Guide to the George W. Martin papers. Series 3. Subject files

George Washington Martin was born in Marion Township, Hocking County, Ohio on April 27, 1848 in Logan, Hocking County, Ohio to John Shaw Martin and Mary Wiley Black. He was raised on a farm, attended Ohio University (B.A. 1895) and Union Theological Seminary (B.D. 1879). He became a prominent Presbyterian missionary and minister in Utah and a leader in the anti-Mormon movement in Utah. While Martin's work was centered on the community of Manti, his influence extended throughout central Utah and especially in the cities of Ephraim and Gunnison.

The Manti Mission was opened in 1877 and the church was organized in 1878. Reverend Martin arrived in Manti in 1879. The First Presbyterian Church building in Manti, Utah was constructed under Martin's supervision and dedicated in 1881. The building was constructed of oolite, from the same quarry as the Mormon Manti Temple. Martin served the Manti church from 1879 until his death forty years later in 1919. The church continued until 1940, when it was dissolved. It was one of several Presbyterian churches built in central Utah's Sanpete and Sevier Valleys from 1875 to 1917.

G.W. Martin married Matilda Peebles Work and had four children. Three of their children graduated from the Salt Lake Collegiate Institute. Daughter Jane Martin became a teacher at West Side High School, Salt Lake City. Daughter Mary Martin was an instructor at Westminster College, and later Principal of the New Jersey Academy for girls in Logan, Utah. One of their sons, Theodore Day Martin, born in Manti, Utah on August 24, 1885, graduated from Hamilton College and Union Theological Seminary, became a high school principal in Richfield, Utah, and the first executive secretary of the Utah Education Association in 1924.

George W. Martin was a member of the organizing committee creating Westminster College and an early trustee of the college. The last six year of his life, G.W. Martin was President of the Board of Trustees at Westminster College. He died March 1, 1919 at St. Mark's Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah. His funeral was held in Manti, Sanpete County, Utah. Speakers at the funeral were Dr. William M. Paden (Synodical Supt. of Presbyterian Home Missions in Utah), assisted by several other Presbyterian ministers from Utah, and Westminster College President H.W. Reherd. The attendees were both Presbyterians and Mormons.

Sources for Martin biographical note:

• Ancestry.com website viewed August 29, 2012
• Brackenridge, R. Douglas. Westminster College of Salt Lake City : from Presbyterian mission school to independent college. Logan, Utah : Utah State University Press, 1998
• George W. Martin obituary in The Utah Westminster, Vol. 5, No. 6, March 1919, p. 1-3.
• Utah State History Markers and Monuments database, viewed online August 29, 2012
• Westminster College, Giovale Library archival materials in collections: ACC-011, ACC-015, MSS-001, MSS-011

This collection consists of documents dating 1884-1919 collected by Rev. George W. Martin, the Presbyterian minister at Manti, Utah. Many of the documents relate to the Presbyterian Church, primarily within Utah. Materials include applications, deeds, reports, and other records, organized into subject categories that pertain to Martin's interests or duties. This collection is Series 3 of 3 in the Martin papers (MSS-001A to MSS-001C).

A large portion of the collection is the group of reports (Box 1, Folders 9-13 and Box 2 (oversized), Folder 2). Financial reports detail the financial status (and needs) of church organizations (like the Sabbath school). Statistical reports give census information of the schools, churches, and missions. School reports are similar, but detail specific statistics pertaining to the operation of Presbyterian schools.

Additional reports can be found in book format: the Biennial Report of the Commissioner of Schools for Utah Territory, 1890 (Box 1, Folder 2); the Biennial Report of the Territorial Superintendent of District Schools, 1884 (Box 1, Folder 3) (this same publication also includes the report of the Chancellor and Board of Regents of the University of Deseret, and the District School Law as amended); and the Emma Silver Mines property report, 1919, by J.J. Beeson with photographs of the mine located in Little Cottonwood Mining District, Alta, Utah (Box 1, Folder 6). These books provide detailed information on their related subjects. A map of the Emma Mines is also included in this collection (Box 2 (oversized), Folder 1).

The Home Mission reports for 1885–1886 and 1911–1916 (Box 1, Folders 10-11) detail Martin's work. Within these reports, he describes the status of the various Presbyterian missions in Utah. He explains the "canvasses" of the areas, and represents the leaders of these missions using submitted information. Occasionally, he submits a narrative report.

Topics that center on the geographical area of the Presbytery of Southern Utah are: Applications for Aid (Box 1, Folder 1) and Presbytery of Southern Utah Articles of Incorporation, 1912 (Box 1, Folder 7).

The Proposed Plan for Church Federation, undated (Box 1, Folder 8) details the plan for an alliance between the "evangelical churches" of Utah.

The Sermons (Box 1, Folder 14) are anonymous works, believed to be Martin's. However, one sermon could be one of W. M. Paden's, based on a similarity to his handwriting to Martin's.

Wasatch Academy records (Box 1, Folder 15) are brief and direct. The 2 items are: a Academy "welcome" pamphlet (1892– 1893), and a draft letter from Martin (initialed GWM) on Wasatch Academy letterhead to Varian Banks, Asst. Treasurer of the Board of Home Missions in New York, concerning an application for a Cedar City grant and the Mt. Pleasant Church Building Plant. This letter is typed and dated April 27, 1917, but with Martin's handwritten edits superimposed, and redated April 28.

Restrictions on Access:

Open to public research.

Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Twenty-four hours advance notice is encouraged.

Restrictions on Use:

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material must be obtained from the director of the Giovale Library.

