Guide to the John Wilbur Chapman Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

John Wilbur Chapman Papers

Inclusive Dates

1880-1919

Call Number

RG 2

Creator(s)

Chapman, J. Wilbur (John Wilbur), 1859-1918.

Quantity

7.66 cubic feet

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research, with the exception, for preservation reasons, of the scrapbooks in Boxes 1 (folders 9-12), 2 (folder 1), 3-3b, and 4, as well as the sermon books in Box 5.

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

J. Wilbur Chapman was born in Richmond, Indiana on June 17, 1859. He enrolled in Oberlin College in 1876, transferring after one year to Lake Forest University. He graduated from there in 1879 and from Lane Theological Seminary in 1882. He was married three times: first to Irene Steddon (1882-1886), then to Agnes Pruyn Strain (1888-1907), and last to Mabel Cornelia Moulton (1910-1918).

Chapman spent the years 1882-1902 as pastor of various churches in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and New York. In 1893, he began itinerant evangelistic work, preaching with Dwight L. Moody and hiring William Ashley "Billy" Sunday as an advance man. In 1895, he was appointed Corresponding Secretary of the Presbyterian General Assembly's Committee on Evangelism.

In 1904, Chapman began organizing urban revival meetings on a large scale. In 1907, he met Charles McCallon Alexander, a well-known song leader, and the two joined there efforts. In 1909, they sailed from British Columbia on their first international evangelistic campaign. They continued to campaign internationally until 1918.

In May of 1917, Chapman was elected moderator of the General Assembly, serving until May of 1918. He died Christmas Day, 1918.

Collection Overview

The bulk of Record Group 2 consists of scrapbooks which cover Chapman's evangelistic campaigns in the United States and abroad. The collection also includes sermons, newsletters, and photographs.

Alternative Formats

A portion of the collection is available on microfilm: MF/POS/4.|A guide to the microfilm is included at the beginning of the first reel.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Many of the photographs in this collection are unidentified. Several of them, however, are identified in pencil on the back. The identified photographs are in Box 7; they are listed in order from the top to the bottom of the box, and the descriptions in the finding aid are identical to those on the photographs. The photographs themselves have not been numbered, although some were numbered at an earlier date and those unrelated numbers remain. The interleaving paper has been numbered; the corresponding photograph is that below the paper.

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Chapman, J. Wilbur (John Wilbur), 1859-1918.

Chapman, Agnes Pruyn Strain, 1867-1907.

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly. Moderator (1918 : Chapman)

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. North China Mission.

Conference Subject

Bible Conference (Winona Lake, Ind.)

Topical Subject

Evangelistic work.

World War, 1914-1918.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Finding aid to Record Group 2 and Beginnings of Ministry, 1880-1881
	2	Genealogy of Chapman family, map of Richmond, IN, 1915
	3	Papers relating to churches served
	4	Chapman-Converse correspondence re: trust fund

		SCRAPBOOKS - EVANGELISTIC CAMPAIGNS
1	5	1905 - Patterson and Newark, NJ
	6	1905 - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
	7	1906 - Dallas, Sherman, and Danville, TX
	8	1906 - Syracuse, NY and Mobile, AL
	9	1907 - Utica, NY, Cincinnati, OH, Superior, MI [closed]
	10-11	1909 - Boston, MA [closed]
	12	1910 - Chicago, IL [closed]

2	1	1911 - Brooklyn, NY [closed]
	2	1912 - Australia

		OVERSIZE SCRAPBOOKS
3	1	1906 - Rochester, NY [closed]
	2	1906-1907 - Ct, NY, RI, IN, NH, IA, MA [closed]

3a	1	1908 - Norfolk, VA; and Ontario, Canada [closed]
	2	1909 - Richmond, VA [closed]

3b	3	1909 - Springfield, MA [closed]
	4	Winona Lake, IN [closed]
	5	Roanoke, VA and Lafayette, IN [closed]

3c		1909 - Boston, MA

4	1	1909-1910 - Portland and Bangor, ME [closed]
	2	1911 - Toronto, Canada [closed]

		SERMONS, CLIPPINGS, AND OTHER MATERIALS
5	1-97	Sermons
	98-114	Sermon books [closed]

6	1	Work, Edgar Whittaker - address in appreciation of Chapman, NY Presbytery, 1919
	2	Letters of commendation, New Zealand, 1913
	3	Sermon outlines, ca. 1909
	4	Clippings and sermon resource materials, n.d.
	5	Clippings and sermon resource materials, n.d.
	6	[THIS ITEM IS CURRENTLY MISSING]
	7	Sermons and lecture notes, n.d.
	8	Scrapbook - clippings from Gospel News Pulpit, 1900-1901
	9	Scrapbook - clippings from Gospel News Pulpit, 1901-1902
	10	Scrapbook - clippings from Gospel News Pulpit, 1902-1903
	11	Scrapbook - clippings from Gospel News Pulpit, 1903-1904
	12	Chapman engagement book, 1913-1917
	13	"Australian Christian World" special daily issues and the Chapman-Alexander "Book of Remembrance," Sydney, 1909
	14	Sermons - Chapman vol. 4, ca. 1916

		PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS
2	3	Album - Mission at Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 1913
	4	Identified photographs, 1910-1918
	5	Identified photographs, glass slides, and tintype, 1914, n.d.

		OVERSIZE PHOTOGRAPHS
7	1	Group at British Mine
	2	Group at British Mine
	3	Dr. and Mrs. Chapman and Dr. and Mrs. Alexander
	4	Australia
	5	Australia
	6	Australia
	7	Townsville, Queensland, Australia
	8	Australia
	9	Tientsin
	10	China Inland Mission, Shanghai
	11	Hankow
	12	Griffith Jihn's Church, Hankow
	13	Shanghai
	14	Ming Tomb, Nanking
	15	Methodist Episcopal Church, Peking
	16	Blind School, Hankow
	17	Chinese Pastors, Peking
	18	Dr. and Mrs. Chapman and Dr. and Mrs. Alexander in China
	19	Advertisement of meeting, China
	20	Manila
	21	YMCA Hall, Shanghai
	22	Chuzenji, Japan
	23	Sacred Bridge, Nikko
	24	Party in Chuzenji, Japan
	25	Missionary Conference, Seoul, Korea
	26	Kyoto, Japan
	27	Seoul, Korea
	28	London
	29	Belfast, Ireland
	30	Cardiff, Wales
	31	Old People's Service, Toronto, Canada
	32	Church Officers, Brooklyn, New York
	33	Dayton, Ohio
	34	Banquet at Boston
	35	Portland, Maine
	36	Chicago
	37	"Goodbye, Sydney"
	38	Farewell to Chapman and Alexander's Evangelical Party
	39	Dunedin First Church - Minister's and Workers' Meeting
	40	Old People's Meeting, Sydney town hall
	41	The Party at Melbourne

8	1-28	Unidentified oversize photographs

9	1-25	Unidentified oversize photographs

10	1-28	Identified oversize photographs

		OVERSIZE UNBOXED VOLUMES
	Vol. 1	129th General Assembly Scrapbook, 1917
	Vol. 2	Scrapbook - condolence correspondence on death of Agnes Chapman, 1907
	Vol. 3	Mounted certificate of appreciation, Australian Evangelistic Campaign, 1909

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Guide to the John Wilbur Chapman Papers

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