St. George's Methodist Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Itinerancy (Church polity)
Methodist Episcopal Church. Philadelphia Conference
Methodists
Methodist Church
Letters
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1808. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1808 exists and is scanned separately. Most of the letters from this year are recommendations for traveling preachers.
Index of correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1807, including the date of the letter, name and/or circuit of writer, name of addressee, and a brief summary of the subject.
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1807. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1807 exists and is scanned separately. Most of the letters from this year are recommendations for traveling preachers.
Church discipline
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1806. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid.
Index of correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1805, including the date of the letter, name and/or circuit of writer, name of addressee, and a brief summary of the subject.
Church committees
Correspondence to the annual conference of the Methodists in Philadelphia in 1805. Letters include requests or receipts for financial Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1805 exists and is scanned separately. Letters from this year include many discussions of members' misbehavior, as well as an annual statement from the Committee of Claims.
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1804. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1804 exists and is scanned separately.
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1803. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1803 exists and is scanned separately. Most of the letters from this year are recommendations for traveling preachers.
Index of correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1802, including the name and/or circuit of writer, date of the letter, name of addressee, and a brief summary of the subject.
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1802. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1802 exists and is scanned separately. Most of the letters from this year are recommendations for traveling preachers.
Index of correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1801, including the name and/or circuit of writer, date of the letter, name of addressee, and a brief summary of the subject.
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1801. Letters to conference typically include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1801 exists and is scanned separately. Most of the letters from this year concern the behavior of one John Stuart, a "band man and liar."
Index of correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1800, including the date of the letter, name of writer, name of addressee, and a brief summary of the subject.
Correspondence to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1800. Letters include: requests and recommendations for circuit preachers; reports of misbehavior by or censure of members; and requests for or receipts of financial compensation or other aid. A separate index of the correspondence for 1800 exists and is scanned separately.
Two letters to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1799, recommending men to serve or be trained as traveling preachers on the area circuits.
Church buildings
Church finance
Three handwritten letters to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1792 and 1793. One receipt for debt paid on the Preaching House, another receipt for fees paid to rent the Quantico meeting house, and an accounting of fees paid for work upon the Quantico meeting house.
Two photocopied letters and one typed reproduction of a letter to the annual conference of Methodists in Philadelphia in 1771. The first letter discusses allegations of misbehavior, the second a request for contact from a colleague, and the third a request for pens from a preacher laid up with gout.
Trustee account book, David Lake, 1806-1827, 1843-1844
Church fund raising
Cemeteries
Burial records
Account book of trustee David Lake. The first two pages date from 1843 to 1844 and appear to be a listing of member's burials, with names and grave locations. The records then begin at 1806 and run to 1827. Lake notes the Church's need to raise money through subscriptions to buy more land for burials, although the page for subscribers' names only lists two people, from 1808. From 1809 to 1812 Lake records the money he paid for clothing on behalf of James Ware, David James, and William Lake. From 1814 to 1827, Lake records the amounts (in number of "coppers") taken out and returned, usually written to cash, but sometimes for services, bills, or specific individuals' names.
Class book, Daniel Meredith, leader, circa 1797-1826
Church records and registers
African Americans
Daniel Meredith served as class leader for the Methodists in the "Valey" of Chester County, Pennsylvania for many years. He recorded the preachers assigned to the Chester circuit each year, and kept records of members' attendance at the Valey class. The first several pages of the book are faded to the point that some text is illegible; more readable entries begin around 1805 and end with the 1826 class. Often the black classes are listed separately; see "coloured people" on page 56 or "coloured friends" on page 62.
Northwest burial ground, cash book, 1818-1857
Record of burial plots purchased in the Northwest burial ground at St. George's church, from 1818 to 1857. Entries are listed by the date a burial plot was chosen, and span two pages, recto and verso. They include the name of the person who purchased a lot or lots, the number of the lot and the price paid. Often the lots were purchased in installments over time, the dates and amounts of which are also noted. Some entries are marked as delinquent or forfeited. There is an alphabetical index of names in the beginning of the book.
