English
The Old First Reformed Church of Philadelphia was founded as the German Reformed Church of Philadelphia in 1727. Its records document over two hundred years of one of Philadelphia's oldest congregations. The collection includes administrative, financial, pastoral, membership, and Sunday school records. Also included are materials from other church organizations and projects, church services and events, higher church bodies and related congregations, and the congregation's documentation and interpretation of its own history.
Old First Reformed Church Records, 1741-1976
Collection 3010
104 boxes including 246 vols., 42 lin. feet
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
The German Reformed Church began as a branch of Calvinist Protestant Christianity doctrinally based on the Heidelberg Catechism, which was published in Germany in 1563. During the eighteenth century, many German Reformed adherents emigrated to Pennsylvania and neighboring colonies from Germany and Switzerland, often to escape wars in Europe. In the early years, they relied on lay leaders and met in private homes.
On September 21, 1727, the Rev. George Michael Weiss and 400 members of the German Reformed Church arrived in Philadelphia from the Palatinate region of western Germany. They settled in a neighborhood east of Broad Street and north of Market Street. Weiss, the first ordained German Reformed minister in North America, began holding services soon after his arrival. The congregation he organized in 1727 became Philadelphia's Old First Reformed Church.
For two decades after its founding, the Philadelphia German Reformed congregation did not have a church building. They worshipped in the home of a member, then in a small frame house on Arch Street that they shared with Philadelphia's Lutheran congregation. In 1741, the German Reformed congregation purchased a lot on the southeast corner of Fourth and Sassafras (now Race) streets. The first church building, a hexagonal structure, was completed in December 1747. The Pennsylvania Coetus of the German Reformed Church held its first meeting at the Philadelphia church that same year. (A coetus is a council of churches that is dependent on a foreign synod, or governing body.) In 1765, the Philadelphia congregation received a charter from John Penn, recognizing it as a corporation entitled to own property and receive income, among other rights.
The German Reformed congregation grew steadily during the eighteenth century, and its members became more prosperous. In 1774, the congregation replaced the hexagonal church with a new and larger building to accommodate the growing number of worshippers. The revivalist Charles Finney, who preached a series of sermons at the German Reformed Church in 1828, wrote that this second building was the largest church in Philadelphia and could seat 3,000 people.
In addition to being a place of worship, the new church was also used by non-congregants in a variety of ways both welcome and unwelcome. During the American Revolution, the British Army that occupied Philadelphia used the church as a hospital and later as a stable. The congregation's pastor, Rev. Casper Weyberg, was briefly imprisoned by the British for preaching to the Hessian soldiers and advocating U.S. independence. After the war, many citizens of Philadelphia outside the congregation contributed to repairs on the church. The new University of Pennsylvania held its commencement exercises there, and the Society of Cincinnati held a memorial service for George Washington in the church in 1800, shortly after Washington's death the previous year.
In the 1830s, deterioration of the church building and growing traffic noise on Race Street caused the congregation to build a third church, which opened in 1837. This building had the same dimensions as the second church, but was rotated 180 degrees and set back farther from the street, in an effort to reduce the impact of street noise. Although it has not been in continuous use as a house of worship, this church is the one used by the congregation today.
From the beginning, the church's administrative structure rested on the congregation, which elected the minister, elders, deacons, and trustees. The elders were responsible for spiritual oversight of the church, maintaining order, and comforting the sick; the deacons for gathering and distributing alms and paying the minister's salary; and the trustees for oversight of church property and monies. These officers, together with the minister, constituted the governing body, which was originally known as the Corporation, later the Board of Corporation, and finally the Official Board. Originally, the minister, elders, and deacons also constituted the Consistory, which oversaw the church's spiritual interests. The 1911 constitution replaced the Consistory with a Spiritual Council consisting of the minister and elders only.
Language became a major focus of conflict within the congregation in the early 1800s. Throughout the eighteenth century, services were conducted in German and the majority of records were kept in German. In 1806, after failing in an attempt to establish English-language services, a group of congregants broke away and formed the Crown Street Dutch Reformed Church, which later faded out of existence. The Dutch Reformed Church, although doctrinally similar to the German Reformed Church, was much more anglicized. By 1817, advocates of English had gained ground, and this time it was those who wanted services strictly in German who seceded to form their own congregation, the Salem Reformed Church. A petition by First Reformed congregation members the following year urged that school pupils be taught in English, and in 1819 church officials began keeping minutes and financial records in English. For a time, English and German were used alternately in services, but after 1830 English was used exclusively in worship and in most records. As late as the 1850s, however, many reports from domestic missionaries were written in German.
The German Reformed Church was one of many churches to provide basic education in the era before public schools. The Race Street congregation established a Parochial School in 1745 and built a schoolhouse behind the church in 1753. The Parochial School was also (especially later) called the Charity School, because it included a number of pupils whose families could not afford to pay tuition and whose education was subsidized by the church. The Charity School operated until about 1887. For some years, the congregation also ran a second weekday school, in the village of Kensington (now part of Philadelphia), which closed in 1827.
In 1806, the congregation established a Sunday school, the denomination's first in the United States. Founded in the midst of the language controversy, the Sunday School was set up partly to strengthen the use of German among young people. The Sunday School has continued long after the weekday Parochial School closed, and by the twentieth century oversaw several adult Bible classes as well as classes for young people at all grade levels.
In addition to the schools, the congregation maintained a cemetery on the northeast corner of Franklin Square (bounded by 8th and 7th streets and Race and Vine streets) from 1741 until 1835, when the city reclaimed the land for use as a park. At that time, some of the bodies were moved to a new graveyard at 16th and Cherry streets, while the gravestones for others were laid flat and covered over. The congregation later replaced the Cherry Street graveyard with a lot in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, which it purchased with the help of money awarded by the city.
During the nineteenth century, the area around the church became increasingly industrial and commercial, displacing many members who had lived nearby. The congregation sold the Race Street properties and bought a site at the corner of Tenth and Wallace streets (below Fairmount Avenue). A newly constructed fourth church building opened there in 1882. In 1916, declining numbers and migration by congregants once again caused the congregation to move. This time the church chose West Philadelphia, an area where Reformed missionaries had attracted a number of worshippers but no congregation had yet been established. The cornerstone of a fifth church building, at 50th and Locust streets, was laid in 1917. Services and other church activities were held in the basement until the rest of the church was completed in 1925.
In 1935, Old First Reformed Church merged with St. John's Reformed Church, located at 40th and Spring Garden streets. Founded in 1865, St. John's was known for a time as the Reformed Church of the Strangers. A decline in the number of congregants in its neighborhood led St. John's to seek a merger with Old First. The merger increased the membership in Old First Reformed Church from 593 to 689. Over the following two decades, congregation size leveled off at about 600.
Members of the Old First congregation supported and participated in a variety of projects. Charity work was conducted by a number of church organizations: the Society for Support of the Poor in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Committee on Systematic Benevolence in the mid-nineteenth century, the Ladies' Aid Society (later renamed Local Service Group) in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Board of Domestic Missions, based at the Race Street Church but also affiliated with the larger Synod, sponsored missionaries in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Kentucky in the mid-nineteenth century. Missionary work was later overseen by other bodies, including the Woman's Missionary Society, which in the twentieth century sponsored missionaries in China, Japan, Africa, and Mexico, as well as among American Indians in Wisconsin and European immigrants at Ellis Island. Other church organizations, such as Men of Old First and the Young People's Association, organized social gatherings and entertainment to help strengthen the local congregation.
In the 1960s, faced with declining membership in their West Philadelphia location, the Reformed congregation began an effort to return to their original site on Race Street. After buying back the property, they began restoring the 1837 church building, which had been used as a paint factory. The building was rededicated in 1969. Over the decade following the move, the congregation grew from about 100 to almost 300 members.
The Old First Reformed Church has gone through several changes in denominational affiliation. Originally, all German Reformed congregations in North America were supervised by the Dutch Reformed Church in Holland. The Synod of the German Reformed Church in the United States of America, a body independent from the European church, was formed in 1793. In 1863, it changed its name to the Reformed Church in the United States. (This denomination was distinct from the Reformed Church in America, descendent of the Dutch Reformed Church.) In 1934, most of the Reformed Church in the United States merged with the Evangelical Synod of North America, another denomination founded by German Protestants, to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. In 1957, the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ (UCC).
