Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1889-1939 (Creation)
Extent
3 cu.ft. (8 boxes)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Peter Gray Sears was born in 1866 in Oxford, Mississippi. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mississippi in 1885, he attended General Theological Seminary and was ordained a deacon in 1887 and a priest in 1890.
In 1889, Sears began serving as the rector of Christ Church in Holly Springs, Mississippi, a position he held for ten years. While there, he reorganized St. Thomas Hall, a military boarding school for boys. He served in different missions in Mississippi until 1905, when he became the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas. He held the Christ Church rectorship until his resignation in 1926, after which he accepted an appointment as rector emeritus. He then became the first rector of Palmer Memorial Chapel in 1929, remaining there until his retirement in 1936.
Peter Gray Sears died on January 26, 1942.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The papers of Peter Gray Sears document his life and career as a southern priest at the end of the 19th century and his move to the rapidly growing city of Houston, Texas at the beginning of the 20th century. The majority of the collection is correspondence between Sears and his friends and colleagues, including Bishop Hugh Miller Thompson and Bishop George Herbert Kinsolving. There are also letters to and from family members, including his son Claudius Wistar Sears and his wife. Also included are sermons dating from the early 1900s preached in various churches in Mississippi and Texas.
System of arrangement
Correspondence, c. 1890s-1939
Sermons, 1899-1930
Personal Records and Collected Items, 1889, 1897, n.d.
Books, Collected, 1893-1927
Artifacts, n.d.
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
- Kinsolving, George Herbert (Subject)
- Thompson, Hugh Miller (Subject)