Robert Paine papers

The collection consists of 79 letters, 78 of which were sent to Robert Paine by 22 different senders, all dated after his ordination as bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Among these senders are the four prominent bishops involved in the church’s separation at the 1844 General Conference: James Andrew, William Capers, George Pierce, and Joshua Soule. There is one letter written by Joshua Soule, three letters written by George Pierce, four letters written by Bishop James Andrew (whose ownership of two slaves sparked the controversy over slave ownership that had been building within the church for decades), and seven letters within the collection written by William Capers (one of which contains Paine’s own annotations correcting a misunderstanding within the letter). Furthermore, one letter within the collection was sent by Robert Paine to Bishop William McKendree in 1828, prior to the split of the church. After McKendree’s death in 1835, Paine undertook the task of writing a biography on McKendree (Life and Times of William McKendree, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1869). Thus, the collection contains a substantial amount of letters written to Paine by John Early, a publisher for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and an important figure in the formation of the southern denomination. Also within the collection are several letters written by Jesse Boring, a reverend within the church. Boring wrote often to Paine about the tensions he witnessed during his travels between the northern and southern Methodist episcopacies. Other notable figures in the formation of the Methodist Escapable Church, South present within the collection include; N. G. Berryman, Stringfield, and W. M. Wightman. Finally, there is one folder marked anonymous, containing two undated letters, written in different hands, and one empty envelope.