Online Databases
SUMMARY
1. Pastors
2. Churches
3. Memoirs
4. Conference Historical Society Publications
5. Archival Shelf Holdings List and Finding Aids
6. Vertical Files and Item Collections
7. Archival Boxed Collections
8. Other Items
9. Digital Version of Relevant Histories
1. Pastors
These files give basic information (birth,
death, spouse, appointments, obituary reference, notes and other relevant
references) as described below.
a. Central
Pennsylvania Evangelical Pastors [in progress] includes every person
known to have (1) been licensed or ordained by the Central Pennsylvania
Conference of the Evangelical [and Evangelical Association and United
Evangelical] Church or (2) served an appointment in that Conference
1839-1964.
b. Central
Pennsylvania Methodist Pastors includes every person known to
have (1) been licensed or ordained in the East Baltimore (1856-1868) or
Central Pennsylvania (1868-1970) Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal
[and Methodist] Church or (2) served an appointment in those conferences
1856-1970.
c. Central Pennsylvania Methodist
Protestant Pastors [in progress] includes every Central Pennsylvania
person known to have (1) been licensed or ordained by the Baltimore,
Eastern, New York, or Pennsylvania Conference of the
Methodist Protestant [and 1878-1883 Methodist] Church or (2) served
a Central Pennsylvania appointment in one of those Conferences.
d. Pennsylvania UB
Pastors includes every person known to have (1) been licensed or
ordained in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania, East Pennsylvania or
Allegheny Conferences of the United Brethren [and EUB] Church or (2)
served an appointment in one of those Conferences.
e. Wyoming
Conference Pastors [in progress] includes every person known to have
served a church or in or been given ministerial credentials by the
Wyoming Conference (north-east Pennsylvania and south-central New York)
from its creation in 1852 until its dissolution in 2010. The link to the
current state of this file is at the very bottom of this page.
f. Susquehanna Conference Pastors [in
progress] includes every person known to have been licensed or ordained
in the Susquehanna (1964-70), Central Pennsylvania (1970-2010), or
Susquehanna (2010 onward) Conferences within
United Methodism. Persons who served an appointment in one of
those Conferences but who were originally licensed or ordained in
Conferences included in sections a-e above are listed with those
Conferences in sections a-e and are not duplicated in the
Susquehanna Conference list.
2. Churches
The following are works in
progress. The goal is to have two links, one to closed churches and
one to present churches, that will give information arranged by county
about every United Methodist (and predecessor denomination) church
building known to have existed within the boundaries of the present
Susquehanna Conference.
a. Closed Churches
b. Open
Churches
3. Memoirs
a. Allegheny
Conference Memoirs gives an alphabetic list of all obituaries appearing
in the journals of the Allegheny Conference of the United Brethren
and Evangelical United Brethren denominations from its creation in 1839
until its dissolution in 1951.
b. Central
Pennsylvania Conference United Methodist Memoirs gives an
alphabetic list of all obituaries appearing in the journals of the
Central Pennsylvania Conference (1970-2010) for pastors, spouses of
pastors, and missionaries.
c. Wyoming
Conference Memoirs gives a complete alphabetic list of all formal
obituaries appearing in the Wyoming Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
and Methodist and United Methodist denominations from its creation in
1852 until its dissolution in 2010.
d. Susquehanna
Conference United Methodist Memoirs gives an alphabetic list of all
obituaries appearing in the journals of the new Susquehanna Conference
(2011 onward) for pastors, spouses of pastors, and missionaries.
e. Evangelial Messenger Obituary Index. This
link takes you to another site that gives information (subject, dates,
other persons mentioned in the obituary, etc.) for evey
obituary appearing in the Evangelical Messenger 1848-1935 of the
Evangelical Association (1838-1922) and the Evangelical Church
(1922-1935). Information is given on purchasing copies of the
obituaries.
f. GCAH
Obituary index. This link takes you to another site that gives
information (subject, dates, etc.) for every obituary appearing in the
journals in collection of the General Commission on Archives and History
for the various conferences of the United Methodist Chruch
and its predecessor denominations. Information is given on
purchasing copies of the obituaries. Be patient. This link is
sometimes slow to respond.
g. Obituary and Marriage index for The Evangelical (1887-1922) of the
United Evangelical Church. A complete index and complete microfilm
collection of The Evangelicall is
available at the conference archives. Copyright arrangements
prevent placing the index on line, but information may
be obtained by contacting the archives.
4. Conference
Historical Society Publications:
a. The
Chronicle: The Historical Society has produced a quality
scholarly yet readable journal every year beginning in 1990. Some back
issues are available, and several libraries and other facilities have
complete sets, but the volumes and the information they contain are
becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. All the back issues (some with
minor corrections to the original printed versions) are now on line.
b. James M.
