Guide to the John Samuel Nisbet Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

John Samuel Nisbet Papers

Inclusive Dates

1906-1950

Call Number

RG 443

Creator(s)

Nisbet, John Samuel, 1869-1949.

Quantity

2.25 cubic feet (6 boxes)

Language

Materials in English and Korean

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

John Samuel Nisbet was born Aug. 6, 1869, in Lancaster County, South Carolina. He attended Arkansas College in Batesville from 1891 to 1894, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. Nisbet briefly pursued a career as a teacher before deciding upon a religious vocation. In 1898 he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Southern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) Ouachita Presbytery the same year. Nisbet served the PCUS in various capacities over the next few years. He was the pastor at churches in DeQueen and Richmond, Arkansas, from 1898 to 1899; the stated supply in Collierville, Tennessee, from 1899 to 1901; an evangelist in Brownwood Presbytery while living in San Angelo, Texas, from 1901 to 1902; and the pastor in Humboldt, Tennessee, from 1902 to 1906.

In 1907, Nisbet and his wife, the former Anabel Major of Clarksville, Tennessee, whom he married in 1899, traveled to Chunju, Korea as missionaries for the PCUS. At the Chunju Station, Nisbet directed the Boys' School, taught language studies, supervised the Sunday School, and engaged in evangelistic work. Anabel Major Nisbet taught at the school and conducted language and religion classes for Korean women. During his tenure at Chunju Station, Nisbet also directed the construction of several new buildings for the mission, including the William M. Junkin Memorial School for Girls.

In 1911, the Nisbets transferred to the Mokpo Station in Korea, where John Nisbet continued to teach and evangelize. He founded and administered the Mokpo Bible School for Men and supervised the building of a hospital and school facilities. Anabel Major Nisbet conducted women's classes and administered the McCallie School for Girls.

After Anabel’s death in 1920, John Nisbet married Elizabeth Walker in 1921. John and Elizabeth remained at Mokpo Station until 1939, during which time a daughter, Margaret, was born. After returning to the United States, they settled first in Albemarle, North Carolina, and then in Montreat, North Carolina, in 1942. John Samuel Nisbet died in Montreat on December 20, 1949. Elizabeth Walker Nisbet died on April 19, 1958, in Denver, Colorado.

Collection Overview

The collection contains the personal papers of John Samuel Nisbet, documenting his experiences as a missionary in Chunju (now Chonju) and Mokpo stations in Korea, 1907-1939. English-language materials are in the Korea Missions Papers series, 1906-1950, comprised mostly of correspondence, sermons, reports, writings, and diaries. The series contains station reports from Mokpo Station, 1913-1939, and a McCallie School for Girls draft annual report, circa 1923. Also included are petitions; property records; prayer calendars containing directories of American missionaries in Korea; photographs; a genealogical history of the Nisbet family; and writings of Nisbet's first wife, Anabel Major Nisbet.

The Korean Documents series, 1907-1939, contains documents written in Korean. Some are labeled in English, such as various invitations given to the Nisbets. Included in this series are some petitions from individuals and churches in Chunju, Korea, asking the PCUS not to transfer the Nisbets to the Mokpo Station in 1911.

Organization and Arrangement

The collection is arranged as follows:

SERIES I: KOREA MISSION PAPERS, 1906-1950

SERIES II: KOREAN DOCUMENTS, circa 1907-1939

Related Material

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed and guide prepared by the staff of the Presbyterian Historical Society-Montreat. Guide revised in 2009 by Jennifer Barr, Archives Intern, and in 2010 by Nancy Taylor, Records Archivist.

Preferred Citation

John Samuel Nisbet Papers, RG 443, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Nisbet, John Samuel, 1869-1949.

Nisbet, Anabel Major.

Nisbet, Elizabeth Walker, -1958.

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Church in the U.S. Korea Mission.

Topical Subject

Missionaries--Korea--20th century.

Women missionaries--Korea--20th century.

Missions--Korea--20th century.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--Korea--20th century.

Sermons, American--20th century.

Geographic Subject

Korea--Missions--20th century.

Genre-form

Correspondence. aat

Diaries. aat

Photographs. aat

Sermons. aat

Personal Added Name

Nisbet, Anabel Major.

Nisbet, Elizabeth Walker, -1958.

Corporate Added Name

Presbyterian Church in the U.S. Korea Mission. Mokpo Station.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

		SERIES I: KOREA MISSION PAPERS, 1906-1950

1	1	Account book, 1907-1911
1	2	Correspondence, 1907-1950
1	3	Correspondence: missionary letters from the Nisbets, 1907-1936
1	4	Correspondence: MCD letters, 1939-1946
1	5	Diary: Korean trip, 1907
1	6	English-Korean/Korean-English dictionaries (3)
1	7	Korea Mission: annual report by J.S. Nisbet, 1909
1	8	Korea Mission: list of missionaries
1	9	Korea Mission: McCallie School for Girls report
1	10	Korea Mission: minutes and reports, Senate of the Educational Federation of Christian Missions in Korea, 1917
1	11	Korea Mission: Mokpo Station reports, 1913-1938
1	12	Korea Mission: notebook, J.S. Nisbet [June 2013 item not found in folder or collection]
1	13	Korea Mission: picturebook
1	14	Korea Mission: pledge booklet, Mokpo Church
1	15	Korea Mission: report to Executive Committee by J.S. Nisbet
1	16	Korea Mission: miscellaneous
1	17	Mission talk notes
1	18	Newspaper clippings, 1907-1919
1	19	Newspaper clippings: letters from the Nisbets, 1909-1917
1	20	Personal: marriage certificate, 1921
1	21	Personal: Nisbet family history
1	22	Personal: passports
1	23	Personal: miscellaneous
1	24-25	Photographs
1	26	Postcards
1	27-33	Publications

2	1	Scrapbook
2	2	Sermons, 1914-1933
2	3	Sermons, 1934-1943
2	4	Sermons, A-N
2	5	Sermons, O-Z
2	6	Sermons, miscellaneous
2	7-8	Sermon notebooks
2	9	Sermon notes
2	10	Speech: J.S. Nisbet's address before the Federal Council, Seoul, 1936 Sept. 19
2	11	Writings by J.S. Nisbet
2	12	Writings: Korean newspaper evangelism paragraphs, 1933-1934
2	13	Writings: Korean newspaper evangelism notebooks
2	14	Writings by Anabel Major Nisbet
2	15	Writings by Anabel Major Nisbet -- notebooks
2	16	Miscellaneous notes and writings

3		J.S. Nisbet's pocket prayer calendars, 1908-1909, 1911-1932

4		J.S. Nisbet's pocket prayer calendars, 1933-1941

5		1 photograph
5		Life membership certificate, American Bible Society, 1906

		SERIES II: KOREAN DOCUMENTS, circa 1907-1939

6	1	Booklet
6	2	Calling cards
6	3	Congratulation letters; includes letter from Preacher/Elder Iksoo Kang
6	4	Correspondence
6	5	Invitations and miscellaneous
6	6	Land deed
6	7-8	Petitions, 1911
6	9	Farewell memorial and memorial scroll, 1915
6	10	Miscellaneous documents
6	11	Miscellaneous documents concerning shrine worship

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Guide to the John Samuel Nisbet Papers

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