Guide to the Jonathan Palmer Finley Papers
Open for research.
Jonathan Palmer Finley was born in Hayesville, Ohio. He attended Princeton Theological Seminary from 1848-1851 and was ordained by the Palmyra Presbytery in 1852. Appointed as president of Van Rensselaer Academy in 1851 Finley left in 1856 and worked for Westminster College in Missouri where he remained during the Civil War. Finley later became pastor for a church in Brookfield, Missouri in 1868 and took on the additional responsibility of principal of Brookfield Academy in 1872. He relinquished his pastoral duties in 1886 but continued with the academy until his death.
The collection consists of 16 volumes of diaries recorded from 1848-1899. The entries were made several times a week and primarily express feelings and thoughts of a religious nature and comments on his or others' sermons. However, his experiences and thoughts during the Civil War are recorded as well as the denominational split in the Presbyterian Church.
SERIES I: DIARIES, 1848-1899
This collection was formerly cataloged as part of the library collection.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: 1987,
Gretchen Mertz, Archives Intern
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| SERIES I: Diaries, 1847-1889 | |||
| 1 | 1 | 1847-1848 | |
| 1 | 2 | 1848 | |
| 1 | 3 | 1848-1849 | |
| 1 | 4 | 1848-1849 | |
| 1 | 5 | 1850 | |
| 1 | 6 | 1850-1851 | |
| 1 | 7 | 1851 | |
| 1 | 8 | 1851-1853 | |
| 1 | 9 | 1849-1854 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1854-1859 | |
| 2 | 2 | 1859-1864 | |
| 2 | 3 | 1864-1865 | |
| 2 | 4 | 1865-1870 | |
| 2 | 5 | 1870-1873 | |
| 2 | 6 | 1873-1877 | |
| 2 | 7 | 1878-1882 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1882-1887 | |
| 3 | 2 | 1887-1889 |