Guide to the Robert P. Farris Papers

Robert P. Farris was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1826. He attended St. Louis University and earned an A.B. degree in 1844 from St. Xavier’s College. He then attended Yale College, from which he graduated in 1847. He began to study law but changed his mind and entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1848. After completing two years of study at Princeton, he did his third year of theological training at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati.

After the completion of his studies, Farris was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of St. Louis in June 1851. He was ordained in November 1852. His first appointment was as stated supply for Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis. In 1853, he was invited to Peoria, Illinois, where he organized the Second Presbyterian Church and became its first pastor. After serving in that post for six years, Farris took leave from the pulpit for health reasons and was subsequently employed by the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest in Chicago. In 1860, he was called to a pastorate in St. Charles, Missouri.

In 1868, Farris became editor of the Missouri Presbyterian, a paper whose name was later changed to the St. Louis Presbyterian. Elected as moderator of the 1881 Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) General Assembly, Farris presided over the meeting of that body in Staunton, Virginia. In 1885, he was chosen Permanent Clerk of the General Assembly, a position he held until his death. In 1895, Farris retired from his editorial duties. He died on August 28, 1903.