Largely reflecting this denominational evolution, the name of the Old First Reformed Church has changed repeatedly. Originally it was known as the German Reformed Congregation or German Reformed Church, less commonly as High German Reformed Church, High German Evangelical Reformed Church, or Calvinist Congregation. Later the congregation took the name First Reformed Church. In 1876, Rev. David Van Horne wrote that it was sometimes called the Race Street Reformed Church. After the 1934 merger with the Evangelical Synod, it became the Old First Church, Evangelical and Reformed (sometimes referred to as the First Evangelical and Reformed Church). After the UCC came into being in 1957, the congregation's official name became Old First Reformed Church, United Church of Christ.
The records of the Old First Reformed Church document over two hundred years in the history of one of Philadelphia's oldest Protestant congregations. The church began as a community defined not only by religious belief and practices but also by German nationality and language, and much of the collection traces this community's gradual acculturation and Americanization. A pivotal stage of this process took place between 1800 and 1830, when the church shifted from German to English as its primary language of worship and record keeping. The language issue bitterly divided the congregation for much of this period. Although advocates of German-language services were defeated, the church maintained ties to its ethnic heritage, notably in its support of German-language missionaries in Pennsylvania and neighboring states in the 1850s and 1860s. Meeting minutes and correspondence in the Administrative series and missionary records in the Church Organizations and Projects series document the language issue in detail.
The collection provides extensive information about who belonged to the Old First Reformed Church and those who took part in its activities over most of its history. Lists of members, baptisms, communions, marriages, and deaths in the Pastoral and Membership series offer rich possibilities for research on genealogy and family history as well as demographic studies. The same may be said of school enrollment books in the Church Schools series and pew rental books, member contribution lists, and burial records in the Financial series, and of the counterparts to these records in the St. John's Reformed Church series. Of note is a near-complete set of Old First Reformed Church burial records from 1775 to 1879, including burial records during the yellow fever epidemics, which in 1793 and 1798 took the lives of two pastors in succession from the German Reformed congregation. Of note also is a 1957 "self-study report" of the Old First congregation and of its West Philadelphia neighborhood, in the Administrative series.
Both demographic and architectural changes are reflected in the congregation's use of five church buildings on three different sites. Among the records that trace these construction projects and moves are subscription books for building the second Race Street church in the 1770s and the fourth church at 10th and Wallace streets in 1882, a building committee daybook and minutes from 1836-1837 (all in the Financial series) and several blueprints for the fifth (West Philadelphia) church, completed in 1925 (in the Administrative series). However, the collection does not document the church's most recent move, in the 1960s, back to its third church building on the Race Street site.
The Church Schools and Church Organizations and Projects series document a number of projects sponsored by the Old First Reformed Church, particularly its educational, missionary, and charitable work, as well as church groups that sponsored social events. Particularly extensive are records of the Sunday School, which was founded in 1806 and is the oldest German Reformed Sunday school in the United States. These include administrative, financial, and enrollment records for the school and records for several adult Bible classes. The Services and Events series includes numerous programs from Sunday services, church anniversaries, and other special events, primarily from the twentieth century, and detailed "Outlines of Worship" from services during World War II. Related materials, including a number of nineteenth-century programs and sermons, can be found in the OFRC History Scrapbook in the Historical Documentation and Interpretation series.
While the Sunday School and church services and events mainly served members of the congregation, other church projects focused on outreach to non-members locally, nationally, and internationally. Such projects included charitable work by the Society for Support of the Poor and the Ladies' Aid Society (later called Local Service Group), and missionary work by the Board of Domestic Missions and Woman's Missionary Society. Other aspects of the congregation's relations with the larger community are represented in various ways, such as the 1765 charter from John Penn expressing official endorsement of the German Reformed congregation, the church's early nineteenth-century dispute with the city government over use of the Franklin Square graveyard, and letters of support and sympathy to and from other congregations during the yellow fever epidemics of the 1790s, all located in the Administrative series.
The relations between Old First and other congregations, as well as the workings of the larger Reformed Church in the United States and its successor, the Evangelical and Reformed Church, are documented in the Higher Church Bodies and Other Congregations series and the St. John's Reformed Church series.
The congregation's linguistic history is reflected in the records themselves. Before 1819, the majority of records are in German, particularly internal records such as meeting minutes and account books, as opposed to receipts and some of the correspondence, which involved more interaction with the English-speaking community. Beginning in 1819, meeting minutes and financial records were recorded in English. After 1830, nearly all records are in English, except for the majority of missionaries' reports to the Board of Domestic Missions, as well as the records of St. Paul's Church (German Evangelical-Lutheran Congregation), which are in German. Most German-language records from 1830 or earlier are in the old German script and may be largely indecipherable to readers unfamiliar with such writing. Translations of some early letters and documents are in the Historical Documentation and Interpretation series. In the inventory, asterisks are used to note the presence of German-language material in a folder or volume.
There is considerable thematic overlap between the series for various reasons. Like items were sometimes filed in different places, some volumes were used for more than one purpose, and some items are inherently related to more than one series. For example, treasurer's reports are sometimes interfiled with meeting minutes in the Administrative series, a Charity School account book in the Church Schools series also includes records of rents on church-owned properties, and pew rental and burial records include information about membership and pastoral records but are in the Financial series because they also recorded church income. Such overlaps are noted at the end of each section in the series description.
Most series contain both volumes and unbound papers. For most of the congregation's history the most important records were kept in volumes. Within each series, volumes are listed first. Series 1 (Administrative) and 3 (Financial) contain oversized materials, which are located either in Box 104 or in flat file storage.
Series I
Administrative
Boxes 1-18
Series II
Pastoral and Membership
Boxes 19-32
Series III
Financial
Boxes 33-65
Series IV
Church Schools
Boxes 66-81
Series V
Church Organizations and Projects
Boxes 82-89
Series VI
Services and Events
Box 90
Series VII
St. John's Reformed Church
Boxes 91-96
Series VIII
Higher Church Bodies and Other Congregations
Boxes 97-101
Series IX
Historical Documentation and Interpretation
Boxes 102-103
Series 1. Administrative 1741-1960
(Boxes 1-18)
This series includes administrative records for the Old First Reformed Church as a whole, but not those for the church schools or organizations, or for St. John's Reformed Church before its merger with Old First. Materials include minutes, correspondence, documents concerning the graveyard in Franklin Square, and church property records.
Minutes record meetings of the congregation and its governing bodies: the Consistory (the minister, elders, and deacons) and the Corporation (members of the Consistory plus the trustees). The Corporation was later renamed the Board of Corporation, and, in the twentieth century, the Official Board. Sets of minutes are incomplete but extensive. Those for the congregational meetings and the Corporation cover large portions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while Consistory minutes span the years 1747-1910. Interfiled with the minutes, or copied into them, are budgets, letters, and reports from officers, committees, and church organizations. The minutes record the election of church officers and the appointment of committees, financial statements and decisions, changes in the charter and church policy, relations with the Synod and interfaith organizations, and other matters.
The correspondence includes both incoming and outgoing letters, as well as letters to and from the pastor, the church secretary, other church officers, committees, and organizations. Most of the correspondence is arranged chronologically, except for the years 1909-1939, which are arranged alphabetically (by name of individual, organization, or, occasionally, topic) for the whole thirty-year period. Up until 1840, a few other church documents were interfiled with correspondence, such as receipts, extracts from minutes, and petitions. The correspondence documents the congregation's relations with the Synod, other churches, and a variety of other religious, community, and charitable organizations; legal opinions regarding church elections and other disputes; the appointment and resignation of church employees, including the pastor; invitations to visiting pastors to preach at the church; insurance, upkeep, purchase, and sale of church property; expressions of sympathy to sick or bereaved congregation members; and many other matters.
Both the minutes and correspondence from about 1800 to 1830 document the debate over whether to use German, English, or both in church services and in school classes.
Papers concerning the Franklin Square graveyard include survey maps, indentures, correspondence, and legal opinions. These records document creation of the graveyard and the congregation's protracted discussions with the state and city governments, the latter's eventual decision to reclaim the land for use as a park, and the state law granting the congregation a new lot for burial purposes.
Most of the property records concern church-owned lands in Luzerne County, which the State of Pennsylvania awarded to the German Reformed Congregation as compensation for educating "charity" students. The church believed the land to be of little value and tried to sell it, eventually losing title for failure to pay the taxes. These records include a survey map, powers of attorney for men empowered by the congregation to sell the land, and their reports on the land's condition and the prospects for selling it.
In addition, Series 1 also includes several editions of the church's constitution and bylaws, opinions of counsel regarding church elections, statistical reports about the church from the 1940s and 1950s, and a few official government documents, notably a 1763 statement of permission from the governor to raise money for a new church building. A copy of the congregation's 1765 charter is included in the volume of Minutes of the Consistory and receipts (1741-1808) in Box 1.
