New York Conference Historical Records

Content Description

The New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was organized on October 25, 1862, and comprised the 16 churches in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. In 1878 the conference was split along the state line except for a few New York counties that stayed with the new Pennsylvania Conference. In September 1906 the conference was split again into Eastern and Western New York Conferences. Then on August 11, 1922, the two conferences were again merged into one conference. Users of this collection need to bear in mind that each conference had a parallel association. The association was typically the legal entity for the conference that actually held title to property and performed other financial and legal activities. Despite being the home state of William Miller, Hiram Edson, Rochester, and several other leading individuals or places where early Adventist Church events took place, the New York Conference has never been a large conference with regards to membership. With no medical or higher education facilities membership has been spread across the state. Union Springs Academy is the conference academy. It began in 1906 as Tunesassa School, or industrial school. Tunesassa became known as Fernwood Academy. A merger of Fernwood with the Eastern New York Academy formed Union Springs Academy in 1906. This collection features documents from the late 19th century to the early years of the 21st century comprising the following conference and associations: ● New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (1878 to 1906) ● Eastern New York Conference and (Eastern) New York Conference Association (1906 to 1922) ● Western New York Conference and Western New York Conference Association (1906 to 1922) ● New York Conference (1922 onward) Most of the conference and associate related records end in the 1920s or 1930s. Some legal documents extend beyond that. The local church records cover a wide range from the 1870s to 2002. Many of the local church records are from churches that are no longer active though there are records from some active churches as well.

Provenance

The New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists placed this collection on permanent loan at the Andrews University Center for Adventist Research on October 20, 2013

Restrictions Apply

Yes

Use Restrictions

All users of this collection will be required to complete the “Application to Use Unpublished Records,” and to observe the regulations specified in the "Patron Agreement" and "Researcher’s Code of Conduct." All records in this collection are open and available for research. Citation for this collection: Box ___, Fld ___, [New York Conference Historical Records] (Collection 322), Center for Adventist Research, James White Library, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI.