ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202

ST. PAUL’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH RECORDS

COLLECTION: OGL #959

DATES: 1875-1967

SIZE: .75 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Records were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection by Robert Wilkins and Elwyn Robinson of Grand Forks, North Dakota on November 17, 1983 (Acc.#84-1277).

ACCESS: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS:

Windows of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Grand Forks, North Dakota (1980)

Fiftieth anniversary 1880/81-1931 : St Paul's Episcopal Church, Grand Forks, North Dakota, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, January 25, 1931

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

OGL#198, Elwyn B. Robinson Papers
OGL#576, Elsie Brown Papers
OGL#652 Margaret Libby Barr Papers
OGL#1345, Art Raymond Papers

HISTORICAL SKETCH

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Grand Forks, North Dakota was first organized as a parish January 16, 1880, but it was a parish without a church building. Land for a building was purchased at the corner of North Fifth Street and First Avenue North in Grand Forks the following spring. The first service in the newly constructed church was held June 12, 1881. After World War II the need for a new church building was great. A new site was purchased at Gertrude and South Fifth Street and, on May 28, 1948, an official ground-breaking ceremony was held. The church cornerstone was laid on September 14, 1949, and on September 3, 1950 the first service was held in the new church which was still unfinished. In 1980, the church celebrated its centennial. Following the 1997 Red River Valley Flood, the educational wing of the church was destroyed and was replaced with an addition in 2000, which serves as the fellowship hall.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection contains church incorporation and consecration documents; mortgages, mortgage satisfactions, and other property documents relating to the church building and rectory; correspondence of church officials; minutes of meetings; church by-laws; and miscellaneous items dating from 1875 to 1980. Also included is correspondence and annual reports of the St. Paul’s Girls Friendly Society dating from 1924 to 1937. Nine photographs were separated and placed in the Orin G. Libby Photograph Collection. Two oversize documents were separated and placed in the Oversize Files.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING

Box 1
Folders:

1. Church Incorporation: 1880
2. Church Consecration: 1889
3. Convocation - Yankton, D.T.: Sept. 1880
4. Church Construction: 1885
5. Mortgages and Satisfactions of Mortgage: 1882-1937
6. Abstracts of Title: 1883, 1875-1903
7. Rectory Property Documents: 1901-1967
8. Miscellaneous Legal Documents: 1930-1978
9. Correspondence - Rev. Keble Karcher: 1882-1883
10. Correspondence - Bishop William D. Walker: 1885-1896
11. Correspondence - Rev. William Gill: 1895-1896
12. Correspondence - Rev. Anthon T. Gesner: 1897-1901
13. Miscellaneous Correspondence: 1882-1892
14. Building and Financial Committee Reports: 1887
15. Minutes - Meeting of Members and Meeting of Directors: Dec. 7, 1936
16. Church By-Laws: Dec. 7, 1936
17. 1931 Tax Statement: 1931
18. Church Centennial: 1880-1980
19. Contents of Church Corner Stone
20. The Sheaf : April 1959
21. The Sheaf : June 1963
22. Miscellaneous
23. Correspondence - Girls Friendly Society: 1924-1934
24. Correspondence - Girls Friendly Society: 1935-1937
25. Correspondence - Girls Friendly Society: Undated
26. Girls Friendly Society Annual Reports: 1925-1935
27. "Campus Rumpus" - Girls Friendly Society

SEPARATIONS RECORD

Nine photographs were separated and placed in the Orin G. Libby Photograph Collection.
OGL#959-1 through OGL#959-9: Outdoor views of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Oversize document file:
OGL#959, Folder 1:Church Incorporation, 1880, and Church Consecration, 1899

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