Related materials in other series:
William J. Hinke's translations and transcriptions of approximately 100 early (1755-1835) congregation letters and documents are in Series 9 (Historical Documentation and Interpretation). The Old First Reformed Church scrapbook, also in Series 9, contains further excerpts and translations from several congregation documents (1734-1795), as well as the congregation's 1847 by-laws.
Series 2. Pastoral and Membership 1747-1964
(Boxes 19-32)
Pastoral records include records of baptisms, confirmations, communions, marriages, and deaths. These records are incomplete but extensive for the years 1748-1955. Membership records in this series include handwritten lists, membership certificates, and letters of transfer and dismission, and cover most of the years 1759-1789 and 1833-1950. There are also several printed directories published between 1933 and 1951.
Pastoral records often record not only a person's name but also address and other information. Baptismal records include names of the parents and date of birth. Early marriage records sometimes list occupation, whether a person was a widow or widower, and whether a bride was a "youngwoman" (literal translation of Jungfrau, i.e., a virgin). Death records may list dates of birth and death, the cemetery where the person is buried, and names of survivors.
Related materials in other series:
Records of pew rents and member contributions, subscription lists for specific funds, and wills and bequests are all filed in Series 3 (Financial) because they chiefly concern church income. Burial records, the majority of which list payments for graves, are also located in Series 3, except for burial information in general volumes of pastoral records. Church School roll books (in Series 5, Church Organizations and Projects) also provide membership information. Pastoral and membership records for St. John's Reformed Church before its merger with Old First Reformed Church are in Series 8 (St. John's Reformed Church). Some letters of transfer and dismission, and some letters concerning execution of wills, are included in the correspondence files in Series 1 (Administrative). Family history notes, clippings, and photographs on several families that may have included congregation members are in Series 9 (Historical Documentation and Interpretation).
Series 3. Financial 1752-1963
(Boxes 33-65)
This series includes financial records of the church as a whole, but not those of the church schools or organizations. The records are divided into three categories: income, expenses, and combined accounts that list both income and expenses. Combined accounts cover most of the years 1781-1926 and 1953-1962 and include cash books, ledgers, treasurer's reports and summaries, as well as accounts for specific funds, such as construction of a new church building or schoolhouse.
The most extensive income records are pew rents (1771-1889) and contributions of members (1911-1963), both of which are nearly complete for the years indicated. Other income records list plate collections, rent from church-owned properties, burial payments, bonds (loans to the church), wills and bequests, and subscriptions for specific funds. Burial records often note whether the person buried is a child or infant. A large proportion of them were.
Expense records include bills and receipts, orders drawn on the treasurer, lists of payments, contractors' estimates, and checkbook stubs, and represent most years between 1761 and 1958.
Related materials in other series:
Series 3 does not include financial records for the Church School, church organizations, or St. John's Reformed Church before its merger with Old First Reformed Church. These records are in Series 4, 5, and 7, respectively. In addition, most treasurer's reports and budgets are interfiled with the minutes in Series 1 (Administrative). A few early receipts and other financial documents are included among the translated and transcribed documents in Series 9 (Historical Documentation and Interpretation)
Series 4. Church Schools 1801-1967
(Boxes 66-81)
This series documents the schools and classes sponsored by the Old First Reformed Church. A weekday school known as the Parochial School or Charity School operated from 1745 until about 1887. A Sunday school, referred to also in the records as the Sabbath School or, in the twentieth century, simply as the Church School, was founded in 1806 and continues to this day. In the twentieth century, several adult Bible classes, including the Crusaders men's class, the Good Samaritans, and the Servae Regis class, functioned as semi-autonomous organizations under the auspices of the Sunday School.
The records for the Parochial School include several volumes labeled Charity School account books, covering most of the years 1801-1887, and a register of children for the years 1808-1819. (No records from the Kensington weekday school have been preserved, although it is mentioned in Corporation minutes.)
The Sunday School records include minutes of the governing body, financial records, and enrollment and attendance records. The school's governing body, formed in 1849, was known by several names: Sabbath School Association, Sunday School Association, Teachers Association, Church School Association, and, after 1948, the Committee on Christian Education. This body oversaw the curriculum, school budget, enrollment and promotion of students, school library, and special events such as sending students to youth conferences. The minutes of this body cover the years 1849-1931 and 1944-1959; reports of school-related activities are interfiled with the minutes. Financial records span the years 1878-1958 and include daybooks, ledgers, treasurer's reports, receipts, bank statements, and check stubs. Some treasurer's reports are also interfiled with the minutes. Enrollment and attendance records represent the years 1889-1926 and 1949-1965. Some of these records also list contributions collected from students.
Records for the adult classes include Crusaders Class minutes, reports, correspondence, and financial records, mostly from the years 1919-1967, and Good Samaritan Class minutes and reports from 1904-1908 and 1938-1958. Both of these classes organized social gatherings in addition to their study sessions; the Crusaders, at least, also chose their own teacher and took some interest in public affairs, as indicated by a 1919 letter to the governor on Prohibition.
The series also includes one box of pamphlets and flyers that make up a "Superintendent's Kit" produced by the Board of Christian Education of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, ca. 1950. The kit provides suggestions to church schools on training, organization, curriculum design, and other areas.
Related materials in other series:
One copy of the Reformed Church's educational periodical, Heidelberg Teacher, is in Series 8 (Higher Church Bodies and Other Congregations). Some programs for Sunday School events are in the Old First Reformed Church scrapbook in Series 9 (Historical Documentation and Interpretation).
Series 5. Church Organizations and Projects 1792-1961
(Boxes 82-89)
This series documents the work of a range of organizations and projects affiliated with Old First Reformed Church from the 1790s to the mid-twentieth century. Volumes and papers are each arranged alphabetically by name of organization or project, and for each group may include constitution and bylaws, minutes, reports, correspondence, member lists, and financial records. The principal groups represented are: Board of Domestic Missions, Woman's Missionary Society, Society for Support of the Poor, Ladies' Aid Society, Young People's Association, and Men Of Old First.
The Board of Domestic Missions was headquartered at Old First Reformed Church, although it also had ties with the larger Synod. Its records (1852-1865) include reports from missionaries in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Kentucky. Many of the reports are in German, reflecting the denomination's continuing focus on German-speaking communities a generation after the Philadelphia congregation had fully embraced English. Filed after the Board's papers are a few related records of late nineteenth-century missionary work. The Woman's Missionary Society supported missionary work both in the United States and abroad. Its files (1898-1942) include letters from missionaries in rural Mexico and British East Africa, at girls' schools in Japan and China, with Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, and with European immigrants on Ellis Island, New York, and in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The records of the Society for Support of the Poor (1792-1822) include a printed set of regulations and lists of monthly payments and the poor families receiving them. One century later, the Ladies' Aid Society conducted fundraising, provided charitable gifts to poor people and orphans, and visited the sick. The Society was renamed the Local Service Group in approximately 1942. Its records span the years 1897-1946.
The Young People's Association also did some charity work as well as fundraising for various church projects, but concentrated more on social events such as parties, picnics, and trips. Founded in 1919, it changed its name in 1931 to the Good Fellowship Club and disbanded in 1942 when World War II caused attendance to fall. Papers in its files, however, span 1917-1954. Men Of Old First, whose records cover 1949-1961, concentrated on organizing social events such as dances and concerts.
Related materials in other series:
Some reports by organizations to the Congregation or the governing board are filed in the minutes and reports section of Series 1 (Administrative). Some letters between church organizations and the pastor or other church officers are filed in the correspondence section of Series 1. Some programs for events sponsored by the Ladies' Aid Society, the Missionary Society, and the Woman's Missionary Society are in the Old First Reformed Church scrapbook in Series 9 (Historical Documentation and Interpretation). Records of the Woman's Missionary Society of St. John's Church, before the latter's merger with Old First, are in Series 7 (St. John's Reformed Church). Records of the Philadelphia Classis Woman's Missionary Society and the national and regional Evangelical and Reformed Church Women's Guilds are in Series 8 (Higher Church Bodies and Other Congregations). (A classis is a church district or council below the level of a synod.)
Series 6. Services and Events 1877-1976
(Box 90)
This series contains notes for worship services from the years 1939-1943, service programs from 1888 to 1952, and programs, correspondence, and other items documenting a number of Old First Reformed Church's major anniversary celebrations between 1877 and 1952. Of particular note are the 1939-1943 "outlines of worship," a detailed compilation of themes, litanies, hymns, and prayers. Themes addressed in this World War II-era document include racial reconciliation, world peace, and the four freedoms. There are also a few copies of the congregation's monthly bulletins The Gleaner (1902-1923) and The Restorator (1976).
