Ebenezer Gurley, confession, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1770 February 3

Author Gurley, Ebenezer[pers0237.ocp]

3 February 1770[1770-02-03]

ms number770153.1

[note (type: abstract): Gurley confesses that he tried to leave the school for Yale.][note (type: handwriting): Informal handwriting is somewhat uneven, though mostly clear and legible. It is possibly not Gurley's.][note (type: paper): Small single sheet is in good condition, with light staining, creasing and wear.][note (type: ink): The body of the document is written in dark-brown ink. The signature is in black ink.][note (type: noteworthy): When Gurley mentions "the school," it is uncertain whether he is referring to Moor's Indian Charity School[org0098.ocp] or Dartmouth College[org0037.ocp], and so these mentions have been left untagged. It is possible that the confession is a copy, and was written by an unknown person, and signed by Gurley.]
Persistent Identifier
I [Ebenezar | Ebenezer]EbenezarEbenezer [Gurly | Gurley]GurlyGurley[pers0237.ocp] acknowledge that I was admit‐ ‐ted a member of this [scholl | school]schollschool, upon my declaring my fixed [purpoſe | purpose]purpoſepurpose to devote my life, [& | and]&and all my pow‐‐ers to the service of [ye | the]yethe redeemer among the Indi‐‐an savages of this land, [& | and]&and upon the credit of this [profeſsion | profession]profeſsionprofession I was taken under the patronage of [ye | the]yethe [Revd: | Rev.]Revd:Rev. [Doclor | Doctor]DoclorDoctor Wheelock[pers0036.ocp], [& | and]&and have been supported, [till | 'til]till'til now, in part, by the fund which was collected with a single view to spread the Gospel among [ye | the]yethe Hea‐‐then, and my obligations to maintain [thoſe | those]thoſethose pur‐‐poses, [& | and]&and keep that object in view have ever been most sacred, and accordingly I acknowledge [yt | that]ytthat I was, [& | and]&and am— still under[illegible] [y.e | the]y.ethe direction [& | and]&and [controul | control]controulcontrol of Doctor Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] my Patron. [& | and]&and he [& | and]&and no other has right to order [& | and]&and [dis‐‐poſe | dis‐pose]dis‐‐poſedis‐pose of ^[above] me^me [& | and]&and direct my studies subservient to [yt | that]ytthat end, Notwithstanding ^[above] which^which I [confeſs | confess]confeſsconfess with shame I gave ear to some [surmiſes | surmises]surmiſessurmises, which were reported without reason, or truth, concerning this school viz; that it was de‐‐clining [& | and]&and would quickly come to nothing [&c. | etc.]&c.etc. and was influenced by bad council given agreeably [illegible][guess (h-dawnd): thereto viz]thereto viz [illegible] whereupon instead of opening the [caſe | case]caſecase, [& | and]&and asking advice of my Patron as I ought to have done, I desired Brown[pers0623.ocp] a member of College to obtain a waiters [birth | berth]birthberth for me ^[above] there,^there, which I —
I understand, he faithfully, [& | and]&and in a friendly man‐‐ner [apply'd | applied]apply'dapplied for, by which application of mine [Presid | President]PresidPresident Daggett[pers0624.ocp] had reason to think, [yt | that]ytthat I was not a sub‐‐ject of [illegible]this Charity, nor under such sacred ties, as I am holden by to pursue the design [afors^[above] d^d | aforesaid]afors^[above] d^daforesaid [& | and]&and consequently gave just reason to think [yt | that]ytthat [illegible] Dr Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] had acted a very false, [& | and]&and deceitful part, in procuring the favour of a discharge from paying^[above] the [expence | expense]expenceexpense of my^the [expence | expense]expenceexpense of my tuition, while I was ab‐ ‐sent from College, I also [impos'd | imposed]impos'dimposed on [ye | the]yethe [Rev:d | Rev.]Rev:dRev. [Pres:d | President]Pres:dPresident [Daggeth | Daggett]DaggethDaggett[pers0624.ocp], by sending such a [meſsage | message]meſsagemessage to him when I had no right to do it. I acknowledge in this matter I have ^[above] [inadvertantly | inadvertently]inadvertantlyinadvertently^[inadvertantly | inadvertently]inadvertantlyinadvertently acted a very foolish, headlong, [unadvized | unadvised]unadvizedunadvised [& | and]&and sinful part, for which I heartily ask [forgiveneſs | forgiveness]forgiveneſsforgiveness of God, and of the [Rev;d | Rev.]Rev;dRev. Doctor Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] whom I have ungratefully, [& | and]&and abusively treated, in this matter, and I also ask [forgiveneſs | forgiveness]forgiveneſsforgiveness of the [Rev,d | Rev.]Rev,dRev. [Presd | President]PresdPresident Daggett[pers0624.ocp] whom I have shamefully [impos'd | imposed]impos'dimposed upon [& | and]&and also of the school, [& | and]&and all who have been knowing to this my foolish [& | and]&and [unadviſed | unadvised]unadviſedunadvised conduct, [& | and]&and I [promiſe | promise]promiſepromise by divine grace to keep my place, and act agreeable to the sacred ties I am under, fixedly to pursue thie great end of my edu‐cation. If I may be [allow,d | allowed]allow,dallowed to continue a member of this school—
[Closer]
Ebenezer Gurley[pers0237.ocp]
[Trailer]
Lebanon[place0122.ocp] [Feb'r | February]Feb'rFebruary [3.d | 3rd]3.d3rd 1770[1770-02-03]
Document Summary

