Guide to the Edwin M. Ellis Papers
Open for research.
Edwin Murray Ellis was born in Walden, VT, in 1853. Following graduation from Princeton University in 1881 and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1884, he was ordained and called to the Presbyterian Church in Stephensville, Montana. The Board of Home Missions first commissioned Ellis in 1884. In 1911 he became superintendent of Sunday School missions in Montana, under the Board of Publications and Sabbath School Work. For the next two decades, Ellis kept up his work of organizing and paying inspection visits to Sunday schools throughout his territory. Many of his schools developed into congregations, and he is credited with responsibility for much of the spread of Presbyterianism in Montana. He retired in 1928.
This collection contains correspondence, account books, reports on Sunday School work, sermons and articles. It is a detailed documentation of Ellis' career and a valuable record of the early missionary experience in the United States.
The collection is arranged chronologically and by type of material, i.e. correspondence 1892-1940, letterbooks 1903-1920.
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 12 | |
| 2 | Biographical Data | ||
| 3 | Historical Background on the Presbyterian Work in Montana, 1864-1902 | ||
| 4 | EME in Japan (undated) | ||
| Correspondence | |||
| 1 | 5 | 1892-1903 | |
| 6 | 1906-07 | ||
| 7 | 1908-09 | ||
| 8 | 1910 | ||
| 9 | 1911-12 | ||
| 10 | 1913 | ||
| 11 | 1914-15 | ||
| 12 | 1916 | ||
| 13 | 1917-18 | ||
| 14 | 1919-20 | ||
| 15 | 1921-22 | ||
| 16 | 1923-40 | ||
| 17 | Undated | ||
| Letterbooks, Indexed | |||
| 2 | 1 | December 1903-March 1905 | |
| 2 | March 1905-June 1906 | ||
| 3 | June 20, 1906-May 29, 1908 | ||
| 4 | February 1912-June 1920 | ||
| 5 | February 1912-June 1920 | ||
| 6 | February 1912-June 1920 | ||
| Cash Account Books | |||
| 3 | 1 | 1889-92 | |
| 2 | 1893-1905 | ||
| 3 | 1905-13 | ||
| 4 | 1917-21 | ||
| 5 | 1921-25 | ||
| 6 | 1939-40 | ||
| 7 | Monthly Reports; Accounts Current, 1918-21 | ||
| 8-12 | Sermons & Bible Lessons | ||
| 4 | 1 | Churches in Montana--Comparative Statistics, 1891-1904 | |
| 2 | Annual Sabbath School Reports--Montana Presbyteries, 1917-25 | ||
| 3 | Sabbath Schools in Montana--Narrative Reports | ||
| 4 | Sabbath School Missionary Reports--Montana, 1893-95 | ||
| 5 | Annual Sabbath School Reports--Montana Synod, 1896-1900 | ||
| 6 | Annual Sabbath School Reports--Montana Synod, 1900-04 | ||
| 7 | Annual Sabbath School Reports--Montana Synod, 1905-16 | ||
| Annual Presbytery Reports | |||
| 4 | 8 | 1900-02 | |
| 9 | 1903-05 | ||
| 10 | 1906-08 | ||
| 11 | 1909-10 | ||
| 12 | 1911-13 | ||
| 13 | 1914-15 | ||
| 14 | 1916-24 | ||
| 15 | Synod of Montana--List of Sabbath Schools, 1887-99 | ||
| 16 | Communications from Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work, 1906-16 | ||
| 17 | Articles by EME, published in "The Sabbath School Trail" | ||
| 18 | Prospective Sabbath School Missionaries--Correspondence | ||
| 19 | Non-Presbyterian Montana Ministers, 1907 | ||
| 20 | Certificate of Honorary Membership of Board of National Missions, 1927 | ||
| 21-37 | Monthly Reports (bound), 1891-1917 |