Related materials in other series:
A few service and anniversary programs are interfiled with minutes and reports in Series 1 (Administrative). Records of events sponsored by church organizations, such as dinners, are filed under the name of the organization in Series 6 (Church Organizations and Projects). Some programs for events are in the Old First Reformed Church scrapbook in Series 9 (Historical Documentation and Interpretation).
Series 7. St. John's Reformed Church 1865-1938
(Boxes 91-96)
In 1935, Old First Reformed Church merged with St. John's Reformed Church, located at 40th and Spring Garden streets. Founded in 1865, St. John's was known for a time as the Reformed Church of the Strangers. The series includes a complete set of Consistory minutes for the period of St. John's existence, as well as shorter runs of minutes for meetings of the Congregation and the Board of Trustees. There is also correspondence; pastoral, membership, and financial records; a treasurer's book from the congregation's Woman's Missionary Society; and papers documenting the merger with Old First Reformed Church.
Related materials in other series:
Some correspondence between St. John's and First Church before the merger, as well as the merger agreement itself, is filed under St. John's Church in the correspondence files in Series 1 (Administrative).
Series 8. Higher Church Bodies and Other Congregations 1863-1960
(Boxes 97-101)
This series contains magazines, newspapers, yearbooks, reports and proceedings, minutes, pamphlets, newsletters, and correspondence. There are several issues of the Reformed Church's general periodical, The Messenger (1874-1927), and one 1925 issue of its educational periodical, Heidelberg Teacher. There are annual meeting proceedings from the Evangelical and Reformed Church's Philadelphia synod and national and regional Women's Guilds, all from the 1950s, reports from the Reformed Church's Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1884) and the Woman's Missionary Society for the Philadelphia Classis, or district council (1934-1935), Evangelical and Reformed Church stewardship pamphlets from the 1940s, and a few other regional and national Reformed Church publications.
There is an 1833 report from the Philadelphia City Mission, an interdenominational body.
The series also contains publications and records of other congregations. There are minutes, reports, programs, letters, and other items from the German Evangelical-Lutheran Congregation of St. Paul's Church (1908-1951, mostly in German). There are anniversary programs and other brief printed materials from the Heidelberg Evangelical and Reformed Church, and St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church, both of Philadelphia, as well as Central Schwenkfelder Church (Worcester, PA), Christ Church, Evangelical and Reformed (Alexandria, PA), Christ Evangelical & Reformed Church at Indian Creek, and Falkner Swamp Reformed Church. (St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church building was originally used by former members of Old First Reformed Church who founded a separate, short-lived congregation in 1763.)
Within this series, items from the Reformed Church and the Evangelical and Reformed Church precede items from other church denominations and follow this order: national church general publications, specialized national church bodies, regional bodies, synod bodies, classis bodies.
Related materials in other series:
Correspondence with higher church bodies and with other congregations is included in Series 1 (Administrative). There is a separate series (Series 7) for materials from St. John's Reformed Church, which merged with Old First Reformed Church in 1935.
Series 9. Historic Documentation and Interpretation 1820-1959
(Boxes 102-103)
This series contains items related to efforts by the Old First Reformed Church and others to document and interpret the history of the congregation, Philadelphia, and individual families. Materials include correspondence, lists, typescripts, pamphlets, notes, newspaper clippings, invitations, programs, and photographs.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, Dr. William J. Hinke transcribed many older congregation records, translating some of those that were in German. Typed copies of approximately 100 of these translations and transcriptions, from 1755 to 1835, are included in this series. These items are included in a list of 165 documents that Dr. Hinke compiled in 1924, spanning the years 1755-1886. A handwritten original and a typed copy of the list are included in this series. The series also includes a list of Old First Reformed Church records compiled for the Civil Works Administration (a federal agency that existed from 1933 to 1935), as well as correspondence regarding the copying and preserving of old congregation records.
The Old First Reformed Church scrapbook, which has been disbound, contains a variety of material from 1837-1913 (bulk 1863-1888), most of which are not found elsewhere in the collection. Items are mostly printed and include church by-laws (including the 1847 by-laws), programs for services and events, news clippings, invitations, pamphlets, fundraising appeals, several printed sermons by Rev. David Van Horne from the 1880s, and excerpts and translations from congregation documents, 1734-1795. Events sponsored by the Sunday School, Missionary Society, Woman's Missionary Society, and Ladies' Aid Society are well represented. The arrangement of items is not chronological.
Interpretive writings about the congregation's history include a sermon by Rev. David Van Horne on the history of the Sunday School and a 1947 booklet entitled A Brief History of Old First Church, commissioned by the congregation for its 220th anniversary.
This series also includes a scrapbook of newspaper clippings (1820-1919) on Philadelphia history and other topics. Of note is a series of clippings on the history of Philadelphia religious denominations, including the Reformed Church (pp. 55-58).
Other materials include a few pamphlets and articles on Pennsylvania German communities, notes and clippings on the Seal, Baily, Daniel, Lohmire, and Hayes families, and photographic copies of old photographs of members of the Seal, Hayes, and other families.
Church records and registers-Pennsylvania-Philadelphia
German Americans- History-Sources
German Americans-Pennsylvania-Philadelphia
Marriage records-Pennsylvania-Philadelphia
Philadelphia (Pa.)-Church history
Registers of births, etc.-Pennsylvania-Philadelphia
Evangelical and Reformed Church-History-Sources
German Reformed Church-History-Sources
German Reformed Congregation (Philadelphia, Pa.)-History-Sources
German Reformed Congregation (Philadelphia, Pa.)- Records and correspondence
German Reformed Congregation (Philadelphia, Pa.)-Registers
Old First Reformed Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)-History-Sources
Old First Reformed Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)-Records and correspondence
Old First Reformed Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)-Registers
Reformed Church in the United States-History-Sources
Reformed Church of the Stranger (Philadelphia, Pa.)-History-Sources
Reformed Church of the Stranger (Philadelphia, Pa.)- Records and correspondence
Reformed Church of the Stranger (Philadelphia, Pa.)-Registers
St. John's Reformed Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)-History-Sources
St. John's Reformed Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)-Records and correspondence
St. John's Reformed Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)-Registers
United Church of Christ-History-Sources
Processed by: Matthew Lyons
Processing Completed: December 2001
This collection was largely unorganized when it arrived at HSP. Portions that were arranged or at least grouped together before processing included many of the pre-1850 administrative and financial records, twentieth-century correspondence and minutes, anniversary materials, and Sunday School records. In processing, related materials were interfiled with or added to these materials and additional categories were created to reflect functions and organizational subdivisions within the church.
A few items were cleaned for mold in October 2001 and February 2002. These items are indicated in the inventory and on the folders and boxes.
The collection is open for research.
Gift of the Old First Reformed Church, 1997.
Accession number: 970825.11
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Old First Reformed Church Records (Collection 3010), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Other works at HSP related to the Old First Reformed Church include the following:
The 1727 Society. Newsletter of the 1727 Society of the Old First Reformed Church, UCC. Vols. 1-6 (1996-2001).
Bomberger, J. H. A. Five Years' Ministry in the German Reformed Church, in Race Street, Below Fourth, Philadelphia: An Anniversary Sermon, Preached January 8, 1860. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1860.
Early Marriage Records of Pennsylvania Churches: German Reformed Church, Philadelphia. Miami, FL: The Pennsylvania Traveler, 1965. Reprinted from the 2nd series of The Pennsylvania archives, published in 1878. Compiled by Richard T. Williams and Mildred C. Williams.
"First Reformed Church of Philadelphia." Vols. 1-4A. Collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, vols. 75-78 (1903-1908). Handwritten copy of Old First Reformed Church records, with German and Latin entries translated into English. Vol. 1: baptisms 1748-1785; a history of the church; William J. Hinke, "The First Fifty Years of the First Reformed Church of Philadelphia, 1727-1777" (1902); maps and discussion of Franklin Square burial ground. Vol. 2: baptisms, 1785-1813. Vol. 3: baptisms 1813-1852, marriages 1748-1852. Vol. 3A: burials 1748-1809, communicants 1768-1829. Vols. 4 and 4A: index.
First Reformed Church (Philadelphia). The Gleaner. Newsletter. Vol. 1, nos. 1-3 (1902).
Reformed Church in the United States. Minutes and Letters of the Coetus of the German Reformed Congregations in Pennsylvania, 1747-1792, Together with Three Preliminary Reports of the Rev. John Philip Boehm, 1734-1744. Philadelphia, Pa: Reformed Church Publication Board, 1903.
