Guide to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions Secretaries' Files

Descriptive Summary

Title

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions Secretaries' Files

Inclusive Dates

1845-1885

Call Number

RG 175

Creator(s)

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions.

Quantity

0.25 cubic feet

Restrictions on Access

Open for research.

Repository

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

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Administrative History

John Cameron Lowrie was elected Assistant Corresponding Secretary to the Board of Foreign Missions (PCUSA) in 1838. In 1850, he joined his father Walter Lowrie as Corresponding Secretary; father and son worked together until Walter's death in 1868. John Cameron continued as Secretary for another 23 years, retiring in 1891.

The corresponding secretaries were responsible for maintaining contact by mail with missionaries on the field. Missionaries sent in reports at specified intervals and wrote additional letters whenever necessary, detailing their day-to-day work on the fields, discussing plans for their missions for the future, reporting on illnesses and asking for help whenever necessary. The secretaries replied to these letters with comments, counsel and their central perspective on the mission work.

Collection Overview

Record Group 175 contains correspondence and reports on missions to the Chinese in California (this was considered foreign mission work at the time; it was not transferred to the Board of National Missions until 1923); outgoing correspondence to the Gaboon and Corisco mission in West Africa; and other outgoing correspondence.

The letters and reports on the Chinese work in California are written by the Revs. Augustus Ward Loomis and Ira Condit, two of the first missionaries on that field, to the Lowries.

Organization and Arrangement

SERIES 1: MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA, 1863-1873

SERIES 2: GABOON AND CORISCO MISSION, 1879-1885

SERIES 3: OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE, 1845-1869

Alternative Formats

Series 1 available on microfilm: MF/POS./ 812.

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1984
Frederick J. Heuser, Jr, Archivist

Collection reprocessed and new finding aid prepared: October 1991
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist

Catalog Headings

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

Topical Subject

Missions, American.

Home missions California.

Missions Africa, West.

Church work with Asian Americans California.

Chinese Americans Missions.

Presbyterian Church Missions.

Personal Added Name

Lowrie, John C. (John Cameron), 1808-1900.

Lowrie, Walter, 1784-1868.

Condit, Ira M., b. 1833.

Loomis, A. W. (Augustus Ward), 1816-1891.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Finding Aid to Record Group 175


		SERIES 1: MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA, 1863-1873

1	2	Correspondence and Reports, 1863-66
	3	Correspondence and Reports, 1866-68
	4	Correspondence and Reports, 1869-71
	5	Correspondence and Reports, 1871-73


		SERIES 2: GABOON AND CORISCO MISSION, 1879-1885

1	6	Outgoing Correspondence, 1979-85


		SERIES 3: OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE, 1845-1869

1	7	General Correspondence, 1845-69