TABLE OF CONTENTS
Scope and Content of the Records
Container List
The Morristown and Morris Township Library
One Miller Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
One Miller Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
Finding Aid to the St. Peter's Episcopal Church Records, 1834-2005.
Overview of Collection |
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| Title: | Finding Aid to the St. Peter's Episcopal Church Records | |
| Call Number: | HM6.122 MSS REC | |
| Date: | 1834-2005 | |
| Quantity: | 0.75 linear feet in 2 manuscript boxes | |
Restrictions
Important Information for Users of the Papers
This collection is open for research under the conditions set forth in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center archives access policy. All archival material should be handled with care and kept in its original order; notes may only be taken in pencil or with a computer, and food and drink are prohibited in the Reading Room. Records may be copied for scholarly or personal research using the edge scanner or a digital camera without flash; however, researchers must obtain copyright permission prior to publishing material from the collection.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
St. Peter's Church Records, 1834-1997. North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, Morristown and Morris Township Library.
Acquisition Information
Individual items in the records were aquired by the Library over several years and filed as Miscellaneous Manuscripts or Vertical Files. They were consolidated into this collection in 2014.
Processing Information
Processed by Cheryl Turkington, 2014. Processed and encoded by Jeffrey V. Moy, Archivist, July 2017.
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Organizational History
One of Morristown's most prominent and fashionable congregations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Saint Peter's Church is rooted in humble beginnings. Anglican services were not held in Morris County until 1763, and worshipers had to rely upon the services of itinerant preachers for decades until a permanent church was founded in 1827 when the Act of Incorporation for Saint Peter's Episcopal Church was signed by its first rector, Benjamin Holmes, who then served the small congregation until 1831.
The cornerstone to the original church was laid on May 14, 1828 and the building was consecrated on December 4th. The builders included a design structure to encourage congregants to arrive for services on time, the chancel was positioned on the South Street side so that latecomers were made to face the entire congregation; however, this changed in 1858 when the structure was enlarged and improved.
Secession of a small group of congregants in 1850 resulted in formation of the nearby Church of the Redeemer, nevertheless, St. Peter's continued to grow of its own accord. By All Saint's Day 1887 the cornerstone for a new church building was laid; built in stages as funds were raised, the first section was completed in 1889 and consisted of a chancel and chapel, with the remaining nave and tower completed over the following sixteen years.
The new St. Peter's was designed by New York Architect Charles McKim, of McKim, Mead and White, and is fashioned in the English parish style with stone quarried in Waterloo, NJ. It's clarion bells were manufactured by John Taylor and Co., which is the world's oldest and most renowned bell foundry. The graveyard includes members of several prominant Morristown families.
As of 2017, St. Peter's holds regular services on Sundays and Thursdays and provides congregants with adult education offerings, Bible study, as well as a venue to participate in youth and adult choirs, and various volunteer efforts. Under the tenure of Rev. Janet Broderick, the Church continues to offer spiritual guidance to its membership while contributing to the overall welfare of Morristown's residents.
Related Collections:
- Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, Morristown : consecration centennial, 1911-2011, HM6.122 SAI
- Shepherd, Scott, Saint Peter's Episcopal Church and Grave Yard, Morristown, New Jersey, HM6.122 SHE
- Sharing our best: The Thursday Luncheon Group of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Morristown, New Jersey, HM6.122 SHAR
- Archives: inventory prepared by Dorothy P. Truman, HM6.122 ARC
- St. Peter's Episcopal Church: a parish profile, Morristown, N.J.: the Church, 1996, HM6.122 ST
- Rice, William Gorham, Carillon music and singing towers of the Old world and the New, New York; Dodd, Mead and company, 1925.
- Records of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 1826-1973 [microform], GE0026
- St. Peter's Church, Parish directory, Morristown, N.J.: The Church, HM6.122 DIR 1971
- St. Peter's Church, Parish directory, Morristown, N.J.: The Church, HM6.122 DIR 1976
- St. Peter's Church, Parish directory, Morristown, N.J.: The Church, HM6.122 DIR 1978
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Scope and Content of the Records
The collection consists primarily of printed materials including correspondence, programs, newsletters, sermons, and ephemera. One sermon of note is "The Convocation at Miletus", written by Archbishop George Washington Doanne and given in 1834 at St. Peter's Church. The papers also include transcribed excerpts of the diary kept by the Church's first permanent rector, Reverend Benjamin Holmes.
A subject file on the installation of the Carillon bells, 1923-1924, includes Curtiss photographs and correspondence with Mr. and Mrs. George Marshall Allen, who were major benefactors of the Church. Service lists, publications regarding Church activities, music programs, and other materials provide a rich account of congregants' activities over the centuries. These records were initially housed in the department's Miscellanous Manuscripts Collection and the veritical file.
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Arrangement of the Records
Materials are arranged chronolgocially and organized into ten series: Reports, Correspondence, Diaries, Sermons, Bulletins, Programs, Publications, Subject Files, Ephemera, and Membership Directories.