Preferred Citation:

George W. Martin papers. Series 3. Subject files, 1884-1919, MSS-001C, Giovale Library Archives, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Arrangement:

Arranged by subject category, and thereunder chronologically within each folder.

Custodial History:

While it is unknown when the College acquired this collection, Paul Jesse Baird's Presbyterian pioneers in Utah (1996) refers to a trunk used by William M. Paden to collect materials relating to the 'Presbyterian work in Utah'. It also mentions that the George W. Martin's collection, including his extensive collection of correspondence, was also placed in this trunk. The contents of the trunk were said to have been used by Paden during his lifetime and then were acquired by his sister, Lou Rachel Paden at his death in 1931. The trunk was then said to have been placed in the attic of the Westminster College's library by Ms. Paden. While no records have documented this account, the similarities between the three collections (George W. Martin, William Paden, and the Presbyterian Church in Utah Collection) are unmistakable and it is a fact Lou Paden was a librarian at Westminster College for more than thirty years (1905–1936).

Acquisition Information:

G. W. Martin's collections and libraries were offered to Westminster College and the Presbyterian Church by his son, Theodore Day Martin. This is the official source of Westminster College's George W. Martin collection. While it is not know which specific documents were donated by T.D. Martin in 1974 and which documents were contained within the records collected by Paden, they were all later brought together at Westminster College.

Processing Note:

Note on processing of the full set of Martin papers (MSS-001A to MSS-001C): The George W. Martin papers were processed by Josh Ivie in 2005. While the collection's original order is unknown, an arrangement plan was created to organize the records into the following three series: Correspondence, Utah and Mormonism publications, and Subject files. This collection was accessioned as ACC-026 and reassigned in 2009 as MSS-001.

A decision was made in 2015 to split the Martin papers into three collections (one for each series) in line with the historical treatment of other multi-series collections held by the Giovale Library Archives. The resulting set of Martin collections are:

• George W. Martin papers. Series 1. Correspondence, 1885-1918 (MSS-001A)
• George W. Martin papers. Series 2. Utah and Mormonism publications, 1880-1937 (MSS-001B)
• George W. Martin papers. Series 3. Subject files, 1884-1919 (MSS-001C)

Creator:

Martin, G. W. (George Washington), 1848-1919

Language:

Collection materials are in English.

Quantity:

0.3 linear feet

Language of the Finding Aid:

English.

Author of the Finding Aid:

Finding aid written 2005 by Josh Ivie. Expanded September 2015 by Sarah Shaw.

EAD Creation Date:

2015 September 22 by Sarah Shaw

Standard:

Describing Archives : A Content Standard (DACS)

Subarea:

Related Material:

Related collections in Giovale Library Archives:

• George W. Martin papers. Series 1. Correspondence, 1885-1918 (MSS-001A)
• George W. Martin papers. Series 2. Utah and Mormonism publications, 1880-1937 (MSS-001B)
• William Mitchell Paden papers. Series 1. First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City records, 1873-1975 (MSS-002A)
• William Mitchell Paden papers. Series 2. First Presbyterian Home Mission records, 1881-1928 (MSS-002B)
• William Mitchell Paden papers. Series 3. First Mormonism and politics newspaper clippings, 1880-1935 (MSS-002C)
• William Mitchell Paden papers. Series 4. Utah and Mormonism publications, 1880-1935 (MSS-002D)
• William Mitchell Paden papers. Series 5. Writings, 1886-1932 (MSS-002E)
• Presbyterian Church in Utah collection. Series 1. Utah Synod church and mission records, 1877-1978 (MSS-003A)
• Presbyterian Church in Utah collection. Series 2. Utah Synod subject files, 1871-1969 (MSS-003B)
• Presbyterian Church in Utah collection. Series 3. Missionary records, 1871-1969 (MSS-003C)
• Presbyterian Church Utah Synod annual meeting minutes, 1905-1950 (MSS-004)
• Frederick G. Burton Presbyterian Church in Utah research collection, 1871-2006 (bulk 1871-1951) (MSS-005)
• Utah Presbyterian Church histories, 1892-1977 (MSS-007)
• Utah Council of Churches records, 1949-1966 (MSS-008)
• Theodore and Marian Martin Utah Presbyterian Church history papers, 1944-1973 (MSS-011)
• Presbyterian Church historic site nominations collection, 1978-1981 (MSS-017)
• Presbyterians and the Mormons scrapbook, 1880-1906 (MSS-020)

Related photographs in Giovale Library Archives:

• Photograph of G. W. Martin, D.D.
• Photograph of Presbyterian Teacher's Convention (G.W. Martin last man on the front row)
• Photograph of Presbyterian Church in Manti, Utah, built by Rev. G.W. Martin
• Photograph of Rev. William M. Paden, D.D.

Related collection and photograph held by the Utah State Historical Society:

• Alta Mining Records, 1922-1925, Utah State Historical Society, Collection Mss B 212
• Wasatch Academy, Mt. Pleasant, Utah, founded 1875 (Utah State Historical Society, photograph 16720)

Corporate Names:

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.--Education
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Home Missions
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Presbytery of Southern Utah--History--Sources
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Synod of Utah--History--Sources
Utah. Commissioner of Schools

Subject Terms:

Church schols--Utah--History--Sources
Presbyterian Church--Utah--History--Sources
Wasatch Academy (Mount Pleasant, Utah)

Form or Genre Terms:

Deeds
Correspondence
Lists (document genres)
Maps (documents)
Reports
Sermons

Personal Names:

Martin, G. W. (George Washington), 1848-1919--Archives
Banks, Varian
Paden, William Mitchell, 1854-1931

Geographical Names:

Utah--History--Sources