Guide to the Ballston Female Heathen School Society Records
Open for research.
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
The Ballston Female Heathen School Society was founded in 1817, by fifty-seven women from the Ballston region of New York, to support the work of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) and the Theological Seminary at Princeton. Several of the women were members of the Presbyterian congregation at Ballston Center. The society's stated purpose was to aid the missionary establishments at Brainerd, North Carolina, Ceylon, and the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. Its scope later broadened to include support for mission work in Beirut, Syria, Iran, and with Native Americans near Detroit.
This collection consists of the 1817 constitution, several annual reports, a subscriber roll with contributions, acknowledgments of contributions, and correspondence from recipients of support. These records document the organization and work of the society up to 1885, including its expansion beyond its initial purpose. The fifth annual report (1822) mentions clothing donations to mission work with the "Western Indians" near Detroit. Receipts, from the corresponding secretary of the Albany Branch of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church, note gifts dedicated to mission work in Beirut, Syria, and Teheran, Persia (1880-1884).
SERIES I: CONSTITUTION, 1817
SERIES II: ANNUAL REPORTS, 1820, 1822-1824, 1850
SERIES III: SUBSCRIBER ROLL WITH CONTRIBUTIONS, 1817-1824
SERIES IV: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF CONTRIBUTIONS, 1819-1884
SERIES V: CORRESPONDENCE FROM RECIPIENTS OF SUPPORT, 1821-1885
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
The records of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) are located at the Houghton Library, Harvard University.
These materials, found among the family papers of Rev. Herbert Calkins, were donated to the Presbyterian Historical Society by Alden and Elizabeth Davis in 1987. Rev. Calkins was the grandfather of Alden Davis.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: August 2003
Ellen C. Rutherford, Archives Volunteer
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 422 | |
| SERIES I: CONSTITUTION, 1817 | |||
| 1 | 2 | Constitution, 1817 | Digital |
| SERIES II: ANNUAL REPORTS, 1820, 1822-1824, 1850 | |||
| 1 | 3 | Annual Reports, 1820, 1822-1824, 1850, n.d. | Digital |
| SERIES III: SUBSCRIBER ROLL WITH CONTRIBUTIONS, 1817-1824 | |||
| 1 | 4 | Subscriber Roll with Contributions, 1817-1824 | Digital |
| SERIES IV: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF CONTRIBUTIONS, 1819-1884 | |||
| 1 | 5 | Acknowledgments of Contributions, 1819-1884, n.d. | Digital |
| SERIES V: CORRESPONDENCE FROM RECIPIENTS OF SUPPORT, 1821-1885 | |||
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence from Recipients of Support, 1821-1885, n.d. | Digital |