1826

Place published: Stockbridge, MA

Year published: 1812

Publisher: Elijah Kingsley (1776-1820)

Printer: Heman Willard (1775-1826)

MSU Library call number: XX BX7233.A1 S476 1812

Physical condition

The interior of the book shows signs of heavy wear. Pages are aged and feel somewhat brittle. Foxing present across pages.

The book is bound in a full sheepskin binding. All corners of the book show sings of moderate to heavy wear.

Background information

Berkshire Republican Library circa 1870.

Both Heman Willard (1775-1826), the printer, and Elijah Kingsley (1742-1839), the seller and publisher, were based in Stockbridge, MA at the time of the creation of this copy of Sermons. Willard ran a very successful print shop out of Stockbridge which was known for publishing a Federalist newspaper called the Western Star (later known as the Berkshire Reporter). Kingsley, born April 1st, 1742, in Windham, Connecticut, was a shareholder in the Stockbridge Library (originally the Berkshire Republican Library), one of the earliest libraries in western Massachusetts. The charter to open the library was signed in July of 1789, and it is still open to this day, nearly 236 years later.

As a piece of literature, Sermons tells us something about the time in which it was published. Since the age of manuscripts and continuing through the eras of early modern and modern print, religious texts have endured as an important and prevalent genre. The existence of this book, a collection of sermons from various ministers throughout the United States also tells us that, like today, Christianity was the most prevalent religion in the region. The date of publication places Sermons squarely in the window of the Second Great Awakening, a time when Protestant ideals were spreading across the United States with renewed fervor. Sermons shows that even in a time of great change, of great migration, religion was such a fundamental aspect of daily life that it warranted the keeping of a book to be nearer to its teachings. As the European population of the post-colonial United States began to explore the Western expanse of the continent, it only made sense for them to do it with a book like this at their side.

Provenance Findings

Col. Bille Messenger (1757-1837) and Hiram Messenger (1785-1851)

Grave of Col. Bille Messenger in Windham, Ohio.

A sizable signature on the front endpaper of Sermons denotes that the book was originally purchased from publisher Elijah Kingsley for a price of $1.00 by one Bille Messenger of Becket, Massachusetts on June 15th, 1812. This signature is the first piece of evidence for the provenance timeline of this book, which does not leave the possession of Bille and his descendants until it arrives at MSU.

Col. Bille Messenger, born February 20th, 1757, was a Revolutionary War veteran and native of Becket, Massachusetts. Messenger was first deployed as a minuteman at the very onset of the Revolutionary War, marching to Cambridge, MA a mere four days after the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Later in the war, Messenger would march to Vermont under the command of Major General Philip Schuyler. Messenger married his first wife, Miranda Ashley, in 1779, with whom he had 12 children, including Hiram Messenger.

On September 11th, 1810, a group of 16 Becket residents gathered to form a company with the intent to purchase a township in Ohio. This group included Bille Messenger and his younger brother Ebenezer, then aged 53 and 48 respectively.

Original map of Portage County following 1810 purchase.

The purchase was successful, and the following year, a group of four young men (including two from the Messenger family) set out on the 600 mile trek on foot. The group reached what would become Windham, Ohio on March 16th, 1811. Bille Messenger, his son Hiram and Hiram’s wife would later join the settlement in the summer of 1811.

At first glance, this seems to rule out Col. Messenger as the first owner of Sermons. However, after three months in Windham, Bille traveled back to Becket, eventually returning to settle in Windham for good with the rest of his family in April of 1813. At some point between 1813 and 1837, Sermons was passed from Bille to Hiram, perhaps upon the former’s passing.

The Messenger family is renowned in Windham for being among the very first settlers of the town. Hiram was the first constable of Windham. In October of 1811, Hiram and his wife Anna Snow became the parents of the first child born in Windham. In October of the following year, Hiram joined the army and fought in the War of 1812.

Shortly following the death of Hiram’s father, Hiram and his family moved to Danville, Iowa, where they were early settlers. At some point before 1851, this copy of Sermons made its way from Hiram to Hiram’s daughter Harriet Little (1825-1900), the seventh of ten children. Harriet was born in the Windham settlement in 1825, but around the age of 13, she moved with the rest of her family to Danville. Harriet married a man named Oliver Little. Harriet and Oliver’s second child, Fanny Coleman, is the second person to leave provenance evidence on the front endpaper. When Harriet passed away in 1900, she was buried in Burlington, Iowa.

Fanny Augusta Little Coleman (1866-1952)

Based on the provenance evidence available on the front endpaper of Sermons, a dedication written in pen indicates that Fanny Augusta Little Coleman is the next known owner of the book. The dedication reads: “Given to Michael Hutson James Getto by his greatgrandmother Fanny Little Coleman 1951.” Fanny Coleman was born in Des Moines county, but is buried in Lawrence, Kansas.

Michael Hutson James Getto (1934-)

Mike Getto’s bookplate inside *Sermons*.

The dedication mentioned above indicating Fanny Coleman’s ownership also provides us with the name of the final private owner of Sermons, Michael Getto. Mike Getto was born on June 9th, 1934 and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. In 1951, his great grandmother Fanny Coleman gave him Sermons while he was still in high school. Aside from the dedication, Getto has also added a bookplate to the front pastedown with his full name, dated 1953. In 1954, Getto enrolled at Michigan State University, earning a B.A. in Hospitality Business in 1956. Getto is a member of the School of Hospitality Business Alumni Association Executive Board of Directors. A frequent book donor to the MSU Library, Getto sent Sermons to the school in a box of books.

Before arriving at Michigan State, generations of Messenger descendants had passed the book from owner to owner. Mike Getto is the great-great-great-great grandson of Colonel Bille Messenger.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Professor Brockey, Tad Boehmer, and Andrew Lundeen for their support, knowledge, and sleuthing skills offered to myself and my classmates over the past few weeks. They proved to me that there was a lot more to be discovered about the story of this book than I could have ever imagined!

Sources

Becket Families Go West: Part 2

Created by Daniel McNeela for HST 475, Spring Semester 2025, Michigan State University.