Otterville Presbyterian Church, Cooper County, Missouri, Records, 1849-1946, 1970-1996 (C3951)
10 volumes on 1 roll of microfilm
MICROFILM
INTRODUCTION
Records of the Otterville Presbyterian Church, Cooper County, Missouri, consisting of record books containing minutes of meetings and church registers, and a church history. The collection includes similar records of the Stony Point Presbyterian Church, Morgan County, Missouri.
DONOR INFORMATION
The Otterville Presbyterian Church Records were loaned for copying to the State Historical Society of Missouri by the church through Mary Goode on February 27, 1997 (SHS Accession No. 3150).
ORGANIZATIONAL SKETCH
The Otterville Presbyterian Church was organized in Cooper County, Missouri, in September 1821, with 51 charter members, as the Bowling Green Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Meetings were held in the homes of members and the location of camp meetings was at Bowling Green, located northeast of present day Otterville.
In 1836 the location of camp meetings was changed to a nearby hillside and, by consent of the members, the church was renamed Pleasant Grove Congregation. The first church building in the community, a log structure, was built at Pleasant Grove in 1836.
In February 1857 the town of Otterville was incorporated, and in April of that year the New Lebanon Presbytery in session at Otterville passed a resolution granting the request of the members of the Pleasant Grove church that it be renamed and that the congregation be known by the name of Otterville. That same year a church building was erected in the town. A new building was constructed in 1910. The church is a member of the Missouri Union Presbytery. A more detailed history can be found in volume 7 of these records.
The Stony Point Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in June 1874, with 29 members living near Stony Point school house in Morgan County, Missouri. By 1901 the church shared a minister with the nearby Otterville church, and merged with that church probably shortly after 1915.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The records of the Otterville Presbyterian Church consist of eight volumes, beginning with the 1821 organizational statement and a list of original members. The records state that "there was then no Clerk of the Session, and consequently no record of any importance...no records kept or notices of business done until December 1st, 1849." Minutes of session meetings concerning church business begin in 1849 and run uninterrupted through 1946. Kept along with the minutes, the church register records are not as complete, but do include a good record of membership, 1860s-1950s, marriages and deaths in the 1850s, church elders and deacons, 1860s-1880s and 1920s-1940s, infant and adult baptisms, 1870s-1880s and 1920s, and scattered statistical reports. The minutes of meetings and register records for the period 1947-1969 are missing. The records resume in 1970 and run through 1995 and comprise minutes of session meetings and annual meetings of the congregation.
A church history compiled for the 150th anniversary in 1971, which includes lists of ministers and elders, and a similar publication for the 175th anniversary in 1996 complete the records.
The Stony Point Presbyterian Church records consist of two volumes that begin with the formation of the church in June 1874 as the Stony Point Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Minutes of sessions are complete through 1915. The church register information is not complete and includes lists of members, deacons and elders, deaths, and statistical reports.
VOLUME LIST
| v. 1 | 1821-1868 March |
| v. 2 | 1868 July-1886 |
| v. 3 | 1887-1906 February |
| v. 4 | 1906 May-1946 |
| v. 5 | Sunday School, 1916-1917 |
| v. 6 | 1970-1995 |
| v. 7 | Sesquicentennial anniversary booklet, 1971 |
| v. 8 | 175th anniversary booklet, 1996 |
| v. 9 | 1874-1901 |
| v. 10 | 1901-1915 |
INDEX TERMS
These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.
- Church records
- Missouri, Cooper County
- Missouri, Morgan County
- Missouri, Otterville
- Missouri, Stony Point
- Otterville Presbyterian Church, Otterville, MO
- Presbyterian Church--Missouri, Cooper County
- Presbyterian Church--Missouri, Morgan County
- Stony Point Presbyterian Church, Morgan County, Missouri