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Container List
Reports | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Annual Parish Meeting, 1997 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Budget, 1973 | ||||||||||||
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Correspondence | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Letter from Johnstone Beesch, Julia R. Gould, and Rachael Burrows of Rumage Sale Committee to Parishioners regarding dale to benefit Girl's Friendly Society, September 12, 1929 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Letter from Emily Phillips to Dr. Brookman regarding Rev. Benjamin Holmes manuscripts, October 1, 1933 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Letter from David Montgomery to J. Burton Wiley regarding concerts for benefit of St. Merguerite's Home School in Ralston, April 8, 1937 | ||||||||||||
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Diaries | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Notes and excerpts from diaries of the Rev. Benjamin Holmes (1822-1831) owned by Josephine Vermilyes, copied by Emily L. Phillyes, n.d. | |||||||||||
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Sermons | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Sermon, Convocation at Miletus: the sermon before the convocation of the clergy of the northern visitation of the Diocese of New Jersey, in St. Peter's Church, Morristown, on the festival of St. James the Apostle, by George Washington Doanne, July 25, 1834 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Call to build the tower of St. Peter's Church, preached at St. Peter's Church on Quinquagesima Sunday, by Rev'd Philemon F. Sturges, 1905 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | "The Tower," on whether to continue the work on the Tower, Palm Sunday, by Rector Philemon F. Sturges, 1907 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | "Other men labored, and we have entered into their labor," sermon preached at St. Peter's Church on All Saint's Day Evening, by Rev. Philemon F. Sturges, November 1, 1911 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | "Him That Overcometh will I make him a pillar in the house of my God..." sermon preached at the consecration of St. Peter's Church, by Rev. Elwood Worchestre, Rector of Emanual Church, Boston MA, November 2, 1911 | ||||||||||||
| 12 | An Appeal made in St. Peter's Church on Quinquagesima Sunday, by Philemon S. Sturges, 1915 | ||||||||||||
| 13 | "A Sermon on Christian Marriage," by Rev. David Kemble Montgomery, March 7, 1937 | ||||||||||||
| 14 | "The Ministry of the Laity in the Gathered Church," by the Rev. S. Hughes Garvin, Rector, October 15, 1972 | ||||||||||||
| 15 | "What is the True Function of a Parish Church?", by the Rev. S. Hughes Garvin, Rector, October 22, 1972 | ||||||||||||
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Bulletins | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Bulletins, 1926-1928 | |||||||||||
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Programs | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Consecration of St. Peter's Chruch, Morristown, NJ in the Diocese of Newark by Rev. Edwin S. Lines, Bishop of Newark, November 2, 1911 | |||||||||||
| 18 | Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Service in Commemoration of the Consecration of St. Peter's Church, All Saints Day, November 1, 1936 | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Service List, 1894 | ||||||||||||
| 20 | Service List, 1903 | ||||||||||||
| 21 | Service Lists, 1908 | ||||||||||||
| 22 | Commemoration Services, 1911 | ||||||||||||
| 23 | Service Lists, 1914 | ||||||||||||
| 24 | Service Lists, 1915 | ||||||||||||
| 25 | Service Lists, 1918 | ||||||||||||
| 26 | Service Lists, 1925 | ||||||||||||
| 27 | Service Lists, 1927 | ||||||||||||
| 28 | Service Lists, 1928 | ||||||||||||
| 29 | Service Lists, 1929 | ||||||||||||
| 30 | Service Lists, 1930 | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Service Lists, 1937 | ||||||||||||
| 32 | Service Lists, 1939 | ||||||||||||
| 33 | Service Lists, 1941 | ||||||||||||
| 34 | Service Lists, 1949 | ||||||||||||
| 35 | Service Lists, 1955 | ||||||||||||
| 36 | Service Lists, 1965 | ||||||||||||
| 37 | Service Lists, 1977 | ||||||||||||
| 38 | Service Lists, 1997 | ||||||||||||
| 39 | Music Programs, ca.1925 | ||||||||||||
| 40 | Music Programs, 1933 | ||||||||||||
| 41 | Music Programs, 1940 | ||||||||||||
| 42 | Music Programs, 1973-1974 | ||||||||||||
| 43 | Music Programs, 1992 | ||||||||||||
| 44 | Music Programs, 1993 | ||||||||||||
| 45 | Music Programs 1994 | ||||||||||||
| 46 | Music Programs, 1996 | ||||||||||||
| 47 | Film Program, 1934 | ||||||||||||
| 48 | Stage Programs, 1938 | ||||||||||||
| 49 | Canterbury Festival Program, 1959 | ||||||||||||
| 50 | Sesqui Centennial Anniversary Program, 1977 | ||||||||||||
| 51 | Benefit Program - Community Soup Kitchen, 1996 | ||||||||||||
| 52 | Service Lists, 2005 | ||||||||||||
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Publications | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | St. Peter's Record/Chronicle", 1908-1939 | |||||||||||
| 2 | "The Keys", 1966 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | "The East Window and the West Window of St. Peter's Church" booklet, 1909 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | "The A-A Method for the Cumulative Enodwment of the Church" booklet recording gifts from Mrs. Henry Shaw, 1924 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | "To the family of St. Peter's from the vestry... Our New Church Building" booklet, 1967 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | "A Tour Through St. Peter's Church", booklet by Virginia Hoff, 1970-1971 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | The Altar Society Manual, 1936 | ||||||||||||
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Subject Files | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Clarion Bells, John Taylor and Co., Founder, 1923-1924 | |||||||||||
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Ephemera | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Centennial Anniversary brochure and program, 1927-1928 | |||||||||||
| 10 | "St. Peter's Church: Now Being Erected at Morristown, NJ" circular, 1887 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Christmas postcards, carols, service list, cantala program, 1908-1936 | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Illustrations, lecture series, prayer cards, services schedule, Prayers for Use in Time of War, Remembrance booklet, English Boy Choristers "Good Will" Tour, Office of Commemoration, n.d. | ||||||||||||
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Membership Directory | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 13 | Membership Directory, 1986, n.d. | |||||||||||
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