"Reformed Church Records of Eastern Pennsylvania." Copied by William J. Hinke. Filmed by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1947. Part 8 includes Philadelphia First Reformed Church records transcribed by William J. Hinke, ca. 1920-1940. Pastoral records: Vol. 1, 1748-1785; Vol. 2, 1774-1789; Vol. 3, 1786-1799; Vol. 4, 1797-1805. Consistory records: Vol. 1, 1747-1753; Vol. 2, 1763-1800. In German and English. Microfilm.
Reformed German Church. Charter of the Evangelical Reformed Congregation, of the City and Vicinity of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1830.
Rogers, William. The Prayer, Delivered on Saturday the 22d of February, 1800, in the German Reformed Church, Philadelphia, Before the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati. Philadelphia : Printed by John Ormrod, 1800.
Schaeffer, Charles Edward. History of the Classis of Philadelphia of the Reformed Church in the United States. Philadelphia, Pa.?: Classis of Philadelphia, 1944. Includes a brief discussion of the Old First Reformed Church.
Van Horne, David. A History of the Reformed Church in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, PA: Reformed Church Publication Board; Grant, Faires & Rogers, 1876.
A Brief History of the Old First Church, Evangelical and Reformed. Booklet. Philadelphia, PA: Old First Church, 1947.
Kerschner, Harold B. "The First Sunday School of the Reformed Church in the U.S." Heidelberg Teacher, v. 52, n. 6 (June 1925), pp. 303-304.
Nolt, Steven M. "Liberty, Tyranny, and Ethnicity: The German Reformed 'Free Synod' Schism (1819-1823) and the Americanization of an Ethnic Church." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 125, nos. 1/2 (January/April 2001), pp. 35-60.
"Old First Reformed Church...Then and Now." Old First Reformed Church website.
O'Malley, Therese. Architectural History of Old First Reformed Church. Booklet. Philadelphia, PA: Old First Reformed Church, 1977.
Richards, George W. "Pioneer Ministers and Congregations of the Reformed Church in the United States." Heidelberg Teacher, v. 52, n. 6 (June 1925), pp. 299-301.
Self-Study Report. Philadelphia, PA: First Evangelical & Reformed Church (United Church of Christ), 1957.
"A Short Course in UCC History." United Church of Christ website.
Van Horne, David. A History of the Reformed Church in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, PA: Reformed Church Publication Board; Grant, Faires & Rogers, 1876.
Series I. Administrative
Volumes
1Minutes of the Consistory (1763-1808) and receipts (1741-66)**1741-1808
2Minutes of the Consistory (1747-53) and ledger (1760-1802)**1747-1802
2Minutes of the Consistory (1792-1809) and treasurer's accounts (1793)**1792-1809
3Minutes of the Consistory**1808-1818
3Minutes of the Consistory1852-1906
4Minutes of the Consistory1909-1910
4Minutes of the Corporation*1818-1835
5Minutes of the Corporation1835-1861
6Minutes of the Corporation and Board of Corporation1861-1903
7Minutes of the Board of Corporation1903-1919
8Minutes of the Board of Corporation1920-1929
9Minutes of the Board of Corporation1930-1941
10Minutes of the Board of Corporation1942-1951
11Register of miscellaneous writings1741-1817
11Letter book* [fragile]1751-1883
11Register of letters*1773-1813
11Vestry memorandum book1784-1789
b. Files
121Constitutions and bylaws1837-19115 items
122Congregational meetings - minutes, elections, reports*1832-188213 items
123Congregational meetings - minutes, elections, reports1888-1892, n. d.11 items
124Congregational meetings - minutes, annual reports1919-19232 items
125Budgets (printed cards)1930-19425 items
126Congregational meetings - minutes, annual reports1933-193756 items
127Congregational meetings - minutes, annual reports1938-194060 items
128Congregational meetings - resolutions, reports1941-194611 items
129Treasurer's annual reports1945-19484 items
1210Congregation - annual reports, budgets1949-195318 items
1211Congregational meetings - minutes, annual reports, budgets1954-19577 items
1212Congregational meetings - minutes, annual reports, budgets195824 items
1213Congregational meetings - annual reports, budgets1959-19609 items
1214Corporation - resolutions, reports1834-1871, n. d.14 items
1215Board of Corporation - minutes, reports1888-189218 items
1216Board of Corporation - minutes, reports1917-19212 items
12 17Official Board and committees - lists of members1932-1946, n. d.13 items
1218Official Board - resolutions, officers' and committee reports1940-194949 items
1219Official Board - officers' and committee reports1950-1951, n. d.13 items
131Official Board - officers' and committee reportsJan.-June 195238 items
132Official Board - officers' and committee reportsJuly-Dec. 195250 items
133Official Board - officers' and committee reports19534 items
134Official Board minutes, officers' and committee reports195498 items
135Official Board minutes, officers' and committee reports195588 items
136Official Board minutes, officers' and committee reports195679 items
137Official Board minutes, officers' and committee reports195779 items
138Official Board minutes, officers' and committee reportsJan.-Aug. 195849 items
139Official Board minutes, officers' and committee reportsAug.-Dec. 195829 items
1310Official Board minutes, officers' and committee reports195979 items
141Official Board - treasurer's monthly reportsMay 1951-Jan. 1959100 items
142Official Board - officers' and committee reportsn. d. (ca. 1950s)2 items
143Correspondence and documents**1759-17899 items
104Conrad Rush and Martin Thomas indenture17711 item
144Correspondence and documents**1791-17996 items
145Correspondence and documents**1801-180510 items
146Correspondence and documents**1806-180810 items
147Correspondence and documents**1811-181510 items
148Correspondence and documents**1816-18178 items
149Correspondence and documents*1818-182012 items
1410Correspondence and documents*1821-182912 items
1411Correspondence and documentsJan.-May 18307 items
1412Correspondence and documents*June-Oct. 18308 items
1413Correspondence and documents (English language)n. d., ca. 1770-18307 items
1414Correspondence and documents (German language)**n. d., ca. 1770-18309 items
1415Correspondence and documents1831-184010 items
1416Correspondence1841-186927 items
151Correspondence1870-189019 items
152Correspondence1891-189810 items
153Correspondence - A1913-193318 items
154Correspondence - Ba-Be1913-193421 items
155Correspondence - Bo1913-193432 items
156Correspondence - Br-Bz1913-193445 items
157Correspondence - Ca-Ch1909-193720 items
158Correspondence - Cl-Cz1909-1937, n. d.35 items
159Correspondence - D1910-1936, n. d.35 items
1510Correspondence - E1913-193530 items
1511Correspondence - F1919-193817 items
1512Correspondence - G1914-193342 items
1513Correspondence - H1914-1939, n. d.49 items
1514Correspondence - I-J1911-193324 items
1515Correspondence - Ka-Ke1915-193934 items
1516Correspondence - Kl-Kz1923-193913 items
1517Correspondence - L1909-193928 items
161Correspondence - M1914-1937 35 items
162Correspondence - N-O1922-1939, n. d.29 items
163Correspondence - Pa-Ph1918-1939, n. d.44 items
164Correspondence - Pl-Q1916-193420 items
165Correspondence - R1913-193944 items
166Correspondence - Sa-Se1909-193937 items
167Correspondence - Sh-Sz1909-193938 items
168Correspondence - T-V1918-193610 items
169Correspondence - W-Z1913-193744 items
1610Correspondence - form letters1913-193811 items
1611Correspondence194033 items
1612Correspondence194123 items
1613Correspondence194221 items
1614Correspondence194312 items
1615Correspondence194444 items
1616Correspondence194527 items
1617Correspondence194645 items
1618Correspondence1947-19558 items
1619Official Board and Secretary - correspondence195637 items
1620Official Board - correspondence1957, n. d.14 items
1621Official Board - correspondence195826 items
171Graveyard in Franklin Square [cleaned for mold 2/02]1741-179710 items
172Graveyard in Franklin Square180111 items
173Petition concerning new burial ground, 17th Street and Cherry12 January 18011 item
174Graveyard in Franklin Square1805-18199 items
175Graveyard in Franklin Square1821-18308 items
176Graveyard in Franklin Square1831-18348 items
177Graveyard in Franklin Square18357 items
178Graveyard in Franklin SquareFeb.-Mar. 18369 items
179Graveyard in Franklin SquareApr. 1836-18375 items
1710Graveyard in Franklin Squaren. d.9 items
1711Luzerne County lands*1789-18018 items
1712Luzerne County lands*1813-1820 6 items
1713Luzerne County lands1821-1826 11 items
1714Luzerne County lands1829-1838 12 items
1715Luzerne County lands1839-184010 items
104Luzerne County lands - letter to Charles Schreiner18401 item
1716Luzerne County lands1841-1843 15 items
