St. Michael's Church, Bristol (Mss. Gr. 185)

Series 1. Subject Files, 1721-1993
11 boxes
(5.5 linear feet)

Series I, Subject Files, 1721-1993, contains documents from church initiatives like the Episcopal Charities, Overseas Missions, and the Church School, as well as materials related to anniversary celebrations and physical church property. There are bequests, protests, and founding documents from the earliest days of the church, and a number of documents that attempt to tell the church’s history. The most comprehensive is Two Hundred Years of St. Michael’s Rectors, written by Canon Albert C. Larned and published in 1957. However, the Early Records series should be consulted for vestry and parish meeting minutes from 1724-1963.

Arrangement: The series is arranged alphabetically by title or topic and chronologically within each folder.

Series 2. Vestry and Committees, 1923-1999
29 boxes
(14.5 linear feet)

Series II, Vestry and Committees, 1923-1992, contains the files of the church’s organizing body, the vestry, and the various committees that reported to the vestry: the Altar Guild, the Brotherhood, the Boys Club, the Ivy Guild, the Ladies Benevolent Society, the Music and Stewardship committees, the Women’s Auxiliary, and the Women’s Guild. It also includes the files of the Bristol Female Charitable Society, a local women's organization. The annual reports for these committees can also be found in the Parish Meeting Reports in the Subject Series.

Among the many committees that reported to the vestry, the most notable and long-standing is the Ladies Benevolent Society. This society raised money for mission projects through initiatives like the Annual Bazaar and the United Thank Offering. It formed in 1822 as the Missionary Society, and after reorganizing and changing its name twice, it settled on the Ladies Benevolent Society in 1849. The society began calling itself the Episcopal Church Women in 1970, and in 1994, it merged with the Ivy Guild, a social organization for young church women, and became the Women’s Guild.

This series also contains a quantity of Building Committee files. The building project began with the formation of the Committee to Study Church School Needs in 1963. From 1964 to 1967, the committee was known as the Committee to Study Present and Future Needs of the Church School, and the committee members decided it was time to construct a multi-purpose building. In 1967, the Church Expansion Committee invited bidders and contracted with Rumstick Associates. In 1968, the Building Committee officially came into being, and committee chairman William Bowen transferred the Building Fund to church treasurer Reynolds Northrup. Thus there are also building fund files in the Financial Documents series. The Memorial Committee, organized in 1968, collected donations for the new building and drew up plans for a memorial plaque.

The vestry files contain copious notes on church property, maintenance, and leadership, covering a range of projects, from new buildings to searches for rectors and curates. It also includes the “Pooled Funds” accounts from 1955 to 1968. Starting in 1968, the funds were managed by Standish, Ayer, and Wood, and became known as the endowment fund (See Financial Documents).

Arrangement: The series is arranged alphabetically by committee and topic and chronologically within each folder.

Series 3. Rectors' Papers, 1815-1994
11 boxes
(5.25 linear feet)

Series III, Rector’s Papers, 1815-1992, contains the letters, reports, and personal papers of some of the parish’s rectors. For information about the rectors, see the Subject Series. The vast majority of the files in this series belonged to Canon Delbert W. Tildesley, who was rector from 1954 to 1982. He was a member of the Diocesan Standing Committee, and many of his files are related to diocesan business, while his letters and annual reports are a valuable source of information on the church’s more recent history. Tildesley's files also contain a small number of records from before his tenure at St. Michael's as well as research materials for his comprehensive history of the church, The Bells of St. Michael's (1989). While most of these materials are copies or created by Tildesley, included with his research notes, in folder 189, are seven original letters on the topic of the history of St. Michael's bells, dating from 1846 to 1879. For Tildesley's sermons, see Series XIII. This series also contains the sermons and correspondence of the Rev. George Lyman Locke. An unexpected item found among the papers is a 1946 report on prison conditions by a committee which included Canon Anthony Parshley.

Arrangement: The majority of the series is arranged alphabetically by name and topic and chronologically within each folder. A second accession of Tildesley papers are arranged in the same manner, but these files are appended to the end of the first Tildesley accession, beginning at folder 162.

Series 4. Parish Registers, 1721-1986
5 boxes
(2.5 linear feet)

Series IV, Parish Registers, 1721-1986, contains lists of communicants, marriages, baptisms, and burials. Most of the lists are bound in leather-backed volumes, but there are some loose parish lists and letters of transfer as well.

Though the original registers from 1721 to 1804 are intact, this series also includes two transcriptions of them: one made by the Rev. George Lyman Lock in 1908 and one probably made in 1938, at the same time as a chronology of the church was compiled. The original registers from 1819-1825, however, were severely damaged by a fire at the Freeman’s Bank in 1825. Thus the transcription of those registers is all that remains.

Arrangement: The series is arranged alphabetically by church and type of register and chronologically within folders.

Series 5. Pews, 1778-1887
2 boxes
(1 linear feet)

Series V, Pews, 1778-1887, contains pew deeds and plans, as well as letters related to assessment collection. There are some very early deeds from the Congregational Church, where the members of St. Michael’s worshiped before they started their own church. However, most of the deeds are for St. Michael’s and most were issued between 1858 and 1861, when the church was being rebuilt after a fire. The church ceased to collect assessments on the pews in 1942.

Arrangement: The series is arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically within folders.

Series 5. Photos and Multimedia, 1911-1993
2.5 boxes
(5 linear feet)

Series VI, Photos and Multmedia, 1911-1993, contains images of the interior and exterior of the church, portraits of past rectors, and photos that were sent to service people during World War Two. It also contains miscellaneous photos of church members and church buildings, and a few slides, negatives, halftones, and VHS and cassette tapes.

Arrangement: The series is arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically within folders.