Guide to the John Rodgers Papers
Open for research.
The manuscript letter in Folder 5 is restricted for preservation reasons; please use transcript in Box 1, Folder 10.
To browse this collection's digital content visit Pearl.
Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not be available on Pearl or in their entirety.
John Rodgers was born in Boston in 1727; his family moved to Philadelphia the following year. He studied for the ministry under the Rev. Samuel Blair and was licensed by New Castle Presbytery in 1747. In 1749 he was called to St. George's Church in Delaware. In 1765 Rodgers moved his family to New York City to take charge of a congregation there; this became the First Presbyterian Church.
Rodgers served as a brigade chaplain in the Continental Army of the United States. After the war he returned to New York City, which was largely in ruins; the First Presbyterian Church had been converted into a hospital. Rodgers preached in Episcopal churches in the city until his own church was rebuilt.
Rodgers holds the distinction of having been moderator of the first General Assembly, in 1789. He preached for the last time in 1809 and died two years later, at the age of eighty-four.
Rodgers' papers include sermons and correspondence, as well as a Continental Army protection for his family and property.
Rodgers' correspondence was transcribed, edited and introduced by Charles Anderson for publication in the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society. His transcripts of the Rodgers letters is included in this collection.
The 1773 letter to Benjamin Lord in Folder 9 does not address him by name. It has been identified by means of a letter from the donor.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1773-1807
SERIES 2: SERMONS AND DISCOURSES, 1747-1775
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.
Related collections include: RG 252, Elias Boudinot Papers and RG 321, Ashbel Green Papers
Individual transcripts for the letters in Folders 2 and 3 were found and have been filed in the folders with the manuscripts.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: October 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 322 | |
| SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1773-1807 | |||
| 1 | 2-3 | To Elias Boudinot (with transcripts), 1786 | |
| 1 | 4 | To Elisha Boudinot, 1778 | |
| 1 | 5 | To Elisha Boudinot, 1781 [restricted for preservation reasons; use transcript in Box 1, Folder 10] | |
| 1 | 6 | To Joseph Clay, 1786 | |
| 1 | 7 | To Ashbel Green, 1786, 1807 | |
| 1 | 8 | To Jedediah Morse, 1788, 1798 | |
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence to Benjamin Lord, 1773 | |
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence to William Woodward, 1801 | |
| 1 | 10 | Transcript of correspondence, notes and introduction (by C.A. Anderson), 1949 | |
| SERIES 2: SERMONS AND DISCOURSES, 1747-1775 | |||
| 1 | 11-12 | Discourses, 1747 | |
| 1 | 13 | Sermon, 1758 | |
| 1 | 14 | Sermon, 1766 | |
| 1 | 15 | Sermon, 1767 | |
| 1 | 16-17 | Sermon, 1768 | |
| 1 | 18 | Sermon, 1770 | |
| 1 | 19 | Sermon, 1771 | |
| 1 | 20 | Sermon, 1773 | |
| 1 | 21 | Sermon, 1775 | |
| 1 | 22 | Protection from Continental Army, 1776 | Digital |