.
Title: Mayfield Congregational Church Records, 1849+
ID: RHC/RC/185
Extent: 10.75 Linear Feet
Arrangement
The collection is divided into eight series: Historical and Administrative Records, Membership, Committees, Financial Records, Building Fund/Construction, Church Organiza-tions, Audio-visual, and United Church of Christ. The third series, Committees, is arranged alphabetically.
Administrative/Biographical History
The citizens of Mayfield participated in the Methodist Rock River Conference as a stop on the circuit starting in 1845. Conference meetings were held at Mayfield, then know as Brush Point, in 1848 and 1851. At first services were held in the home of Mr. Ira Douglas and then at the Brush Point school house. In 1860 a group of citizens met at the school house to organize the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Mayfield. At that first meeting they elected a board of trustees, adopted a constitution and began plans for construction of a building to be located near the cemetery in Mayfield. The first board of trustees included Rev. William A. Nickerson, Stephen Townsend, and Reuben and Ira Nichols, all known for their involvement with the underground railroad.
In 1906 the church lost its ability to get pulpit supply through the Wesleyan Methodist organization. At that time the church changed its affiliation to the Congregational churches and began receiving pulpit supply through Wheaton College. It became a member of the Congregational and Christian Conference of Illinois during this period. In the early and mid-1960's, the Mayfield church joined the Northern Association of Congregational Christian churches which, eventually, became part of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ. The latter group consolidated the Congregational and Christian Conference of Illinois with the North Illinois Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Churches.
Subjects (links to similar collections)
Scope and Contents: Records from the Mayfield Congregational Church date from its organization in 1849 to the present, although the bulk of the material is dated after its affiliation with the Congregation-alists in 1906. The collection is divided into eight series: Historical and Administrative Records, Membership, Committees, Financial Records, Building Fund/Construction, Church Organiza-tions, Audio-visual, and United Church of Christ. Series I, Historical and Administrative Records, contains historical documentation, church registers, annual reports, correspondence, church newsletters and bulletins. A complete run of Church Registers from 1906 to 1984 contains minutes of meetings, lists of member’s marriages, baptisms, and deaths. Membership information, the second series, includes letters of dismission and transfers, biographical information, membership lists and directory, and guest books. The third series, Committees, is arranged alphabetically. The Financial Records series includes treasurer’s reports, bills and receipts, pledge information, gifts and investments, and insurance. Series V, Building Fund/Construction consists of construction information for the church and the parsonage. The records for the three Church Organizations included in Series VI, Ladies Aid Society, Mayfield Women’s Fellowship and Sunday School, consists of minutes and financial information which documents their activities. Photographs and information from the National and Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ comprise the last two series. The addenda include further information regarding reports, newsletters, board and committee minutes, women’s fellowship, and financial documents.