Northwest burial ground, placement of lots, 1818, 1875
Two maps showing a grid of cemetery lots and numbers, with the names of the persons buried there. The burial ground was located at the southeast corner of what is now 16th St. and Fairmount Ave. Sometime between 1860 and 1875, the burial ground had been sold, the bodies disinterred, and the land developed into housing. The second map has notations of "x" and "out" to indicate that bodies had been moved.
St. Joseph's Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Marriage records
Register of marriages at St. Joseph's Church. In Latin.
Register of marriages at St. Joseph's Church. In Latin. Includes index at rear.
Baptisms and marriages, 1773-1786, Rev. Robert Molyneux
Baptismal records
Baptism and marriage register of Jesuit missionary Father Robert Molyneux, who became pastor of Old St. Joseph's and Old St. Mary's in 1771. Records appear in both the front and rear of this volume. In Latin.
Molyneux, Robert, 1738-1808
Baptisms and marriages, 1769-1786, Rev. Ferdinand Farmer
Baptism and marriage register of Jesuit Father Rev. Ferdinand Steinmeyer (Farmer), who came to the colonies in 1752 to minister to German Catholics. He served at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia from 1758 until his death in 1786. In Latin.
Farmer, Ferdinand, 1720-1786
Baptisms and marriages, 1758-1768, Rev. Ferdinand Farmer
Baptism and marriage register of Jesuit Father Rev. Ferdinand Steinmeyer (Farmer), who came to the colonies in 1752 to minister to German Catholics. He served at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia from 1758 until his death in 1786. In Latin. Note: Some page scans are missing, photographs have been inserted as placeholders until the book can be re-scanned.
Register of baptisms, almost entirely in Latin.
First Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Sermons
Alison, Francis, 1705-1779
Presbyterians
Presbyterian Church
Francis Alison was born in Ireland in 1705. He studied at the University of Glasgow before traveling to America in 1735. In 1737 he became pastor of Pennsylvania's New London Presbyterian Church. Ten years later he opened an academy in New London. Students included three signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Secretary of the Second Continental Congress. In 1752 Alison moved to Philadelphia to take charge of the Philadelphia Academy. He was later appointed Vice-Provost of the newly established University of Pennsylvania, as well as Professor of Moral Philosophy. He was also assistant minister at the First Presbyterian Church. Alison died in 1779. These three notebooks contain sermons dated mainly from 1763, 1767 and 1771, with later dates noted when Alison delivered the sermons again for a new audience, up to 1777.
Francis Alison was born in Ireland in 1705. He studied at the University of Glasgow before traveling to America in 1735. In 1737 he became pastor of Pennsylvania's New London Presbyterian Church. Ten years later he opened an academy in New London. Students included three signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Secretary of the Second Continental Congress. In 1752 Alison moved to Philadelphia to take charge of the Philadelphia Academy. He was later appointed Vice-Provost of the newly established University of Pennsylvania, as well as Professor of Moral Philosophy. He was also assistant minister at the First Presbyterian Church. Alison died in 1779. These three notebooks contain sermons dated from 1756 to 1765, with later dates, when Alison delivered the sermons again, noted in his own hand, up to 1775. A few pages in the second notebook are missing pieces, obscuring the text. The inside back cover of the third manuscript includes notes on baptisms Alison performed in 1766 and 1771.
Francis Alison was born in Ireland in 1705. He studied at the University of Glasgow before traveling to America in 1735. In 1737 he became pastor of Pennsylvania's New London Presbyterian Church. Ten years later he opened an academy in New London. Students included three signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Secretary of the Second Continental Congress. In 1752 Alison moved to Philadelphia to take charge of the Philadelphia Academy. He was later appointed Vice-Provost of the newly established University of Pennsylvania, as well as Professor of Moral Philosophy. He was also assistant minister at the First Presbyterian Church. Alison died in 1779. The sermons herein date from 1752 to 1755, but notes have been added when the same sermons were given at later dates as well.
General committee meeting minutes, 1747-1772
Corporate minutes
Church management
Pews and pew rights
Meeting minutes begin with the names of members elected for the Committee in May of 1747, and go on to document the dates of meetings, members present, and business conducted. Topics covered include financial matters such as account balances, collections, payments to those employed by the church, and pew rents; charity, including a very active widows' fund; and repairs and upgrades such as new roof shingles and a new velvet cover for the pulpit. The minutes also contain discussion of the need for a second church building to accommodate a growing congregation, and the eventual split with Third Presbyterian ("the Pine Street church.")
