Kirksville Presbyterian Churches Records

Collection

Identifier: MS P3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Miscellaenous documents spanning the years 1883 to 1968 related to Kirksville, Missouri, Presbyterian Churches. These include The Cumberland Presbyterian Church which was organized in Kirksville in May 1846 and the Northern, or Old School, Presbyterians (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) organized during the Fall of 1859. These two congregations merged in 1906 under the name First Presbyterian Church.

Dates

Creation: 1869-1968

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Copyright

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Historical Note

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was the first Presbyterian congregation to be organized in Kirksville when Reverend James Dysart of Macon County called a meeting of three local families in May 1846. The church became inactive around the time of the Civil War but was reorganized by Reverend J. E. Sharp and erected its first house of worship in 1868.

The Northern, or Old School, Presbyterians [Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.)] opened their first Sunday School in the Court House in 1857. Officially organized as a church by the Palmyra Presbytery during the Fall of 1859, they also became inactive during the War. They came back together in 1865, reorganized themselves under the direction of Reverend J. S. Boyd in 1866, and began building their first church house in 1868.

These two congregations merged under the umbrella of The Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.) in 1906, took the name First Presbyterian Church and moved into the Cumberland building. The Cumberland Presbyterian pastor, Reverend William L. Darby, resigned to make the transition process a little easier and Reverend William Craig Templeton, of the "Old School" church, was selected pastor of the unified congregation.

Extent

0.4 linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is organized into four series.

Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1870-1897
First Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.), ("Old School"), 1869-1899
First Presbyterian Church (the unified C. P. and O. S. churches), 1908-1968
Publications of The Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.), 1902-1945

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Most of the documents in this collection were gathered by two members of the faculty at what is now Truman State University. History Professor E.M. Violette, though not a Presbyterian, collected anything he thought might someday be of local historical interest and donated programs for some of the Presbyterian services he attended in the early 1900s. Then in the 1960s, Business Professor Paul O. Selby added more items. The Church itself provided some of the membership directories.

Selby, a life-long member of First Presbyterian, used some of the older documents while researching his church's history, but whether he used things already in the collection or donated them himself is uncertain.