Name/Title
Presbyterian Church History in St. Joseph News Article, 1909Entry/Object ID
AM2020.2.66Scope and Content
Presbyterian Church History in St. Joseph News Article, February 9, 1909. St. Joseph Gazette. "Deed Recites Struggles of Early Church...New Congregation Formed as Result of Civil War..." Photocopy
In 1850 a division occurred in the congregation, there were two Presbyterian groups in St. Joseph--"Old Presbyterians (who supported the north) " & "New School Presbyterians". In 1859 the old school group built a church, the 6th Street Old School Presbyterian, in block 63 of the original town.
After the Civil War a further dispute caused some members to withdraw and formed First Presbyterian church in 1867. To settle the question of who owned the church, a compromise was agreed to that gave the church to those "old school" members who had supported the north (a minority number), and the parsonage to the "new school" group.
The "old school" congregation faced financial difficulty and in 1872 deeded the church to the Westminster Presbyterian, who had been worshipping in a building on Felix Street. The Westminster church in turn deeded the Felix Street structure to the old school's mortgage holder to cancel its debt on the 6th Street church, which the congregation used until 1896.
In 1896, Westminster erected a church at 21st & Jules.Collection
Marshall & Melanie WhiteLexicon
LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Churches, Civil warsSearch Terms
Twenty-first Street & Jules Street, First Presbyterian Church, Old School Presbyterian, New School Presbyterian, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Civil War in St. Joseph