Creator: Paris, John, 1809-1883.
Collection number: 575
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Abstract: John Paris (1809-1883) was a Methodist Episcopal minister of Guilford County, N.C., author of religious works, and a Confederate Army chaplain. The collection includes diaries, writings, and correspondence, 1828-1871, of John Paris. Within the three-volume diary is a brief diary, January-June 1863, of Jacob Pearch, a soldier in the 110th Ohio Infantry Regiment. Beginning on 12 June 1863, diary entries appear to have been written by John Paris. Ten of the twelve letters deal with the sale of Paris’s religious books in the 1850s. Also included are seven brief essays, six on controversial military actions of the Civil War and one on the “Moral and Religious Status of the African Race” after the war. The Addition of 2007 primarily contains correspondence of John Paris and his wife. Letters to John Paris are from other clergymen, family members, and parish members. Subjects include church finances, baptisms, funerals, the church’s position on social matters such as slavery, and the growing separation of Christian sects. A 20 September 1864 letter from John Paris to his wife describes the Third Battle of Winchester, Va. There are also notebooks containing sermons, finanicial information, and notes that were kept by John Paris; daguerreotypes, ambrotypes (including one of an unidentified Confederate soldier), and tintypes possibly of Paris family members; financial records of John Paris; and other items.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: Diary, writings and correspondence of Paris, Methodist Episcopal minister of Guilford County, North Carolina, author of religious works, and Confederate Army chaplain. The collection includes a manuscript entitled “The Moral and Religious Status of the African Race in the Southern States,” written by Paris at the close of the Civil War. Correspondence in Folders 5-9 discusses many topics, including slavery.