1717Luzerne County lands1844-185511 items
1718Luzerne County lands**n. d.1 item
104Luzerne County lands - survey mapn. d.1 item
Flat filePermission by Governor for Rothenbuhler, Jacob Roth, and Conrad Alster to collect £1500 for a new church1 June 17631 item
181Permission by Governor for Rothenbuhler, Jacob Roth, and Conrad Alster to collect £1500 for a new church (transcription)1 June 17631 item
182Registration of congregation name with Pennsylvania Department of State19686 items
183Opinions of counsel on various questions relating to elections affecting the Corporation1804-184714 items
184Church property1832-1884, n. d.12 items
185Church property 1916-194515 items
186Specifications for church and Sunday-school building at 50th and Locust streets19171 item
187Architect's cover letter re: 50th & Locust church building blueprints19241 item
Flat fileBlueprints for 50th & Locust church building, bronze memorial tablet1923-19273 items
188Statistical reports1940-19465 items
189Self-study report1 Jan. 19571 item
1810Miscellaneous and unidentified items1922, n. d.5 items
Series II. Pastoral and membership
a. Volumes
19Pastoral records, Vol.. 1* (in German, Latin, English)1748-1785
20Pastoral records, Vol. 2 - baptisms 1774-89, confirmations 1768-1831* (in German, Latin, English - fragile)1768-1831
21Pastoral records, Vol.. 3 - baptism, marriage, burial records* (in German, Latin, English - fragile)1786-1831 (spine title "1817")
21Pastoral records, Vol. 4 - baptism, marriage, burial records (in Latin, English - fragile)1797-1805
22Church register - ministerial record, members, marriages, baptisms, communions, deaths1910-1925
23Parish register - confirmations, baptisms, marriages, losses [deaths], members admitted, communicant members, communion1907-1964 (bulk 1925-53)
24Baptisms1805-1831
25Baptisms and births [fragile]1832-1910
26Baptismal records (+ copied records of baptisms, marriages, deaths, 1748-59)1833-1851
27Communion records**1792-1813, 1824
27Communion records*1813-1831
28Communion and new members1832-1876
28Communion and new members1875-1910
25Marriages1832-1910
29Marriage record1837-1852
30Record of communicant members1833-1852
31Directory of First Reformed ChurchJan. 1933
31Directory First Reformed ChurchSep. 1935
31A Directory of the Membership of Old First (The Mirror, January 1948)1948
31The Old First Church Directory [unmarked copy]1949
31The Old First Church Directory [page 5 annotations]1949
31The Old First Church Directory [Beatrice W. Derrickson copy, with annotations]1949
31The Old First Church Directory1950
31The Old First Church Directory1951
b. Files
321Baptismal records1947-195162 items
322Baptismal records1952-195549 items
323Communion recordsDec. 18751 item
324Communion records1946-19489 items
325Communion records1949-19509 items
326Communion records19515 items
327Communion records1952-19537 items
328Marriage records1855, 1879, n. d.4 items
329Marriage records and licenses1947-194937 items
3210Marriage records and licenses1954-195527 items
3211Marriage records and licenses1958-196112 items
3212Funeral records1947-195148 items
3213Funeral records1952-195561 items
3214Pastoral records - miscellaneous1747-193512 items
3215Membership records -Subscription list to the salary of the minister (1756) and lists of communicants (1759-89)**1756-178913 items
3216Membership records -Subscription list (1756) and lists of communicants (1759-89) (English translation)n. d.1 item
3217Membership records1850-1884, n. d.17 items
3218Membership records (includes baptisms)1898-189924 items
3219Membership lists (includes baptisms)1900-1907, n. d.20 items
3220Membership correspondence and certificates1900-1909, n. d.15 items
3221Membership records1916-191813 items
3222Membership records1920-192910 items
3223Membership records1931-193516 items
3224Membership records1941-19442 items
3225Membership records - letters of transfer booklet1946-19501 item
Series III. Financial
a. Volumes
33Treasurer's record** [fragile]1781-1807
33Account book*1806-1821
33Treasurer's record*1808-1831
34Account book* [fragile]1816-1843
35Treasurer's book1851-1889
35Ledger1890-1898
35Treasurer's book1889-1910
36Treasurer's cash book1910-1926
36Building fund expenses and subscriptions* 1771-1775, and building committee daybook and minutes 1836-18371771-1837
37Pew rents*1771-1774
37Pew rents*1774-1775
37Pew rents*1776-1786
38Pew rents1786-1794
39Pew rents1794-1803
40Pew rents1802-1808
40Pew rents1832-1837
41Pew rents1837-1843
42Pew rents1844-1854
42Indexes to pew rent book (3 volumes)1802-1808[?]
43Pew rents1844-1889
44Pew rents1854-1864
45Pew rents1865-1889
45Financial records - pew rents 1837-1843, subscriptions to pay off the church debt 1884-1891, rents on properties owned by the church 1890-18911837-1891
46Contributions of members1911
46Contributions of members1912-1913
46Contributions of members1914-1915
46Contributions of members1916
47Contributions of members1916-1917, 1932-1933
47Contributions of members1917-1918
47Contributions of members1919-1920
47Contributions of members1921
48Contributions of members1922
48Contributions of members1923
48Contributions of members1924
48Contributions of members1925
48Contributions of members1926
48Contributions of members1927
49Contributions of members1928
49Contributions of members1929
49Contributions of members1930
49Contributions of members1931
50Contributions of members1932
50Contributions of members1933
50Contributions of members1934
50Contributions of members1934-1935
51Contributions of members1935
51Contributions of members1936
51Contributions of members1937
51Contributions of members1938
52Contributions of members1939
52Contributions of members1940
52Contributions of members1941
52Contributions of members1942
53Contributions of members1943
53Contributions of members1944
53Contributions of members1945
53Contributions of members1946
54Contributions of members1947
54Contributions of members1948
54Contributions of members1949
54Contributions of members1950
55Contributions of members1951
55Contributions of members1952
55Contributions of members1953
55Contributions of members1954
56Contributions of members1955
56Contributions of members1956
56Contributions of members1962
56Contributions of members1963
57Plate collection book**1769-1781
57Plate collection book*1790[?]-1837
57Plate collection book**1794-1813
57Cash collection book1837-1852
57Rent book1855-1879
57Order book for graves*1775-1794
57Order book for graves*1795-1798
57Order book for graves*1799-1809
58Burial permits (1836-79) and receipts for burials (1808-15, 1824-36) [fragile]1808-1879
57List of bonds*1789-1818
59Dead bond book1752-1808
59Record of wills1762-1816
59Subscriptions for new church building*1771-1779
60Subscription book, No. 2 (for finishing the new church on Race Street)1772-1775
60Subscription book, No. 31772-1775
59Treasurer's book - after British occupation, contributions for repair of church*1779-1785
59Subscriptions to building fund1882-1889
61Building fund1923-1924
61Building fund1924-1926
61Building fund1926-1927
61Building fund1928-1929
60Organ subscription book**1817-1818
60Sinking fund subscriptions1862-1864
60Collections for the Bridesburg Orphans Home1865-1866
60Vestry orders drawn on treasurer1784-1789
60Receipt book1799-1822
60Charity accounts1857-1869
62Orders drawn on treasurer1908-1915
62Payments1920-1927
62Checkbook stubs1950-1957
b. Files
631Treasurer's accounts and receipts*1766-1832, n. d.17 items
632Treasurer's reports, financial summaries1886-192014 items
633Account book (folder 1 of 3)1953-19623 items
634Account book (folder 2 of 3)1953-19621 item
635Account book (folder 3 of 3)1953-19621 item
636Account book for building a new school house1796-17971 item
637Sale of Race Street church, construction of new church at 10th and Wallace streets1882-188712 items
638Upper room project - receipts and expenditures19461 item
639Pew rents and possible pew rents*ca. 1780-1868, n. d.11 items
6310Member contributions notes, non-contributors, erasures1921-1942, n. d.52 items
6311Member contributions notes, non-contributors, erasures1943-196344 items
6312[List of members to solicit for contributions?] (removed from Building Fund 1924-26 volume)n. d.2 items
6313Burial permits**1760-176229 items
6314Burial payments17631 item
6315Burial permits [cleaned for mold 2/02]18351 item
6316Burial records1835-1877, n. d.6 items
104Conrad Rush bond1771-17721 item
6317Cancelled bonds1774-17899 items
104Christopher Schreiner bond17891 item
6318Cancelled bonds1790-179910 items
641Cancelled bonds1800-18376 items
104John Adam Cullman bond1805-18291 item
642Bequests1800-18124 items
643Bequests - Mrs. Ellen Jordan1912-193874 items
