Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1814-1984 (bulk 1919-1945) (Creation)
Extent
3.35 cu.ft. (9 boxes)
Name of creator
Biographical history
A fourth-generation minister, Samuel Orr Capers was born August 2, 1899 in Anderson, South Carolina. He attended the University of Texas and then the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was ordained to the diaconate in 1926 and to the priesthood in 1927. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in 1959.
His first pastoral assignment was Trinity Episcopal Church in Pharr, in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas, where he served during 1927 and 1928. After working briefly as rector at Saint Mark’s Church in San Marcos, Texas, Capers transferred to Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, where he served from the end of 1928 until 1930. He then became the rector of Christ Episcopal Church, also in San Antonio, where he remained for the next thirty-seven years. He retired as rector emeritus in 1967. During and after his career he was active in numerous service organizations such as the Salvation Army and the San Antonio Association of the Blind, as well as working on behalf of the San Antonio military community. Capers died on June 17, 1984.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Capers Papers are concentrated in the years 1919-1945 with some earlier and later material extending the full span to 1814-1984. Included are records and artifacts created in his role as a parish priest, correspondence with family members and congregation members, materials relating to his education at the Virginia Theological Seminary, photographs, and printed materials. Rounding out the collection are biographical and visual documentation created by or gathered on family members, including some correspondence and other records of his wife, father, grandfather, and great grandfather.
System of arrangement
Ministry, 1928-1964
Biographical and Family, 1928-1984
Compositions and Personal Accounts, 1920-1939, 1984
Seminary, 1924-1928, 1934
Photographs, 1960-1970
Prayer Books and Printed Material, 1914-1937
Eleanor Stribling Capers, 1928-1937, 1945
William Theodotus Capers, 1914-1942
Ellison Capers, 1873-1909
William Capers, c. 1800
Retained Library, 1814-1912
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Capers, Eleanor Stribling (Subject)
- Capers, Ellison (Subject)
- Capers, Jr., William (Subject)
- Capers, William Theodotus (Subject)