Black and Friends, Contributions of Williamsport PA to American Gospel
Music.
c. Autobiography
of John Fohl
d. Early
Evangelical Association Hymn Writers Associated with New Berlin PA
5. Archival Shelf
Holdings List and Finding Aids: [in progress]
The shelved material in the main archives
is arranged in three collections. Major sections within each collection
are identified with a 3-letter code. Following are the explanations
for each collection/section and a link to a complete listing for
each. The spine label for each item contains 2 or 3 lines: the first
line gives the 3-letter identifying code for the particular section, with
the remaining line(s) as explained within each collection.
5.1. General
Collection
ACP
- Central Pennsylvania authors, in alphabetical order by author. The
second line of the spine label gives the first three letters of the
author's surname. This collection includes published general theological
or historical material, by authors with a direct connection to Central
Pennsylvania United Methodism.
ANM
- non-Methodist authors, in alphabetical order by author. The second
line of the spine label gives the first three letters of the author's
surname. This collection includes published general theological
material by prominent persons not in the United Methodist Church or its
predecessor denominations.
AUM
- United Methodist authors, in alphabetical order by author. The
second line of the spine label gives the first three letters of the
author's surname. This collection includes published general theological
material by persons in the United Methodist Church or its predecessor
denomination.
BIO
- biographies, in alphabetical order by subject of the biography. The
second line of the spine label gives the first three letters of the
subject's surname. Group biographies are filed at the end, the second
line of the spine label being ZZ followed by the first letter of the
compiler. This link is
an indexed list of the persons in the group biographies.
COL
- Educationsal institutions with ties to United
Methodism and/or the Susquehanna Conference area. The second line of
the spine label gives a 3-letter institional
code, and the third line specifies the tpye and
date of the material.
DEN
materials related to denominations not included in the United Methodist
Church. The second line of the spine label is a three-letter code for the
particular denomination. The materials is filed alphabetically by
denomination, and organized appropriately within each denomination.
M manuscript
collection. The second line of the spine label gives the county of
origin, and the third line gives the first letter of the
city/church/circuit of origin. A comment line in the list tells the
nature of the material and the years it covers.
MET
- materials relating to the nature and organization of Methodism, in
alphabetical order by author. The second line of the spine label
gives the first three letters of the author's surname.
MUS
- hymnals and gospel songs and related material, in alphabetical order by
title. The second line of the spine label gives the first three letters
of the title. This collection includes several hundred gospel
songbooks from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Books
about hymns and hymn-writers are filed at the end, the second line of the
spine label being ZZ followed by the first letter of the title.
MIN
General Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal/Methodist/United Methodist
Church, giving the yearly appointments for every conference in the
denomination.
PAC
- Pennsylvania counties, in alphabetical order by county. The second
line of the spine label gives the first three letters of the Central
Pennsylvania County. The collection includes secular
county/community histories and published books on local churches.
Pennsylvania material for counties outside Central Pennsylvania and/or
for the entire state are filed at the end, the second line of the spine
label being ZZ followed by E (for Eastern PA), P (for Pennsylvania in
general) or W (for Western Pennsylvania).
SPE
- special collection of rare and/or fragile early publications, arranged
in alphabetical order by author. The second line of the spine label gives
the first three letters of the author's surname.
SSL
Sunday School library books of the 1800s, arranged by source. The
third letter on the first line of the spine label identifies the source,
as explained in the list. The second line of the spine label gives
the first three letters (or the number, in the case of a numbered series)
of the title. SSM is the first line for all books printed from 200
Mulberry Street in NYC and attributed to the ME Sunday School Union. SSV
is the first for all the various miscellaneous sources. SSX is the
first line for adult reference books. SSY is the first line for
lesson materials. SSZ is the first line for later materials, not in
the style and format of the mid-1800s.
TOP Materials
organized alphabetically by topic (e.g., Alcohol, Baptism). The
second line of the spine label is a three-letter code for the particular
topic. Material within each topic is arranged alphabetically by
author. This section is intended to preserve historical
perspectives, especially perspectives within United Methodism, on the
various topics.
USS
- United States state material, in alphabetical order by state. The
second line of the spine label gives the two-letter state postal
abbreviation. This collection includes published United Methodist
materials (mostly conference histories) from sates other than
Pennsylvania. Such materials from outside the United States are
filed at the end, the second line of the spine label being ZZ followed by
C (for Canada), E (for Europe).
WES - Wesleyana,
arranged in three separate sub-sections. The spine labels in this section
have three lines, the second line identifying the sub-collection. BRI - materials about
British Methodism. JOH -
materials about John Wesley, in alphabetical order by author, with the
third line of the spine label giving the first three letters of the
author's surname. CHA -
materials about Charles Wesley, in alphabetical order by author, with the
third line of the spine label giving the first three letters of the
author's surname. WOR -
works of John Wesley, in alphabetical order by title, with the third line
of the spine label giving the first three letters of the title.
