Descriptive Summary
Creator(s)
Collection open for research
Biographical Note / Administrative History
The General Assembly was the highest judicatory of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The Stated Clerk was the chief permanent executive officer of the Church. By designation of the General Assembly, he was the executive head of the Office of the General Assembly and its several departments. Among his important duties were editing the official church law books and giving legal opinions on the meaning of the Constitution of the Church in its relation to problems which arose in the life of the judicatories, particular churches and individuals.
The Reverend Dr. Lewis Seymour Mudge (1868-1945) served the Church as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly from 1921 until 1938. One year, 1931-1932, he held the two highest offices in the PCUSA, having been elected the Assembly's Moderator, or presiding officer, while continuing to serve as its Stated Clerk. Dr. Mudge graduated from Princeton University in 1889 and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1895. Prior to his election as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, he served the pastorates of the First Presbyterian Church of Beverly, NJ, the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, NJ, First Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, PA, and the Pine Street Church of Harrisburg, PA. From his retirement in 1938 until his death in 1945, Dr. Mudge was the Stated Clerk Emeritus of the General Assembly. Illustrative of the high respect accorded him by his colleagues and the church at large are these words of appreciation expressed in a letter to him from Dr. Henry S. Coffin, President of the Union Theological Seminary, 1926-1942: "We are all so thankful that we have a Stated Clerk who is a man of such tact as well as legal scholarship. We honor you for the magnificent way in which you discharge a very difficult office."
Collection Overview
Record Group 17 comprises correspondence accumulated in a file entitled "Decision Letters" and covers the entire span of Dr. Mudge's term of office as Stated Clerk. The correspondence deals with matters requiring interpretation of the constitutional provisions of the Church and the acts and deliverances of the General Assembly.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically and chronologically.
Administrative Information
Collection processed: May 1968
Milton Kenin, Records Researcher
Collection reprocessed and finding aid prepared: 1983
Jane M. Ramsay
Catalog Headings
Collection Inventory
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1 |
1 |
Finding Aid to Record Group 17 |
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CORRESPONDENCE, 1921-1938 |
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1 |
2 |
A-AL, 1922-38 |
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3 |
AM-AZ, 1922-38 |
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4 |
BA, 1922-29 |
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5 |
BA, 1930-38 |
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6 |
BE, 1923-38 |
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7 |
BI-BL, 1922-34 |
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8 |
BI-BL, 1935-38 |
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9 |
BO-BU,1922-26 |
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10 |
BO-BU, 1927-29 |
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11 |
BO-BU, 1930-33 |
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12 |
BO-BU, 1934-36 |
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13 |
BO-BU, 1937-38 |
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14 |
C-CL, 1921-28 |
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15 |
C-CL, 1929-33 |
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16 |
C-CL, 1934-38 |
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2 |
1 |
CO-CU, 1922-28 |
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2 |
CO-CU, 1929-32 |
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3 |
CO-CU, 1933-38 |
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4 |
D, 1922-29 |
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5 |
D, 1930-33 |
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6 |
D, 1934-38 |
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7 |
E, 1922-30 |
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8 |
E,1931-38 |
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9 |
F,1922-28 |
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10 |
F,1929-33 |
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11 |
F,1934-38 |
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3 |
1 |
G, 1922-30 |
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2 |
G, 1931-34 |
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3 |
G, 1935-38 |
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4 |
H, 1922-28 |
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5 |
H, 1928-30 |
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6 |
H, 1931-32 |
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7 |
H, 1933-35 |
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8 |
H, 1936-38 |
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9 |
I, 1934-38 |
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10 |
J, 1922-29 |
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11 |
J, 1930-38 |
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4 |
1 |
K, 1922-30 |
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2 |
K, 1931-34 |
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3 |
K, 1935-38 |
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4 |
L, 1922-29 |
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5 |
L, 1930-33 |
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6 |
L, 1934-38 |
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7 |
M, 1922-27 |
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8 |
M,1928-30 |
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9 |
M,1931-32 |
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10 |
M,1933-34 |
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5 |
1 |
M, 1935-36 |
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2 |
M,1937-38 |
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3 |
N-O, 1934-38 |
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4 |
P, 1934-38 |
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5 |
R, 1927; 1930; 1934-38 |
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6 |
S, 1934-36 |
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7 |
S, 1937-38 |
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8 |
T-V, 1934-38 |
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9 |
W-Z, 1934-36 |
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10 |
W-Z, 1936-38 |