Descriptive Summary
Creator(s)
Biographical Note / Administrative History
John Fairman Preston was born April 30, 1875, in Fernandina, Florida, the son of the Reverend Samuel Rhea Preston and Ida Sutphen Preston. He attended King College, Bristol, Tennessee, from 1893 to 1896, and received a B.A. from Furman University in 1898. While earning an M.A. from Princeton University, he also attended the Princeton Theological Seminary from 1899 to 1902. Preston was ordained by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) Enoree Presbytery in 1903, the same year he married Annie Shannon Wiley (1879-1983) of Salisbury, North Carolina. He served on the PCUS Executive Committee of Foreign Missions from 1902 to 1903.
In 1903, Preston and his wife traveled to Korea as missionaries for the PCUS. They served at three different stations during their thirty-seven years in the mission field—Mokpo, Kwangju, and finally Soonchun—where they remained from 1913 to 1940. In 1907 John Preston also became involved in the Laymen's Missionary Movement, an effort by the PCUS to recruit new missionaries and solicit financial support for mission work. Throughout their years in Korea, the Prestons were active evangelists and teachers.
In 1940 they returned to the United States, where they toured as spokespeople for PCUS mission work. John Preston also supplied a church in Pontotoc, Mississippi, during the war years. The Prestons retired to Decatur, Georgia, in 1946.
John Preston received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from King College and Oglethorpe University in 1926, and Furman University in 1935. He died on June 6, 1975, survived by his wife and six children: Miriam Wiley (St. Clair); Annie Shannon (Cumming); John Fairman, Jr.; Florence (Bockhorst); William Wiley; and Rhea S. Annie S. Wiley Preston died in 1983.
Collection Overview
The collection is divided into two series: Preston Family Papers, 1819-1979; and Korea Mission Papers, 1892-1959.
The Preston Family series consists of materials produced by or about John Fairman Preston and other members of the Preston Family. One sub-series contains the papers of Samuel Rhea Preston (father of John Fairman Preston), including school compositions and letter books written in shorthand. The second sub-series contains financial and legal papers of various members of the Preston family, including Annie Wiley Preston. The third sub-series consists of personal and miscellaneous materials. Included are Preston family letters, John Fairman Preston's lecture notes, photographs, and materials related to Pontotoc Presbyterian Church and East Mississippi Presbytery.
The Korea Mission series consists of materials related to the missionary experiences of John Fairman Preston and his wife Annie. Included are reports, minutes, articles, and correspondence from the PCUS Korea Mission as well as histories of various mission stations and institutions and biographical sketches of Korean missionaries written by fellow missionaries Anabel Major Nisbet, W.D. Reynolds, and others. In addition, this series contains photocopies of letters from John Fairman Preston and his wife to their family in the United States, 1903-1928.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection is arranged as follows:
SERIES I: Preston Family Papers, 1819-1979
Subseries 1: Samuel Rhea Preston Papers, 1855-1906
Subseries 2: Financial/Legal Papers, 1819-1939
Subseries 3: Personal/Miscellaneous, 1912-1979
SERIES II: Korea Mission Papers, 1892-1959
Both series are arranged alphabetically by subject matter/type and then chronologically.
Alternative Formats
Administrative Information
Received from Fairman Preston Cumming in 1979.
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 Fairman Preston Papers, RG 441, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Catalog Headings
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
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| SERIES I: PRESTON FAMILY PAPERS, 1819-1979 | |
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| Subseries 1: Samuel Rhea Preston Papers, 1855-1906 | |
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1 | 1 | Compositions, 1868-1869 | |
1 | 2 | Deeds, Contracts, Leases, 1855, 1878 | |
1 | 3 | Deeds, Contracts, Leases, 1880-1889 | |
1 | 4 | Deeds, Contracts, Leases, 1890-1898 | |
1 | 5 | Deeds, Contracts, Leases, 1900-1906 | |
1 | 6 | Financial/Legal Correspondence, 1890-1905 | |
1 | 7 | Letter books (shorthand), Aug. 1896-Jan. 1897 | |
1 | 8 | Letter books (shorthand), Jan.-Sept. 1897 | |
1 | 9 | Letter books (shorthand), Sept. 1897-Jan. 1898 | |
1 | 10 | Letter books (shorthand), 1898 | |
1 | 11 | Letter books (shorthand), undated | |
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| Subseries 2: Financial/Legal Papers, 1819-1939 | |
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1 | 12 | Deeds, Contracts, Leases--Preston Family, 1819, 1840 | |
1 | 13 | Financial Papers, Annie Wiley Preston, 1912-1939 | |
1 | 14 | Financial/Legal Papers—Miscellaneous, 1931 | |
1 | 15 | Wills, 1875, 1888 | |
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| Subseries 3: Personal/Miscellaneous, 1912-1979 | |
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2 | 1 | Correspondence, 1912-1949 | |
2 | 2 | Enoree Presbytery manuals, 1925, 1940 | |
2 | 3 | Greek Exercises Notebook, undated | |
2 | 4 | Lecture notes (shorthand), undated | |
2 | 5 | Letter books (shorthand), undated | |