644Bequests1919-19308 items
645Bequests - Mary Eddleman 1927-193560 items
646Subscribers to pay church debts*1759-17641 item
647Subscription book** [cleaned for mold 2/02]1791-17921 item
648Subscription book for building a school house*April 4, 17961 item
649Subscription book**1813-18141 item
6410Subscription book**1815-18171 item
6411Subscription records19201 item
6412Church income and fundraising - miscellaneous1866-1888, n. d.9 items
6413Church income and fundraising - miscellaneous1914-1938, n. d.8 items
6414Numbered vouchers, bills, accounts [item No. 1 is missing]*1771-177231 items
6415Numbered vouchers, bills, accounts*177233 items
6416Numbered vouchers, bills, accounts*1772-177334 items
651Bills and receipts*1761-177921 items
652Bills and receipts** [cleaned for mold 2/02]1780-178948 items
653Bills and receipts*1790-1794, n. d.15 items
654Committee book to put a new roof on church18091 item
655Bills and receipts1809-183716 items
656Bills, receipts, bids1843-186014 items
657Bills, receipts, estimates1869-1888, n. d.9 items
658Bills and receipts188912 items
659Bills and receipts189038 items
6510Bills and receipts189131 items
6511Bills and receipts189231 items
6512Bills and receiptsn. d. (ca. 1889-92)5 items
6513Bills and receipts1940-Apr. 194543 items
6514Bills and receiptsMay-June 194581 items
6515Bills and receiptsJuly-Oct. 194565 items
6516Bills and payment records1949-195123 items
6517Bills and receipts1954-195517 items
6518Statement of expenditures1923-19261 item
6519Payment records1937-194159 items
6520Payment records1942-194554 items
6521Check stubs1944-195818 items
Series IV. Church schools
a. Volumes
66Charity School account book (1801-39) and OFRC rent book (1879-89)1801-1889
66Charity School account book**1808-1816
66Charity School account book1823-1845
66Charity School account book1850-1887
66Parochial School register of children**1808-1819
66Sabbath School Association minutes1849-1874
67Sabbath School Association constitution and minutes [cleaned for mold 2/02]1875-1884
68Sunday School Association minutes and other records1885-1893
68Sunday School Association minutes1893-1905
69Sunday School Association minutes1905-1919
69Teachers Association minutes1919-1921
69Sunday School treasurer's book1878-1890
68Sunday School cash book1900-1906
70Sunday School ledger1909-1944
70Sunday School day book1916-1944
71Sunday School attendance and offering records [cleaned for mold 2/02]1889-1902
71Sunday School record book (attendance and offerings)1903-1916
72Primary Department roll bookca. 1909-1911
72Sunday School Roll book1916
72Sunday School Roll book1919-1920
73Primary Department roll book1915-1919
73Sunday School Roll book1916-1921
73Sunday School Roll book1920-1926
73Junior Class roll book1922-1926
74Sunday School Attendance record1949
74Sunday School Attendance record1950
74Sunday School Attendance record1951
74Sunday School Attendance record1952
74Sunday School Attendance record1955
74Sunday School Attendance record1956
74Sunday School Attendance record1957
75Sunday School Attendance record1958
75Sunday School Attendance record1959
75Sunday School Attendance recordJan. 1960-Jan. 1961
75Sunday School Attendance recordFeb. 1961-Feb. 1962
75Sunday School Attendance recordMar. 1962-Mar. 1963
75Sunday School Attendance recordApr. 1963-Apr. 1964
75Sunday School Attendance recordMay 1964-May 1965
76Sunday School attendance booklets1926-1966
77School Superintendent's Kitca. 1950
78Crusaders Class minutes1919-1921
78Good Samaritan Class minutes1904-1908
79Good Samaritan Class minutes1938-1950
79Good Samaritan Class minutes1951-1958
b. Files
801Charity School enrollment18541 item
802Teachers Association minutes and reports (removed from 1905-1919 minute book)1918-1919, n. d.28 items
803Church School Association minutes19221 item
804Church School Association minutes1923-19241 item
805Church School Association minutes and reports19251 item
806Church School Association minutes1926-19271 item
807Church School Association minutes and reports1928-19291 item
808Church School Association minutes and reports1930-19311 item
809Church School Association minutes1944-19461 item
8010Church School Association minutes and reports19471 item
8011Church School Association minutes and reports19481 item
8012Church School Association minutes and reports19491 item
8013Church School Association minutes and reports1950-19511 item
8014Committee on Christian Education constitution, minutes, reports, committees1948-1953 (bulk 1952-53)85 items
8015Committee on Christian Education minutes, reports1954-1955, n. d.39 items
8016Committee on Christian Education minutes, reports1956-195715 items
8017Committee on Christian Education minutes, reports1958-195920 items
8018Sunday School enrollment, attendance, and collection notes (removed from 1903-1916 record book)1912-1916, n. d.93 items
8019Sunday School enrollment, attendance, and collection records and notes1916-192623 items
8020Sunday School enrollment and attendance records1949-19507 items
8021Sunday School attendance and offering records1955-19586 items
8022Sunday School events, library1872-1914, n. d.5 items
811Sunday School treasurer's reports1917, 1928, 1930-194519 items
812Sunday School treasurer's records1946-195240 items
813Sunday School treasurer's reports1954-195960 items
814Sunday School receipts, financial notes1869-1905, n. d.7 items
815Sunday School check stubs and disbursement receipts1934-1952292 items
816Sunday School bank statements and checks1957-195839 items
817Crusaders Class constitution, members list, clippings (removed from 1913-15 and 1919-21 minute books)1920, n. d.3 items
818Crusaders Class minutes, meeting notes, reports (removed from 1913-15 and 1919-21 minute books)1919-192319 items
819Crusaders Class minutes, reports, meeting notes, constitution1939-195333 items
8110Crusaders Class minutes, reports, meeting notes1954-195636 items
8111Crusaders Class minutes, reports, meeting notes1957-195822 items
8112Crusaders Class minutes, reports, meeting notes1959-196230 items
8113Crusaders Class minutes, reports, meeting notes1963-196730 items
8114Crusaders Class correspondence (removed from 1913-15 and 1919-21 minute books)1914-19236 items
8115Crusaders Class contributions, receipt (removed from 1913-15 and 1919-21 minute books)1922-1923, n. d.10 items
8116Crusaders Class receipts and cancelled checks 1956-195927 items
8117Crusaders Class cancelled checks, receipts, financial notes1957-196471 items
8118Good Samaritan Class annual reports, treasurers reports1943-195625 items
Series V. Church organizations and projects
a. Volumes
82Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip minutes, constitution and bylaws1899-1903
83Committee on Systematic Benevolence - annual contributions1858-1864
83Committee on Systematic Benevolence - contributions1865-1868
82Ladies' Aid Society minutes1914-1922
82Ladies' Aid Society treasurer's book1897-1924
83Ladies' Aid Society treasurer's accounts1924-1946
83Ladies' Aid Society bank book1927-1931
83Ladies' Aid Society bank book1928-1933
83Ladies' Aid Society bank book1935-1942
83Ladies' Aid Society bank book1942-1946
84Men Of Old First minutes1949-1958
84Men Of Old First - The MirrorNov. 1947, Mar. 1949
85Men's League minutes, constitution, by-laws, membership lists1913-1915
84Missionary work - Board of Domestic Missions - missionaries' account book1852-1864
84Missionary Society of the First Reformed Church Sunday School1890-1910
84Missionary Society of the First Reformed Church Sunday School minutes [cleaned for mold 2/02]1887-1896
86Society for Support of the Poor monthly payments** [cleaned for mold 10/01]1792-1800
86Society for Support of the Poor register** [cleaned for mold 2/02]1800-1822
87Woman's Missionary Society minutes1898-1902
87Woman's Missionary Society minutes1922-1925
87Woman's Missionary Society minutes1928-1932
87Woman's Missionary Society account book1898-1913
87Woman's Missionary Society account book1928-1942
85Young People's Association minutes1917-1926
b. Files
881Ladies' Aid Society annual reports (also annual reports of Philadelphia Classis Woman's Missionary Society)1900-191912 items
882Ladies' Aid Society financial records1914-192423 items
883Ladies' Aid Society cancelled checks1923-193056 items
884Ladies' Aid Society / Local Service Group cancelled checks1935-1946119 items
885Ladies' Aid Society / Local Service Group bank statements and cancelled checks1940-194258 items
886Local Service Group bank statements and cancelled checks1943-1946, n. d.36 items
887Ladies' Aid Society / Local Service Group treasurer's receipts1932-1942176 items
888Ladies' Aid Society / Local Service Group miscellaneous financial records1925-1945, n. d.57 items
