Sears, (Rev.) Peter Gray. Papers

PP-00-R0361

The Archives of the Episcopal Church

Fonds

Sears, (Rev.) Peter Gray. Papers

• 1889-1939 (Creation)

3 cu.ft. (8 boxes)

Peter Gray Sears served as rector of Christ Church, Holly Springs, Mississippi from 1889 to 1899, and while there, reorganized St. Thomas Hall, a military boarding school for boys. He served at St. Andrew’s Church, Jackson, Mississippi twice from 1899 when it was still a mission, to July 4, 1901. He accepted a call to St. Paul’s Mission, Meridian, Mississippi and under his administration it developed into a Parish Church on January 2, 1902. He was rector at St. Paul’s from 1902 to 1905. On Easter Day 1905, he became rector of Christ Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas and served until his resignation in December 1926 and subsequently accepted an appointment as rector emeritus. In June 1928, he resigned that position and went to Palmer Memorial Chapel, where he became the first rector, serving from February 4, 1929 until he retired on June 15, 1936.

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.

Correspondence, c. 1890s-1939
Sermons, 1899-1930
Personal Records and Collected Items, 1889, 1897, n.d.
Books, Collected, 1893-1927
Artifacts, n.d.

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• English

• Diocese of Mississippi
• Diocese of Texas

• Kinsolving, George Herbert (Subject)
• Thompson, Hugh Miller (Subject)