2 | 6 | Letter books (shorthand), undated | |
2 | 7 | Lecture notes on Biblical Theology (shorthand), undated | |
2 | 8 | PCUS publications: Far Eastern News Bulletins, 1941 | |
2 | 9 | PCUS publications: The Presbyterian News Service, 1949 | |
2 | 10 | PCUS publications: miscellaneous, 1926, 1946 | |
2 | 11 | Photographs, 1900-1979 | |
2 | 12 | Pocket Prayer Calendar, 1941 | |
2 | 13 | Pontotoc Presbyterian Church: budgets, 1944-1946 | |
2 | 14 | Pontotoc Presbyterian Church: membership lists, 1945-1946 | |
2 | 15 | Pontotoc Presbyterian Church/East Mississippi Presbytery: correspondence, 1944-1946 | |
2 | 16 | Pontotoc Presbyterian Church/East Mississippi Presbytery: miscellaneous, 1945-1946 | |
2 | 17 | Pontotoc High School Baccalaureate sermons, 1943, 1946 | |
2 | 18 | Miscellaneous, clippings, etc., 1902-1944 | |
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| SERIES II: KOREA MISSION PAPERS, 1892-1959 | |
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3 | 1 | Annual Mission Meeting reports, 1894-1901, submitted by Linnie F. Davis [July 2015 reports not found in folder or collection] | |
3 | 2 | Articles by missionaries, 1937-1951 | |
3 | 3 | Bible Committee of Korea, minutes, 1908 | |
3 | 4 | "Bible Training in Kunsan Territory," by Willie Burnice Green, 1935 | |
3 | 5 | Biographical sketches of Koreans submitted to Anabel Major Nisbet, circa 1919 | |
3 | 6 | "Christianity and Independent Korea" by J.V.N. Talmage, 1943 | |
3 | 7 | Correspondence: John Fairman Preston, 1919-1946 | |
3 | 8 | Correspondence: W.D. Reynolds, 1908-1910 | |
3 | 9 | Correspondence: Charles Rowland, 1921-1922 | |
3 | 10 | Correspondence: Martin Luther Swinehart, 1923-1925 | |
3 | 11 | Correspondence: Miscellaneous, 1919-1924 | |
3 | 12 | Directory of missionaries, undated | |
3 | 13 | "Fifty Years of Bible Translation and Revision" by W.D. Reynolds, 1934 | |
3 | 14 | "Historical Sketch of the Evangelistic Work, Southern Presbyterian Mission in Korea," 1917 | |
3 | 15 | Histories of Korean Mission institutions and biographical sketches of Korean missionaries, circa 1930 | |
3 | 16 | Histories of Korean Mission institutions, correspondence and biographical sketches of Korean missionaries, 1895-1951 | |
3 | 17 | "History of How the Gospel Entered Soonchun Territory and its Spread up to 1917," by R.T. Coit | |
3 | 18 | History of Kunsan Station, 1896-1930, by Willie Burnice Green, 1896-1930 | |
3 | 19 | History of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Korea, 1924 | |
3 | 20 | "History of School Work in Korea" by Anabel Major Nisbet, 1917 | |
3 | 21 | Korea, printed materials, 1924-1957 | |
3 | 22 | Korean documents (in Korean), undated | |
3 | 23 | MCD letters, 1934-1946 | |
3 | 24 | Mokpo Station reports, 1907-1910 | |
3 | 25 | "Opening of Chunju Station" by L.B. Tate, circa 1897 | |
3 | 26 | "Opening of Kunsan Station" by W.B. Harrison, 1917 | |
3 | 27 | "Opening of Mokpo Station" by S.T. Newland, circa 1917 | |
3 | 28 | "Organization and Development of the Presbyterian Church of Korea and Northwest Territory,” circa 1920 | |
3 | 29 | Printed materials, 1917-1934 | |
3 | 30 | Publication, "The Kum and Go," 1931-1932 | |
3 | 31 | Report of the Korea missionaries, circa 1941 | |
3 | 32 | Report on Treatment of Japanese while in Korea, by J.V.N. Talmage, 1942 | |
3 | 33 | Reports to the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., 1893, 1897-1898 | |
3 | 34 | "Rev. W.M. Junkin" by W.F. Bull, 1918 | |
3 | 35 | "Some Incidents in the Independent Movement in Korea," circa 1940 | Digital |
3 | 36 | Statements on Present Situation in Korea for the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions, 1938, 1940 | |
3 | 37 | "They That Walked in Darkness" pageant for the 50th anniversary of the Korea Mission, 1942 | |
3 | 38 | War service data, 1945 | |
3 | 39 | Women's work in Korea, 1892-1952 and undated | |
3 | 40 | Yung Myung School for Boys, 1935 | |
3 | 41 | Miscellaneous, 1917-1959 | |
3 | 42 | Postcard scrapbook, 1920 | |
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4 | 1 | Index to correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S. | |
4 | 2 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1903 | |
4 | 3 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., Jan.-June 1904 | |
4 | 4 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., July-Dec. 1904 | |
4 | 5 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., Jan.-June 1905 | |
4 | 6 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., July-Dec. 1905 | |
4 | 7 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1906 | |
4 | 8 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1907 | |
4 | 9 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1908 | |
4 | 10 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1909 | |
4 | 11 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1910 | |
4 | 12 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1911-1913 | |
4 | 13 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1914 | |
4 | 14 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1915-1916 | |
4 | 15 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1917-1919 | |
4 | 16 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1920-1921 | |
4 | 17 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1922 | |
4 | 18 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1923-1924 | |
4 | 19 | Correspondence (photocopies), from John Fairman Preston and Annie Wiley Preston to their family in the U.S., 1926-1928 |