Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User information
Biographical sketch
Scope and Content Note
Folder Listing
Cataloguing information
Processed by
Charles Latham
19 November 1990
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 manuscript box ( .3 linear feet)
COLLECTION DATES: Inclusive 1861-1922; Bulk 1861-1880
PROVENANCE: John F. Church, Plainfield, Indiana, 4 September 1990
RESTRICTIONS: None
COPYRIGHT: Held by Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: None
ACCESSION NUMBER: 90.0568
The Rev. John P. Fox (1831-1921), Presbyterian missionary and minister, was born near Bruceville, Indiana, the son of Knox County pioneers Henry and Catherine Snyder Fox. He graduated from Hanover College in 1859 and from Western Theological Seminary three years later. After being ordained in the Presbytery of Palestine in 1862, he served as missionary in Iowa and Missouri. In 1863 he was in Newton, Illinois; in 1866 he was in Missouri at Mirabile, Crooked Creek, and Hamilton. In 1870 Fox returned to his native state, and for the next thirty years combined farming with his ministry at Carlisle, Spencer, Upper Indiana, Poland, Bruceville, Royal Oak, Smyrna, and Pleasantdale. Apparently his longest stay was at the Upper Indiana church. About 1900 he moved to Terre Haute, and ten years later retired from the active ministry.
Sources: Materials in collection
Minutes of Indiana Synod of Presbyterian Church of America for 1921, page 33
This collection, filling one manuscript box, consists of letters, telegrams, sermons, diaries and account books, and a few printed items, covering the period 1861-1922. The bulk of the material falls in the period 1861-1880, when Fox was serving in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and the area around Vincennes, Indiana. It is arranged by type, and chronologically within type.
The letters in the collection are widely scattered in time and subject; the telegrams, addressed to Fox in his later years in Terre Haute, deal with deaths and funerals. The most interesting part of the collection is the eight notebooks containing diaries and accounts for the years 1861-1862, 1866, and 1874-1880. With brief entries in pencil, the diaries show how Fox combined life as a farmer with regular service as a minister, and gives the text for each of his sermons. The account books show how members of his congregations contributed to his support. One major break in Fox's routine came in 1876, when he made an extended trip to the East coast, visiting Niagara Falls, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and the sights of Washington, as well as a national Presbyterian convention in New York. Postcards of Martinsville and Vincennes, and a number of photographs, notably three of the Calvin Fletcher, Jr., estate at Spencer, have been transferred to Visual Collections, and a fan to Artifacts
Folder
1 Correspondence 1889-1922
2 Telegrams 1890-1909, n.d.
3 Sermons
4 Journals 1861-1875
5 Journals 1876-1880
6 Clippings
7 Printed material
MAIN ENTRY: Fox, John P., 1831-1921
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Wampler family
Clergy--Indiana--Diaries
Clergy--Missouri--Diaries
Missionaries--Iowa
Missionaries--Missouri
Clergy--Salaries, etc.--Indiana
Preaching--Indiana
Presbyterian Church--Indiana--Clergy
Presbyterian Church--Missions
Church records and registers
Churches
Travelers
Sermons, American
END