Guide to the Janvier Family Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Janvier Family Papers

Inclusive Dates

1804-1964

Bulk Dates

1850-1957

Call Number

RG 190

Creator(s)

Janvier family.

Quantity

1.50 cubic feet (5 boxes)

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Repository

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

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

The Janvier family served the Presbyterian Church for three generations as missionaries to India. This service commenced in 1841 with the appointment of Levi Janvier and concluded in 1957 with the retirement of Ernest P. and Alma J. Janvier.

Levi Janvier (1816-1864), son of George Washington Janvier (1784-1865), and his first wife Hannah Janvier (d. 1854) were appointed to India by the Board of Foreign Missions in 1841. Following the death of his first wife, the Reverend Janvier married Mary Rodney Parvin Porter (1827-1883), widow of the Reverend Joseph Porter, and also a missionary. In 1864, the Reverend Janvier was murdered by a Sikh fanatic at Sabathu, India. Mary R. Janvier retired from the mission field in 1875.

Caesar Augustus Rodney Janvier (1861-1928), the son of Levi and Mary R. Janvier, was appointed in 1887 to the India Mission with his wife, Susan Rankin Janvier (1858-1943). They served in Fatehgarh until 1901 when the Reverend Janvier was called to the pastorate of the Hollond Memorial Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. In 1913, they returned to India where the Reverend Janvier served as principal of Ewing Christian College until his death in 1928. His wife retired from mission work in 1930.

Ernest Paxton Janvier (1890-1962) and his wife Alma Thornton Johnson Janvier (1891-) were appointed to the North India Mission in 1920. The son of Caesar Augustus Rodney Janvier and Susan Rankin Janvier, The Reverend Janvier was assigned initially to educational work in Fatehgarh and later taught at Ewing Christian College and the Mary Wanamaker School in Allahabad. Though his primary interest was in the field of literature distribution and evangelistic work, he also wrote, edited and translated a number of Hindu language items. The Janviers retired from missionary service in 1957.

Collection Overview

Record Group 190 consists of correspondence, reports, photographs and miscellaneous items from the Janvier family, 1804-1964, though the bulk of the collection dates from 1850 through 1957.

Organization and Arrangement

SERIES I: GEORGE WASHINGTON JANVIER, 1804-1812, 1864-1865
Includes 1 sermon (1804) and miscellaneous notes (1805); one letter regarding the death of Levi Janvier (1864); and biographical material on George Washington Janvier. Arranged chronologically by year. Also record of marriages by GWJ, 1812-1865

SERIES II: LEVI JANVIER, 1850-1862
Includes 2 journals (1859-1860 & 1861-1862); outgoing correspondence (1850-1862); and miscellaneous items. Arranged chronologically by year.

SERIES III: MARY R. JANVIER, 1825-CIRCA 1886
Includes one journal (1838-1856); outgoing correspondence (1856-1862); and miscellaneous items (1825-circa 1886). Arranged chronologically by year.

SERIES IV: CAESAR AUGUSTUS RODNEY JANVIER, CIRCA 1876-1929
Includes incoming correspondence (1904-1928), including six letters from Woodrow Wilson (1904-1916); outgoing correspondence (1898; 1917); reports (1915-1918); sermons (1880s?-1905); miscellaneous items (1876-1924); and memorial materials and condolence letters to Susan Rankin Janvier (1928-1929). Arranged chronologically by year.

SERIES V: SUSAN RANKIN JANVIER, 1915-1937
Includes reports (1915-1928); correspondence and miscellaneous items (1929-1937), arranged chronologically by year.

SERIES VI: ERNEST PAXTON JANVIER, 1921-1957 (BOX 1)
Includes incoming correspondence (1929-1957); outgoing correspondence (1931; 1954); reports (1921-1956); and miscellaneous items, circa 1930s. Arranged chronologically
by year.

SERIES VII: ALMA THORNTON JOHNSON JANVIER, 1962 (BOX 1)
Includes incoming correspondence (1962), arranged chronologically by year.

SERIES VIII: PHOTOGRAPHS, CIRCA 1900-1950 (BOXES 1 & 5)
Includes photographs of the annual mission meetings (1900?-1950); miscellaneous mission photographs (circa 1920s- 1930s); miscellaneous photographs of Indian life and culture (undated). Arranged chronologically by year when possible.

SERIES IX: MISCELLANY, 1841-1964 (BOXES 2, 3 & 4)
Includes clippings (circa 1880s-1950s); family passports (18) for LJ, CARJ, SRJ, EPJ and ATJJ (1841-1964); college degrees and citations; lantern slides (circa 1903); yearbooks, prayerbooks and other miscellaneous items. Arranged chronologically by year when possible.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1984
Frederick J. Heuser, Jr, Archivist

Catalog Headings

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

Personal Name Subject

Janvier, George W. (George Washington), 1784-1865.

Janvier, Levi, 1816-1864.

Janvier, Hannah, -1854.

Janvier, C. A. R. (Caesar Augustus Rodney), 1861-1928.

Janvier, Susan Rankin, 1858-1943.

Janvier, Ernest Paxton, 1890-1962.

Janvier, Alma Thornton Johnson, 1891-

Janvier, Mary R., 1827-1883.

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence.

Corporate Subject

Mary Wanamaker School (Allahabad, India)

Ewing Christian College (Allahabad, India)

Topical Subject

Missions--India.

Missionaries--India.

Women missionaries--India.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--India.

Universities and colleges--India.

Christian universities and colleges--India.

Education--India.

Geographic Subject

India--Missions.

Genre-form

Correspondence. aat

Diaries. aat

Marriage registers. aat

Legal documents. aat

Yearbooks. aat

Lantern slides. aat

Photographs. aat

Personal Added Name