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Perryville (N.Y.) Methodist Church Records

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University.


Finding aid created by: Brien Puff
Date: April 26, 2022

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.

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.

Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is arranged alphabetically by type and then chronologically.

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.

Subject Headings

Corporate Bodies

Perryville Methodist Church (Perryville, N.Y.)
Perryville United Methodist Church (Perryville, N.Y.)

Subjects

Church buildings--New York (State)
Church records and registers -- New York (State)
Epworth League (U.S.)
Methodist Church -- United States -- History.
Methodist Episcopal Church. Woman's Foreign Missionary Society.
Methodists.
Sunday school teachers -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Sunday schools -- Exercises, recitations, etc.
Sunday schools -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Sunday schools -- New York (State)
Sunday schools -- Records.
Women's Society of Christian Service.

Places

New York (State) -- Religious life and customs.

Genres and Forms

Attendance records.
Bibles moralisees (commentaries)
Bibles.
Checks (bank checks)
Church records.
Financial records.
Ledgers (account books)
Minutes (administrative records)
Picture Bibles.
Programs (organizations)
Textbooks.

Occupations

Clergy.
Sunday school teachers.

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.

Table of Contents

Church administrative records

Church conference records

Church group records

Financial records

Printed materials

Sunday School records

Miscellaneous

Inventory