5.2.
Susquehanna Collection
Each denominational section listed below
includes the following items: journals and other materials from the major
local conference of that denomination, disciplines, histories, hymnals,
general conference, materials, annual almanacs and handbooks, special
collections.
EUB
the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1946-1968) and the Susquehanna
Conference (1964-1969)
EVC
the Evangelical Church (1800-1946: including the Evangelical
Association and the United Evangelical Church) and the Central
Pennsylvania Conference (1800-1964)
MEC
the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1968: including the Methodist
Church) and the Central Pennsylvania Conference (1958-1969: including the
East Baltimore Conference).
MES
the Methodist Episcopal Church South (1844-1939) and the Baltimore
Conference (1844-1939)
MPC
the Methodist Protestant Church (1830-1939) and the Pennsylvania
Conference (1830-1939: including the Eastern Conference)
UBC
the United Brethren Church (1800-1968) and the Pennsylvania Conference
(1800-1964)
UMC
the United Methodist Church (1968 present) and the Central
Pennsylvania (1970-2010) and Susquehanna (2010 present) Conferences.
UMX
journals from the adjacent conferences within United Methodism to which
the Susquehanna Conference has contributed congregations and pastors:
Baltimore-Washington (1970-), Eastern Pennsylvania (1970-), Upstate New
York (2011-), Western Pennsylvania (1970-).
UMY
journals from the adjacent conferences within United Methodism that
have contributed congregations and pastors to the Susquehanna Conference:
24 feeder conferences as listed in the link.
5.3. Periodical
Collections
6. Vertical Files
and Item Collections
a. Biographical
File - a list of surnames for which there is a biographical file.
b. Postcard
Collection a list (with image) by county of the items in the United
Methodist postcard collection.
c. Plate Collection
- a list by county of the items in the United Methodist plate
collection.
d. Videotape
Collection - a list by topic of videotapes in the audio-video
collection
d. Methodist
Publications (in progress)
7. Archival Boxed
Collections
This includes materials from closed
churches and from Conference boards and agencies. [In progress]
8. Other Items
a. Susquehanna Facts
gives in Word format a brief article on some matter of current interest
related to the history of the Susquehanna Conference of the United
Methodist Church and its predecessors.
b. Worlds Funniest
Photograph is an amazing, unedited picture that appeared in the
Harrisburg Patriot News. It shows the reactions of children sitting
through adult presentations on watershed awareness. I wonder if it might
as well be titled: Listening to a Talk on Church History and
Genealogy.
c. Heritage
Sunday gives information about this year's theme and a suggested
bulletin inserts.
9. Digital Versions
of Relevant Histories
EVANGELICAL
a. Annals of the
Evangelical Association of North America, 1900, by Ammon
Stapleton.
b. History of the Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical
Church, 1939, by J.D. Shortess.
METHODIST
a. History of the Wyoming
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1904, by Amasa Franklin Chaffee.
UNITED BRETHREN
a. History of the Allegheny Conference of the
United Brethren in Christ Church, 1931, by J.S. Fulton.
b. History of the East Pennsylvania
Conference of the United Brethren in Christ Church, 1951, by Phares Gibble.
c. History of the Pennsylvania
Conference of the United Brethren in Christ Church, 1939, by
Paul E. Holdcraft.
d. History of the Virginia Conference of the United Brethren in Christ
Church, 1921, by A.P. Funkhouser.
Note: This book repeats the names as they were spelled in the
written minutes each year, and so the same person appears
with different names in different years. There are also
spelling errors and format inconsistencies in the original text.
Hence, this website has two versions of the text:
History of the Virginia
Conference PDF adapted from the Huntingdon UBOC archives, following
the original text.
History of the Virginia
Conference WORD prepared by correcting errors in the original text,
adding a limited number of notes, and using the single best form
(for people, usually the one appearing in the obituary) for each name.
e. Minutes of the United
Brethren in Christ 1800-1846 (after 1830, "Harrisburg"
conference only), translated and transcribed in 1901, by I.H.
Albright. Note: Beginning in 1830 there were two conferences
- Harrisburg (later, Pennsylvania) and Hagerstown (later, Virginia).
f. Minutes of the United Brethren in Christ
(Pennsylvania Conference) 1847-1868, transcribed and
condensed in 1958, by Charles R. Miller. Note: Beginning in 1847
the former Harrisburg Conference split into two conferences -
Pennsylvania and East Pennsylvania. Beginning in 1869 the minutes
were published annually.
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