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Minister
and Missionary Biographical Sketches
The Presbyterian Historical Society can provide limited biographical
information on some, but not all, Presbyterian ministers and missionaries.
Fees
A search of our indexes costs $10.00 for each name, $5.00 per name for
requests initiated by a PC(USA) church, and no charge for requests from
a PC(USA) governing body. This is a search fee and applies whether
or not we find a name in our indexes. We will notify you if we do
not find a name in our indexes.
Services
After we receive the search fee, we will search our catalogs and indexes
and mail you photocopies of short published sketches from indexed reference
sources. Please allow four to six weeks for our reply.
The sources we search include
- Card file indexes of ordained ministers and some lay missionaries.
The indexes primarily cover sources published before 1950. These include
seminary and college alumni catalogs, ministerial directories from most
American Presbyterian denominations, other Who's Who types of
sources, and some obituaries found in synod minutes, almanacs, and periodicals.
We will provide a complete copy of relevant biographical sketches indexed
on the cards. We have almost no indexed sources for ministers of the
Cumberland Presbyterian denomination.
- Beecher's Index of Presbyterian Ministers ... from A.D. 1706 to
1881 and our unpublished update file (1882-1983). These are indexes
to statistical reports in the Minutes of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (up to 1957) and the United Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. (1958-1983). These annual reports give only
the ministerÌs name, place of service, and (after 1875) age, date, and
place of death (for clergy who were members of presbyteries at the time
of death). For ministers found only in Beecher's Index and its update,
we will provide photocopies of the relevant page of the index. This
includes the first and last dates in which a person appears in the minutes.
The first date is generally the year of ordination. The last date is
the date of death, unless the minister was removed from the rolls for
other reasons, such as transfer to another denomination. We will provide
a copy of the death data from General Assembly minutes if available.
We are not able to provide copies of the pages listing the ministerÌs
pastorates throughout his or her career.
- Personnel or biographical files of foreign missionaries, home
missionaries, and some ministers. These files contain information on
individuals who served for the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the
United Presbyterian Church of North America, the United Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A, and the Presbyterian Church in the United States.
In general, the personnel files contain biographical information for
individuals who served during the 20th century. We will provide copies
of service applications, service records, and/or brief biographies.
Some files also contain correspondence and other material. We will not
copy such records in their entirety as part of the Minister and Missionary
Biographical Sketch Service, but we will provide information on how
you may access this material.
Limits on Material We Provide
Most sources provide only the places and dates of birth or death, plus
the educational and church career of the minister or missionaryÛthat is,
the college/seminary attended, and places and dates of service as a minister
or in another church vocation. Many sources do not name the individualÌs
parents, spouse, or children.
- When two indexed sketches have the same information, we will copy
only one of them.
- When we have other materials on an individual beyond our ready reference
sources, limits on our staffÌs time prevent us from doing this additional
research. Where feasible, we will refer you to independent researchers
who can do a more thorough search of our collections for a fee.
- We will not make photocopies from sources that are, in our judgment,
too fragile to photocopy. We will provide you with citations to periodicals
which we cannot photocopy, so that you can request these items from
other institutions.
Click to print a minister/missionary biographical
sketch request form
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