Gilbert Tennent sermons 162, Fragments and notes, circa 1743-1763
Second Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Tennent, Gilbert, 1703-1764
Great Awakening
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. This manuscript includes fragments of Tennent's sermons and his copious notes on many Biblical subjects. The manuscript is undated, but it is likely that the various components date from 1743 to 1763.
Gilbert Tennent sermons 161, On the one lawgiver, circa 1752
Bible. James
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. In this manuscript, dated around 1742, Tennent discusses his thoughts on James 4:12, "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?" (The first scanned page is a typed transcript of page 10 of the manuscript.)
Gilbert Tennent sermons 160, "De ambulando in amore" (On walking in love), undated
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. This manuscript contains two sermons on the subject of love; both are undated, but it is likely that Tennent wrote them between 1743 and 1763. The first sermon begins with reference to Ephesians 5:2, "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." The second sermon begins with reference to Ephesians 3:19, "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."
Gilbert Tennent sermons 159, Sermon on Ecclesiastes 1:2, undated
Bible. Ecclesiastes
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent wrote this sermon on Ecclesiastes 1:2, "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." The manuscript is undated, but it is likely Tennent wrote it between 1743 and 1763.
Gilbert Tennent sermons 158, "De gratadine" (On gratitude), undated
Bible. Psalms
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent wrote this sermon on the subject of gratitude, and begins by citing Psalm 116:12, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" The manuscript is undated, but was likely written between 1743 and 1763.
Gilbert Tennent sermons 157, Spiritual life and the requirements of the ministry, 1759-1761
Bible. Romans
Spiritual life
Pastoral theology
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. This manuscript contains Tennent's many thoughts on the spiritual life and the requirements of the ministry. He begins by citing Psalms 34:8, "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." He also cites Romans 8:5, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." From dates noted in the manuscript, it looks like Tennent worked on this manuscript from 1759 to 1761.
Gilbert Tennent sermons 156, Sermon on Matthew 11:12, 1763
Bible. Matthew
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent wrote this sermon in 1763, and based it on Matthew 11:12, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."
Gilbert Tennent sermons 155 Sermon on Psalms 18:23, 1763
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent wrote this sermon in 1763, and based it on Psalms 18:23, "I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity."
Gilbert Tennent sermons 154, "De officio prophetico" (On the office of the prophet), 1763
Bible. Deuteronomy
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent wrote this sermon, "On the office of the prophet," in 1763, and begins by citing Deuteronomy 18:15, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken."
Gilbert Tennent sermons 153, "De Securitate" (On security), 1756
Bible. Zephaniah
Bible. Proverbs
Bible. Amos
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent begins this sermon, on the subject of security, by citing several Bible verses: Zephaniah 1:12, "And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil." Proverbs 23:34, "Yea thou shalt be as he that lyeth downe in the midst of the sea, or as he that lyeth upon the top of a mast." Amos 6:1, "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!" From dates noted in the manuscript, it looks like Tennent wrote this sermon in 1756, then delivered it again in 1761. Note: The first page in the manuscript is numbered as page 12, with page 1 coming after that. Also, the last pages of the manuscript are torn at the corners, obscuring some text.
Gilbert Tennent sermons 152, "De afflictione" (On affliction), 1760
Bible. Hebrews
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. This sermon, written in 1760, is one of several Tennent wrote on the subject of "affliction." He begins this sermon by citing Hebrews 11:25, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."
Gilbert Tennent sermons 151, "De timore Dei" (On the fear of God), 1759
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent wrote this sermon, "On the fear of God," in 1759. He begins by citing Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
Gilbert Tennent sermons 150 "De [comunione?] operibus tenebrarum" (On fellowship with works of darkness), 1759
Bible. Timothy, 1st
Bible. Ephesians
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening. Tennent begins this sermon, "On fellowship with works of darkness," by citing 1 Timothy 5:22, "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure." He also cites Ephesians 5:7-11, "Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." From dates noted on the manuscript, it looks like Tennent wrote this sermon in 1759, then delivered it again in 1763.