Joseph Benson Papers, 1771-1821 and undated

Extent:

36 items

Scope and content:

Letters and writings of Joseph Benson (1749-1821), Wesleyan Methodist itinerant minister who was twice President of the Conference (1798 and 1810) and editor of the Methodist Magazine from 1803-1821. Like his contemporary Thomas Coke, Benson was born early enough to know and correspond with many of the early figures of Methodism, including John and Charles Wesley, John and Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, and Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, but also lived well into the 19th century, witnessing the growth of the church in the generation following JW's death. Although the letters here cover some fifty years of his life, they cluster around two controversies in which he became embroiled in the early 1770s and the mid 1790s.

Arranged in five folders: Folders 1-3, correspondence in chronological order; Folder 4, other documents; and Folder 5, oversize correspondence in a separate chronological sequence.

RELATED MATERIAL: over eighty letters and printed items by, to, and about Joseph Benson appear at other points in this and other Frank Baker collections:

• Wesley Family Series, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)--letters to Benson
• Correspondence Series: John Fletcher, Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, and Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon--letters to Benson
• Volumes Series, Letter Books Subseries and Scrapbooks Subseries--letters by and to Benson in several volumes
• Printed Materials Series, Broadsides and Circular Letters Subseries and Committee of Privileges Subseries
• Perronet Family Papers
• Frank Baker Papers, Subject Files: FB transcriptions of approximately fifty letters from other archives
• Wesley Family Papers

Contents

Using These Materials