A superb and scarce autobiography of a controversial Presbyterian divine who pastored in New Orleans for 35 years. A fantastic read, and content almost without peer in terms of the street-level view of New Orleans life, culture, its activity as a slave station, etc., 

Theodore Clapp [1792-1866] graduated Yale, 1814 and proceeded from there to Andover. By 1822, he was missionary of the Presbyterian Church to the South where he served as the Pastor of First Presbyterian in New Orleans.

He was booted by the Presbytery after an extensive controversy and succeeding trial during 1833 and 1834. At the extremities geographically of Presbyterianism, he made do and just closed down the Presbyterian church and opened his new church in the same building. As outraged as the Presbyterian church was, such was his power as an orator and his influence among the masses of poor and enslaved persons in New Orleans, they would have had a riot on their hands had they taken action.

His autobiography is one of the most significant first-hand accounts of early 19^th century New Orleans life extant and is very desirable on the market. This in addition to its insight into Presbyterianism in the South during the period, etc.,

Contents include material relevant to: Travel down the Mississippi River; The Mississippi Presbytery; Extensive Content on Asiatic Cholera / Yellow Fever Outbreaks and its Devastation in New Orleans [it was a principal hot spot for the import of disease]; The Epidemics of 1833, 1837, and 1853; Causes of Yellow Fever and its Remedies; Effects of Epidemics on the Morals of New Orleans; State of Religion in New Orleans in the 1820’s; The Peculiar Challenges of Christianity in New Orleans; Final Stages of Yellow Fever before Death Described; Extensive Discourse on Slavery in the South [he began as pro-slavery but was decidedly against after time spent with his black and/or enslaved parishioners, though he still maintained that having slaves was not an “un-Christianizing” act]; On the Guilt of Slavery; On the Challenges of Abolishing Slavery; On the Care of Slaves During the Plagues; His Advocacy for the Sabbath Rights of Slaves; Architectural Descriptions of the Negro Quarters, etc.

No copies on the market at the time of cataloguing and not offered at auction since 1981. Neatly signed on the ffep, B. F. Wheeler, being Benjamin Franklin Wheeler [1878-1954], one of the most influential early citrus growers in Florida. 

Clapp, Theodore. Autobiographical Sketches and Recollections, During a Thirty-Five Years' Residence in New Orleans. Boston. Phillips, Sampson, and Company. 1858. 419pp.

Good + with some minor rubbing at extremities, very slightly cocked. Solid and generally clean with minor tide mark, light foxing, and faint ripple to sheets.