People identified in this document:

id Text in document Role in header Authorized Name
pers0237.ocp Ebenezar Ebenezer Gurly Gurley writer Gurley, Ebenezer
pers0036.ocp Rev d : Rev. Doclor Doctor Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar
pers0036.ocp Doctor Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar
pers0623.ocp Brown mentioned Brown
pers0624.ocp Presi d President Daggett mentioned Daggett, Naphtali
pers0036.ocp Dr Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar
pers0624.ocp Rev: d Rev. Pres: d President Daggeth Daggett mentioned Daggett, Naphtali
pers0036.ocp Rev; d Rev. Doctor Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar
pers0624.ocp Rev, d Rev. Pres d President Daggett mentioned Daggett, Naphtali
pers0237.ocp Ebenezer Gurley writer Gurley, Ebenezer

Places identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
place0122.ocp Lebanon Lebanon

This document does not contain any tagged organizations.

Dates identified in this document:

Standard Form Text
1770-02-03 Feb'rFebruary 3.d3rd 1770

Regularized text:

Type Original Regularized
variation Ebenezar Ebenezer
variation Gurly Gurley
variation scholl school
modernization purpoſe purpose
modernization ye the
modernization profeſsion profession
modernization Revd: Rev.
variation till 'til
modernization thoſe those
modernization yt that
modernization y.e the
variation controul control
modernization dis‐‐poſe dis‐pose
modernization confeſs confess
modernization surmiſes surmises
modernization &c. etc.
modernization caſe case
variation birth berth
variation expence expense
modernization Rev:d Rev.
variation Daggeth Daggett
modernization meſsage message
variation inadvertantly inadvertently
variation unadvized unadvised
modernization forgiveneſs forgiveness
modernization Rev;d Rev.
modernization Rev,d Rev.
modernization unadviſed unadvised
modernization promiſe promise
modernization 3.d 3rd

Expanded abbreviations:

Abbreviation Expansion
& and
apply'd applied
Presid President
afors^[above] d^d aforesaid
impos'd imposed
Pres:d President
Presd President
allow,d allowed
Feb'r February

This document's header does not contain any mixed case attribute values.

Summary of errors found in this document:

Number of dates with invalid 'when' attributes: 0
Number of nested "hi" tags: (consider merging the @rend attributes, or using other tags) 0
Number of tags with invalid 'rend' attributes: 0 (out of 18)
Number of people/places/organizations with unknown keys: 0 (out of 11)
Number of "add" tags with unknown 'place' attributes: 0 (out of 6)
Mixed case attribute values in header (potential error): 0 (out of 103)