Charles Chester Caddy papers

The journals and "Miscellany" volume of Charles Caddy are invaluable in documenting the life of an itinerant Methodist minister in Ohio from the mid-1830s to the late 1890s.

Caddy's journals are full of notations on such social and moral issues and activities as war, abolition, temperance, dancing, and traveling shows; theological issues and his work in the ministry; nature, the weather, and astronomical phenomena; biographical sketches, primarily of fellow ministers, including several women; political events, such as local presidential elections and "Coxey's Army;" the Civil War and its effect on his family and friends; traveling and travel conditions; lists of books read and references to writers or poets he especially admired; lists of letters written and received; holidays and public celebrations; the opening of Lima College; the food eaten; and the events of births, illnesses, marriages, his children's education and apprenticeships, and deaths within his family and among friends.

The volume entitled "Miscellany" includes sermons he gave; lectures, particularly for school commencements and public holidays; essays on religion, moral and social issues, education, holidays, the Civil War and recovering his son Ancel's body from Tennessee; poetry about his sons and daughters, particularly those who died young, nature, death and family occasions, his headaches, and verses and acrostics for autograph albums; song lyrics; memorials to deceased ministers and national figures; and recollections by his wife, Mary Ann Dyer Caddy.

Caddy's papers are notable not only for his recording of information on a wide variety of topics, but for his personal comments and reactions to many issues and events, particularly the Civil War and secessionism, religion, illness and death, travel, and his family members and friends.