Pease-Lyman Family. Papers, 1813-1936 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The Reverend Orange Lyman was pastor of the Madison Congregational Church in Madison, Ohio, before moving to Downers Grove, Illinois, in 1838. He began farming with his three sons (Thomas, Stephen, and Henry) and continued to preach in the area as well.

In 1850, Henry Lyman married Lovancia Pease of Madison, Ohio. Lovancia attended Oberlin College and taught school for approximately ten years prior to marrying Henry. The couple settled in Downers Grove and had two children, Sarah and Walter.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence of the Lyman and Pease families and transcriptions of those letters. In addition to correspondence between Henry and Lovancia during their courtship, there is a considerable amount of correspondence which they received from both sides of the family, including letters from Henry's brothers (Thomas and Stephen Lyman) and Lovancia's siblings (Sarah, Granville, and Lauren Pease). The collection also contains some of Orange Lyman's sermons and orations from the 1840s, a biographical sketch and genealogy of Lovancia Pease, and various Pease and Lyman family records.