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Name and location of repository
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Title
Date(s)
- 1844 (Creation)
Extent
1-10000
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Wesleyan Methodist Church of America emerged in response to the Methodist Episcopal Church's support of slavery and its centralized, authoritarian governance. In November 1842, leaders O. Scott, J. Horton, and L. R. Sunderland withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church and launched The True Wesleyan, a weekly publication explaining their reasons for separation. In December, Luther Lee and L. C. Matlack also withdrew, marking the formal beginning of the Wesleyan movement. Although earlier separations had occurred—particularly in Michigan, where a conference was established—these events laid the foundation for the official organization. The first church of the new denomination was founded in Providence, Rhode Island. In February 1843, a preliminary convention was held in Andover, Massachusetts, which led to a General Convention in Utica, New York, on May 31, 1843. There, the Wesleyan Methodist Church was officially organized and adopted a governing Discipline. The first General Conference convened in October 1844 to revise this Discipline, followed by a second in October 1848, which produced a more comprehensive and clearly organized version.
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Scope and content
This series comprises records from the New York conference. They capture the district’s role as a vital regional hub within the wider church. The materials include minutes from district conferences, correspondence between local pastors and district leaders, reports from area churches, pastoral appointments, membership and financial statistics, and policy documents specific to the region.
These records reveal how the district guided and supported local congregations and clergy, implemented denominational policies on a regional level, and fostered church growth and ministry within the community.
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General note
The 1844 session of the New York Conference was the organizing session. Seventy-one churches were part of this conference, located primarily in New York State, but also some in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The conference churches were organized into nine districts. The New York Conference continued until 1907. 1907 General Conference Journal The New York and Minnesota conferences, having failed to maintain their existence, "I [E. Teter] as Missionary Secretary, recommended that the territory of the New York conference be cared for by the Champlain conference."