889Men Of Old First minutes and reports1956-1958, n. d.10 items
8810Men Of Old First correspondence, executive council list1956-19574items
8811Men Of Old First treasurer's reports1956-196160 items
891Mission work - Board of Domestic Missions reports*Feb.-Aug. 185633 items
892Mission work - Board of Domestic Missions reports*Sep.-Nov. 185622 items
893Mission work - Board of Domestic Missions reports, notes1862-1865, n. d.8 items
894Mission workca. 1865-19125 items
895Society for Support of the Poor regulations, financial records, correspondence, notes1794-18228 items
896Woman's Missionary Society constitution, members list, notes1933, n. d.4 items
897Woman's Missionary Society correspondence1912-1952, n. d.15 items
898Woman's Missionary Society Treasurer's reports1912-1942, n. d.3 items
899Woman's Missionary Society checks, receipts1933-193463 items
8910Young Men's Association program18841 item
8911Young People's Association minutes1926-19291 item
8912Young People's Association / Good Fellowship Club minutes1930-19401 item
8913Young People's Association / Good Fellowship Club constitution, correspondence, miscellaneous1927-193817 items
8914Young People's Association / Good Fellowship Club history, plays, services1919-1954, n. d.28 items
Series VI. Services and events
901Outlines of worship (folder 1 of 3)1939-194317 items
902Outlines of worship (folder 2 of 3)1939-194318 items
903Outlines of worship (folder 3 of 3)1939-194312 items
904Prayer text, sermon notesn. d.2 items
905Service programs1888-1940, n. d.19 items
906Service programs1941-195528 items
907150th anniversary18771 item
908Sunday School 100th anniversary - includes items from previous anniversaries190610 items
909200th anniversary192714 items
9010210th anniversary19378 items
9011220th anniversary - correspondence194720 items
9012220th anniversary - display items (including programs 1906-1925)194717 items
9013220th anniversary - display items - 1901 exhibit list19471 item
9014220th anniversary - programs and miscellaneous19478 items
9015225th anniversary19522 items
9016Meetings and concerts1880-19555 items
9017The Gleaner (OFRC monthly newsletter)1902-19235 items
9018The Restorator (OFRC monthly newsletter)19761 item
Series VII. St. Johns Reformed Church
a. Volumes
91St. John's Church Board of Trustees minutes (1881-84) and minutes of congregational meetings (1881-91)1881-1891
91St. John's Church minutes of Consistory (1865-84) and marriage records (1866-69)1865-1884
91St. John's Church minutes of Consistory1896-1901
92St. John's Church minutes of Consistory1902-1915
91St. John's Church minutes of Consistory1926-1935
93St. John's Church congregational records1875-1908
91St. John's Church pastoral record1906-1933
94St. John's Church register1907-1929
95St. John's Church treasurer's book1885-1905
95St. John's Church treasurer's book1905-1923
91St. John's Church Woman's Missionary Society treasurer's book1927-1929
b. Files
961Amendment to charter18841 item
962Administrative recordsc. 1880-1902, n.d.11 items
963Correspondence1892-1934, n.d.27 items
964Membership recordsc. 1900-19358 items
965Confirmations1916-19257 items
966Vital records1933-19359 items
967Financial records1888-193435 items
968Financial statements1932-193525 items
969Missionary Society and Woman's Missionary Society (items removed from 1927-1929 Woman's Missionary Society treasurer's book)1933-1935, n. d.8 items
9610St. John's and First Reformed Church merger (folder 1 of 2)1934-19371 item
9611St. John's and First Reformed Church merger (folder 2 of 2)1935-19381 item
Series VIII. Higher church bodies and other congregations
a. Volumes
97Reformed Church Messenger (Reformed Church Publication Board)1874
97The Messenger (Publication Board of the Reformed Church in the United States) - 2 unbound issuesApr. 16 and June 25, 1884
97Reformed Church Messenger (Publication Board of the Reformed Church in the United States) - 2 unbound issuesApr. 27, 1905; Oct. 20, 1927
98Alphabetical List of the Clerical and Lay Members of the Ter-Centenary Convention of the German Reformed ChurchJan. 19, 1863
98Yearbook of the Reformed Church of the United States1903
98Second Triennial Report of the Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in the United States1884
98Heidelberg Teacher, vol. 52, no. 6 (Publication and Sunday School Board of the Reformed Church)June 1925
98Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors, The Women's Guild, Evangelical and Reformed ChurchMar. 1951
98Annual Report, Minutes of Board of Directors of the Women's Guild of the Evangelical and Reformed ChurchMar. 1952
98Annual Report, Minutes of Board of Directors, The Women's Guild of the Evangelical and Reformed ChurchMar. 1956
98Annual Report, Minutes of Board of Directors, The Women's Guild of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (United Church of Christ) 1958
98Acts and Proceedings of the 14th Annual Meeting of Schaff Regional Women's Guild of the Evangelical and Reformed ChurchApr. 28, 1955
98Acts and Proceedings of the First Biennial Meeting of Schaff Regional Women's Guild of the Evangelical and Reformed ChurchApr. 25, 1957
98Acts and Proceedings of the Second Biennial Meeting of Schaff Regional Women's GuildApr. 9, 1959
98Acts and Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church1950
98Acts and Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church1951
98Acts and Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church1952
98Acts and Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church1955
98Acts and Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church1957
98Fifth Annual Report, Woman's Missionary Society of the Philadelphia Classis of the Evangelical and Reformed Church in the United States1934-1935
98Anniversary Booklet, Christ Church (Evangelical and Reformed), Alexandria, Pennsylvania1951
98200th Anniversary, 1746-1946, Christ Evangelical & Reformed Church at Indian Creek1946
98Falkner Swamp Reformed Church, 1725-19501950
98Eugene S. Wehrli, The Christian's Use of the Bible (Philadelphia: Christian Education Press; Boston: Pilgrim Press)1960
99German Evangelical-Lutheran Congregation of St. Paul's Church (Philadelphia) minutes, reports, programs**1908-1947
100German Evangelical-Lutheran Congregation of St. Paul's Church (Philadelphia) scrapbook**1940-1951
b. Files
1011Philadelphia Classis, Philadelphia Synod, Reformed Church in the United State - pamphlets, newsletters, newspapers1924-19528 items
1012Committee on Stewardship, Evangelical and Reformed Church pamphlets1946[?]23 items
1013Committee on Stewardship, Evangelical and Reformed Church pamphlets194912 items
1014Philadelphia City Mission annual report18331 item
1015Heidelberg Evangelical and Refomed Church (Philadelphia)1915, 19482 items
1016Central Schwenkfelder Church (Worcester, PA)19518 items
1017German Evangelical-Lutheran Congregation of St. Paul's Church (Philadelphia)**1935-1946, n. d.9 items
1018St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia)ca. 18941 item
Series IX. Historical documentation and interpretation
a. Volumes
102Scrapbook of news clippings1820-1919
b. Files
1031Correspondence re: church records1899-1952, n. d.7 items
1032Lists of OFRC documents and records1855-1949, n. d.14 items
1033Translations of OFRC letters and documents, 1755-1835, by Dr. William J. Hinke19242 items
1034Transcriptions of OFRC documents, 1830-18461948-1952, n. d.4 items
1035OFRC history scrap book (folder 1 of 3)n. d.73 items
1036OFRC history scrap book (folder 2 of 3)n. d.103 items
1037OFRC history scrap book (folder 3 of 3)n. d.67 items
1038Seal of the Free Synod of Philadelphia 1822-1836n. d.1 item
1039Rev. David Van Horne sermon on origin of OFRC Sunday school (1st page missing)19061 item
10310"A Brief History of Old First Church" (booklet)19471 item
10311"The Early Reformed Church in Philadelphia"/"Dedication Services" (Philadelphia Record full page)n. d.3 items
10312OFRC history - notes and clippings1952, n. d.19 items
10313Pennsylvania German communities - articles1879-1907, n. d.3 items
10314Family histories - notes and clippings1959, n. d.8 items
10315Family histories - photographs (copies)n. d.6 items
Oversized material
104Conrad Rush and Martin Thomas indenture1771
104Luzerne County lands - letter to Charles Schreiner1840
104Luzerne County lands - survey mapn. d.
3Conrad Rush bond1771-1772
3Christopher Schreiner bond1789
Flat file storage
File 1Permission by Governor for Rothenbuhler, Jacob Roth, and Conrad Alster to collect £1500 for a new church1 June 17631 item
File 1Blueprints for 50th & Locust church building, bronze memorial tablet1923-19273 items