Roderick Terry, Jr. autograph collection (RLC.Ms.024)

Biographical note

Rev. Dr. Roderick Terry, Sr. (1849-1933) was born on April 1, 1849, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of John T. and Elizabeth R. (Peet) Terry. He earned a degree from Yale University in 1870, graduated from the Union Theological Seminary in 1875, and was awarded an LL.D. from Princeton University in 1881. Rev. Terry married Lynda Marquand on September 22, 1875, in Newport, Rhode Island, and they had two children: Roderick, Jr. (1876-1951) and Eunice Terry Hale (d. 1919). Rev. Terry served as an ordained Presbyterian minister for twenty-seven years as well as a chaplain for the 12th Infantry of the New York State National Guard from 1890-1900. Following his retirement, Terry took up residence in Newport, where he was active in philanthropist pursuits and various cultural institutions such as the Redwood Library, the Newport Historical Society, the Newport Hospital, and the Newport chapter of the Red Cross. He served as the President of the Board of Directors for the Redwood Library and Athenaeum from 1916-1933 and was instrumental in the restoration of the Harrison Room. Rev. Dr. Terry died on December 28, 1933 in Newport.

Roderick Terry, Jr. (1876-1951), was born in Newport on August 6, 1876, the son of Roderick Terry, Sr. (1849-1933) and Lynda Marquand (d. 1931). He graduated from Yale University in 1898 and after working for a year at Henry Marquand and Company, bankers in New York City, he attended the New York Law School, graduating in 1904. Terry, Jr. worked as a lawyer in New York City until his retirement in 1940 when he returned to Newport and served as president of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum from 1940 to 1948. Roderick Terry, Jr. passed away on June 7, 1951, in Newport and was survived by no immediate relatives.

Rev. Dr. Terry, Sr. was an assiduous collector of books and manuscripts and a major part of his collection was sold after his death (making $270,000 at three sales in 1934 and 1935), but his son did keep several thousand items. Many of the items retained by Terry, Jr., were left to the Library after his death. These letters came to the Redwood Library as part of the bequest of Roderick Terry, Jr.