Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Perryville Methodist Church (Perryville, N.Y.)
Title:	Perryville (N.Y.) Methodist Church records
Inclusive Dates:	1862-1968
Quantity:	9.5 linear feet
Abstract:	Church records, books, financial records, church bulletins, and similar material from the Perryville Methodist Church, founded in 1831 and located in Perryville, Madison County, New York
Language:	All collection materials are in English.
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

The Perryville United Methodist Church is located in Perryville, a small hamlet in Madison County, New York. In 1880's History of Chenango and Madison Counties, author James Hadden Smith reported that the church was first organized in 1831 by Charles Blakeslee. The church's meetings were initially held in the local schoolhouse above a wagon shop before the church's own building was completed in 1839. Around the time of the church's 100th anniversary, the congregation consisted of 113 active members. The church, at different times throughout its active history, has been a part of the Cayuga district, Cazenovia district, Oneida Conference, and Central New York Conference of the United Methodist Church. Since its inception, the church has been known by several different names, including the Perryville Methodist Church, the Perryville Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Perryville United Methodist Church.

Currently, the church is still located at 2770 Perryville Road with a reported congregation of nine, according to its profile on the United Methodist Church's website.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Perryville (New York) Methodist Church Records contains church administrative records, church conference records, church group records, financial records, printed materials, and Sunday School records

Church administrative records contains administrative documents as well as records pertaining to the church building's centennial (1939) and 125th (1964) anniversary.

Church conference records contains minutes from the Quarterly Conference of the Perryville Charge (1883-1917) and Central New York Conference meetings (1869-1879).

Church group records contains materials from the church's Builders Club (undated), Epworth League (1898-1912, 1916-1923), Ever Ready Class (1918-1934, 1940-1943), Ladies Aid Society (1911-1937), Women's Foreign Missionary Society (1891-1924), and Women's Society of Christian Service (1937-1953) groups.

Financial records contains financial documents from the church leadership and several of the church groups, including cancelled checks, ledgers, and records of payments.

Printed materials contains printed and published materials used by the Church and its Sunday School, including texts (for teachers and students), a Bible inscribed with the church's name, and unpublished dedication service programs from 1948.

Sunday School records contains class registers (for 1859-1876 and most years from 1917-1966) and secretary's books (covering most years from 1915-1963).

Miscellaneous contains oversize labels possibly from a previous filling system.

According to a history contained in this collection, many of the earliest records from the Perryville Methodist Church were either lost or destroyed. Thus, the documents in this collection are the only known historical records of the church and are incomplete.

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Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is arranged alphabetically by type and then chronologically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts, or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Perryville (New York) United Methodist Church Records,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Perryville Methodist Church, 1969.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: Brien Puff
Date: April 26, 2022
Revision history: 26 Apr 2022 - collection processed (BRP); 16 Aug 2022 - finish processing, update finding aid (RMH)

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Inventory

	Church administrative records
Box 1		90th Anniversary program undated
Box 1		125th Anniversary documents 1964
Box 1		Annual reports 1964
Box 1		Board meeting notes 1911-1957
Box 1		Church centennial documents 1939
Box 1		Church record books 1869-1893
Oversize 1		Church record books 1917-1942

	Church conference records
Box 1		Central New York Conference meeting minutes 1869-1879
Box 1		Quarterly Conference of the Perryville Charge meeting minutes 1883-1917 (2 folders)

	Church group records
Box 1		Builders Club Group registers undated
Box 1		Epworth League pamphlet 1913
Box 1		Epworth League secretary's books 1898-1900
Box 2		Epworth League secretary's books 1900-1912, 1916-1923 (9 folders)
Box 2		Ever Ready Class secretary's books 1918-1934 (2 folders)
Box 3		Ever Ready Class secretary's books 1930-1943 (2 folders)
Box 3		Ladies Aid Society correspondence 1937-1938, undated
Box 3		Ladies Aid Society secretary's books 1872-1940 (4 folders)
Box 4		Women's Foreign Missionary Society secretary's books 1891-1924 (2 folders)
Box 4		Women's Society of Christian Service meeting minutes 1937-1953 (2 folders)
Box 4		Women's Society of Christian Service record and report books 1945, 1948-1949 (3 folders)

	Financial records
Box 4		Advertising correspondence 1935
Box 4		Cancelled checks 1962-1963 (2 folders)
Box 5		Cancelled checks 1963-1965 (7 folders)
Box 5		Church treasurer's records 1897-1907 (2 folders)
Box 6		Church treasurer's records 1917, 1920-1928 (7 folders)
Box 7		Church treasurer's records 1928-1932, 1940-1946, 1949-1950, 1959-1964 (6 folders)
Oversize 2		Church treasurer's records 1936-1939, 1941-1943, 1945-1946, 1948-1958 (11 volumes)
Box 7		Epworth League treasurer's records 1911, 1919-1921 (2 folder)
Box 8		Epworth League treasurer's records 1931-1933, 1942
Box 8		Records of payment 1867-1868
Box 8		Receipts 1938-1939, 1965-1966, undated (10 folders)
Box 8		Sunday School treasurer's books 1915-1920

	Printed materials
Oversize 3		Comprehensive Analysis of the Bible by Montgomery F. Essig 1922
Box 8		Dedication Service programs 1948
Box 8		Directory of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Perryville and Chittenango Falls, N.Y. 1896
Oversize 5		The Holy Bible 1864 - contains Old and New Testaments, apocrypha, index, and more
Oversize 4		The Pictorial New Testament by Rev. Lyman Abbott, D.D. 1881
Box 8		Pupil's books 1929, 1931, 1963
Box 9		Teacher's books 1928-1929, 1935, 1938, 1943, 1963 (5 folders)

	Sunday School records
Box 9		Sunday School Class Registers 1859-1876, 1917-1922, 1925-1938 (7 folders)
Box 10		Sunday School class registers 1938-1944, 1947-1949, 1951-1957, 1961-1962, 1965-1966, undated (9 folders)
Box 11		Sunday School correspondence 1953, undated
Box 11		Sunday School secretary's book 1924-1948, 1951-1956, 1960-1964 (9 folders)

	Miscellaneous
Oversize 2		Labels 1862, 1872-1947

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