Ellen Sitgreaves Vail Motter Manuscript Collection

PP-00-R0316

The Archives of the Episcopal Church

Collected materials

Ellen Sitgreaves Vail Motter Manuscript Collection

• 1744-1954 (Creation)

1.3 cu.ft. (4 boxes)

Thomas Hubbard Vail was born in Richmond, Virginia, on October 21, 1812, and was ordained after graduating from General Theological Seminary in 1835. After service in multiple parishes, he was consecrated the first Bishop of Kansas on December 15, 1864. He died in Philadelphia on October 6, 1889, having furthered The Episcopal Church’s work in Kansas through the founding of parishes, an Episcopal Seminary, and the first Protestant hospital in Kansas. Vail was a friend of Samuel Bowman, with whom he carried out extensive correspondence. Samuel Bowman was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on May 21, 1800. He was ordained a priest in 1824 and served at Trinity Church in Easton, Pennsylvania and St. James Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was active in education, both a member of the Public School Board and a trustee to the Board of Franklin and Marshall College as well as a founder of a preparatory school for boys. He was consecrated Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania on May 28, 1858, but served for only three years before his death on August 3, 1861.

The Ellen Sitgreaves Vail Motter Manuscript Collection consists primarily of the correspondence of Bishops Samuel Bowman and Thomas Hubbard Vail. The vast majority of the material falls between the dates 1840-1886. Earlier collected material, especially the letters of William White, dates from as early as 1822. Additional letters, photographs, and printed material illuminate the bishops’ ministries, the development of the Diocese of Kansas, and the relationships among other bishops and church leaders. Several prominent Episcopal bishops are represented in the collection including Thomas Clark, George Doane, Alexander Griswold, Jackson Kemper, Alonzo Potter, Benjamin Bosworth Smith, William White, and William Whittingham.

Correspondence of Thomas Hubbard Vail, 1832-1889
Correspondence of Samuel Bowman, 1835-1861
Other Correspondents, 1822-1946
Pictorial Records, n.d.
Printed Material, 1744-1894
Sermons of Samuel Bowman, 1855-1902
Clippings, 1853-1954

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The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.

• English

• Diocese of Kansas
• Diocese of Pennsylvania

• St. James' Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

• Bosworth, Benjamin (Subject)
• Bowman, Samuel (Subject)
• Brownell, Thomas Church (Subject)
• Burgess, George (Subject)
• Clark, Thomas March (Subject)
• Doane, George W. (Subject)
• Griswold, Alexander Viets (Subject)
• Howe, Mark Anthony DeWolfe (Subject)
• Johnson, Samuel Roosevelt (Subject)
• Kemper, Jackson (Subject)
• Nilson, John Smith (Subject)
• Potter, Alonzo (Subject)
• Spalding, John F. (Subject)
• Vail, Thomas Hubbard (Subject)
• White, William (Subject)
• Whittingham, William Rollinson (Subject)