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Tabernacle Methodist Episcopal Church records
Notifications
Held at: Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church [Contact Us]235 N. Fourth Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Methodism is a protestant Christian faith based in the teachings of John Wesley (1703-1791), who preached "practical divinity," emphasis on Christian living, and putting faith and love into action. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1784 in Baltimore, Maryland with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as its first bishops and held its first general conference in 1792. In May of 1939, the Methodist Episcopal Church; the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and the Methodist Protestant Church united to form the Methodist Church (U.S.). In 1946 the Church of the United Brethren in Christ (New constitution) and the Evangelical Church united to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. In 1968 the Methodist Church (U.S.) and the Evangelical United Brethren Church united, forming the United Methodist Church (U.S.).
Tabernacle Methodist Episcopal Church in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was established in 1814. Its iconic Roman Corinthian style church building on 11th Street above Jefferson Street was constructed in 1853, based on designs by Stephen Decatur Button. It is probably the first, and possibly only, Methodist church in Philadelphia to have a dome or spire. After the church was destroyed by fire in 1857, a second building modeled on the first was completed the next year. Tabernacle Methodist Church was discontinued in 1941.
Bibliography:
Library Company of Philadelphia. Catalog record for "Tabernacle M. E. Church. 11th St. above Jefferson St. Philadelphia. [graphic] / Lith. by J. F. Watson S.E. cor. of 4th & Walnut; S.D. Button Archt.," Print Department **W361 [P.2259]. Accessed August 20, 2014. http://lcpdams.librarycompany.org:8881/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=65591&silo_library=GEN01.
This collection consists of Quarterly Conference minutes (1857-1886), Trustee minutes (1875-1917), and various other financial, administrative, and historical documents, as well as a large amount of membership and vital records (membership lists: 1853-1862, 1862-1884, 1862-1891, 1890-1919, 1919-1940; marriages: 1854-1862, 1862-1878, 1878-1891, 1892-1919, 1919-1941; and baptisms: 1814-1829, 1854-1862, 1862-1880, 1878-1892, 1892-1919, 1919-1942). A folder-level inventory for the collection is available.
Some church records at the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church, particularly membership and vital records, are available in digital form through Ancestry.com or on microfilm at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and/or the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.
The Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church is the repository for records of member churches when they close.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church directly for more information.
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories using data provided by the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church for information about accessing this collection.
Collection Inventory
Request for Information and Response, History 1954, 50th Anniversary Cover 1853-1903, History and Directory 1878, Picture (Church), Annual Report 1855, Correspondence Re: Mortgage 1938, Storage of Carpets 1942, Juvenile Missionary Society 1867, Correspondence Re: Gift of History Records 1986, Request for Funds for Missionary Work 1868, 1st Anniversary Program, Juvenile Missionary Program 1868, YMCA 2nd Anniversary 1868, 28th Anniversary Sabbath Seekers 1881, Scholarship Information to Dickenson College 1903, In Memoriam (Frederick Gillinder, Esq.) 1878-1939, Financial Reports 1919, 1925, 1926, 1928, Bank Book 1913, 1929, Treasurer's Report 1916, 1881, Missionary Day Postcard, Constitution and By-Laws for Sabbath School 1865, Mortgage Payment Cards 1925, 1929, 1931, Annual Report 1911, Mortgage Papers 1864, Charter and Constitution 1888, Treasurer's Report 1928, church newsletter (1893, 1894, 1903, 1938, 41st Anniversary 1853-1894, 1894), Cemetery deed 1866, clippings (Golden Jubilee-undated, 1968, Mortgage Burning)